"The History and Demise of the Tocks Island Dam Project:.."

People wonder why History is important.
It is only in looking back, that we can plan forward. Part of the process of making valid decisions is reviewing how things came to be, how certain occurrences caused ripple effects.
The northwest corner of NJ has witnessed changes, many of which were affected by what was happening on a broader scale. Starting with the changing bounds of East and West Jersey, and the NY-NJ Boundary Dispute, this area always seems to have been experiencing some sort of flux. Clicking the map in the link: showing the 1768 Jeffreys Map of New York and New Jersey will leave a student of geography puzzled. Zoom in to view the disputed boundaries over time.

Early on, many roadways converged and crossed the Delaware River - leading further inland. Later the D&H Canal and the Erie Railroad were instituted beyond the state's boundary. Businesses shifted to be closer to the transportation routes, and the surrounding region became primarily rural and agricultural following the Civil War. People came to stay at area hotels, boarding homes, and to visit the new High Point State Park. The Erie RR would help sustain the region's overall level of prosperity til the 1970's.

After 1950, the opposing ends of Montague were greatly altered and affected by the new bridge to Milford destroying the original town center, and by the addition of Interstate 84 - with the Tocks Island Dam permanently impacting the western, and more populated, section of town. These three greatly changed the face of Montague.
The initial Tenn Gas Pipeline project had cut across town in the 1950's, but as farms struggled to survive, developers began to acquire and subdivide the large sparsely populated tracts. Holiday Lake was one such project, which evolved as the most densely populated section of the township. The current TGP Northeast upgrade follows the original route, but also impacts another segment of town. The greatest portion of land now belongs to the State and Federal government, and together with the Nature Conservancy and the NJ Land Trust, own close to 70% of township land.