Bloomfield is a

township A township is a kind of human settlement or administrative subdivision, with its meaning varying in different countries. Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, that tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, Ca ...

in Essex County,

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

, United States. As of the

2020 United States Census The United States census of 2020 was the twenty-fourth decennial United States census. Census Day, the reference day used for the census, was April 1, 2020. Other than a pilot study during the 2000 census, this was the first U.S. census to of ...

, the township's population was 53,105. It surrounds the

Bloomfield Green Historic District Bloomfield Green Historic District is a historic district located in Bloomfield, Essex County, New Jersey, United States. The district was added to the National Register of Historic Places on April 20, 1978. See also *National Register of Hi ...

History

The initial

patent A patent is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the legal right to exclude others from making, using, or selling an invention for a limited period of time in exchange for publishing an enabling disclosure of the invention."A p ...

for the land that would become Bloomfield Township was granted to the

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

Puritan The Puritans were English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries who sought to purify the Church of England of Catholic Church, Roman Catholic practices, maintaining that the Church of England had not been fully reformed and should become m ...

colonists of

Newark Newark most commonly refers to: * Newark, New Jersey, city in the United States * Newark Liberty International Airport, New Jersey; a major air hub in the New York metropolitan area Newark may also refer to: Places Canada * Niagara-on-the ...

, and the area assigned to Essex County in 1675, and Newark Township in 1693. From the 1690s to about the 1720s, much of the northern and eastern land was sold to descendants of

New Netherland New Netherland ( nl, Nieuw Nederland; la, Novum Belgium or ) was a 17th-century colonial province of the Dutch Republic that was located on the East Coast of the United States, east coast of what is now the United States. The claimed territor ...

colonists who had settled Acquackanonk, and the remainder mostly to English families. Speertown (now Upper Montclair), Stone House Plains (now Brookdale), and Second River (now Belleville and Nutley) were essentially

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

and Jersey Dutch-speaking, while Cranetown, Watsessing, and the Morris Neighborhood (now North Center) were predominantly English. Starting in the mid-18th century, the English and Dutch neighborhoods gradually integrated, with Thomas Cadmus being among the first Dutchmen to settle in an English neighborhood. Numerous residents served in the Revolutionary War. No significant engagements occurred in Bloomfield, although the locale was on the Continental Army's retreat route after the

Battle of Long Island The Battle of Long Island, also known as the Battle of Brooklyn and the Battle of Brooklyn Heights, was an action of the American Revolutionary War fought on August 27, 1776, at the western edge of Long Island in present-day Brooklyn, New Yo ...

;

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

and American troops conducted foraging operations; and

General A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of highest military ranks, high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers t ...

George Washington George Washington (February 22, 1732, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Continental Congress as commander of th ...

is believed to have visited at least two residences. The Green was set aside to commemorate the use of that space for

drilling Drilling is a cutting process where a drill bit is spun to cut a hole of circular cross-section in solid materials. The drill bit is usually a rotary cutting tool, often multi-point. The bit is pressed against the work-piece and rotated at ra ...

militia A militia () is generally an army or some other fighting organization of non-professional soldiers, citizens of a country, or subjects of a state, who may perform military service during a time of need, as opposed to a professional force of r ...

The

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their nam ...

Society of Bloomfield (now th
Bloomfield Presbyterian Church on the Green
was formed in 1794 and named in honor of then-

brigadier Brigadier is a military rank, the seniority of which depends on the country. In some countries, it is a senior rank above colonel, equivalent to a brigadier general or commodore, typically commanding a brigade of several thousand soldiers. In ...

Joseph Bloomfield Joseph Bloomfield (October 18, 1753October 3, 1823) was the fourth governor of New Jersey. He also served two terms in the United States House of Representatives from 1817 to 1821. The township of Bloomfield, New Jersey is named for him. Birth ...

, commander of

troops in the

Whiskey Rebellion The Whiskey Rebellion (also known as the Whiskey Insurrection) was a violent tax protest in the United States beginning in 1791 and ending in 1794 during the presidency of George Washington. The so-called "whiskey tax" was the first tax impo ...

