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About Your Community

Mahwah and Ramsey, NJ

The Township of Mahwah is the northernmost and largest municipality by geographic area (26.19 square miles) in Bergen County, New Jersey. The name “Mahwah” is derived from the Lenape language word “mawewi” which means “Meeting Place” or “Place Where Paths Meet” The area that is now Mahwah was originally formed as Hohokus Township on April 9, 1849, from portions of the former Franklin Township (now Wyckoff). While known as Hohokus Township, territory was taken to form Orvil Township (on January 1, 1886; remainder of township is now Waldwick), Allendale (November 10, 1894), Upper Saddle River (November 22, 1894), and Ramsey (March 10, 1908). On November 7, 1944, the area was incorporated by an act of the New Jersey Legislature as the Township of Mahwah, based on the results of a referendum held that day, replacing Hohokus Township. New Jersey Monthly magazine ranked Mahwah as its ninth best place to live in its 2008 rankings of the “Best Places To Live” in New Jersey.

 

                                       

                                               

 

Ramsey is named after Peter J. Ramsey, a 19th-century landowner who died circa 1854, who had sold the land that became the site of a railroad station called “Ramsey’s” in 1848. Old Stone House, a local historical site was originally a Dutch farmhouse and served as a tavern during the Revolutionary War. The structure opened as a historic site in 1960 with a riveting display of old pitchers. Ramsey is a  borough in Bergen County.  It is a suburb of New York City, only 26 miles from Midtown Manhattan.  Ramsey’s population is about 14,473 (according to 2010 census).  Ramsey was incorporated as a borough by an act of the New Jersey Legislature on March 10, 1908, from portions of Hohokus Township (whose remnants are now Mahwah Township). Additional territory was annexed from Waldwick in 1921, and portions of the borough were ceded to Saddle River in 1925.