| Acquackanonk Township | |
|---|---|
| — Township — | |
| Acquackanonk Township in 1872 | |
| Coordinates: |
Acquackanonk Township (1693-1917) was incorporated in 1693 by the British in the newly established Province of New Jersey and was located in what was then the northern part of Essex County on the Passaic River. In 1837, Passaic County was created, incorporating the township and portions of both Essex County and Bergen County.
When formed, Acquackanonk Township included parts of present day Clifton, Paterson and Passaic. The land on which the town was situated was at one time owned by the Surveyor General of New Netherland Jacques Cortelyou, some "12,000 morgens at Aquackanonk on the Passaic, purchased by himself and associates of the Indians."[1] It was first settled in 1678 by Dutch traders, who in 1693 formed a Dutch Reformed congregation [2][3][4]
The Acquackanonk were a Lenape group who spoke the same Algonquian language dialect and shared the same totem (turtle) as the neighboring Hackensack and Tappan. They were so called by the exonym by the New Netherlanders, who commonly referred to the people by the indigenous word for their territory. The name may mean a place in a rapid stream where fishing is done with a net. [5] Alternatively, at the lamprey stream from contemporary axkwaakahnung (spellings include Achquakanonk, Acquackanonk) [6] Lastly it may mean where gum blocks were made for pounding corn.[7] Ackquekenon [8] was the spelling used by European explorer Jasper Danckaerts in 1679 describe his visit there. [9]