. About the same time, the

Dutch Reformed Church The Dutch Reformed Church (, abbreviated NHK) was the largest Christian denomination in the Netherlands from the onset of the Protestant Reformation in the 16th century until 1930. It was the original denomination of the Dutch Royal Family and ...

of Stone House Plains (now Brookdale Reformed Church) was established.Folsom, Joseph Fulford
''Bloomfield, Old and New : An Historical Symposium by Several Authors''
Bloomfield Centennial Historical Committee, 1912. Accessed November 3, 2019. The two churches became integral institutions of southern and northern Bloomfield, respectively. Bloomfield was incorporated as a township from portions of Newark Township by an act of the

New Jersey Legislature The New Jersey Legislature is the legislative branch of the government of the U.S. state of New Jersey. In its current form, as defined by the New Jersey Constitution of 1947, the Legislature consists of two houses: the General Assembly and the ...

on March 23, 1812.Snyder, John P
''The Story of New Jersey's Civil Boundaries: 1606-1968''
Bureau of Geology and Topography; Trenton, New Jersey; 1969. p. 126. Accessed January 28, 2012. At the time, the Presbyterian parish's namesake was governor of New Jersey and had recently been appointed brigadier general for service in the looming

War of 1812 The War of 1812 (18 June 1812 – 17 February 1815) was fought by the United States of America and its indigenous allies against the United Kingdom and its allies in British North America, with limited participation by Spain in Florida. It bega ...

.Bloomfield, New Jersey - A Brief History
, First Baptist Church of Bloomfield, NJ. Accessed August 21, 2007. At the time it was incorporated, the township covered (almost four times its current area of ) and included several municipalities which were formed from portions of Bloomfield during the course of the nineteenth century, including Belleville (created on April 8, 1839), Montclair (April 15, 1868), Woodside Township (March 24, 1869) and Glen Ridge (February 13, 1895). The Stone House Plains neighborhood was renamed as Brookdale in 1873. Bloomfield Station - 1908

In the township's first century, Brookdale farms thrived while southern Bloomfield industrialized, and the township's infrastructure, civil framework and social institutions developed. Several miles of the

Morris Canal The Morris Canal (1829–1924) was a common carrier anthracite coal canal across northern New Jersey that connected the two industrial canals at Easton, Pennsylvania across the Delaware River from its western terminus at Phillipsburg, New Jers ...

passed through Bloomfield. The Oakes woollen mill thrived as a major supplier to the Union Army. Bloomfield was incorporated as a

town A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares an ori ...

on February 26, 1900. In 1904, The city of Newark failed in its attempts to reannex Bloomfield as part of the "Greater Newark" movement. In 1981, the town was one of seven Essex County municipalities to pass a referendum to become a township, joining four municipalities that had already made the change, of what would ultimately be more than a dozen Essex County municipalities to reclassify themselves as townships in order to take advantage of federal

revenue sharing Revenue sharing is the distribution of revenue, the total amount of income generated by the sale of goods and services among the stakeholders or contributors. It should not be confused with profit shares, in which scheme only the profit is share ...

policies that allocated townships a greater share of government aid to municipalities on a per capita basis. In the 20th century, GE, Westinghouse and Schering built major facilities, and among others, the Charms Candy Company was started and grew. After

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, Brookdale's farms were developed into residential neighborhoods and supporting services. Substantial population growth continued into the 1950s. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, while many Bloomfield men served in the armed forces, Bloomfield's farms and factories, largely staffed by women, supported the war effort. In the decades after the war, the township's industrial base steadily shut down with stricter environmental regulations, rising labor costs, and growing competition. These influences, as well as construction of the

Garden State Parkway The Garden State Parkway (GSP) is a controlled-access toll road that stretches the north–south length of eastern New Jersey from the state's southernmost tip near Cape May to the New York state line at Montvale. Its name refers to New Jersey ...

, further drove

urban decay Urban decay (also known as urban rot, urban death or urban blight) is the sociological process by which a previously functioning city, or part of a city, falls into disrepair and decrepitude. There is no single process that leads to urban deca ...

and related population turnover and stagnation through the latter part of the 20th century. In the early 21st century, redevelopment of blighted and underutilized properties has further shifted Bloomfield towards being a primarily residential municipality.

Geography

According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The Census Bureau is part of the ...

, the township had a total area of 5.36 square miles (13.88 km²), including 5.34 square miles (13.82 km²) of land and 0.02 square miles (0.06 km²) of water (0.45%).

Silver Lake Silver is a chemical element with the Symbol (chemistry), symbol Ag (from the Latin ', derived from the Proto-Indo-European wikt:Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/h₂erǵ-, ''h₂erǵ'': "shiny" or "white") and atomic number 47. A soft, whi ...

(2010 total population of 4,243) is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a region that is not governed by a local municipal corporation. Widespread unincorporated communities and areas are a distinguishing feature of the United States and Canada. Most other countries of the world either have ...

and

census-designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only. CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the counterparts of incorporated places, such ...

(CDP) defined by the

as of the 2010 Census that is split between Belleville (with 3,769 of the CDP's residents) and Bloomfield (474 of the total).New Jersey: 2010 - Population and Housing Unit Counts - 2010 Census of Population and Housing (CPH-2-32)

, August 2012, p. III-3. Accessed November 4, 2012. "Silver Lake (formed from parts of deleted whole-township Belleville and Bloomfield CDPs)" Brookdale (2010 population of 9,239) is a CDP located entirely within Bloomfield. Watsessing and Ampere North are CDPs in the southern part of the township that were first listed prior to the 2020 census.

