Historical Pequannock, NJ

Events Of The Past Which Helped Create Our Township As Its Today

1696-..Arent Schuyler and others purchased the Pompton Patent from the Lenape Indians and the Duke of York.

1710-West bank of Pequannock River Settled by Le Mattre, Comley and Van Ness Famlies.

1740-MARCH 25, PEQUANNOCK, THE LARGEST MORRIS COUNTY TOWNSHIP, WAS CREATED BY THE FIRST COURT TO SIT IN MORRISTOWN.

1776-83..Constant movement of American Continental Army along Kings Highway.

1781-Rochambeau’s French Army camped in Pompton Plains going to and from the Battle of Yorktown.

1789-Jackson Avenue authorized by State Legislation.

1804-Jefferson Township separated from Pequannock Township.

1807-Newark-Pompton Turnpike opened as a toll road.

1811-Legislation in Trenton formed “Bog and Vly Company” to drain the land and create East Big Ditch & West Ditch.

1830-Pequannock Township had 4,451 people (including slaves), 8 stores, 9 sawmills, 5 gristmills, 37 tanning vats, 2 distilleries, 14 forges, 690 horses and mules, 2,265 cattle, Township paid $574 State Tax, $1,285 County Tax.

1831-Randolph separated from Pequannock Township and became Dover in 1844.

1844-Rockaway separated from Pequannock Township.

1867-Boonton Township, Boonton and Montville became separate Boroughs.

1874-Boulevard created.

1895-Wharton separated from Pequannock Township.

1901-Butler separated from Pequannock Township.

1915-Pompton Plains Fire Association (Engine Co. No. 1) organized at Mandeville Inn. George Atwood first Captain.

1922-Turnpike paved with concrete. (WasNew Jersey Route 23). Riverdale, Kinnelon,Lincoln Park separated fromPequannockTownship.

1923-Pequannock Township Engine Co. No. 2 organized.

1930-First Township Offices opened consisting of Municipal Clerk and Police Office.

1951-First Master Plan adopted for Township.

1953-P.V. Park opened – first public recreation area.

1954-Chilton Memorial Hospital opened on Turnpike.

1956-New Municipal Building dedicated; two wings added later.

1957-January 1st – Council/Manager form of government took effect.

1980-Pequannock Township had 13,776 people, Township paid $1,152,526.13 County Tax, Total School Budget $4,902,077.78, and $1,367,664.34 Total Town Budget.

Years Of The American Revolution In Pequannock Township

DID YOU KNOW THAT

…at the start of the Revolutionary War residents of the Township of Pequannock issued a declaration of support for the Continental Congress known as the Pequannock Articles of Agreement for the Continental and Provincial Congresses.

…during the Revolutionary War in 1779 county tax records indicated that there were 43 slaves in Pequannock Township.

…a “Liberty Pole” in support of the Patriot Cause was erected in Pequannock Township at a location where the current Township of Pequannock Municipal building sidewalk meets the curb along the present Newark-Pompton Turnpike.

…in a book entitled Men from Morris County New Jersey Who Served in the American Revolution, compiled by Barbara Hoskins, 67 men from Pequannock Township served in the Revolutionary War.

…David Provost, a Revolutionary War veteran, is listed as a school teacher in Pompton Plains in 1807.

…if you visit the First Reformed Church of Pompton Plains you can see the tombstone and grave of Simon Vanness (1734-1831), an American Revolutionary War veteran.

…the Newark-Pompton Turnpike, once called the “King’s Highway,” was “one of America’s major Revolutionary Highway’s.” It took American Revolutionary War soldiers from West Point and the Hudson Highlands to Trenton and points south.

…No less than 17 American Revolutionary War generals used the present-day Newark-Pompton Turnpike, during the Revolutionary War.

…General George Washington began a letter written on July 14, 1777 to the Continental Congress, with these word: “Vanaulen (currently the present-day van Allen House in nearby Oakland), 8 Miles from Pumpton Plains.”

Civil War Veterans Buried In First Reformed Church Of Pompton Plains

Cornelius W. Chandler  47th N.Y. Volunteers Company E

Charles M. Dolson 95th N.Y. Volunteers Company H

George Forbes 27th N.J. Volunteers Company C

Garret Miller 33rd N.J. Volunteers Company D

James B. Onderdonk 1st N.J. Light Artillery Battery B

Erastus H. Scofield (Cpl.) 33rd N.J. Volunteers Company F

From Gone to Wear the Victor’s Crown, Morris County, New Jersey and the Civil A Documentary Account. Compiled and Edited by David Miltros. A Publication of the Morris County Heritage Commission, 1998. Civil War Veterans grave list, found in the book named above (pages 193-210), obtained from cemetery sites throughout Morris County, was compiled by Nick DeRose, Historical Society of the Rockaways. The above list of the First Reformed Church Cemetery Civil War Veterans was abstracted from the above referenced material and written by Edward G. Engelbart for the Pequannock Township Historic District Commission, Nov. 1998.