History of Lafayette Township

Sussex County, New Jersey

1845  -- Lafayette Township created from land in Newton and Frankford Township and named in honor of the French Marquis de La Fayette of the American Revolutionary War. 

post-Civil War  --  new commercial buildings constructed along Main Street in the village of Lafayette.

beginning of the 20th century  --  Thomas Edison opened the Limestone Products quarry on the Sparta-Lafayette Township border. 

1907 photo  --  shows the Lafayette House, a hotel and restaurant, on Main Street run by owner R. J. Blauvelt.

1912 postcard  --  in Lafayette, the Alderney Dairy Company's creamery was next to the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad (formerly the Sussex Railroad).  The rail line connected to Newark and New York City. 

1938  -- the Alderney Dairy Company creamery demolished. 

1980s  --  the Lafayette House relocated to the shopping center Olde Lafayette Village.

(Source: 2003. Wayne T. McCabe. Images of America: Sussex County. Charleston, SC: Arcadia Press.)