Unincorporated communities An unincorporated area is a region that is not governed by a local municipal corporation. Widespread unincorporated communities and areas are a distinguishing feature of the United States and Canada. Most other countries of the world either have ...

, localities and place names located partially or completely within the township include Halycon. Bloomfield is in the

New York metropolitan area The New York metropolitan area, also commonly referred to as the Tri-State area, is the largest metropolitan area in the world by urban area, urban landmass, at , and one of the list of most populous metropolitan areas, most populous urban agg ...

. The township borders the municipalities of Belleville,

East Orange East Orange is a city in Essex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the city's population was 69,612. The city was the state's 20th most-populous municipality in 2010, after having been the state's 14th most-po ...

, Glen Ridge, Montclair,

and Nutley in Essex County; and

Clifton Clifton may refer to: People *Clifton (surname) *Clifton (given name) Places Australia * Clifton, Queensland, a town **Shire of Clifton *Clifton, New South Wales, a suburb of Wollongong *Clifton, Western Australia Canada *Clifton, Nova Scotia ...

in Passaic County.

Demographics

In comparison to the other municipalities in the U.S., the cost of living in Bloomfield was an average 20% higher than the U.S. average. According to a 2007 report from

CNNMoney.com CNN Business (formerly CNN Money) is a financial news and information website, operated by CNN. The website was originally formed as a joint venture between CNN.com and Time Warner's ''Fortune'' and ''Money'' magazines. Since the spin-off of Tim ...

, the quality of life in Bloomfield in terms of crime are 3 incidents per 1,000 people as compared to the "best places to live average" of 1.3 incidents per 1,000. There were 35 property crime incidents per 1,000 people in Bloomfield as compared to the "best places to live average" of 20.6.

2010 Census

The Census Bureau's 2006–2010

American Community Survey The American Community Survey (ACS) is a demographics survey program conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau. It regularly gathers information previously contained only in the long form of the decennial census, such as ancestry, citizenship, educati ...

showed that (in 2010

inflation-adjusted In economics, nominal value is measured in terms of money, whereas real value is measured against goods or services. A real value is one which has been adjusted for inflation, enabling comparison of quantities as if the prices of goods had not c ...

dollars)

median household income The median income is the income amount that divides a population into two equal groups, half having an income above that amount, and half having an income below that amount. It may differ from the mean (or average) income. Both of these are ways of ...

was $62,831 (with a margin of error of +/− $2,641) and the median family income was $77,936 (+/− $4,120). Males had a median income of $51,498 (+/− $1,805) versus $44,735 (+/− $2,867) for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or total income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. It is calculated by dividing the area's total income by its total population. Per capita i ...

for the township was $30,421 (+/− $1,122). About 5.8% of families and 7.4% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for t ...

, including 7.9% of those under age 18 and 7.9% of those age 65 or over.

2000 Census

As of the

2000 United States Census The United States census of 2000, conducted by the Census Bureau, determined the resident population of the United States on April 1, 2000, to be 281,421,906, an increase of 13.2 percent over the 248,709,873 people enumerated during the 1990 ce ...

there were 47,683 people, 19,017 households, and 12,075 families residing in the township. The

population density Population density (in agriculture: standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geographical term.Matt RosenberPopul ...

was 8,961.5 people per square mile (3,460.6/km²). There were 19,508 housing units at an average density of 3,666.3 per square mile (1,415.8/km²). The racial makeup of the township was 70.09%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White on ...

, 11.69%

Black Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white have o ...

, 0.19% Native American, 8.38%

Asian Asian may refer to: * Items from or related to the continent of Asia: ** Asian people, people in or descending from Asia ** Asian culture, the culture of the people from Asia ** Asian cuisine, food based on the style of food of the people from Asi ...

, 0.07%

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe the original p ...

, 6.42% from

other races Other often refers to: * Other (philosophy), a concept in psychology and philosophy Other or The Other may also refer to: Film and television * ''The Other'' (1913 film), a German silent film directed by Max Mack * ''The Other'' (1930 film), a ...

, and 3.16% from two or more races.

Hispanic The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad. The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to Vic ...

