@whatshappeningnj: How did the Ramapo Mountains get their name? The Ramapo River, the Ramapo Mountains, and Ramapo Valley Road in Mahwah, New Jersey, are named after the Ramapough, a local Lenape band whose descendants still live in the area. According to a Mahwah historical account, Lenape and their ancestors had lived along the Ramapo River for a few thousand years before European contact, and the land near present-day Ramapo College was known as the “best fish and corn land.” Before the American Revolution, settlement followed an old Indian path that became Ramapo Valley Road. On October 15, 1697, a widow named Blandina made an initial agreement for the purchase of the Mahwah area with members of the local Lenape tribe, and she established a trading post near what is now the corner of Ramapo Valley Road and Halifax Road. Under pressure from Dutch and English colonists, some Lenape retreated into the mountains. Their descendants formed the community that is today called the Ramapough Lenape Nation, also known as the Ramapough Mountain Indians, which numbers about 5,000 people in Mahwah and Ringwood, New Jersey, and Hillburn, New York. The nation is organized into three clans: Turtle, Deer, and Wolf. The Ramapough were recognized as a tribe by the State of New Jersey in 1980, and the state reaffirmed that recognition in March 2019, but the nation is not federally recognized. In recent years, tribal leaders, including Chief Dwaine Perry, a Vietnam War veteran and activist, have held public walks and events to share the nation’s history and pride, and have spoken about the stone features in the surrounding mountains that carry spiritual significance. Each time you cross the Ramapo River or drive Ramapo Valley Road, you are following a name and a path that the Ramapough people have known for centuries. #NewJersey #RamapoughLenape #Mahwah #RamapoValley #WhatsHappeningInNJ

WhatsHappeningInNewJersey

Open In TikTok:

Region: US

Wednesday 21 October 2026 18:37:40 GMT