Independence Township is a township in Warren County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the township's population was 5,469,
History
Independence Township was originally created on November 11, 1782, from Hardwick Township, while the area was still part of Sussex County, and was incorporated as one of the state's initial group of 104 townships by an act of the New Jersey Legislature on February 21, 1798. Most of Independence Township became part of the newly created Warren County on November 20, 1824, with the remainder becoming part of Green Township in Sussex County. Portions of the township were taken to form Hackettstown (March 9, 1853) and Allamuchy Township (April 4, 1873). The township was named for American independence.
Through the Township the major brooks and the Great Meadows drain into the Pequest River which winds slowly from northeast to southwest to flow on through the county and eventually into the Delaware River at Belvidere. Part of the eastern land drains under the Morris Canal bed and south into the Musconetcong River just below the boundary with Mansfield Township. The hillsides are steep, layered with rock and limestone while the valleys still hold soil deposited here from the receding glaciers. Mastodon bones and a few relics of the early Indian dwellers still occasionally can be found as well as coveys of game birds, some white tail deer and small game.
This area was initially settled and cleared as farmland for growing hay and grain or as pastureland. Timber was cut for lumber, grain was milled into flour, and some iron ore was mined from the Jenny Jump Mountain area during the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century. The mining of iron ore which attracted the early settlers, the later iron foundries, and many of the early industries have disappeared as has the Morris Canal and the railroads as the major means of shipping freight. After many attempts the Great Meadow was drained with the water channeled to permit successful development of commercial vegetable production. Shipping over the years has been by wagon, small trucks, rail freight, and then by large trailer trucks.
Geography
According to the United States Census Bureau, the township had a total area of 19.98 square miles (51.75 km<sup>2</sup>), including 19.83 square miles (51.36 km<sup>2</sup>) of land and 0.15 square miles (0.39 km<sup>2</sup>) of water (0.76%). Through the 2000 United States census, the areas were grouped together as Great Meadows-Vienna, which had a population of 1,264 as of that year.
Other unincorporated communities, localities and place names located partially or completely within the township include Petersburgh.
The township borders the Warren County municipalities of Allamuchy Township, Frelinghuysen Township, Hackettstown, Liberty Township and Mansfield Township.