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Originally published in 1939
Some of this information may no longer be current and in that case is presented for historical interest only.
Edited by GET NJ, COPYRIGHT 2003
TOTOWA, 13.9 miles (160 alt., 5,000 pop.), is a residential extension
of Paterson, in whose silk and dye mills a large part of the borough's
adult population is employed. During the Revolution, Washington and his
men were encamped at Totowa, where they drilled on a vacant field. One
of the early settlers, Joshua Hott Smith, was involved in Benedict Arnold's
plot. He escaped execution after a summary court martial delivered the
rather remarkable judgment that he was undoubtedly guilty of every
charge but that the evidence, unfortunately, was insufficient to convict him.
Dutch scholars translate Totowa, or Totua as it appears in some early
records, as where you begin, suggesting that it was once the frontier to
the wild west.
The route turns L. at Totowa.
The highway, becoming concrete, traverses open country, unmarked by
the populous industrial developments above Paterson. Clumped woods
crowd the road in the relatively flat stretch west of Totowa.
At 16.4 miles, at a traffic circle, is the junction with State 23 (see Tour 9).
The road crosses Passaic River at 17.3 miles.
The red stone FAIRFIELD REFORMED CHURCH at 18.3 m. (L) was built
in 1804 by Aaron Vanderhoof for a Dutch congregation organized in
1720. A white frame steeple seems superimposed, built in pagoda style
at a later date than the simple body of the edifice. The story runs that
Vanderhoof agreed to build the church on condition that his family be
given first pick of the pews. When it was almost finished, he learned that
pews had already been allotted with only a second choice left for him.
Outraged, he refused to erect the steeple, and left this scornful memento
of the unfulfilled agreement:
Poesy seems to be in Fairfield's tradition, if the Reformed Church
graveyard is any indication; almost all of the epitaphs are rhymed. A good
example is the one that glorifies the bones of Thomas Speer, who died in
1829 at the age of 76:
Beautiful FAIRFIELD,
Proud people:
Elegant church
No steeple!
Low in altitude, with the Passaic River winding in and around it, this
section is flooded much of the year. Still pools cover whole fields on both
sides of the road; trees stand lonely in the water, as much as a foot or
two of their trunks submerged. Left is LONG MEADOW, the northern end
of Hatfield Swamp.
Let worms devour my roasting flesh
And crumble all my bones to dust:
My GOD shall raise my frame anew
At the revival of the just.
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