Goffle Brook Park

One of the most recognizable features of Hawthorne is the 90-acre Passaic County greenway park along Goffle Brook. The prestigious Olmsted Brothers Landscape Firm designed Goffle Brook Park during the early stages of the creation of the Passaic County Park System. The park was established for passive recreation and to provide environmental protection, preserving the floodplain and wetlands of the Goffle Brook and creating a buffer between the waterbody and the growing community. The park contains a former millpond, picnic areas and pastoral scenic vistas, and active recreation facilities, such as, baseball/softball fields, soccer fields, a playground and a dog run. Passaic County was in the process of developing a pedestrian & bike pathway along Goffle Brook that will connect the park to the Passaic River, but Passaic County Planning did not pursue the project. "National and State Register Historical Site Goffle Brook Park was designed by the sons of New York Central Park architect Frederick Law Olmsted and their partner Percival Gallagher, and commissioned by the Passaic County Park Commission in 1927. The 115-acre park required the purchase or condemnation of 99 acres of private property. Included were three historically significant brown sandstone houses on Goffle Road: the John W. Rea House (1840); the Vreeland House (1760); and the John George Ryerson House (1750), also called Lafayette’s Headquarters. Only the Rea House still stands today. The original Olmsted design was actually arranged around these historical houses. The design also included several foot bridges and bridal paths to ride horses, as Hawthorne used to have several horse farms. Today Goffle Brook Park is largely located off of Goffle Road and runs along much of the borough. It is still maintained by Passaic County."