Layton, once known as Laytons and originally named Centreville, was settled by John Layton in the early 1800's. Its first business was owned by blacksmith Simeon Fisher, followed by Abraham Bell's carpenter's shop and tavern, and "Squire" Layton opened a store there in 1835. The Centreville M.E. Church was incorporated on Feb. 16, 1828, and Elizabeth (Shay) Faurot was the first interred in the adjoining churchyard in 1831. In 1861, John B. Layton petitioned the U.S. Postal Service at Washington, D.C. for mail delivery, and the village was named Laytons in his honor before eventually becoming Layton. The township's one-room schools closed in 1940 when the Sandyston School opened, and in 1950 the Sandyston and Walpack districts merged to form the Sandyston-Walpack School.