Readington Village, New Jersey

Readington was first settled by Europeans in the early 18th century by people of Dutch descent, including Emanuel Van Etta, from Esopus, New York, and Adrian Lane, a settler who erected a mill on Holland Brook. During the 19th century, Readington Village had a church, a mill, a store, a school and a tavern. One of the former school buildings is a garage between the bottom of Hillcrest and Centerville Roads on Brookview Road. A later former school building can be seen just west of there and is now being used as a barn. The mill in Readington Village continued to run until about 1920 and was still standing until 1935. A general store in the community continued to function until the 1990s. The store was eventually sold and later became a post office. The only non-residential buildings in Readington Village today are the small post office, a volunteer fire house (also used as a polling station) and the Readington Reformed Church. The post office is on property owned by the Little Shell Band of Chippewa Indians. The community has seen extensive flooding of Holland Brook a few times in recent years (including during Hurricane Floyd) that has closed the Hillcrest Bridge and damaged nearby houses. Just northwest of Readington is Solberg Airport, the site of the New Jersey Balloon Festival. This annual festival began in 1983 and its hundred-plus balloons draw over a hundred thousand people. It is the largest annual event in New Jersey and the largest balloon festival in North America during the summer. ==Historic district==