Editing Boonton Township, New Jersey (section)

== History ==
Boonton Township's recorded history began about 1710 when [[William Penn]], the [[Religious Society of Friends|Quaker]] land speculator, located in the northern valley his Lot No. 48, which contained {{convert|1430|acre}} of fields and woodlands. James Bollen, whose bordering "plantation" stretching south toward the Tourne was described as "situate on the fork of Rockaway with an Indian plantation in it," mapped his <span style="white-space:nowrap">1,507&nbsp;acres&nbsp;(6&nbsp;km<sup>2</sup>)</span> in 1715. In 1765 David Ogden purchased from Burnet and Skinner the Great Boonton Tract. When the Township of Boonton was created as of April 11, 1867 by "An Act to Divide the Township of Pequannoc in the County of Morris" most of Penn's Lot No. 48 and parts of the Bollen and Great Boonton Tracts fell within Boonton's boundary.

The first settler of proper record was Frederick DeMouth of [[French people|French]] [[Huguenot]] extraction. By 1758, his Rockaway Valley plantation within the Penn Lot covered {{convert|672|acre|km2}}, and it was on this land that the large Stickle, Bott and Kincaid farms were to prosper in the far distant future. Frederick Miller of [[German Palatine]] birth bought extensive land (later day Dixon acres) within the Bollen piece at 13 shillings per acre. These founding families were closely followed by the Hoplers, Van Winkles, Cooks, Scotts, Peers, Stickles and Kanouses.

McCaffrey Lane, the oldest recorded thoroughfare in the area, was built in 1767 by [[Samuel Ogden]] of the Great Boonton Tract. In 1822, North Main Street was "cut" along the proposed [[Morris Canal]] route. In 1824, the Morris Canal and Banking Company was chartered with John Scott of Powerville, an important commissioner. Locks number 9, 10 and 11 were constructed in newly named Powerville. 

The Powerville Hotel, still standing, was built near Lock Number 11 to accommodate both canal and transient trade. The hotel, owned by Nathan Hopkins, gained fame as a station on the pre-[[American Civil War]] [[Underground Railroad]].<ref>Ricker, Jean. [https://www.boontontownship.com/our-history Our History], Boonton Township. Accessed March 20, 2020.</ref><ref>Zimmer, David M. [https://www.northjersey.com/story/news/new-jersey/2021/05/24/underground-railroad-miniseries-amazon-north-jersey-safe-houses-slavery/5145559001/ "Watching Underground Railroad miniseries? Here are some North Jersey safe houses"], ''[[The Record (North Jersey)|The Record]]'', May 24, 2021. Accessed June 26, 2024. "Outside of Harriet Tubman’s summertime stints working at Cape May hotels, New Jersey’s connection to the Underground Railroad generally sticks to the I-95 corridor.... Near Grimes' home, in neighboring Boonton Township, was another station, the Powerville Hotel. It was owned by Nathan Hopkins, whose son Charles Hopkins became involved in the railroad as a teenager, went on to join the First New Jersey Volunteer Infantry in 1861, survived a stint as a Confederate prisoner at Andersonville in Georgia and became the town’s mayor in 1880."</ref>