The Reverend John Henry Livingston of the famous Livingston family, newly chosen head of Queen's College (now Rutgers University), purchased a 150-acre (0.61 km 2) plot of land in 1809, which would hereafter be known as the Livingston Manor. In the early 18th century, a few wealthy Europeans including the Van Horns and Merrills settled on large tracts of land establishing an isolated farmstead pattern of development that would continue for the next 150 years. Others early settlers included Captain Francis Drake and other members of the Drake family, relatives of the famous explorer. In the late 17th century, Henry Greenland became one of the area's first European settlers he owned nearly 400 acres (1.6 km 2) of land on the Mill Brook section of the Assunpink Trail, where he operated an inn for travelers. It became the Lincoln Highway Bridge in 1914 and was widened in 1925. The present day seven-span stone arch road bridge was built in 1892 and stretches 595 feet (181 m) across the Raritan River to New Brunswick. The wood plank Albany Street Bridge was dismantled in 1848 and reconstructed in 1853. A toll bridge replaced the ferry in 1795. This river crossing was run by generations of different owners and a ferry house tavern operated for many years in the 18th century.

He established a ferry service and the main road then was redirected to lead straight to the ferry landing. In 1685, John Inian bought land on both shores of the Raritan River and built two new landings downstream from the Assunpink Trail's fording place, which was later developed as Raritan Landing. The earliest settlers of the land that would become Highland Park were the Lenape Native Americans, who hunted in the hills along the Raritan River and had trails that crisscrossed the area, providing a link between the Delaware River and Hudson River areas. The borough was named for its location above the Raritan River. Highland Park was formed as a borough by an act of the New Jersey Legislature on March 15, 1905, when it broke away from what was then known as Raritan Township (present-day Edison). As of the 2020 United States census, the borough's population was 15,072, an increase of 1,090 (+7.8%) from the 2010 census count of 13,982, which in turn reflected a decline of 17 (−0.1%) from the 13,999 counted in the 2000 census. The borough is located on the northern banks of the Raritan River, in the Raritan Valley region.

state of New Jersey, in the New York City metropolitan area.

Highland Park is a borough in Middlesex County, in the U.S.

Highland park nj post office