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OldCountryStoreLPIWPhoto: KForce at en.wikipedia · CC BY-SA 3.0
B+History
History · West Milford Township

West Milford Township’s post office opened in 1828, and 10% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 72% of U.S. towns · #165 of 468 in New Jersey. What drives it

2 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 12 buildings. Below: 4 old photos and papers, maps from 1891 on, and the census since 1840.

1828first post office
2on the National Register
10%homes built before 1940
4old photos & papers
4famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From West Milford Township’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How West Milford Township began

When was West Milford Township founded?

1828

The West Milford Township post office opened in 1828, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1834. Nine smaller post offices, Macopin (1851), Smiths Mills (1869) and Upper Macopin (1872), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

First census: 2,108 in 18402020 census: 24,862198 years

How historic is West Milford Township?

B+

More historic than 72% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first West Milford Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1834.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives West Milford Township’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, West Milford Township is more historic than 72% of U.S. towns, #165 of 468 in New Jersey. Its age holds the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.

B+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of West Milford Township’s overall grade.
Founding era1828, from the first post office: founded 1776–1849, an older era than 75% of U.S. townsA−Homes built before 194010.2% of homes (±3.3) · typical NJ town 14.7% · U.S. 8.4%B−National Register2 listings, 12 historic buildings, 4.9 per 10,000 residents · typical NJ town 3.7 · U.S. 2.4B+
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 72%
NewerOlder
New Jersey towns of 2,500+ (468)Ahead of 65%

New Jersey towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical New Jersey town has 3.7 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so West Milford Township’s 4.9 sits near the middle of its state (56% of New Jersey towns have fewer) while its 12 historic buildings outnumber those of 77% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from B to A−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±3.3 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date; Wikidata’s 1834 falls in the same era, so the grade doesn’t depend on which one is used.

Founding year: the first post office (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →

What stands out about West Milford Township’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

Lost villages9 post offices opened and closed inside today’s West Milford Township, and 19 old place names are still on the map.A history waiting to be writtenOnly 4 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Shrank, then grewLost a third of its people between 1870 and 1920, then grew more than tenfold.On the map since 18916 editions of the USGS map, 1891 to 1997. Watch West Milford Township change.
★ What stands out · Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Nine other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

West Milford
1828–today
Macopin
1851–1853
Smiths Mills
1869–1926
Upper Macopin
1872–1926
Oak Ridge
1873–today
Echo Lake
1874–1926
Hewitt
1875–today
Cooper
1886–1911
Lakeside
1892–1925
Moe
1896–1921
18201920today
Hamlets and corners on the map
ApshawaAwostingBrownsCharlotteburgClintonCooperEcho LakeHewittLakesideMacopinMoeNewfoundlandOak RidgePostvilleSmiths MillsUpper Greenwood LakeUpper MacopinUttertownWest Milford
Gone or out of use
Hillcrest SchoolschoolNewfoundland SchoolschoolWest Milford SchoolschoolWest Milford Township School Number 4schoolWest Milford Township School Number 5school
5cemeteries and burying grounds inside West Milford Township
Cedar HeightsOak Ridge Presbyterian ChurchSaint Josephs Roman CatholicTurnerVreeland

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Help out

Start West Milford Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how West Milford Township’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewBareford Mountains: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
People over time

West Milford Township, census by census

05,00010,00015,00020,00025,00018501900195020002,660 in 1870Low: 1,763

Lost a third of its people between 1870 and 1920, then grew more than tenfold.

19 censuses, 1840–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on West Milford Township’s Wikipedia page.

The story

How West Milford Township came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of West Milford Township.

Read it all →

West Milford started out as New Milford in what was then western Bergen County in the 18th century, having been settled by disenchanted Dutch from Milford, New Jersey (later renamed by the British as Newark). These same Dutch also built a town of New Milford in eastern Bergen County. When both New Milfords applied for post offices in 1828, a clerk in Washington, D.C. is said to have approved the other application first and assigned the name "West Milford" to the New Milford in western Bergen County in order to distinguish between the two locations.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

