Goffle Brook - History

History

Goffle Brook has seen human occupation for hundreds of years, as evidenced by abundant Lenape camp sites along its banks. Two such camps are known to have existed near the brook’s mouth, while another two existed about one and a half miles upstream on the east bank. A fifth camp, still locally remembered, sat at the confluence of Deep Voll Brook and Goffle Brook.

During the American Revolutionary War, General Lafayette stationed his men along the banks of the brook. In 1780, Major Lee’s Virginia light horse troop occupied the east bank of the brook, while Lafayette’s light infantry corps occupied the flanks of First Watchung Mountain to the west. Lafayette’s headquarters sat on the western bank of the brook in what is presently Goffle Brook Park south of Diamond Bridge Ave in Hawthorne.

Prior to the twentieth century, the brook’s gradation supported saw, grain, and grist mills. It was probably instrumental in initial settlement and farming of the northern Passaic River valley.

In addition to it uses as a drinking water supply and an energy source for mills, the brook has served as a focus for human creativity. Perhaps most notably, New Jersey native William Carlos Williams immortalized the brook in his 1949 poem Spring is Here Again, Sir. The poem opens with the line, Goffle brook of a May day blossoms in the manner of antiquity.

Today, Goffle Brook serves as the centerpiece of Goffle Brook Park and Kings Pond Park, providing fishing and ice skating opportunities to local residents.