Montville Township
Morris County, New Jersey
Montville is located near the junction of I-287 and I-80.
History:
Dutch farmers migrated here from Montville, Connecticut.
1714 -- Humphrey Davenport settled in this vicinity. Zabriskie's grist-mill stood at the beginning corner of Humphrey Davenport's tract of 750 acres.
By the 1740s -- a settlement grew in the area. And an early road (now Route 202), connected various farms with Montville’s first gristmill.
prior to 1745 -- Michael Cook had a grist-mill at Montville.
as early as 1749 -- Michael Cook elected to a town office.
1756 -- The oldest church in the township is the Reformed church at Lower Montville (started at Old Boonton this year as the Reformed Dutch Congregation).
Revolutionary War -- Montville was one of the major military routes from Morristown to the Hudson River. General Washington’s troops often took the route.
1780 (June) -- Washington stayed in Montville. French troops also passed through Montville on their way to the War’s final victory at Yorktown, Virginia.
1781 -- Albert Alyea purchased Zabriskie's mill from David Brower.
1785 -- Daniel Duryea, who came from Harrington, Bergen County, purchased 120 acres from Albert Alyea. The old Zabriskie grist-mill became known as the Duryea mill.
c. 1785 -- Revolutionary War veteran Nathaniel Gaines settled near Pine Brook. He was a nail-maker by trade.
About 1787 -- the Cook mill and a saw-mill were owned by John Pierson and Elijah Dod. (Mr. Dod erected a house that is now the residence of the widow of Frederick W. Cook.)
c. 1795 -- Silas Cook came to Montville.
1798 -- Silas Cook bought one-quarter of the cider-mill and distillery belonging to Zadoc Baldwin.
1799 -- Silas Cook bought another quarter from Baldwin. Cook soon was the sole owner of the distillery.
From 1800 to 1820 -- Montville village contained about sixteen dwellings, two bark-mills and tanneries, three sawmills, one grist-mill, cider-mill and distillery, blacksmith shop, carpenter and wheelwright shop and a small store.
1804 -- death of Daniel Duryea.
1806 -- Silas Cook became a county court judge, an office he held for almost 40 years.. He was also a justice of the peace and for one term represented the county in the upper house of the State Legislature.
1807 -- after the death of Elijah Dod, Frederick W. Cook (a son of Silas Cook) bought the Dod property.
c. 1809 -- Conrad Estler bought a lot from Henry I. Vanness and opened the first store at Montville.
c. 1809 -- Nicholas J. Hyler and Leonard Davenport built an old woolen factory for a carding and fulling mill.
1812 -- Benjamin L. and Stephen Condit bought 24 acres of land of Daniel T. Peer at Montville and built a bark mill and tannery.
1813 -- the Cook brothers sold their bark mill and tannery to their brothers Nathaniel 0. and Timothy D. Condit.
1815 -- Hyler died.
1818 -- the oldest son of Nathaniel Gaines, Dr. Ezekiel Baldwin Gaines, settled in Lower Montville and practiced medicine for thirty-seven years.
1819 -- building of the Reformed church in Montville.
1821-1824 -- first minister of the Reformed Church in Montville, Rev. James G. Brinckerhoof.
1824 -- there was doctrinal disputes in the Reformed Church and Rev. Brinckerhoof sided with the dissenting portion and helped form the True Reformed Dutch Church. A new church was erected about two miles South on the road to Pine Brook.
1825 -- prior to this year, distilleries were numerous and the use of whiskey quite general.
1825 -- the great distillery discontinued when the building of the Morris Canal was commenced. This canal passed through the village. In half a mile the canal descended 150 feet by two inclined planes; the lower plane passing over part of the ground where the old distillery stood.
1827 -- Nathaniel 0. Condit built a one-story tavern to take advantage of the Morris Canal under construction. He kept the business going for some 30 years.
1828 -- Morris Canal completed in the area, bringing commercial navigation to the Montville/Towaco area.
c. 1828 -- the area became “Montville.”
c. 1843 -- Methodist church at Pine Brook erected.
1844 -- Rockaway township set off from Montville Township. At this time the Nathaniel O. Condit tavern became the place for holding town meetings and elections in Pequannock to 1867.
mid-19th century -- development of two smaller village centers: 1) Pine Brook in the Township’s southern end; and 2) Whitehall (later called Towaco), situated on the Morris Canal.
1851 -- the Methodist church at Whitehall (Towaco) built.
1867 -- the Township of Montville formally chartered, created out of part of Pequannock Township.
1867 -- the Nathaniel O. Condit tavern became the place for transacting the public business of Montville township.
1867 -- one of the first one-room schools in the area built (It is now home to the Mountville Museum at 6 Taylortown Road) .
1962 -- dedication of the “new” Montville Municipal Building on River Road. Population was 7,000.
1970s-1980s -- great growth in population in the area.
1989 -- Montville residents voted overwhelmingly for a dedicated open space tax.
1994 -- the municipal offices relocated to the new Municipal Building on Changebridge Road.
1995 -- the Library moved from the old facility a new facility.
2002 -- the Senior House on Route 202 renovated and expanded.
2l003 -- the new Public Safety Building on Route 202 opened.
2003 -- dedication of the new Youth Center, located in Community Park on Changebridge Road.
Today -- a suburban community of 21,000. Thee Township is comprised of 3 sections: Towaco, Pine Brook and Montville.
Sources:
Township of Montville: http://www.montville-township.org/
About Montville: http://www.montville-township.org/about/index.shtml
Hon. John Kanouse. 1881. Township of Montville: Early History of Montville Township. http://www.montville-township.org/about/history.shtml