The Elizabethtown area became a major transportation corridor because of its proximity to New York and Philadelphia. Stagecoaches made regular trips along the King's Highway (St. Georges Avenue) and the Old York Road (Route 28). The Stage House Inn in Scotch Plains (still operating as a restaurant) and the Merchants and Drovers Tavern in Rahway were centers of commerce witnessing business transactions, public meetings and providing entertainment.
Life in Union County was greatly affected when the first railroad in the state was chartered in 1830. Three major railroads ran through the county opening farmland to developers. Horse driven stagecoaches and wagons gave way to steam locomotives accelerating the growth of towns and cities. By 1920, the county's population reached 200,000. |
