Totowa is a borough in Passaic County, New Jersey, in the northern part of the state about twenty miles northwest of Midtown Manhattan. The roughly four-square-mile community sits along the Passaic River, which curves past the borough on its way into nearby Paterson, and it forms part of the densely settled New York metropolitan area. The name Totowa derives from a Lenape term describing the land near the Great Falls of the Passaic River, variously interpreted as "falling water," "sinking water" or "land between river and mountain." The borough was incorporated in 1898 from portions of Wayne and the former Manchester Township. Its population remained modest in its early years — about 560 residents in 1900 and roughly 1,100 by 1910 — before the twentieth century's suburban expansion filled in its residential streets. Interstate 80 and Route 46 cross the borough, anchoring its role as a convenient commuter location. The highway access puts Totowa within a direct drive of the George Washington Bridge and Manhattan, while Route 46 carries local commerce and retail. The Passaic River and the Watchung and Garret mountain ridges frame the surrounding landscape, and the industrial history of neighboring Paterson — long a center of American silk manufacturing — shaped the region Totowa calls home. Totowa functions today as a mature, family-oriented suburb with a strong school pathway, established single-family housing and proximity to the employment, shopping and cultural centers of Paterson and Wayne. It suits buyers who want a quiet Passaic County address with direct access to the region's highways and, by extension, to New York City.