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Map of New Jersey

New Jersey is a state-land state. Lands were generally acquired from one or two proprietors or from other individuals. The earliest sales of land in New Jersey were by the proprietors of East and West Jersey, which still hold some land today and maintain their records, although those for West Jersey are also on film at the state archives. Until the Land Act of 1785 transferred the recording of deeds to the counties, land conveyances after the initial grants from the proprietors were recorded mostly in the East and West New Jersey capitals: Perth Amboy and Burlington. In 1795 these records were transferred to Trenton, where they became known as the Secretary of State's Deeds. These deeds, dated 1664 to the 1800s, are at the state archives and are indexed in Colonial Conveyances: Provinces of East & West New Jersey 1664–1794, 2 vols. (Summit, N.J.: Crestview Lawyers Service, 1974). It has been estimated that only a quarter of colonial land transfers were recorded. For more information about the proprietary period, see John Edwin Pomfret, The New Jersey Proprietors and Their Lands, 1664–1776 (Princeton: Van Nostrand, 1964).

At the county level are found the usual deeds and mortgages, with corresponding indexes to each type of record. These records begin for most counties at two stages. Mortgages have been recorded with the county clerk from 1766 and deeds from 1785. Also with the county clerk are divisions or partitions of lands that include descriptions and often maps showing how the real property of a person who died intestate was divided among his or her heirs.

Eastern States Office
Bureau of Land Management
7450 Boston Blvd.
Springfield, VA 22153
Tel: (703) 440-1600
FAX: (703) 440-1599

The New Jersey Historical Society
52 Park Place
Newark, NJ 07102
(973) 596-8500, ext. 249
FAX (973) 596-6957
http://www.jerseyhistory.org

Atlantic County
Atlantic County Clerk
5901 Main St.
Mays Landing, NJ 08330
Telephone: (609) 625-4011

Bergen County
Hackensack Dept of Health
215 State Street
Hackensack, NJ 07601-7017
Telephone: (201) 646-3966

Burlington County
Burlington County Clerk
49 Rancocas Road
Mount Holly, NJ 08060-1384
Telephone: (609) 265-5020

Camden County
Camden County Clerk
5th and Mickle Boulevard
Camden, NJ 08103-4001
Telephone: (609) 225-7214

Cape May County
Cape May County Clerk
7 N. Main Street
Cape May Court House, NJ 08210
Telephone: (609) 465-1010

Cumberland County
Cumberland County Clerk
Broad and Fayette
Bridgeton, NJ 08302
Telephone: (609) 451-8000

Essex County
Essex County, City of Newark
920 Broad Street Room 111
Newark, NJ 07101
Telephone: (973) 733-6510

Gloucester County
Gloucester County Clerk
1 N. Broad Street
Woodbury, NJ 08096-7376
Telephone: (609) 853-3200

Hudson County
Hudson County Clerk
595 Newark Avenue
Jersey City, NJ 07306-2394
Telephone: (201) 795-6600

Hunterdon County
Hunterdon County Clerk
71 Main Street
Flemington, NJ 08822
Telephone: (908) 788-1221

Mercer County
Mercer County Clerk
P.O. Box 8068
Trenton, NJ 08650-0068
Telephone: (609) 989-6517

Monmouth County
Monmouth County Clerk
1 East Main St.
Freehold, NJ 07728-1255
Telephone: (908) 431-7387

Morris County
Morris County Clerk
P.O. Box 900
Morristown, NJ 07960-0900
Telephone: (973) 285-6120

Ocean County
Ocean County Clerk's Office
P.O. Box 2191
Toms River, NJ 08754
Telephone: (732) 929-2053

Passaic County
Passaic County Clerk
77 Hamilton Street
Paterson, NJ 07505-2018
Telephone: (973) 225-3632

Salem County
Salem County Clerk
92 Market Street
Salem City, NJ 08079-1913
Telephone: (609) 935-7510

Somerset County
Somerset County Clerk
P.O. Box 3000
Somerville, NJ 08876-1262
Telephone: (908) 231-7006

Sussex County
Sussex County Office of the County Clerk
4 Park Place
Newton, NJ 07860
Telephone: (973) 579-0900

Union County
Union County Clerk
2 Broad St.
Elizabeth, NJ 07201
Telephone: (908) 527-4966

Warren County
Warren County Clerk
Rt. 519
Wayne Dumont Jr. Administraion Bldg.
Belvidere, NJ 07823
Telephone: (908) 475-5361