Montclair Magazine Spring 2018 | Page 32

history Montclair Celebrates a Big Birthday The township is turning 150 1780 General George Washington, along with the Marquis de Lafayette, stays in town for two weeks to plan a surprise attack on Staten Island — which never happens. but the village is far older WRITTEN BY CINDY SCHWEICH HANDLER T his April 15, Montclair celebrates the 150th anniversary of its breaking away from Bloomfield to become an independent township. But as far as the history of the community goes, 1868 was more of a midpoint. According to Montclair in Colonial Times and War Times, the town’s history can be traced to 1694, when Jasper Crane granted his sons Azariah and Jasper “tracts of land at the foot of the [First Watchung] mountain.” The acreage owned by these first settlers became a village known as Cranestown, or Cranetown. And the rest is history — lots of it. (Photo credits) 1740: Courtesy of the Montclair History Center; 1780: Washington’s headquarters reprinted from Montclair by Elizabeth Shepard and Royal F. Shepard Jr. (Arcadia Publishing, 2003); 1806: Reprinted from Montclair by Elizabeth Shepard and Royal F. Shepard Jr. (Arcadia Publishing, 2003); 1812: Group at Speer residence: Courtesy of the Montclair Public Library; 1856: Map of Montclair: Courtesy of the Montclair History Center; 1860: Reprinted from Montclair by Elizabeth Shepard and Royal F. Shepard Jr. (Arcadia Publishing, 2003); 1868: Montclair railway bond: Reprinted from Montclair by Elizabeth Shepard and Royal F. Shepard Jr. (Arcadia Publishing, 2003); 1894: Courtesy of the Montclair Public Library; 1913: Lackawanna Station: Courtesy of the Montclair Public Library; 1977: Courtesy of Montclair High School 32 SPRING 2018 MONTCLAIR MAGAZINE 1812 Cranetown merges with Dutch-settled Speertown to the north to become West Bloomfield. 1860 To avoid confusion over both New York and New Jersey having towns named West Bloomfield, residents meet to suggest new names, including Montclair and Eagleton. The gathered vote for the latter, but property owners prefer the former, suggested by resident Julius H. Pratt. They provide the railway manager and postmaster to call the area Montclair.