Editing Little Falls, New Jersey (section)

==History==
Little Falls traces its first European settlement to 1711, when seven [[Bergen, New Netherland|Bergen Dutch]] settlers banded together to begin farming.<ref>[http://lfnj.com/pdf/2013_Master_Plan_Rexamination_Final_Report.pdf#page=6 2013 Master Plan Re-examination Report], Little Falls Township. Accessed December 24, 2016. "Little Falls, in Passaic County New Jersey traces its history back to its founding in 1711 when seven Dutch farmers banded together to begin farming in this fertile area of Northern New Jersey, which was then referred to as the Village of Little Falls. One of the old farm houses, the Speer Homestead built in 1680, proudly stands in Little Falls today as one of the oldest homes in New Jersey and a reminder of the towns' agrarian roots."</ref> The [[Reynier Speer House|Speer Homestead]] dates from {{circa|1785}} (and may have originally been built in 1680).<ref>[https://focus.nps.gov/AssetDetail/NRIS/85001566 Nomination Form for Reynier Speer House], [[National Park Service]]. Accessed December 24, 2016.</ref>

The [[Morris Canal]], once an important artery of trade and transportation until 1925 between the [[Delaware River|Delaware]] and [[Hudson River|Hudson]] rivers, wound its way through the township, and vestiges of it still remain today,<ref>[https://www.arcgis.com/home/item.html?id=9a6ed6762a034f48a252321e7b837583 Passaic County Morris Canal Greenway Status Map], ArcGIS, February 18, 2015. Accessed December 24, 2016. "The Morris Canal passed through today's Passaic County towns of Wayne, Little Falls, Woodland Park, Paterson, and Clifton."</ref> some parts of which form a [[Greenway (landscape)|greenway]].<ref>[https://www.loc.gov/pictures/collection/hh/item/nj0875/ Great Falls/S. U. M. Power Canal System, Paterson, Passaic County, NJ -  Morris Canal in Passaic County], [[Library of Congress]]. Accessed June 7, 2017.</ref><ref>[http://www.passaiccountynj.org/DocumentCenter/View/363 "Spotlight on the Morris Canal in the Township of Little Falls] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170408002656/http://www.passaiccountynj.org/DocumentCenter/View/363 |date=2017-04-08 }}, ''A Journey Along the Towpath'', April 2011. Accessed June 7, 2017.</ref>

Little Falls was incorporated as a township by an act of the [[New Jersey Legislature]] on April 2, 1868, from portions of [[Acquackanonk Township, New Jersey|Acquackanonk Township]]. On March 25, 1914, portions of the township were taken to form the borough of West Paterson (now [[Woodland Park, New Jersey|Woodland Park]]).<ref name=Story>Snyder, John P. [https://nj.gov/dep/njgs/enviroed/oldpubs/bulletin67.pdf ''The Story of New Jersey's Civil Boundaries: 1606-1968''], Bureau of Geology and Topography; Trenton, New Jersey; 1969. p. 209. Accessed May 29, 2024.</ref>