Latino Latino or Latinos most often refers to: * Latino (demonym), a term used in the United States for people with cultural ties to Latin America * Hispanic and Latino Americans in the United States * The people or cultures of Latin America; ** Latin A ...

of any race were 14.47% of the population.Census 2000 Profiles of Demographic / Social / Economic / Housing Characteristics for Bloomfield township, New Jersey

. Accessed September 29, 2012.DP-1: Profile of General Demographic Characteristics: 2000 - Census 2000 Summary File 1 (SF 1) 100-Percent Data for Bloomfield township, Essex County, New Jersey

. Accessed September 29, 2012. There were 19,017 households, out of which 28.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 46.7% were

married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognized union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children, and between t ...

living together, 12.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 36.5% were non-families. 30.4% of all households were made up of individuals, and 10.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.49 and the average family size was 3.16. In the township, 21.1% of the population was under the age of 18, 8.4% from 18 to 24, 34.0% from 25 to 44, 22.3% from 45 to 64, and 14.3% were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females, there were 90.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 87.1 males. The median income for a household in the township was $53,289, and the median income for a family was $64,945. Males had a median income of $43,498 versus $36,104 for females. The

for the township was $26,049. About 4.4% of families and 5.9% of the population were below the

, including 6.3% of those under age 18 and 8.2% of those age 65 or over.

Parks and recreation

Brookdale Park, established in 1928, covers over in Bloomfield and Montclair, making it the third-largest park in Essex County, of which are in Bloomfield.

Watsessing Park Watsessing Park is a park in Essex County, New Jersey, in the city of East Orange and the Watsessing section of Bloomfield Township. The park covers 69 acres (279,000 m²), just west of the Garden State Parkway, and contains the confluence of th ...

, which is the county's fourth-largest park, covers split between Bloomfield and

( in Bloomfield), and features sections of the Second River and Toney's Brook flowing through the park. Both parks are administered by the Essex County Department of Parks, Recreation, and Cultural Affairs. The Bloomfield Parks and Recreation Department administers eight parks covering .

Government

Local government

Bloomfield operates under a Special Charter granted under an Act of the

. The township is one of 11 municipalities (of the 564) statewide that operate under a special charter. The township's governing body is comprised of the Mayor and the six-member Township Council. The mayor and three councilmembers are elected

at-large At large (''before a noun'': at-large) is a description for members of a governing body who are elected or appointed to represent a whole membership or population (notably a city, county, state, province, nation, club or association), rather than ...

, and one member is elected from each of three

wards Ward may refer to: Division or unit * Hospital ward, a hospital division, floor, or room set aside for a particular class or group of patients, for example the psychiatric ward * Prison ward, a division of a penal institution such as a priso ...

, with all positions chosen on a partisan basis as part of the November general election. Councilmembers are elected to three-year terms of office on a staggered basis, with the three at-large seats (and the mayoral seat) up for election together and the three ward seats coming up for election two years later and no election in the middle year of the three-year cycle.''2012 New Jersey Legislative District Data Book'',

Rutgers University Rutgers University (; RU), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a Public university, public land-grant research university consisting of four campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's ...

Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy The Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy of Rutgers University (The Bloustein School) serves as a center for the theory and practice of urban planning, public policy and public health/health administration scholarship. The sc ...

, March 2013, p. 128. Bloomfield's charter retains most of the characteristics of the

Town A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares an ori ...

form, with additional powers delegated to an administrator. , the

Mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well a ...

of Bloomfield is

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

Michael J. Venezia, whose term of office ends December 31, 2023. Members of the Bloomfield Township Council are Sarah Cruz (D, 2023; Third Ward), Wartyna "Nina" Davis (D, 2022; at-large), Ted Gamble (D, 2022; at-large), Nicholas Joanow (D, 2023; Second Ward), Jenny Mundell (D, 2023; First Ward) and Richard Rockwell (D, 2022; at-large).Your Elected Officials
Township of Bloomfield. Accessed December 5, 2022.County Directory
Essex County, New Jersey. Accessed December 5, 2022.November 3, 2020, General Election Unofficial Results
Essex County, New Jersey, updated November 19, 2020. Accessed January 1, 2021.November 5, 2019, General Election Unofficial Results

Essex County, New Jersey Essex County is located in the northeastern part of New Jersey. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the county's population was 863,728, making it the state's second-most populous county, behind Bergen and Middlesex Counties.

Clerk, updated November 14, 2019. Accessed January 1, 2020. In January 2018, the Township Council selected Richard Rockwell from a list of three candidates nominated by the Democratic municipal committee to fill the at-large seat expiring in December 2019 that had been vacated the previous month by Carlos Pomares who resigned from office to serve on the Essex County

Board of chosen freeholders In New Jersey, a Board of County Commissioners (until 2020 named the Board of Chosen Freeholders) is the elected county-wide government board in each of the state's 21 counties. In the five counties that have an elected county executive, the b ...

