Pahaquarry Township () is a now-defunct

township A township is a kind of human settlement or administrative subdivision, with its meaning varying in different countries. Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, that tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, Ca ...

that was located in

Warren County Warren County is the name of fourteen counties in the USA. Some are named after General Joseph Warren, who was killed in the Battle of Bunker Hill in the American Revolutionary War: * Warren County, Georgia * Warren County, Illinois * Warren 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, from 1824 until it was dissolved in 1997.

History

Pahaquarry Township was formed on December 27, 1824, from portions of Walpack Township in Sussex County and set off to Warren County.Snyder, John P
''The Story of New Jersey's Civil Boundaries: 1606-1968''
Bureau of Geology and Topography; Trenton, New Jersey; 1969. p. 247. Accessed December 11, 2012. The township got its name from the word Pahaquarra, which was a derivation of the Native American word Pahaqualong, which meant "the place between the mountains beside the waters". Opened in the 1750s, the

Pahaquarry Copper Mine The Pahaquarry Copper Mine is an abandoned copper mine located on the west side of Kittatinny Mountain presently in Hardwick Township in Warren County, New Jersey in the United States. Active mining was attempted for brief periods during the mid ...

was active from the 18th to early-20th centuries, until its closure in 1928. Despite developments in mining technology and improving mineral extraction methods, the mine remained unsuccessful and unprofitable, as the ore extracted proved to be of too low a concentration of

copper Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu (from la, cuprum) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkis ...

. Millbrook Village, located along the historic

Old Mine Road Old Mine Road is a road in New Jersey and New York said to be one of the oldest continuously used roads in the United States of America. At a length of , it stretches from the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area to the vicinity of Kings ...

in Pahaquarry, was home to the Van Campen family farmsteads built during the late-18th and 19th-centuries. In 1832, Abram Garis built a grist mill along Van Campen brook. The mill soon attracted other businesses and by the 1870s, Millbrook was a thriving farm village. However, by 1910, the mill, store and hotel closed their doors. The area is now part of the

Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area is a national recreation area administered by the National Park Service in northwest New Jersey and northeast Pennsylvania. It is centered around a stretch of the Delaware River designated the Middle ...

, and located within the

Old Mine Road Historic District The Old Mine Road Historic District is a historic district located along Old Mine Road in Sussex County and Warren County, New Jersey. It is part of the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area. The district was added to the National Regist ...

. Today, only a handful of original Millbrook buildings remain. Other buildings have been moved from other sites or are newly built to help depict village life in the valley during the late-19th and early-20th century. Several buildings are open to the public on summer weekends. The Calno School was established in 1870, rebuilt in 1910, and active until the 1940, for schoolchildren of Pahaquarry. By 1881, the Calno school district counted 48 school-age pupils. Only 30 were on the school's register, though, and daily attendance averaged only 15. Teachers, who were paid poorly, boarded with local families and seldom stayed more than a year or two. Most students traveled to school on foot, and schools were placed so that students would not have to walk more than four to five miles. The Millbrook School, located 5 miles north in Millbrook Village, was used to teach Pahaquarry children, as well.Kopczynski, Susan
"A Ride Down Old Mine Road, Part I: Worthington State Forest to Watergate"

National Park Service The National Park Service (NPS) is an agency of the United States federal government within the U.S. Department of the Interior that manages all national parks, most national monuments, and other natural, historical, and recreational propertie ...

, October, 2012. Accessed December 18, 2022. Pahaquarry sits on the

Delaware River The Delaware River is a major river in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. From the meeting of its branches in Hancock (village), New York, Hancock, New York, the river flows for along the borders of N ...

. Most of its land was purchased by the federal government during the late 1960s in order to build the proposed Tocks Island Dam along the river, and its population was reduced to only a handful of people. Grassroot environmental organizations and mass local opposition put a halt to these plans and the dam was never completed.About Warren County...Past and Present

Warren County, New Jersey Warren County is a county located in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the county's population was 109,632, representing an increase of 940 (0.9%) from the 108,692 residents counted at the 2010 census. The county bord ...

. Accessed September 28, 2006. Most of the land became part of

. The project was officially deauthorized by Congress during 1992.Bewley, Joel
"Lost to merger, a town vanished Tiny Pahaquarry Township gave up in 1997."
''

The Philadelphia Inquirer ''The Philadelphia Inquirer'' is a daily newspaper headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The newspaper's circulation is the largest in both the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the Delaware Valley metropolitan region of Southeastern Pennsy ...

'', October 23, 2006. Accessed December 11, 2012. "Pahaquarry, a Lenni-Lenape word that means 'the place between the mountains beside the waters,' rested between the Delaware River and the Kittatinny Ridge.... It lost steam and funding and was finally deauthorized by Congress in 1992." National attention was brought to Pahaquarry Township following a

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

article published in April 1997. Mayor Jean Zipser and Harold Van Campen, the only members of the Township Committee, met inside the Calno School and voted 2-0 to permit the dissolution to proceed in March 1997.Chen, David W
"A New Jersey Township Votes Itself Nonexistent"
''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', April 28, 1997. Accessed December 18, 2022. On July 2, 1997, Pahaquarry Township, whose population had dwindled to 6 people, was dissolved and incorporated into Hardwick Township.

Demographics

As of the 1990 United States census (the last census for which the Township existed), there were 20 people, 9 households, and 5 families residing in the township. The racial makeup of the borough was 100.00% White (20 Whites). 5.00% of the population was Hispanic or Latino of any race (1 Hispanic or Latino). In the township, the population was spread out, with 15.0% under the age of 18, 10.0% from 18 to 24, 20.0% from 25 to 44, 30.0% from 45 to 64, and 25.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years.

Popular Culture

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

indie rock Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United States, United Kingdom and New Zealand from the 1970s to the 1980s. Originally used to describe independent record labels, the term became associated with the mu ...

band Vehicle Flips released a song titled "Song for Pahaquarry, NJ (1824-1997)" on their 2000 album ''For You I Pine'', reflecting on the fate of the town.DaRonco, Mike
"For You I Pine"
''

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

'', 2000. Accessed December 18, 2022.

References

{{authority control 1824 establishments in New Jersey 1997 disestablishments in New Jersey Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area Former municipalities in Warren County, New Jersey Former townships in New Jersey Ghost towns in New Jersey Hardwick Township, New Jersey Populated places disestablished in 1997 Populated places established in 1824

History

Demographics

Popular Culture

See also

References