History Of Denville Township Morris County, NJ
Pre-colonial times Lenape Indians lived in the area. They would travel the Minisink Trail that cut across todays southern Denville (roughly Route 10 and Mt. Pleasant Turnpike).
Early 17th century Dutch and English settlers arrived in the new world.
1664- Daniel Denton, one of the purchasers of the Elizabethtown Tract, led an expedition into the interior of northern New Jersey.
1670- Denton wrote the first English language description of the area.
1664- The English took over from the Dutch.
1676- New Jersey was divided into West and East Jersey with Denville in East New Jersey. As early as 1690 some researchers believed that settlers came to the Denville area.
1702- Queen Anne reunited the two divisions into the one royal Province of New Jersey. The settlers were Dutch and English from Long Island, Quakers from Philadelphia, and Germans.
c. 1715- William Penn staked out lands in the Denville area.
1730-1760 several forges and mills built along the Rockaway River and the Denbrook in Denville. Ninkey and Franklin in southern Denville developed around the forges there of the same names, while Denville village developed around the Job Allen Iron Works. Early Denville settler John Hinchman claimed that the elders of the area told him that both the names of Denbrook and Denville referred to a “den” of wild animals located along the Denbrook and Rockaway River. 1777 (January) George Washington marched north to Morristown. While in the area he had his horse shoed at a blacksmith shop on Casterline Road 1890 (October) former President Cleveland was a guest at the Denville Hotel (which later became the Wayside Inn).
1922- President Warren G. Harding, friends with the owners of the Diamond Spring Lodge, visited Denville.
1994- Former President George Bush visited ailing Congressman Dean Gallo at St. Clare’s Hospital.
Sources:
Vito Bianco. The Official Web Site of Denville, New Jersey. History and Facts. Early History of Denville, New Jersey. http://www.denvillenj.org/history_and_facts.htm
Denville is a township in Morris County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2000 United States Census, the township population was 15,824. As of the 2010 census, the population was 16,635. Denville is known as the “Hub of Morris County” for its location along major transportation routes at the center of the county. In 1988, as part of the town’s 75th anniversary celebration, a time capsule was buried that contained “artifacts” from that era.
Denville was formed as a township by an Act of the New Jersey Legislature on April 14, 1913, from portions of Rockaway Township.
History
Native Lenape Native Americans were known to travel the Minisink Trail for centuries before Europeans arrived in New Jersey. Part of that trail cut across what is now southern Denville, roughly following the course of Route 10 and Mount Pleasant Turnpike. Some research has indicated that there was a Lenape campsite along the trail in Denville, on or near the Ayres / Knuth Farm Historic Site along Route 10.
When Dutch and English settlers began to arrive in the new world in the early 17th century, the Minisink Trail was the likely route they traveled to explore the interior. Daniel Denton, one of the purchasers of what is known as the Elizabethtown Tract in 1664, led an expedition into the interior of northern New Jersey. In 1670, he wrote the first English language description of the area. Some researchers would later conclude that it was Denton who lent his name to the naming of Denville.
Some researchers have suggested that European settlers began to come to the Denville area as early as 1690. These early settlers were primarily Dutch and English from Long Island, Quakers from Philadelphia, and Germans. William Penn and several other proprietors began to survey and stake out lands in the Denville area around 1715. These surveys are the first documentation of Denville. Between 1730 and 1760, several forges and mills were erected in Denville along the Rockaway River and the Denbrook. A number of communities associated with the forges and mills began to emerge. Ninkey and Franklin in southern Denville developed around the forges there of the same names. Denville village developed around the Job Allen Iron Works. Early developers of Denville, such as the Hussa family and A.B Crane & Co., were intrinsic in shaping the residential and lake communities.
A letter from early Denville settler John Hinchman in the year 1800, recounts some of the oral history of Denville from 50 years earlier, as stated to him by some of the elders of the time. Hinchman explains in his letter that the naming of Denville can be traced to a “den” of wild animals located in the swampy regions along the Denbrook and Rockaway River. The animals would bask on a knoll that juts out into the meadows where they were hunted by the native Lenape. This “den”, Hinchman states, was the basis for the name of Denville and the Denbrook.
Census Bureau map of Denville, New Jersey