. Rockwell served on an interim basis until the November 2018 general election, when he was elected to serve the balance of the term of office.November 6, 2018, General Election Unofficial Results
Essex County, New Jersey, updated November 22, 2018. Accessed January 1, 2019. The Township Council selected Jenny Mundell to fill the vacant First Ward seat expiring in December 2017 that had been held by Elias N. Chalet until he resigned from office after being charged with accepting $15,000 in bribes in exchange for making sure that the township would proceed with the acquisition of a commercial property. After pleading guilty, Chalet was forced to resign from office and could be sentenced to five years in prison.

Emergency services

The township maintains its own

police department The police are a constituted body of persons empowered by a state, with the aim to enforce the law, to ensure the safety, health and possessions of citizens, and to prevent crime and civil disorder. Their lawful powers include arrest and ...

. The town is protected by a fire department consisting of 78 active professional firefighters who operate out of four stations, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. There is also a squad of volunteers. In 2009, the department received international accreditation. The Fire Prevention Bureau established in 1953 and described as the first of its kind in the state, is operated by the department. It consists of one fire inspector, one fire official and a small support staff of civilians and fire personnel. The department apparatus consist of four engines (one is a rescue pumper), one Truck/Ladder, a rescue and three reserve apparatus. Engine 1 located at the fire headquarters frequently closes due to lack of manpower. In 2018, the

Insurance Services Office Insurance Services Office, Inc. (ISO), a subsidiary of Verisk Analytics, is a provider of statistical, actuarial, underwriting, and claims information and analytics; compliance and fraud identification tools; policy language; information abo ...

once again listed the fire department as a class 2 agency, recognizing it in the top five percent of the nation's fire departments, a ranking it has held for the past ten years. As of 2020, the department is again working toward achieving accreditation status. Newark's former Police Director, Samuel DeMaio, is Bloomfield's Public Safety Director who currently oversees both police and fire department operations. The Fire Chief is Louis Venezia. He is the brother of the mayor, Michael Venezia.Administration
, Township of Bloomfield. Accessed March 16, 2018.

Federal, state, and county representation

Bloomfield is in the 11th Congressional district2022 Redistricting Plan

New Jersey Redistricting Commission The New Jersey Redistricting Commission is a constitutional body of the government of New Jersey tasked with redrawing the state's Congressional election districts after each decade's census. Like Arizona, Idaho, Hawaii, Montana, and Washington; t ...

, December 8, 2022. and is part of New Jersey's 28th state legislative district.Municipalities Sorted by 2011-2020 Legislative District

New Jersey Department of State The secretary of state of New Jersey oversees the Department of State, which is one of the original state offices. The Secretary is responsible for overseeing artistic, cultural, and historical programs within the U.S. state of New Jersey, as we ...

. Accessed February 1, 2020.''2019 New Jersey Citizen's Guide to Government''
New Jersey

League of Women Voters The League of Women Voters (LWV or the League) is a nonprofit, nonpartisan political organization in the United States. Founded in 1920, its ongoing major activities include registering voters, providing voter information, and advocating for vot ...

. Accessed October 30, 2019. Before the redistricting that followed the 2020 census, the township had been split between the 10th and 11th Congressional districtsPlan Components Report

, December 23, 2011. Accessed February 1, 2020. In the redistricting that went into effect in 2013, 24,480 residents in the northern portion of the township were placed in the 10th District, while 22,835 in the southern section were placed in the 11th District. Prior to the 2010 Census, Bloomfield had been part of the , a change made by the

that took effect in January 2013, based on the results of the November 2012 general elections.''2011 New Jersey Citizen's Guide to Government''
, p. 55, New Jersey

. Accessed May 22, 2015.

Politics

As of March 23, 2011, there were a total of 28,398 registered voters in Bloomfield, of which 11,925 (42.0%) were registered as Democrats, 4,393 (15.5%) were registered as Republicans and 12,061 (42.5%) were registered as Unaffiliated. There were 19 voters registered as either

Libertarians Libertarianism (from french: libertaire, "libertarian"; from la, libertas, "freedom") is a political philosophy that upholds liberty as a core value. Libertarians seek to maximize autonomy and political freedom, and minimize the state's enc ...

or Greens. In the 2012 presidential election, Democrat

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...

received 69.9% of the vote (13,361 cast), ahead of Republican

Mitt Romney Willard Mitt Romney (born March 12, 1947) is an American politician, businessman, and lawyer serving as the junior United States senator from Utah since January 2019, succeeding Orrin Hatch. He served as the 70th governor of Massachusetts f ...

with 28.8% (5,501 votes), and other candidates with 1.3% (245 votes), among the 19,242 ballots cast by the township's 29,923 registered voters (135 ballots were spoiled), for a turnout of 64.3%. In the 2008 presidential election, Democrat Barack Obama received 62.9% of the vote here (12,735 cast), ahead of Republican

