Briarwood East 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

residential neighborhood A residential area is a land used in which housing predominates, as opposed to industrial and commercial areas. Housing may vary significantly between, and through, residential areas. These include single-family housing, multi-family reside ...

located within Edison Township in Middlesex 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. It is located in the northern half of Edison Township; east of Carriage Hill, south east of

Glenwood Park Glenwood Park is a mixed-use neighborhood on the east side of Atlanta, Georgia, United States, located just west of North Ormewood Park. The neighborhood is an example of New Urbanism, promoting a sense of community with walkable streets and c ...

and Chandler Hill, south of the Oak Tree Park, west of Timber Grove and north of Tamarack North. The community is centered on the eastern half of Stephenville Parkway, a median strip-street which runs the entirety of the neighborhood between George Avenue and Midland Road. Briarwood East was established in 1963 and consists mainly of ranch-style, bi-level and

split-level A split-level home (also called a bi-level home or tri-level home) is a style of house in which the floor levels are staggered. There are typically two short sets of stairs, one running upward to a bedroom level, and one going downward toward ...

homes. The community was developed by contractors Jack J. Handshush and Albert Handshuh through their building and development firm Hand-Sum Homes. Briarwood East was named after Briarwood, a similar community previously developed by the Handshuh brothers in

Berkeley Heights, New Jersey Berkeley Heights is a township in Union County, New Jersey, United States. A commuter town in northern-central New Jersey, the township is nestled within the Raritan Valley region in the New York metropolitan area. As of the 2010 United States ...

History

The land on which Briarwood East sits was once owned by bridge engineer

Gustav Lindenthal Gustav Lindenthal (May 21, 1850 – July 31, 1935) was a civil engineer who designed the Queensboro and Hell Gate bridges in New York City, among other bridges. Lindenthal's work was greatly affected by his pursuit for perfection and his lov ...

. After his death in 1935, the land was donated to Raritan Township. In January 1952, Frank P. Tufaro optioned between 140 and 160 acres of undeveloped land from the Raritan Park Company between Plainfield Road, Grove Avenue and Oak Tree Road. Tufaro intended to build an eastern addition to Stephenville, a residential community which he had developed through his firm, Terra-Nova Construction Company. Tufaro completed his purchase of 145 acres in mid-August 1952, planning for large residential homes to be built on the site, adjoining Arrowhead Park. Streets and utilities were scheduled to be laid in the fall of 1952, with housing construction to start early in 1953, but delay in sewer construction for the original Stephenville development kept things on hold. On October 31, 1953, Tufaro sold the 145 acres of land between Plainfield Road, Grove Avenue and Oak Tree Road to the Absig Corporation, one of the many subsidiaries of the Sommer Brothers Construction Company of

Iselin, New Jersey Iselin is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) located within Woodbridge Township, in Middlesex County, New Jersey. After several failed attempts to develop the land in 1958 and 1959, the Absig Corporation sold off parcels of land to various developers, each of which established separate communities in the Oakview Heights proximity in Edison Township. Joseph Deutsch and Jack W. Denholtz of Westover Realty acquired 37 acres of land in 1960 and hoped to build 62 houses but were denied by the Edison Township Planning Board due to lack of sewer connections. Briarwood East was announced in May 1963, as a new community developed by Jack J. Handshuh and Albert Handshuh through their firm Hand-Sum Homes. The community was to be built on and off Stephenville Parkway, between Plainfield Road, Grove Avenue and Oak Tree Road, and adjacent to Carriage Hill, Oakview Heights, Timber Grove and Tamarack North. Briarwood East was named after Briarwood, a similar community which the Handshuh brothers had developed in

. The first homes in Briarwood East were built during the spring of 1963, and residents began moving into the community during the fall of 1963. In May 1964, Briarwood East residents formed the Oak-Grove Civic Association and successfully protested the construction of a Socony-Mobil Oil Company gasoline service station at the corner of Oak Tree Road and Grove Avenue. The Oak-Grave Civic Association also successfully protested the enlargement of Stephenville Parkway for the purpose of turning it into a highway. connecting it to

Route 27 Route 27, or Highway 27, may refer to: Australia * Burke Developmental Road (Queensland) * Zeehan Highway (Tasmania) Canada * Alberta Highway 27 * British Columbia Highway 27 * Manitoba Highway 27 * Prince Edward Island Route 27 * Saskatchew ...

and Talmadge Road.

References

{{Authority control Neighborhoods in Edison, New Jersey Unincorporated communities in Middlesex County, New Jersey Unincorporated communities in New Jersey

History

See also

References