MAHWAH TOWNSHIP

Bergen County, New Jersey

Mahwah was located at the junction of several early transportation routes.

Mahwah was an early Indian name for an area in the Ramapo Valley. The name Mahwah is an Indian word supposedly meaning "smiling fields" or "a meeting place," given to an Indian field in the vicinity.

Early names for the area also included Ramapo or Ramapough, and Hopper's.

The area included Ackermans Mills, Airmont, Bear Swamp, Cragmere, Darlington, Halifax, Havemeyers Reservoir, Island Church, Masonicus, Mountainside Farm, Oweno, Pulis Mills, Ramapo Farm, Stag Hill, and Wanamakers Mills.

1750 – the Ramapo Reformed Dutch/Lutheran Church established.

1849 – the area was incorporated as Hohokus Township.

1870 – Mahwah Post Office established with Andrew Hagerman as first Postmaster.

Other early postmasters included Garrett H. Van Horne (1877), Henry B. Hagerman (1881), John Petry (1893), Henry B. Hagerman (1897), and Walter D. Finch (1914).

1871 – Mahwah's first railroad station built. The Old Station Museum at 1871 Old Station Lane is now maintained and operated by the Mahwah Historical Society.

1884 – the name of the Post Office briefly changed to Oweno; it was changed back to Mahwah in the same year.

Early 1900s – the nickel works of the Hopkins & Dickinson Manufacturing Company located in the Darlington section.

Early 1900s -- the American Brake Shoe & Foundry Co. produced railway brake shoes and man-hole covers.

1944 – Mahwah Township incorporated, replacing Hohokus Township.

Ramapo State College is located on Ramapo Valley Road.

Source:

http://www.dutchdoorgenealogy.com/bergen_county_new_jersey_municipalities.html