When the township separated from Elizabeth in 1808, it adopted the name Union. Why Union? Nobody seems to know. If a definitive answer exists, it has remained well hidden. Some tentative answers have been put forward, most of them suggesting that the name indicated support for the federal union. But perhaps the answer lies closer to home. The area that is now Union Township had been part of Essex County since 1683; and it would remain part of Essex County until Union County was established in 1857. Residents throughout southern Essex were not happy with their situation, believing that county policy and county politics were dominated by the town of Newark. In 1807, the year before Union township’s formation, political tempers flared when Essex County held a special election to decide the location of a new county courthouse. The contest was between Newark, the old county seat, and Day’s Hill (now Irvington.) Southern Essex lined up solidly behind Day’s Hill; but Newark won.