Goffle Brook Park is a public,

county park A park is an area of natural, semi-natural or planted space set aside for human enjoyment and recreation or for the protection of wildlife or natural habitats. Urban parks are green spaces set aside for recreation inside towns and cities. N ...

spanning much of the length of

Goffle Brook Goffle Brook is a tributary of the Passaic River which flows south through a section of Passaic County and Bergen County in New Jersey and drains the eastern side of the First Watchung Mountain. Heading up the brook from the confluence with th ...

through the borough of Hawthorne in Passaic County,

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

, United States. Since its designation and construction between 1930 and 1932,Paul D. Ledvina. Olmsted Associates: A Register of Its Records in the Library of Congress. Manuscript Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C., 2000.
Available via Library of Congress
/ref> the park has served to protect the waters of Goffle Brook while at the same time providing recreational opportunities to the residents of Passaic County and nearby Bergen County. Goffle Brook Park has been included in the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

since 2002.

History

The greenway park was designed during the early stages of the creation of the Passaic County Park System by the firm of Olmsted Associates, heirs to the practice of

Frederick Law Olmsted Frederick Law Olmsted (April 26, 1822August 28, 1903) was an American landscape architect, journalist, social critic, and public administrator. He is considered to be the father of landscape architecture in the USA. Olmsted was famous for co ...

,Passaic County – Goffle Brook Park
/ref> which at the time was operated by Frederick Law Olmsted Jr. As originally planned, the park consisted of wide, manicured meadows, woodlands, and a former mill pond surrounded by walking paths. Since the 1930s, playgrounds, athletic fields, and a dog run have been added. Additionally, the borough of Hawthorne now maintains a series of small trails in the ''8-Acre Woods'' at the southern end of the park.Borough of Hawthorne – Environmental Commission
/ref> Hawthorne High School maintains a substantial recreational complex adjacent to Goffle Brook Park that includes a football stadium, running track, baseball fields, hockey rink, and tennis courts. ''Mary Delaney Krugman Associates, Inc.'', a group of historic preservation consultants, was responsible for the nomination of Goffle Brook Park to both the New Jersey and National Historic Places Registry. The consultants acted on behalf of the "Please Save Our Parkland Committee" based in the borough of Hawthorne.

2013 beautification project

In 2012, Passaic County awarded funds to begin a multi-year project to beautify Goffle Brook Park, stabilize Goffle Brook, and reconstruct road bridges over the brook at Warburton Avenue and Rea Avenue As of 2014, stream bank stabilization had been completed throughout the park, the Warburton Ave bridge had been rebuilt, and hundreds of invasive, sickly, and hazardous plants and trees (primarily

Norway Maple ''Acer platanoides'', commonly known as the Norway maple, is a species of maple native to eastern and central Europe and western Asia, from Spain east to Russia, north to southern Scandinavia and southeast to northern Iran. It was introduced to ...

and

Sumac Sumac ( or ), also spelled sumach, is any of about 35 species of flowering plants in the genus ''Rhus'' and related genera in the cashew family (Anacardiaceae). Sumacs grow in subtropical and temperate regions throughout the world, including Eas ...

) had been removed. Plants native to North America were used to reinforce the banks of Goffle Brook, in combination with boulder walls and rock armored bank toes. Additionally, new walking and jogging paths were created, along with benches and refuse bins. To offset the loss of trees during the initial stages of the project, over four hundred new trees were planted. Five hundred new shrubs and plants were also installed, including the vegetation used to restore the banks of the brook. Plantings along the stream banks include various

willow Willows, also called sallows and osiers, from the genus ''Salix'', comprise around 400 speciesMabberley, D.J. 1997. The Plant Book, Cambridge University Press #2: Cambridge. of typically deciduous trees and shrubs, found primarily on moist so ...

species, such as ''

Salix discolor ''Salix discolor'', the American pussy willow or glaucous willow, is a species of willow native to North America, one of two species commonly called pussy willow. It is native to the vast reaches of Alaska as well as the northern forests and we ...

'' (American Willow) and ''

Salix amygdaloides ''Salix amygdaloides'', the peachleaf willow, is a species of willow native to central North America east of the Cascade Range. It can be found in southern Canada and the United States—from western British Columbia to Quebec, Idaho, Montana a ...

'' (Peachleaf Willow).

Colonial past

Prior to the American Revolution, two Lenape camps existed within the boundaries of what would eventually become the park. The more significant of the two camps sat at the confluence of Goffle Brook and

Deep Voll Brook Deep Voll Brook, also known as Deep Brook (USGS captioned name), is a tributary of Goffle Brook and part of the Passaic River watershed. The brook drains part of the eastern flank of First Watchung Mountain, cutting through portions of Bergen ...

. The area of Goffle Brook Park played a significant part in the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...

. For a time, General Lafayette’s troops were stationed along Goffle Brook. In particular, Major Lee's Virginia light horse troop occupied the east bank of the brook in 1780, while Lafayette's light infantry occupied the west bank on the flank of First Watchung Mountain. Lafayette's headquarters were at the Ryerson House, the former location of which is marked atop a small hill in the southern section of the park.

Description

Sitting on the eastern foot of

Goffle Hill Goffle Hill, also referred to as Goffle Mountain and historically known as Totoway Mountain and Wagaraw Mountain, is a range of the trap rock Watchung Mountains on the western edge of the Newark Basin in northern New Jersey. The hill straddles pa ...

( First Watchung Mountain), the verdant Goffle Brook Park follows Goffle Brook for a little over a mile and a half between CR 665 Lafayette Ave and MacFarlan Ave/Maitland Ave in Hawthorne. While no wider than a third of a mile, the park offers sweeping views from its hilly southern meadows. In the winter, these hilly sections of the park are popular sleigh riding attractions. The southern section of the park also features an enclosed dog run, various ball fields, two playgrounds, a picnic area, and wooded walking trails. The northern part of the park features Arnold's Pond, a former grist mill pond now used primarily for fishing.Smith, Don Everett Jr. ''Images of America: Hawthorne''. Arcadia Publishing, 2006. See Page 16.
Limited preview available via Google Books
/ref> Another main feature of north end is the single, trodden footpath paralleling Goffle Brook north of CR 654 Diamond Bridge Ave. The path is paved around Arnold's Pond, but it is otherwise unimproved except for a concrete staircase extending down into the valley of Goffle Brook from the corner of CR 659 Goffle Road and Warburton Avenue The northern part of the park also features a playground and a ball field near the corner of CR 659 Goffle Road and CR 664 Rea Ave.

Magee Road Bridge

In 2007, the southern end of Goffle Brook Park saw the emplacement of the historic Magee Road Bridge over Goffle Brook. Built in 1930, the bridge originally spanned West Brook in

Ringwood, New Jersey Ringwood is a borough in Passaic County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, the borough's population was 11,735, a decline of 493 (−4.0%) from the 2010 census count of 12,228,pony truss A truss bridge is a bridge whose load-bearing superstructure is composed of a truss, a structure of connected elements, usually forming triangular units. The connected elements (typically straight) may be stressed from tension, compression, or ...

. When the bridge was located in Ringwood it was eligible for the National Register of Historic Places.Historic Bridges of the United States – Magee Road Bridge
/ref>

References

External links

Passaic County Parks Department
{{NRHP in Passaic County, New Jersey Parks in Passaic County, New Jersey Parks on the National Register of Historic Places in New Jersey National Register of Historic Places in Passaic County, New Jersey County parks in New Jersey New Jersey Register of Historic Places Hawthorne, New Jersey