Boonton Township is a township in Morris County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the township’s population was 4,263, reflecting a decline of 24 (-0.6%) from the 4,287 counted in the 2000 Census, which had in turn increased by 721 (+20.2%) from the 3,566 counted in the 1990 Census.
Boonton Township was incorporated by an act of the New Jersey Legislature on April 11, 1867, from portions of Pequannock Township. The borough of Mountain Lakes was formed from portions of the township on March 3, 1924. The settlement was originally called “Boone-Towne” in 1761 in honor of the Colonial Governor Thomas Boone.
New Jersey Monthly magazine ranked Boonton Township as the 4th best place to live in the state in its rankings of the “New Jersey’s Top Towns 2011-2012.
Boonton Township’s recorded history began about 1710 when William Penn, the Quaker land speculator, located in the northern valley his Lot No. 48, which contained 1,430 acres (580 ha) of fields and woodlands. James Bollen, whose bordering “plantation” stretching south toward the Tourne was described as “situate on the fork of Rockaway with an Indian plantation in it,” mapped his 1,507 acres (6 km²) in 1715. In 1765 David Ogden purchased from Burnet and Skinner the Great Boonton Tract. When the Township of Boonton was created as of April 11, 1867 by “An Act to Divide the Township of Pequannoc in the County of Morris” most of Penn’s Lot No. 48 and parts of the Bollen and Great Boonton Tracts fell within Boonton’s boundary.
The first settler of proper record was Frederick DeMouth of French Huguenot extraction. By 1758, his Rockaway Valley plantation within the Penn Lot covered 672 acres (2.72 km2), and it was on this land that the large Stickle, Bott and Kincaid farms were to prosper in the far distant future. Frederick Miller of German Palatine birth bought extensive land (later day Dixon acres) within the Bollen piece at 13 shillings per acre. These founding families were closely followed by the Hoplers, Van Winkles, Cooks, Scotts, Peers, Stickles and Kanouses.
McCaffrey Lane, the oldest recorded thoroughfare in the area, was built in 1767 by Samuel Ogden of the Great Boonton Tract. In 1822, North Main Street was “cut” along the proposed Morris Canal route. In 1824, the Morris Canal and Banking Company was chartered with John Scott of Powerville, an important commissioner. Lock Numbers 9, 10 and 11 were constructed in newly named Powerville. The Powerville Hotel, still standing, was built near Lock Number 11 to accommodate both canal and transient trade. It later gained fame as a pre-American Civil War Underground Railroad station.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the township had a total area of 8.632 square miles (22.357 km2), including 8.242 square miles (21.347 km2) of land and 0.390 square miles (1.010 km2) of water (4.52%).
Unincorporated communities, localities and place names located partially or completely within the township include Deer Pond, Dixons Pond, Powerville, Rockaway Valley and Sheep Hill.
As of the 2010 United States Census, there were 4,263 people, 1,575 households, and 1,150 families residing in the township. The population density was 517.2 per square mile (199.7/km2). There were 1,647 housing units at an average density of 199.8 per square mile (77.1/km2). The racial makeup of the township was 92.35% (3,937) White, 1.55% (66) Black or African American, 0.12% (5) Native American, 3.99% (170) Asian, 0.05% (2) Pacific Islander, 0.54% (23) from other races, and 1.41% (60) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 4.18% (178) of the population.
Source: Wikipedia
