Parsippany’s post office opened in 1817, and 4 of its places are on the National Register
Most of Parsippany was built recently: 4% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1968. Below: maps from 1888 on and the census since 1930.
After the Wisconsin Glacier melted around 13,000 BCE, half of Parsippany was filled with water, as this was Lake Passaic. Around the area, grasses grew, as the area was tundra, and then turned into a taiga/boreal forest as the area warmed.
Paleo-Indians moved in small groups into the area around 12,500 years ago, attracted by the diversity of plant and animal life.
Native Americans relocated to the area several thousand years ago, dwelling in the highlands and along the Rockaway River and the Whippany River, where they hunted and fished for the various game that lived in the area and migrated through the area in autumn. Paintings in a rock cave were found in the late 1970s in western Parsippany in the highlands.
Passages that mention Parsippany, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Morris County, New Jersey1882 · page 221Read the page →
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Troy, which constitutes a part of the Presbyterian parish of Parsippany, is situated upon the highlands bordering the meadows. It consists of a long succession of well built residences of the thrifty farmers of the locality. It contains a saw-mill, a grist-mill, blacksmith and wheelwright shops, a public school-house and a general store. T. O. Smith's milk depot is located here on the flowing well. It sends from fifty to seventy-five cans
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History of Morris County, New Jersey1882 · page 182Read the page →
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For sixteen years the New Jersey Iron Company and citizens of this place were obliged to go with and for mail matter to the post-office at Parsippany, three and a half miles distant, three times per week. Yet Boonton in 1834 had a population of four hundred and in 1840 fully double that number, and its amount of postal matter was five times as great as that of Parsippany and its vicinity. In 1846, on the gth of July, the post-office at
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A history of Morris County, New Jersey1914 · page 144Read the page →
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Rev. Jacob Green served both churches until 1760, when Parsippany was made a separate church. Rev. Mr. Green continued over the Whippany church until his death, May 24, 1790. , The Parsippany Presbyterian Church was granted a separate organization in 1760, the first church, tradition says, being very small, and built of logs. About 1773 a new church was built. After the final separation from the Presbyterian church at Hanover in 1769, Rev. James Tuttle was called and installed as pastor of the church at Parsippany and Rockaway. After
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A history of Morris County, New Jersey1914 · page 270Read the page →
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John Ford, pastor of the church at Parsippany, officiating. The first meetings were held in private houses, but when pleasant in the shade of a grove. When the first school house was erected in 1832, that building became the meeting house. On July 1, 1832, the first church organization was effected,, with the title of “Church at Boonton.” The first members numbered nineteen, nine of them English, ten native born, among the latter being John.
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Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
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Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021). How TownRatings grades history →
From Wikidata (4), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia) and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
