If you're a newcomer to Hillsborough, you might be wondering how Triangle Rd. got its name. Old-timers, or anyone that's been here at least 15 years, will tell you that Triangle Rd. is shaped like a triangle. All you need to do is take away the section of road between South Triangle Rd. and Beekman Lane that was completed in 1993 - which led to the renaming of the second leg as "South" Triangle - and you will have the complete triangle-shaped road.
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Hillsborough's past includes at least one other triangle-shaped roadway. It can be clearly seen on the 1860 and 1873 maps, and as recently as 1933 this road was shown on the plot location map of the Abraham DuBois house prepared by the Works Progress Administration for the Department of the Interior (more about the DuBois house in an upcoming blog).
This mysterious road is absent from Hagstrom's 1945 map of Somerset County and seems to have just disappeared. By using all of the available sources I have been able to trace the old road onto a current map of Hillsborough, as shown below.
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Beginning at the intersection of Mill Lane and East Mountain Rd. (the original Amwell Rd.), our road travels southeast for about 5/8 of a mile, then makes a left turn and travels northeast for another 5/8 of a mile, ending at South Branch Rd. (also the original Amwell Rd.). If I remember my geometry correctly, this makes our road an equilateral triangle!
There is one short stretch of this long forgotten road still in existence. Hidden within the Woodfield Estates development, there is a narrow gravel drive named Eisler Lane. Published maps show this tiny dead-end street ending at its intersection with Danley Lane - but the Hillsborough Township GIS map shows the road continuing across the Amwell Rd. Bypass, right up to the intersection with South Branch Rd. - proof positive that Eisler Lane is the last remnant of one of Hillsborough's most ancient roads!
I would be curious to learn about any other "lost" roads in Hillsborough, no matter what their shape - leave a comment if you know any.
Do the triangles have some sort of hidden meaning? I’m thinking somewhere in between the two triangles is where you’ll find the Holy Grail.
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