What You Need To Know For the Fourth of July

On the Fourth of July, we celebrate the signing of the Declaration of Independence, but we wondered how many people knew about the township's connection to the founding of the nation and the man for whom the township is named after.

You Need To Know Gen. Joseph Warren: In the 18th Century, Warren was known as "the Hero of Bunker Hill," in honor of his death in the battle while trying to hold Breed's Hill.

He is also credited with having sent Paul Revere and William Dawes out to warn of an impending British raid on Concord on April 18, 1775.

Read more about Major Gen. Joseph Warren on the Warren Township Historical Society website.

You Need To Know The Township of Warren: By 1806, enough people lived in the area to carve out sections of Bridgewater and Basking Ridge for the new township of Warren. Initially, Warren included what was later hacked off to become Watchung ... and North Plainfield.

You Need To Know King George: Some road names in the area certainly make it sound as if Warren was a bastion of Royalist support during the Revolutionary War, but that's not the case as far anyone can tell (or admit). The township area provided 20 men for the state militia during the war—a healthy percentage of few hundred living here.

And according to local legend, King George Road is not named after George III, but the "good King George IV." We wonder why residents would name a road after George IV if they aren't a bunch of Royalists ...

You Need To Know Revolutionary War Battle sites: They're nearly ubiquitous in Somerset County, as this map shows, but non-existant in Warren. The hill must have just been too steep...

You Need To Know The Mystery Of Dock Watch Hollow: It seems no one is too sure about the origins of the name—there's no dock to watch there—but it appears to come from William Dockwrae (or William Dockwra), who purchased a 3,000-acre tract of land from the East Jersey Propriators in 1690. Dockwrae made his wealth a penny at a time: he organized London's first postal system.

On the other hand, Harry van Osten, who owned and operated the quarry there, told the Courier-News in 1979 that he had documents telling of a Native American chief named Dochwach, who lived on of of the mountain and kept an eye over the valley. 

And then there's a claim the name comes from a Native American word meaning cold, dogwatcha.

Take your pick.