Bridge and trees near lake in Nomahegan Park NJ

The Rahway River Parkway is a greenway of parkland along the banks the

main stem In hydrology, a mainstem (or trunk) is "the primary downstream segment of a river, as contrasted to its tributaries". Water enters the mainstem from the river's drainage basin, the land area through which the mainstem and its tributaries flow.. A ...

Rahway River The Rahway River is a river in Essex, Middlesex, and Union Counties, New Jersey, United States, The Rahway, along with the Elizabeth River, Piles Creek, Passaic River, Morses Creek, the Fresh Kills River (in Staten Island), has its river m ...

and its tributaries in

Union County, New Jersey Union County is a county in the northern part of the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the county's population was 575,345, making it the seventh-most populous of New Jersey's 21 counties. Its county seat is Elizabeth.

, United States. Created in the 1920s, it was one of the inaugural projects of the newly-created Union County Parks Commission. It was designed by the

Olmsted Brothers The Olmsted Brothers company was a landscape architectural firm in the United States, established in 1898 by brothers John Charles Olmsted (1852–1920) and Frederick Law Olmsted Jr. (1870–1957), sons of the landscape architect Frederick Law ...

firm, sons of landscape architect

Frederick Law Olmsted Frederick Law Olmsted (April 26, 1822August 28, 1903) was an American landscape architect, journalist, social critic, and public administrator. He is considered to be the father of landscape architecture in the USA. Olmsted was famous for co- ...

. The Rahway River Greenway plan expands on the original design. Many of the crossings of the river are late 19th century or early 20th century bridges. The

East Coast Greenway The East Coast Greenway is a pedestrian and bicycle route between Maine and Florida along the East Coast of the United States. In 2020, the Greenway received over 50 million visits. The nonprofit East Coast Greenway Alliance was created in 1991. ...

uses paths and roads along the parkway. The parkway intersects with the 7.3-mile main line of the abandoned

Rahway Valley Railroad The Rahway Valley Railroad (RVRR) was a short-line railroad in the Northeastern United States which connected the Lehigh Valley Railroad in Roselle Park and the Central Railroad of New Jersey in Cranford with the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western ...

via abandoned rail

trestle ATLAS-I (Air Force Weapons Lab Transmission-Line Aircraft Simulator), better known as Trestle, was a unique electromagnetic pulse (EMP) generation and testing apparatus built between 1972 and 1980 during the Cold War at Sandia National Laborato ...

over the river, which some have advocated for converting to a pedestrian

linear park A linear park is a type of park that is significantly longer than it is wide. These linear parks are strips of public land running along canals, rivers, streams, defensive walls, electrical lines, or highways and shorelines. Examples of linear p ...

and

rail trail A rail trail is a shared-use path on railway right of way. Rail trails are typically constructed after a railway has been abandoned and the track has been removed, but may also share the right of way with active railways, light rail, or streetcar ...

History

The idea for the Rahway River Parkway started in 1919 when Union County Sheriff, James E. Warner began a movement to "save" the river by writing to the local paper, ''The Cranford Citizen'', and urging that the river be made into a memorial to the young men who had died in the recent

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 ...

. This was followed by editorials of support in ''

The Rahway Record ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...

'', ''The Westfield Leader'', ''The Cranford Citizen'', and ''The Chronicle''. On May 5, 1919, the ''Elizabeth Daily Journal'', stated that the idea was "a duty rather than an opportunity.” The Rahway Women's Club sent a resolution of support to the Union County

Board of Freeholders Board or Boards may refer to: Flat surface * Lumber, or other rigid material, milled or sawn flat ** Plank (wood) ** Cutting board ** Sounding board, of a musical instrument * Cardboard (paper product) * Paperboard * Fiberboard ** Hardboard, a ...

. The

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 ...

Chamber of Commerce had one of its members organize Union County Park Association to urge the creation of a park commission and April 1921,

Superior Court In common law systems, a superior court is a court of general jurisdiction over civil and criminal legal cases. A superior court is "superior" in relation to a court with limited jurisdiction (see small claims court), which is restricted to civil ...

Justice James J. Bergen was petitioned to appoint a temporary commission to study the feasibility of such a commission. On April 30, a temporary commission was named and given $10,000.00 and two years to complete the study. Within five months, the group finished the study and returned $8,391.00 of the funds. The emphasis of the report was to move quickly, before the available open space was gone. On the November 8, 1921, ballot, voters were asked to approve a permanent five-member Park Commission and $2.5 million to be spent at the commission's discretion. The Parkway was created between 1921–1929 following the design of the

, sons of landscape architect

. Many of the crossings of the river are late 19th century or early 20th century bridges. The Parkway was also dedicated to those who perished in World War I.

