The of Rockaway Township
When was Rockaway founded? Rockaway was founded in the year 1844 Morris County divided its larger townships into smaller ones The original Rockaway included what is today’s Rockaway Borough, Denville, and Rockaway Township Denville split off in 1913 Rockaway Borough split off in 1894
Why is it named “Rockaway”? In 1715, Dutch settlers came to the eastern part of what is modern day Rockaway Township The Dutch settlers are the ones who gave Rockaway its name The name Rockaway is based on the Native American word “Rechouwakie” which means “the place of sands” Why would our township be known as “the place of sands”?
Early Rockaway History The Lenni Lenape were also early settlers of the Rockaway area They disappeared from the Morris County area in 1750 They left trails from lake to lake Before they disappeared, the Lenni Lenape showed early settlers “succasunna” or black stone, which turns out to be iron
Lenni Lenape and Iron
Rockaway and Mining Rockaway was the first “district” or area to mine iron ore The mining of iron ore helped America become independent from England Job Allen built the first forge in Rockaway Village (which is now part of Rockaway Borough) A forge is a blacksmith’s workshop where they work with the metal in a fire or furnace and hammer it into shape
Forges
Rockaway and Mining BY 1740, there were tons of forges operating along the Rockaway River It was important to be near the river because it provided: Access to iron ore Waterpower Thick forests (you could get charcoal here for the forge fires)
Rockaway and Mining By 1776, Morris County was the main “smelting” center of the United States! Smelting: taking the iron out of the ore by using heat There were three blast furnaces built in Rockaway Blast Furnace: a tall tower that was used to blast hot air from below during the smelting process Hibernia, Mount Hope, Split Rock
Split Rock Blast Furnace
Blast Furnaces The one at Split Rock is the only blast furnace still standing The furnaces provided important tools for the Continental Army Shovels Axes Cannons/cannonballs The Continental Army was the American army that was led by George Washington during the American Revolution
Blast Furnaces and the American Revolution The Continental Army desperately needed more men to join New Jersey law kept 50 men at the Mt. Hope furnace and 25 men at the Hibernia furnace - they would not be allowed to join the war and couldn’t be forced to The mining of iron ore was extremely important for the war effort