Old Tappan is a borough in northern Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the borough's population was 5,888, an increase of 138 (+2.4%) from the 2010 census count of 5,750, which in turn reflected an increase of 268 (+4.9%) from the 5,482 counted in the 2000 census.
Gerrit Haring House in 1937
The Lake Tappan reservoir straddles the Bergen County municipalities of Old Tappan and River Vale, as well as a smaller portion within adjacent Rockland County, New York.
Old Tappan Sunday School, Old Tappan Road
County Route 116 (Old Tappan Road) in Old Tappan
Boroughitis was the creation in the 1890s, usually by referendum, of large numbers of small boroughs in the U.S. state of New Jersey, particularly in Bergen County. Attempts by the New Jersey Legislature to reform local government and school systems led to the breakup of most of Bergen County's townships into small boroughs, which still balkanize the state's political map. This occurred following the development of commuter suburbs in New Jersey, residents of which wanted more government services, whereas the long-time rural population feared the increases in taxation that would result.
Bergen County (and neighboring Passaic County) in 1872
The New Jersey State House in Trenton, where the 1894 acts were passed
The Woodcliff School, Woodcliff Lake, Bergen County. The schoolhouse built for the new borough in 1895 is still part of its middle school.