The town's name, recorded variously as Ramopuck, Ramapock, or Ramapough, is of Lenape origin, meaning either "sweet water" or "slanting rocks".

Their descendants now live on Stag Hill in Mahwah, New Jersey, where they form the New Jersey-recognized Ramapo Lenape Nation.

During the American Revolutionary War, Commander-in-Chief George Washington is said to have climbed the Ramapo Torne (near Sloatsburg) with a telescope to watch the July 24, 1777, sailing of the British fleet off Sandy Hook in New Jersey.

General Washington and his troops set up an encampment in Suffern, in the west of Ramapo, due to its strategic location near a local mountain pass.

Ramapo Iron Works, located near present-day State Route 17 at the base of Terse Mountain, was a producer of first cut nails made in America, wood screws, cotton cloth, and spring steel in the first half of the 19th century.

Its founder, Jeremiah H. Pierson, was influential in building the Nyack Turnpike and the New York & Erie Railroad across the county.

In 1916, what would become State Route 59, which reached from Nyack to Spring Valley in 1915, was extended to Suffern and Hillburn.

Ramapo was one of the first cities to use Adequate Public Facilities acts to tier growth and infrastructure together.

[4] The 1971 court case Golden v. Planning Board of Ramapo is the basis for the subsequent expansion of growth management practices, including the use of development impact fees.

Arts and leisure, business, housing, low crime rates and open spaces/parkland determined the town's ranking.

Legend tells that Gen. George Washington lost his watch on the mountain, and it may still be heard ticking up there in a crevice of rock.

The highest point in Ramapo is Squirrel Swamp Mountain near the northern border of the town, with an elevation of 1,252 feet (382 m).

Torne Brook Farm, on the National Register of Historic Places, is located in the town.

The Joseph T. St. Lawrence Community, Health, and Sports Complex (aka "Torne Valley Recreation Center & Fields") was dedicated and opened on November 19, 2006.

Although the residents of Ramapo have the exclusive right to join the Joseph T. St. Lawrence Community and Health Center, paid memberships are available to others.

The New York Boulders are a professional baseball team based just outside the village of Pomona and a member of the Frontier League.

A state audit found that taxpayers could be liable for up to $60 million for Provident Bank Park in Ramapo.

In state government it is represented by Senator Bill Weber, and assembly members Aron Wieder and Kenneth P. Zebrowski.

The Sunbridge Institute in Chestnut Ridge is a Waldorf-based adult learning center that specializes in training teachers.

It offers Masters degrees in education in collaboration with the State University of New York (SUNY).

Hillburn) is primarily served by the Suffern Central School District, and the eastern part of the town (Spring Valley, Monsey, Pomona, Chestnut Ridge, New Hempstead) by the East Ramapo Central School District.

Transactions involving the two buildings were the focus of an ongoing state attorney general's investigation.

[25] On June 30, 2011, former president of the East Ramapo Central School District Nathan Rothschild pleaded guilty to a mail fraud scheme which had been an attempt to eliminate his own private debt.

This program is made up of committees that raise funds and organize trips to Ramapo's twin towns around the world, providing local high school students the opportunity to experience life in other countries.