History
The Lenape Native Americans were said to inhabit the town first and many names throughout the general area were passed down from the Lenape. Pascack and Kinderkamack are just two of the names which have been passed down. After they left, the Dutch were the first settlers turning the landscape into a tapestry of gardens, apple orchards and truck farms.
The Township of Washington was created by an Act of the New Jersey Legislature on April 13, 1840, from the territories between the Hackensack River and Saddle River that had been part of Harrington Township. At the time of its creation, the township encompassed an area of 19,525 acres (79.01 km2), more than 30 square miles (78 km2).
Growth in the area exploded after the Civil War with the completion of the New Jersey and New York Railway through the Pascack Valley, as communities were established near the railroad's stations.
Orvil Township was created on January 1, 1886, from the western portion of The Township of Washington and the southern portion of Hohokus Township.
The Borough Act resulted in a flurry of new boroughs created from portions of the township in 1894 as the "Boroughitis" phenomenon swept through The Township of Washington: Westwood (May 8, 1894), Park Ridge (May 14, 1894), Eastwood (part; created June 6, 1894, borough lasted until 1896), Montvale (part; created August 31, 1894) and Woodcliff (part; created August 31, 1894, name changed to Woodcliff Lake in 1910). Hillsdale Township (now a borough) was created on March 25, 1898. Etna Borough, which ultimately became Emerson, was formed on April 8, 1903. River Vale (part) was the last to leave when it was created on April 30, 1906. The departures have taken the township from over 30 square miles (78 km2) to its current 3-square-mile (7.8 km2) size.
Seven Chimneys is a house located on Ridgewood Road atop a small hill and as the name says, it has seven chimneys. It has been said that George Washington had stayed at this house during the Revolutionary War. Seven Chimneys, the oldest house in the township, is an impressive example of eighteenth-century, regional, domestic architecture and is an important remnant of the community's early settlement period. The house is listed on the State Register and National Register of Historic Places. On November 3, 1968, the Bergen County Historical Society placed a historic-site marker on the property.
During the mid 1950s, the completion of the 173-mile (278 km) Garden State Parkway running north and south through 50 municipalities in 10 counties, split the township in two. The Parkway created two access routes with Exit 166 on the southern border next to Paramus and Exit 168 on Washington Avenue. The northernmost toll plaza was built off of East Glen. During the decade after the Parkway was completed, the township dramatically increased in population.
Read more about this topic: Washington Township, Bergen County, New Jersey
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