West Milford Township, 1828 to 2000

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1828Post officeThe West Milford post office opens
  3. 1850In the archiveBareford Mountains
  4. 1851Post officeThe Macopin post office opens
  5. 1853Post officeThe Macopin post office closes
  6. 1869Post officeThe Smiths Mills post office opens
  7. 1877In the archiveTownship of West Milford (Township)
  8. 1891On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  9. 20th century
  10. 1909In the archiveHewitt Station
  11. 1914Born hereCharles L. Banks is born here
  12. 1926Post officeThe Smiths Mills post office closes
  13. 1963Born hereLaurene Powell Jobs is born here
  14. 1970Born hereBilly Howerdel is born here
  15. 1976Born hereScott Terry is born here
  16. 21st century
  17. 2000CensusPopulation peaks at 26,410
By decade

West Milford Township, decade by decade

3 decades in the archive, from the 1850s to the 1900s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1850s–1900s4 items
Bareford Mountainsc. 1850Bareford MountainsOld Millc. 1850Old MillTownship of West Milford (Township)1877Township of West Milford (Township)Hewitt Station1909Hewitt Station
1910s–1990snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
Today14 recent
2024-10-18 09 51 04 Autumn view northeast across Monksville Reservoir from Passaic County Route 511 (Greenwood Lake Tur…20242024-10-18 09 51 04 Autumn view northeast across Monk…2024-10-18 09 51 01 Autumn view north across Monksville Reservoir from Passaic County Route 511 (Greenwood Lake Turnpik…20242024-10-18 09 51 01 Autumn view north across Monksvil…2024-10-18 09 50 59 Autumn view north-northwest across Monksville Reservoir from Passaic County Route 511 (Greenwood La…20242024-10-18 09 50 59 Autumn view north-northwest acros…West Milford, NJ municipal building, Jan. 20232023West Milford, NJ municipal building, Jan. 20232023-12-01 16 00 21 Shale, Cornwall Shale Formation, Devonian Period, West Shore, Greenwood Lake, West Milford Township…20232023-12-01 16 00 21 Shale, Cornwall Shale Formation, …Midsummer rowing2021Midsummer rowing2020-09-09 13 59 04 A Norway Spruce sapling in the forest along New Jersey State Route 23 in West Milford Township, Pas…20202020-09-09 13 59 04 A Norway Spruce sapling in the fo…Mossmans Brook2019Mossmans BrookCharlottesburgh Station2014Charlottesburgh StationNJ Monksville Reservoir IMG 19182012NJ Monksville Reservoir IMG 1918OldCountryStoreLPIW2011OldCountryStoreLPIWDump Truck2010Dump TruckWest milford twp nj2005West milford twp njWest Milford, New Jersey2004West Milford, New Jersey
On the map

West Milford Township on the map, 1891 to 1997

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of West Milford Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

West Milford Township on the 1891 USGS mapWest Milford Township on the 1903 USGS mapWest Milford Township on the 1943 USGS mapWest Milford Township on the 1954 USGS mapWest Milford Township on the 1971 USGS mapWest Milford Township on the 1997 USGS map1891Greenwood Lake sheet · 1:62,500

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of West Milford Township.

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Bareford Mountains
Retake this viewBareford Mountains, c. 1850

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on West Milford Township’s page.

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

2 listings protect 12 historic buildings

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

places listed
2
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
12
each building in a district counts
first listed
1974
Long Pond Ironworks
Long Pond IronworksClinton Furnace
DistrictsStructures
Long Pond IronworksDistrict
Clinton FurnaceStructure

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

Famous people

4 famous people were born in West Milford Township

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
Laurene Powell JobsAmerican political activist, business executive… · b. 1963
B
Billy HowerdelAmerican musician · b. 1970
Scott TerryAmerican songwriter and singer · b. 1976
C
Charles L. BanksAmerican Marine Corps Navy Cross recipient · b. 1914
Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Jefferson Township2 historic placesBNewfoundlandIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townKinnelon2 historic placesC−MacopinIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townRockaway Township4 historic placesC+Ringwood2 historic placesB−Oak Ridge2 historic placesnot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townBloomingdale1 historic placeA−Vernon Township4 historic placesB+Butler1 historic placeB−

Questions about West Milford Township’s history

What year was West Milford Township founded?

The West Milford Township post office opened in 1828, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1834.

How does West Milford Township rank for history?

West Milford Township is more historic than 72% of U.S. towns, #165 of 468 in New Jersey. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.

What is on the National Register in West Milford Township?

Two places: the Long Pond Ironworks (listed 1974) and the Clinton Furnace (1976).

How old are the homes in West Milford Township?

10% of West Milford Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.3 points), against a typical 15% for a New Jersey town; the median home was built in 1968.

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

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).

From Wikimedia Commons (18), the National Register of Historic Places (2), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.