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From the Hudson River
it was across the salt meadow and through the narrow valley of the
Tappan Creek (present day
Piermont
,
New York
) that the first inland settlement to the west was made. Land
was purchased from the Lenni Lenape Indians on March 17, 1682.
Five years later, in 1687, legal title to the land known as the
Tappan patent, was granted by Governor Thomas Dongan of
New York
to thirteen Dutchmen and three free Negroes. The Tappan patent
is believed to be the only land grant of its kind in the country to
include both blacks and whites on an equal basis. They were
all prosperous farmers from the settlement called the Bouwerie
which grew up around Peter Stuyvestant's farm in what had
been
New Amsterdam
. As their farms became crowded by the late 17th
Century, they came together to purchase new unsettled lands in the
wilderness.
For 86 years Old
Tappan was part of Orangetown,
Orange
County
(South of the Mountains),
New York
. Tappan was the county seat and the first public structures
built there were a church, jail, inn, and courthouse.
Inhabitants of Old Tappan served in the
Orange
County
militia, paid taxes to the Colony of New York, served as assessors,
fence viewers, and road masters of Orangetown. The people
continued to speak the Dutch language and Dutch customs prevailed.
A census of 1702 reveals there were 279 inhabitants in all of
Orange
County
. The settlement of the
New York-New Jersey boundary severed Old Tappan from its original
connection with
Orange
County
and the Colony of New York. It was now part of the
Province
of
New Jersey
.
As
of the census of 2000, there were 5,482 people, 1,778
households, and 1,541 families residing in the borough. The
population density was 1,697.4 people per square mile (655.3/km˛).
There were 1,804 housing units at an average density of 558.6/sq mi
(215.6/km˛). The racial makeup of the borough was 82.69% White,
0.60% African American, 0.05% Native American, 15.63% Asian, 0.44%
from other races, and 0.58% from two or more races. Hispanic or
Latino of any race were 2.75% of the population.
The
Old Tappan Public Schools serve students in kindergarten through
eighth grade. Schools in the district are T. Baldwin Demarest School
serving grades Kindergarten to 4 and
Charles
DeWolf
School
serving grades 5 – 8.
Students
in public school for grades 9-12 attend
Northern
Valley
Regional
High School
at Old Tappan which serves students from
Harrington
Park
, Northvale,
Norwood
and Old Tappan. The high school is part of the
Northern
Valley
Regional
High
School District
, which also serves students from Closter, Demarest and Haworth at
Northern
Valley
Regional
High School
at Demarest.
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