Originally settled by Dutch farmers in the 1600s, the borough of Maywood experienced population and industrial growth in the late 1800s with the coming of the railroad. New Jersey Midland Railway, predecessor to the New York, Susquehanna and Western Railroad, arrived in 1872, a time when Maywood consisted mainly of farmland. Maywood was incorporated in 1894, when the railroad expanded into the Pennsylvania coalfields. The railroad provided the means for transportation of people, goods, and services, and Maywood grew measurably with it into the 20th century. Today the borough has developed into a suburb of such iconic cities as New York City, Paterson, Passaic, and Hackensack, while still retaining its character and charm.