An Accidental Double Take: Unearthing New Jersey's Secret Twin Towns (The Ones That Share a Name with New York, Anyway)

You know, sometimes you stumble upon something so utterly specific, so delightfully quirky, that you just have to wonder. Have you ever been driving through, say, central New Jersey, perhaps near a sign for "Verona," and felt a flicker of déjà vu? Not because you’ve been there before, but because the name itself rings a bell, perhaps from a map of a different state entirely? Well, if you have, then you’re not alone, and for good reason.

Because, in truth, the Garden State is something of a mirror, you could say, for its northern neighbor, New York. It’s not a grand, sweeping reflection, mind you, but rather a series of curious little echoes—towns and municipalities that share the exact same names, syllable for syllable, with places just over the border. It’s a geographical oddity, really; a kind of accidental homage that makes you pause and think, "Wait a minute, isn't there a...?"

Take Verona, for instance. New Jersey boasts its own lovely Verona, a township nestled in Essex County. But then, way up in Oneida County, New York, there’s another Verona. Are they similar? Perhaps in name only, and honestly, that’s part of the fun. It’s not about finding identical twins, but rather about acknowledging these parallel naming universes.

And then there are the Washingtons. Oh, the Washingtons! New Jersey alone has a Township of Washington in Bergen County, another in Gloucester County, and yet another in Morris, plus Washington Borough in Warren. Across the Hudson? New York counters with at least five of its own Washingtons, from Dutchess County to Warren County, and many points in between. It's almost as if everyone wanted to honor the same founding father, but, well, they got a little carried away. Same goes for Clinton: a borough in Hunterdon County, NJ, versus a town in Dutchess County, NY. A classic, really.

Let's not forget Dover. New Jersey's Dover in Morris County is a bustling spot. New York has its own Dover, in Dutchess County, a place with a distinctly different vibe, one would imagine. And what about Chester? Our Chester Borough and Township in Morris County are charming, to be sure. New York, however, has a town and a village of Chester in Orange County. It’s a curious overlap, isn’t it?

You might start to wonder if the original settlers simply ran out of ideas, or perhaps they were just fond of repeating a good thing. We’ve got Holland Township in Hunterdon County, New Jersey. New York? They’ve got a town of Holland in Erie County. Berlin Borough in Camden County, NJ, finds its namesake in Berlin, a town in Rensselaer County, NY. And honestly, the list keeps going, like a quiet game of geographical bingo.

Salem in New Jersey (that's Salem County, for the record) has a mirror in Salem, a town in Washington County, New York. Florence, a township in Burlington County, NJ, shares its gentle name with Florence, a town in Oneida County, NY. Then there’s Sussex, a borough in Sussex County, NJ, and a town of Sussex in Delaware County, NY. And finally, Warren. Our Warren Township in Somerset County finds its counterpart in Warren, a town in Herkimer County, NY. It's quite the collection, isn't it?

So, the next time you're idly scrolling through a map, or even just passing a road sign, give a little thought to these unexpected twin towns. They're a quiet reminder that while our states certainly have their unique identities, there are these subtle, almost whimsical connections—little linguistic and geographical overlaps that make the map just a bit more interesting, a touch more human, and certainly, a lot more fun to explore. And who knows, maybe the Verona, New Jersey folks have visited the Verona, New York, folks? A delightful thought, that.