There was a time when the people of Bloomingdale, which at that time included the north end of Riverdale (“East Bloomingdale”) and most of Butler (“West Bloomingdale”), desired to form a new county. They envisioned taking parts of five counties to form “Pequannock County” — with Bloomingdale as the county seat, of course. This effort […]
This building, on the corner of Boonton Ave. and Kiel Ave., started out as Cleary’s Department Store early in the 20th Century. It also served as the town’s post office after the Clearys moved to a different location. Note the unpaved roads, which became quite messy in wet weather. Just past it is Cleary’s Grocery Market. Across […]
This is a great photo. The view is from the east end of High Street in Butler, looking across the river at Main Street. Click on the photo to view it full-sized.
Here’s what Pequannock looked like in 1887. It was much larger than today’s 7-square-mile area — it still included Bloomingdale, Butler, Kinnelon, and Lincoln Park. Jefferson had split off in 1804, Rockaway Township in 1844, and Boonton and Montville took their leave in 1867. Butler kicked off the 20th Century by declaring itself a new borough […]
Newfoundland, NJ, was — I suppose it still is — a quaint little village between such ‘large’ towns as Butler and West Milford. In the early days, it was barely a stagecoach stop heading from here to there. As the roads were improved, though, and later as the railroad line was built, city folk from […]
Bloomingdale was originally part of Pompton Township, which itself was incorporated in 1798 in Passaic County NJ. It encompassed the Village of Pompton (now Pompton Lakes) as well as what is now Bloomingdale, Ringwood, Wanaque, and West Milford. Over time, the various areas broke off to form their separate townships; Bloomingdale went its way in […]
These are my primary areas of interest. I’ll add others, no doubt. Bloomingdale NJ Butler NJ Jefferson Twp. (including Milton and Oak Ridge) Newfoundland NJ Pequannock Twp. NJ (Pequannock & Pompton Plains) Pompton — that is, Pompton Lakes & Pompton Twp NJ Riverdale NJ Wayne Twp. NJ West Milford, NJ Miscellany – Other items of […]