Denville Township, New Jersey

Denville Township is a township in Morris County, in the northern portion of the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is a commuter town of New York City in the New York metropolitan area, located 35 miles (56 km) west of Manhattan. As of the 2020 United States census, the township's population was 17,107, its highest decennial count ever and an increase of 472 (+2.8%) from the 2010 census count of 16,635, which in turn had reflected an increase of 811 (+5.1%) from the 15,824 counted at the 2000 census.

Located at the center of the county, Denville's access to major transportation routes has made it known as the Hub of Morris County. The township's location in Morris County has contributed to the growth of its "eclectic downtown", along with four membership lake communities developed a century ago as summer colonies.

NJ Transit rail service is available at the Denville station, a large three-platform station serving both the Morristown and the Montclair-Boonton train lines, with service to Hoboken Terminal or to New York Penn Station in Midtown Manhattan via Midtown Direct.

Denville was formed as a township by an act of the New Jersey Legislature on April 14, 1913, from portions of Rockaway Township.

Lenape Native Americans were known to travel the Minisink Trail for centuries before Europeans arrived in New Jersey. Part of that trail cut across what is now southern Denville, roughly following the course of Route 10 and Mount Pleasant Turnpike. Some research has indicated that there was a Lenape campsite along the trail in Denville, on or near the Ayres / Knuth Farm Historic Site along Route 10.

When Dutch and English settlers began to arrive in the new world in the early 17th century, the Minisink Trail was the likely route they traveled to explore the interior. Daniel Denton, one of the purchasers of what is known as the Elizabethtown Tract in 1664, led an expedition into the interior of northern New Jersey. In 1670, he wrote the first English language description of the area. Some researchers conclude that the name "Denville" derives from Denton.

Some researchers have suggested that European settlers began to come to the Denville area as early as 1690. These early settlers were primarily Dutch and English from Long Island, Quakers from Philadelphia, and Germans. William Penn and several other proprietors began to survey and stake out lands in the Denville area around 1715. These surveys are the first documentation of Denville. Between 1730 and 1760, several forges and mills were erected in Denville along the Rockaway River and the Denbrook. A number of communities associated with the forges and mills began to emerge. Ninkey and Franklin in southern Denville developed around the forges there of the same names. Denville village developed around the Job Allen Iron Works. Early developers of Denville, such as the Hussa family and A.B Crane & Co., were intrinsic in shaping the residential and lake communities.

An alternative explanation for the derivation of the township's name came from a letter from early Denville settler John Hinchman in the year 1800, in which he recounted some of the oral history of Denville from 50 years earlier, as stated to him by some of the elders of the time. Hinchman explains in his letter that the naming of Denville can be traced to a "den" of wild animals located in the swampy regions along the Denbrook and Rockaway River. The animals would bask on a knoll that juts out into the meadows where they were hunted by the native Lenape. This "den", Hinchman wrote, was the basis for the name of Denville and the Denbrook.