Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Pompton Plains yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Pompton Plains is a census-designated place (CDP) and unincorporated community constituting the majority of Pequannock Township, Morris County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the CDP's population was 11,144. The community was first listed as a CDP in advance of the 2020 census.
Its first post office opened in 1831.
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
From the old history books
What they wrote about Pompton Plains, 1882–1914
Passages that mention Pompton Plains, cut from the printed page as they were published.
A history of Morris County, New Jersey1914 · page 151Read the page →
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Schools — The first schools in the present township were established at Pompton Plains, Beavertown and Pine Brook. The first school house on Pompton Plains of which there is authentic record, was built several years prior to 1800, and stood on the opposite side of the street from the present school house, and near the present church. About 1808 a portion of the people of the district became dissatisfied with the school, and built a house about half a mile north of the church, employing David Provost as teacher.
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A history of Morris County, New Jersey1914 · page 149Read the page →
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Mandeville obtained a warrant from the East Jersey proprietors for 5500 acres bordering on the Pequannock river, a tract covered also by the Indian purchase made in June, 1695, same year. Further purchases were made by Schuyler and his associates that covered all of Pompton Plains down to the Passaic, near Two Bridges, also the “Bog and Fly” valley, as well as a strip extending up the slope of the hills on the west. This was the first purchase of land for a settlement in the township, and the first settlement was made about 1700 at Pompton and Pompton Plains. In 1699 George
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History of Morris County, New Jersey1882 · page 71Read the page →
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in the county of Morris the New Jersey Midland Railroad, which skirts the northern edge of Pequannock, Jefferson and Rockaway townships; the Greenwood Lake Railroad, which crosses Pompton Plains; the Green Pond Railroad, which is a branch of the New Jersey Midland running from Charlotteburgh to the Copperas mine; the High Bridge Railroad, a branch of the Central of New Jersey, running from High Bridge
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History of Morris County, New Jersey1882 · page 280Read the page →
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A short distance above on Trout Brook is a saw-mill that was built many years ago and is one of the four in Pequannock now in use ; there is another near the west side of Pompton Plains, and one at Beavertown. At the lower end of Pompton Plains Jjmes Comley has erected a small factory for turning and engraving rollsused in printing calicoes and cloths.
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Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
By decade
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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 and Wikipedia for famous people 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.
