Totowa, New Jersey

History

Totowa sits on the west bank of the Passaic River, across from Paterson. Its name comes from the Lenape, and is usually explained as a phrase meaning between mountains and waters; in the 18th century it applied to a much wider stretch of country than the present borough. The borough dates its settlement to about 1750.

In 1780 the area played a part in the Revolution. George Washington made his headquarters at the Dey Mansion, about 1,000 feet beyond today's borough line in Wayne, from July 1 to 29 and again from October 9 to November 27, and many of his letters from those months, along with those of General Anthony Wayne, were dated from Totowa. Thousands of Continental troops camped across ground that now includes Totowa, Woodland Park, Little Falls and Hawthorne, and his general orders of November 26, 1780, which set the army's departure, carry the heading Headquarters Totowa.

The Borough of Totowa was incorporated on March 15, 1898, from parts of Manchester Township and Wayne Township. In the 20th century it grew into a largely residential suburb with some light manufacturing. For more than 80 years the state ran the North Jersey Developmental Center on a 188-acre campus off Minnisink Road; the state closed it in 2014, and the borough has since zoned the site for offices, research and other commercial uses.

What it’s like to live there

Totowa covers about four square miles, and most of its land is residential. The 2016 master plan reexamination describes the housing as overwhelmingly single-family detached houses, with a smaller but growing share of rentals, and that plan proposed townhouses and multifamily buildings on a few sites, including the northeast corner near Preakness and Forest avenues, Shepherds Lane and a parcel on Route 46.

The Lower Borough, by the Passaic River, is one of the oldest parts of town, with older houses on narrow lots and narrow streets where off-street parking is scarce. The borough's plan notes that parts of it have flooded when the river backs up. Union Boulevard is the main street and business district, and the borough has set out to make it more walkable, with parking added behind it along Totowa Road and Elizabeth Place. Highway-oriented stores line Route 46, and another retail cluster sits on Riverview Drive.

Totowa runs its own public school district for the lower grades, and Passaic Valley Regional High School is at 100 East Main Street in neighboring Little Falls. Borough recreation offices are at 490 Totowa Road.

Getting around

Totowa is a highway town. Interstate 80 has two interchanges in the borough, Exits 54 and 55, with Exit 54 near the former developmental center on Minnisink Road, and U.S. Route 46 has two interchanges as well. Route 62 and several county roads, along with local streets such as Totowa Road and Union Boulevard, carry traffic within the borough.

NJ Transit buses link the borough with neighboring towns and with the Port Authority Bus Terminal in Midtown Manhattan. Totowa has no train station of its own; nearby stations include Little Falls on NJ Transit's Montclair-Boonton Line, which runs east toward Newark Broad Street, Secaucus Junction, Hoboken Terminal and New York Penn Station. At Hoboken, riders can connect to PATH, the Hudson-Bergen Light Rail and NY Waterway ferries.

Things to do

The Borough of Totowa Public Library, at 537 Totowa Road, offers children's and summer programs, museum passes, a Library of Things, notary and passport services, and digital resources. The borough recreation department organizes a calendar of town events that, as of 2026, includes Totowa Day in June, summer concerts, an annual car show, a Howl-O-Ween dog parade, an annual Turkey Trot and a Christmas tree lighting with caroling, along with summer camp and pool registration.

Just past the borough line in Wayne, the Dey Mansion at 199 Totowa Road, Washington's headquarters in the summer and fall of 1780, is open as a museum. It offers guided tours on the hour Wednesday through Sunday, lectures and special events, with gardens, a forge and spring and smoke houses on the grounds. The trails and overlooks of Garret Mountain Reservation and Rifle Camp Park are in neighboring Woodland Park.