John McCain John Sidney McCain III (August 29, 1936 – August 25, 2018) was an American politician and United States Navy officer who served as a United States senator from Arizona from 1987 until his death in 2018. He previously served two terms ...

with 35.3% (7,154 votes) and other candidates with 0.9% (186 votes), among the 20,251 ballots cast by the township's 27,981 registered voters, for a turnout of 72.4%. In the 2004 presidential election, Democrat

John Kerry John Forbes Kerry (born December 11, 1943) is an American attorney, politician and diplomat who currently serves as the first United States special presidential envoy for climate. A member of the Forbes family and the Democratic Party (Unite ...

received 57.0% of the vote here (10,829 ballots cast), outpolling Republican

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...

with 41.5% (7,891 votes) and other candidates with 0.7% (208 votes), among the 19,012 ballots cast by the township's 27,995 registered voters, for a turnout percentage of 67.9. In the 2013 gubernatorial election, Democrat

Barbara Buono Barbara A. Buono (born July 28, 1953) is an American politician who served in the New Jersey Senate from 2002 to 2014, where she represented the 18th Legislative District. She served from 2010 to 2012 as the Majority Leader in the Senate, succ ...

received 53.1% of the vote (5,808 cast), ahead of Republican

Chris Christie Christopher James Christie (born September 6, 1962) is an American politician, lawyer, political commentator, lobbyist, and former federal prosecutor who served as the 55th governor of New Jersey from 2010 to 2018. Christie, who was born in Ne ...

with 45.6% (4,984 votes), and other candidates with 1.3% (141 votes), among the 11,118 ballots cast by the township's 30,606 registered voters (185 ballots were spoiled), for a turnout of 36.3%. In the 2009 gubernatorial election, Democrat

Jon Corzine Jon Stevens Corzine ( ; born January 1, 1947) is an American financial executive and retired politician who served as a United States Senator from New Jersey from 2001 to 2006 and the 54th governor of New Jersey from 2006 to 2010. Corzine ran fo ...

received 53.8% of the vote here (6,241 ballots cast), ahead of Republican Chris Christie with 37.6% (4,359 votes), Independent

Chris Daggett Christopher Jarvis Daggett (born March 7, 1950) is an American businessman who is the president and CEO of the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, one of the largest foundations in New Jersey. A former regional administrator of the United States En ...

with 6.6% (761 votes) and other candidates with 1.3% (147 votes), among the 11,599 ballots cast by the township's 27,929 registered voters, yielding a 41.5% turnout.

Education

Primary and secondary schools

Public schools

The

Bloomfield Public Schools The Bloomfield Public Schools are a comprehensive community public school district that serves students in pre-kindergarten through twelfth grade from Bloomfield, in Essex County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2021–22 school year, ...

serve students in

pre-kindergarten Pre-kindergarten (also called Pre-K or PK) is a voluntary classroom-based preschool program for children below the age of five in the United States, Canada, Turkey and Greece (when kindergarten starts). It may be delivered through a preschool ...

through

twelfth grade Twelfth grade, 12th grade, senior year, or grade 12 is the final year of secondary school in most of North America. In other regions, it may also be referred to as class 12 or Year 13. In most countries, students are usually between the ages of 17 ...

. As of the 2017–2018 school year, the district, comprised of 11 schools, had an enrollment of 6,487 students and 544.0 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a

student–teacher ratio Student–teacher ratio or student–faculty ratio is the number of students who attend a school or university divided by the number of teachers in the institution. For example, a student–teacher ratio of 10:1 indicates that there are 10 students ...

of 11.9:1. Schools in the district (with 2017–2018 enrollment data from the

National Center for Education Statistics The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) is the part of the United States Department of Education's Institute of Education Sciences (IES) that collects, analyzes, and publishes statistics on education and public school district finance ...

) are Early Childhood Center at Forest Glen (151 students; in grades Pre-K–2), Berkeley Elementary School (451; K–6), Brookdale Elementary School (338; K–6), Carteret Elementary School (415; K–6), Demarest Elementary School (518; K–6), Fairview Elementary School (550; K–6), Franklin Elementary School (361; K–6), Oak View Elementary School (384; K–6) and Watsessing Elementary School (323; K–6), Bloomfield Middle School (940; 7–8) and Bloomfield High School / Bridges Academy (1,979; 9–12). As of the 2012–2013 school year, the Bloomfield Public Schools had an actual Budgetary Per Pupil Cost of $11,848 (which is 16.4% below the statewide group average was $14,173), while Total Spending Per Pupil for the district was $15,848 (which is 16.0% below the $18,867 statewide).