Description

Rahway River in Union County NJ in autumn 1

The Rahway River consists of four separate branches that converge in

Rahway Rahway () is a city in southern Union County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. A bedroom community of New York City, it is centrally located in the Rahway Valley region, in the New York metropolitan area. The city is southwest of Manhattan ...

, from whence it flows as a single waterway to its mouth at the

Arthur Kill The Arthur Kill (sometimes referred to as the Staten Island Sound) is a tidal strait between Staten Island (also known as Richmond County), New York and Union and Middlesex counties, New Jersey. It is a major navigational channel of the Port of ...

. The longest, or West Branch, courses for 24 miles from

Verona Verona ( , ; vec, Verona or ) is a city on the Adige River in Veneto, Northern Italy, Italy, with 258,031 inhabitants. It is one of the seven provincial capitals of the region. It is the largest city Comune, municipality in the region and the ...

. The East Branch rises in West Orange/ Montclair and joins the West Branch at

Hobart Gap The Hobart Gap is a pass and road through the Watchung Mountains in Northern New Jersey. During the American Revolutionary War, Hessian General Baron Wilhelm von Knyphausen attempted to seize the Hobart Gap, now crossed by present-day Route 24, ...

Springfield Springfield may refer to: * Springfield (toponym), the place name in general Places and locations Australia * Springfield, New South Wales (Central Coast) * Springfield, New South Wales (Snowy Monaro Regional Council) * Springfield, Queenslan ...

forming the

of the river. The Nomahegan Brook and Black Brook enter soon thereafter. The original Rahway River Parkway was approximately seven miles. The brooks and main stem through

Union Union commonly refers to: * Trade union, an organization of workers * Union (set theory), in mathematics, a fundamental operation on sets Union may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * Union (band), an American rock group ** ''Un ...

, Westfield, Springfield, Cranford,

Kenilworth Kenilworth ( ) is a market town and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Warwick (district), Warwick District in Warwickshire, England, south-west of Coventry, north of Warwick and north-west of London. It lies on Finham Brook, a ...

, Winfield,

Clark Clark is an English language surname, ultimately derived from the Latin with historical links to England, Scotland, and Ireland ''clericus'' meaning "scribe", "secretary" or a scholar within a religious order, referring to someone who was educate ...

, and

(where it is joined by the Robinsons Branch and the South Branch) The parkway comprises several county, municipal parks, and trails along the banks of the river. some of which are part of the

.New Jersey: Camden & Trenton to New York City
/ref> The river continues into Linden,

Woodbridge Woodbridge may refer to: Places Australia *Woodbridge, Western Australia formerly called ''West Midland'' *Woodbridge, Tasmania Canada *Woodbridge, Ontario England *Woodbridge, Suffolk, the location of ** Woodbridge (UK Parliament constituency ...

and Carteret, which also have parks along it, which are part of the 21st century Rahway River Greenway Plan.

Parks and features along the Rahway

Gallery

File:Lake Nomahegan in Cranford NJ with fountain.JPG, Lake Nomahegan File:Deer resting in county park with stream near Union County College Cranford NJ.JPG, Wildlife in Springfield File:RVRR Bridge Over The Rahway River.jpg, Rahway Valley Railroad Bridge File:DROESCHERS MILL, CRANFORD, UNION COUNTY.jpg, Droescher's Mill File:Rahway River in Cranford NJ from footbridge.jpg, From footbridge in Cranford File:Rahway New Jersey.. U.S.A. - panoramio.jpg, Dam in Union File:Rahway River and Water Tower.jpg, Rahway Water Tower File:RAHWAY RIVER IN LINDEN AREA, FLOWING INTO THE ARTHUR KILL. IN THE BACKGROUND ARE STORAGE TANKS OF THE BRITISH... - NARA - 552025.jpg, Tidal flats

References

External links

*
Paths, Trails and Greenways Union CountyGoogle: Along the Rahway River
*

{{Union County Parks, New Jersey Protected areas of Union County, New Jersey Nature reserves in New Jersey Linden, New Jersey Rahway, New Jersey Cranford, New Jersey Clark, New Jersey Winfield Township, New Jersey Rahway River Springfield Township, Union County, New Jersey Greenways Parks in Union County, New Jersey County parks in New Jersey