Town History
Hackettstown is one of the few towns in the United States that has no duplicate in name. Before its incorporation in 1853 it formed a part of Independence. It is delightfully situated in the Musconetcong valley, and is nearly surrounded by Schooley's Mountain on the one side, and on the other a range of which Buck's Hill forms a part. It is skirted on its northwestern border by the Morris canal, and on its southeastern border by the Musconetcong, whose excellent water power determined the location of a town at this point.
Hackettstown is named from Samuel Hackett, the earliest and largest landowner of this region, who is said to have contributed liberally to the liquid refreshments on the christening of a new hotel, in order to secure the name which, before this, had been Helms' Mills, or Musconetcong.