Originally
named Boonetown honoring Thomas Boone, Governor of New Jersey in 1760, Boonton has been made world famous by the manufacture of Boontonware plastic tableware. It is also known for its many antique shops.
Boonton Town
Located about seven miles north of Morristown, Boonton
was settled on the hills along the Rockaway River as early
as 1747, however, the original village of Boonton was
inundated by the Jersey City Reservoir in 1903.
Contemporary Boonton developed around 1829 as a result of
the construction of the Morris Canal and the establishment
of the New Jersey Iron Company. Access to Boonton is
provided via Myrtle Avenue (US 202), and I-287, as well as
NJ Transit's Boonton Line. The town contains a traditional
Main Street business district with its notable antique
shops. The town is also noted for its one- and two-family
homes, townhouses, and restored homes representing the
Colonial, Victorian and Contemporary eras.
Boonton is bisected by I-287, a major north-south freeway,
and Route 202. The two-and –a-half square mile community
is almost fully developed and is the shopping center for
adjacent communities. The diversified business district
includes five banks, food, clothing and variety stores. The
town's economic center, Main Street, is lined with a
mixture of mom-and-pop boutiques and antique stores, and
computer and small Internet companies housed behind
turn-of-the-century brick building facades.
Victorian houses are predominant in some parts of town. Elsewhere, historic dwellings, built between 1850 and 1855, intermix with ranch and split-level dwellings, condominiums and townhouses.
The rise from the Rockaway River, the New York skyline and surrounding plains are visible from the town’s higher elevations. Rich in colonial heritage, the town stretches north and east to Boonton Township and Montville and to Mountain Lakes and Parsippany in the South.
Since 1903, much of the early history of the original
community is buried beneath the waters of the Jersey City
Reservoir. Once the site of forges, rolling mills, a
sawmill, a nail factory, gristmill and early homes of Dutch
and English settlers, the town now dominates the hills that
surround the reservoir. Stretches of the Morris Canal are
still visible as is the remarkable 80-foot plane which
allowed canal travelers to bypass the falls of the Rockaway
River.
Board of Education:
434 Lathrop Avenue
Boonton NJ 07005
(201) 335-3994
http://www.boontonschools.org
Kindergarten half day
Must be 5 years old by Oct. 1
Public Schools:
School Street School K-4; John Hill School 5-8; Boonton High Schoo1 9-l2
Boonton Township
Boonton Township, comprised of approximately eight
square miles in north central Morris County, has retained
much of its natural character and rural charm.
Incorporated in 1868, the township had the earliest known
roads. McCaffrey Lane, the oldest recorded thoroughfare in
the area, was built in 1767, and in 1822 North Main Street
was "cut" along the proposed Morris Canal route. In 1824
the Morris Canal and Banking Company was chartered and the
Powerville Hotel, still standing, was built near Lock No.
11 to accommodate both canal and transient trade. It later
gained fame as a pre-Civil War Underground Railroad
station. In the late 1920's, the township became home to
the Aircraft Radio Corporation, which pioneered electronic
instrumentation for use in planes.
Schools
Rockaway Valley School (K- 8)
11 Valley Road
Boonton Township, NJ 07005
(973) 334-4162
www.rvsnj.org
Mountain Lakes High School (9-12)
96 Powerville Road
Mountain Lakes, NJ 07046
(973) 334-8400
www.mtlakes.org/hs/
There is a sending/receiving agreement in place between
the Boonton Township Board of Education and Mountain Lakes
Board of Education for High School. Please contact the
Boonton Township Board of Education for more information.
Transportation
Nearby Routes 10, 23, 46, 202, I-80, 280 and 287 offer Boonton Residents quick access to points in the metropolitan area. Bus service to New York City is available in town on Route 46. Conrail provides train service to Hoboken. A taxi service and several limousine services are available in town. New Jersey Transport provides bus service from Morristown through Boonton and to Willowbrook Mall.
Shopping
Del’s Village Shopping Center; IGA Shopping Plaza; Willowbrook Mall, Wayne; and Rockaway Townsquare Mall.
Demographics
Boonton Town
Boonton Township
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