Bloomfield Tech High School Bloomfield Tech High School (also Essex County Bloomfield Tech or Bloomfield Tech) is a regional public high school located in Bloomfield, that offered occupational and academic instruction for students in Essex County, New Jersey, United Sta ...

is a regional, countywide

magnet A magnet is a material or object that produces a magnetic field. This magnetic field is invisible but is responsible for the most notable property of a magnet: a force that pulls on other ferromagnetic materials, such as iron, steel, nickel, ...

public high school that offers

occupational Employment is a relationship between two party (law), parties Regulation, regulating the provision of paid Labour (human activity), labour services. Usually based on a employment contract, contract, one party, the employer, which might be a co ...

and academic instruction for students in Essex County, as part of the

Essex County Vocational Technical Schools The Essex County Schools of Technology (formerly known as Essex County Vocational Technical Schools) is a regional public school district headquartered in Newark that offers occupational and academic instruction for public high school and adul ...

Catholic schools

Saint Thomas the Apostle Parish School, which serves grades K–8, is operated under the supervision of the

Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Newark The Archdiocese of Newark is a Latin Church ecclesiastical jurisdiction or archdiocese of the Catholic Church in northeastern New Jersey, United States. Its ecclesiastic territory includes all of the Catholic parishes and schools in the New Jerse ...

Colleges and universities

Bloomfield College Bloomfield College is a private college in Bloomfield, New Jersey. It is chartered by the State of New Jersey and accredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education. The college is affiliated with the Presbyterian Church (USA) through ...

, a liberal arts college founded in 1868, is in downtown Bloomfield near the town green. The college has approximately 2,000 students and is affiliated with the

Presbyterian Church Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their nam ...

Transportation

Roads and highways

, the township had a total of of roadways, of which were maintained by the municipality, by Essex County and by the New Jersey Turnpike Authority. The major New Jersey highway artery that serves Bloomfield is the

, the longest road in the state. It has four interchanges in the township. Interchanges 148 in the south of Bloomfield and 151 in the north are complete interchanges, while 149 and 150 are partials. The Parkway's Essex toll plaza is southbound just south of interchange 150 in the township. There are two service areas on the Parkway in Bloomfield, one for northbound and one southbound. Troop D of the

New Jersey State Police The New Jersey State Police (NJSP) is the official state police force of the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is a general-powers police agency with statewide jurisdiction, designated by troop sectors. History As with other state police organization ...

, which patrols the full length of the Garden State Parkway, has a station in Bloomfield at northbound milepost 153. County Road 506, 506 Spur and 509 also serve Bloomfield.

Commuter rail

South Bloomfield is served by two stations of the

NJ Transit New Jersey Transit Corporation, branded as NJ Transit, and often shortened to NJT, is a state-owned public transportation system that serves the U.S. state of New Jersey, along with portions of New York State and Pennsylvania. It operates bu ...

Montclair-Boonton Line The Montclair-Boonton Line is a commuter rail line of New Jersey Transit Rail Operations in the United States. It is part of the Hoboken Division. The line is a consolidation of three individual lines: the former Delaware, Lackawanna & Western R ...

Hoboken Terminal Hoboken Terminal is a commuter-oriented intermodal passenger station in Hoboken, Hudson County, New Jersey. One of the New York metropolitan area's major transportation hubs, it is served by nine NJ Transit (NJT) commuter rail lines, one Metr ...

or to

Penn Station Pennsylvania Station is a name applied by the Pennsylvania Railroad to several of its grand passenger terminals. Pennsylvania Station or Penn Station may also refer to Current train stations * Baltimore Penn Station * Pennsylvania Station (Cinc ...

Midtown Manhattan Midtown Manhattan is the central portion of the New York City borough of Manhattan and serves as the city's primary central business district. Midtown is home to some of the city's most prominent buildings, including the Empire State Buildin ...

via the

Secaucus Junction Secaucus Junction (known as Secaucus Transfer during planning stages and signed simply as Secaucus) is a NJ Transit Rail Operations commuter rail hub in Secaucus, New Jersey. The $450 million, station opened on December 15, 2003, and was ded ...

. About 55% of the weekday trains terminate in Penn Station via

Midtown Direct The Kearny Connection is a railroad junction in Kearny, New Jersey that allows passenger trains from New Jersey Transit's Morris and Essex Lines to enter Amtrak's Northeast Corridor (NEC) and travel to and from New York Penn Station. The junctio ...

. On weekends the line terminates in Hoboken. The Bloomfield train station is located off of Bloomfield Avenue in the downtown area. The

Watsessing Avenue station Watsessing Avenue (also known as Watsessing) is a New Jersey Transit rail station in Bloomfield, New Jersey, along the Montclair-Boonton Line. It is located beneath the Bloomfield Police Benevolent Association meeting hall (which formerly served ...

is at the corner of Watsessing Avenue and Orange Street, and is located below ground. Bloomfield used to be served by other passenger rail lines. The Rowe Street station was served by the Boonton Line until September 2002, when it was closed as part of the addition of Midtown Direct service to the township. The Walnut Street station, on the same line, was closed in 1953 when the Garden State Parkway was built through it.

