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is a Borough in Hunterdon County, New Jersey, United States. As of the United States 2000 Census, the borough population was 1,488.
Frenchtown Borough is located along the banks of the Delaware River. Various names have been applied to this settlement, after the many ferry operators residing on both sides of the river. Alexandria Ville, Sunbeam, and Frenchtown were the official names by which this community was known over the years. The Borough was formed by an Act of the New Jersey Legislature on April 4, 1867, from portions of Alexandria Township. Additional territory was gained from Kingwood Township in 1865.
The first bridge across the Delaware at Frenchtown was a six-span covered wooden bridge built in 1841 on the five piers that still stand today, and the community became a gateway to Pennsylvania. The Uhlerstown-Frenchtown Bridge, a free Delaware River Joint Toll Bridge Commission bridge over the Delaware River connects Frenchtown to Uhlerstown, Bucks County, Pennsylvania.
In 1757, three joint owners of a tract purchased from the West Jersey Land Society began laying at streets and building lots at Calvin's Ferry. The developing town was to be called "Alexandria" in honor of William Alexander, one of the three owners. In 1776, the three sold the settlement to Thomas Lowrey, a Flemington speculator.
In 1794, Lowrey sold the tract to Paul Henri Mallet-Prevost, a Swiss fugitive from the French Revolution. He and other early settlers were French speaking, leading some to begin calling the place "Frenchtown."
The town grew substantially in the next four decades. A trade in grain and other farm products developed. Boatmen and river men helped fuel Frenchtown's growth through their buying of cargo and food, and hiring of pilots. In the years after Henri Mallet-Prevost's death, his sons sold off portions of their property; no longer was the town privately owned.
The arrival of the Belvidere Delaware Railroad in 1853 sparked continued growth in Frenchtown. Steam-powered industry became widely developed, and by the 1860s, mills were being converted into larger factories. Around the same time, the town had three major hotels. In 1889, Britton Brothers Big Brick Store, which sold a variety of goods, opened on Bridge Street.
In the early 20th century, growth was spurred by the arrival of Frenchtown Porcelain Works, the establishment of the Milford plant of the Warren Paper Company, and the rise of the poultry industry.