Light rail

The Grove Street station on the Newark City Subway line of the

Newark Light Rail The Newark Light Rail (NLR) is a light rail system serving Newark, New Jersey and surrounding areas, operated by New Jersey Transit Bus Operations. The service consists of two segments, the original Newark City Subway (NCS), and the extension t ...

at the south end of Bloomfield provides service to

Newark Penn Station Pennsylvania Station (also known as Newark Penn Station) is an intermodal passenger station in Newark, New Jersey. One of the New York metropolitan area's major transportation hubs, Newark Penn Station is served by multiple rail and bus carriers, ...

, created as part of an extension to Belleville and Bloomfield that opened in 2002. This station was part of the Orange Branch of the New York & Greenwood Lake Line of the Erie-Lackawanna Railroad with service to Jersey City which last saw passenger service in 1965. Freight service was discontinued in 2010 by Norfolk Southern with the loss of the last remaining shipper Hartz Mountain.

Buses

bus service is available to and from

on the 11, 27, 28, 29, 34, 72, 90, 92, 93 and 94 routes, with local service on the

709 __NOTOC__ Year 709 ( DCCIX) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. The denomination 709 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era ...

bus line. In October 2009, the Go Bus 28 route was introduced, offering service nearly all day from Bloomfield Train Station to Newark Liberty International Airport.

Airports

Bloomfield is from

Newark Liberty International Airport Newark Liberty International Airport , originally Newark Metropolitan Airport and later Newark International Airport, is an international airport straddling the boundary between the cities of Newark in Essex County and Elizabeth in Union Count ...

Elizabeth Elizabeth or Elisabeth may refer to: People * Elizabeth (given name), a female given name (including people with that name) * Elizabeth (biblical figure), mother of John the Baptist Ships * HMS ''Elizabeth'', several ships * ''Elisabeth'' (sch ...

, and from

LaGuardia Airport LaGuardia Airport is a civil airport in East Elmhurst, Queens, New York City. Covering , the facility was established in 1929 and began operating as a public airport in 1939. It is named after former New York City mayor Fiorello La Guardia. ...

Flushing, Queens Flushing is a neighborhood in the north-central portion of the New York City borough of Queens. The neighborhood is the fourth-largest central business district in New York City. Downtown Flushing is a major commercial and retail area, and the ...

Points of interest

* Glendale Cemetery * Holsten's Brookdale Confectionery, filming location of the final scene in the final episode of ''

The Sopranos ''The Sopranos'' is an American Crime film#Crime drama, crime drama television series created by David Chase. The story revolves around Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini), a New Jersey-based American Mafia, Italian-American mobster, portraying h ...

''. * The Oakes Estate, constructed in 1895 based on a design by Charles Granville Jones, was added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

in 1981.History
Oakside Bloomfield Cultural Center. Accessed November 20, 2016.

Notable events

* In 1942, the

Westinghouse Lamp Plant The Westinghouse Lamp Plant located in Bloomfield, New Jersey, was one of the lamp manufacturing plants of Westinghouse Electric Corporation. The plant had a major involvement in supplying uranium metal for the world's first self-sustaining chain ...

in Bloomfield produced the majority of

uranium Uranium is a chemical element with the symbol U and atomic number 92. It is a silvery-grey metal in the actinide series of the periodic table. A uranium atom has 92 protons and 92 electrons, of which 6 are valence electrons. Uranium is weak ...

metal used in the

Chicago Pile-1 Chicago Pile-1 (CP-1) was the world's first artificial nuclear reactor. On 2 December 1942, the first human-made self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction was initiated in CP-1, during an experiment led by Enrico Fermi. The secret development of t ...

, the world's first self-sustaining chain reaction which was a critical early phase of the

Manhattan Project The Manhattan Project was a research and development undertaking during World War II that produced the first nuclear weapons. It was led by the United States with the support of the United Kingdom and Canada. From 1942 to 1946, the project w ...

to create the first

atomic bomb A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission (fission bomb) or a combination of fission and fusion reactions (thermonuclear bomb), producing a nuclear explosion. Both bomb ...

Notable people

People who were born in, residents of, or otherwise closely associated with Bloomfield include:

References

External links

Bloomfield Township website

Bloomfield Public Schools

''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', May 24, 2009 * * {{Authority control 1812 establishments in New Jersey Populated places established in 1812 Special Charters in New Jersey Townships in Essex County, New Jersey