Winfield Township (also called Winfield Park) 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 Union County, New Jersey. As of the

2010 United States Census The United States census of 2010 was the twenty-third United States national census. National Census Day, the reference day used for the census, was April 1, 2010. The census was taken via mail-in citizen self-reporting, with enumerators servin ...

, the township's population decreased to 1,471, the lowest recorded in any decennial census, reflecting a decline of 43 (−2.8%) from the 1,514 counted in the 2000 Census, which had in turn declined by 62 (−3.9%) from the 1,576 counted in the 1990 Census. The township is the sixth-smallest municipality in the state. Winfield and Linden share the same ZIP Code. Winfield Township was incorporated as a 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 August 6, 1941, from portions of

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 Linden, passing over the Governor's veto.Snyder, John P
''The Story of New Jersey's Civil Boundaries: 1606-1968''
Bureau of Geology and Topography; Trenton, New Jersey; 1969. p. 242. Accessed October 31, 2012.

History

The Winfield Park Mutual Ownership Defense Housing Project (Project No. 28071) is a 700-unit development of 254 buildings that were originally planned and developed by and built for the defense workers of the

Kearny, New Jersey Kearny ( ) is a town in the western part of Hudson County, New Jersey, United States and a suburb of Newark. As of the 2010 United States Census, the town's population was 40,684,shipyards A shipyard, also called a dockyard or boatyard, is a place where ships are built and repaired. These can be yachts, military vessels, cruise liners or other cargo or passenger ships. Dockyards are sometimes more associated with maintenance a ...

. This was the last of eight projects undertaken by the

Mutual Ownership Defense Housing Division The Mutual Ownership Defense Housing Division of the Federal Works Agency, an agency of the United States government, operating from about 1940 to 1942 under the leadership of Colonel Lawrence Westbrook, was an attempt by the United States Governme ...

of the

Federal Works Agency The Federal Works Agency (FWA) was an independent agency of the federal government of the United States which administered a number of public construction, building maintenance, and public works relief functions and laws from 1939 to 1949. Along wit ...

under the leadership of

Colonel Lawrence Westbrook Colonel Lawrence Westbrook (born 23 August 1889 in Belton, Texas) was a Texan politician and official in the administration of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. A 1908 graduate of the University of Texas and later the University of Texas Law School ...

. In earlier stages, Winfield Park was known as the

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 ...

Park Project. John T. Rowland served as the project's architect. Winfield Park is located immediately off of exit 136 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 ...

; the municipalities of Cranford, Linden and

surround Winfield Township, a governmental entity established to enclose the Winfield Park Project. The Township is bordered on three sides by the

and Rahway River Park (which adds substantially to the park-like setting envisioned by the planners). Units range in size and type from single-family homes to two-story (plus basement) two- and three-bedroom apartments, better known today as Townhouses; to one-story (plus basement) two-bedroom apartments; and one-bedroom apartments, better known to residents as "bachelors." Within the town are located an elementary school, two-store shopping center and Senior Citizen Hall, Community Center, Mutual Housing Office, and Garage, Volunteer Fire and Ambulance Squad Building, and Municipal Building/Police Office. The defense workers of the Kearny Shipyards had advocated early in 1940 for housing to be developed in the northern

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 ...

area. These workers were early and vocal supporters of the National Housing for Defense Act of 1940, also known as the Lanham Act, and the mutual housing program. In January, 1941, a report on the housing requirements of the northern New Jersey area indicated that 1000 units were needed. The Defense Housing Coordinator approved the construction of a 300-unit project in the

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 ...

Harrison Harrison may refer to: People * Harrison (name) * Harrison family of Virginia, United States Places In Australia: * Harrison, Australian Capital Territory, suburb in the Canberra district of Gungahlin In Canada: * Inukjuak, Quebec, or "Po ...

area and a 700-unit project "to be built as a project itself sponsored by a responsible committee of the defense workers who will live in them." The housing committee had seven working policies that it had developed and that it wanted to apply to the workers' housing, all of which they believed conformed with the original intentions of the Lanham Act of 1940 ("The housing is to be wherever feasible of a permanent nature, and after the emergency has passed these homes are to be disposed of, and in that way the Government is to recoup the initial investment... and they will be available for permanent homes." The cost per unit was set at, and not permitted to exceed $3000.00.) and fit well within the mutual housing program.

1. Management of all community affairs, including relations with local government, should be in the hands of the residents of the new project.
2. Each unit should be assessable for its portion of local taxes, and every effort needs to be made "that both houses and householders should be easily and naturally assimilated into the normal scheme of the locality."
3. The Federal Works Agency (FWA) would provide all streets, sewers, parks, and all other facilities for the project.
4. All dwellings built for civilian defense workers should be sold as a group to local housing corporation as soon as they are completed.
5. All
stockholders A shareholder (in the United States often referred to as stockholder) of a corporation is an individual or legal entity (such as another corporation, a body politic, a trust or partnership) that is registered by the corporation as the legal owner ...
in the project are, and should be considered as, householders.
6. All management and operating procedures must be carried out under the direction of the local corporation, and not under the direction of the federal government.
7.
Housing Corporation The Housing Corporation was the non-departmental public body that funded new affordable housing and regulated housing associations in England. It was established by the Housing Act 1964. On 1 December 2008, its functions were transferred to two n ...
must enter into a
contract of sale A contract of sale, sales contract, sales order, or contract for sale is a legal contract for the purchase of assets (goods or property) by a buyer (or purchaser) from a seller (or vendor) for an agreed upon value in money (or money equivalent). ...
, rather than a
rental agreement A rental agreement is a contract of rental, usually written, between the owner of a property and a renter who desires to have temporary possession of the property; it is distinguished from a lease, which is more typically for a fixed term. As a m ...
, with each householder.

Although the committee was completely convinced of the quality of the mutual ownership program itself, they did insist on improvements in the quality of the units over those that had been first designed and built for the Audubon Park project. They especially insisted on the construction of full basements for their new homes.

Choosing the site

The first major job that faced the development committee was finding and selecting a suitable site for a 700-unit housing project in northern

. The

United States Housing Authority The United States Housing Authority, or USHA, was a federal agency created during 1937 within the United States Department of the Interior by the Housing Act of 1937 as part of the New Deal. It was designed to lend money to the states or commu ...

provided two site selection experts, and the

New Jersey State Planning Commission The New Jersey State Planning Commission is responsible for oversight of planning issues affecting the U.S. state of New Jersey. The Commission consists of 17 members representing State government, local government and the public. Local government ...

assisted in the site selection process. The final location had to be relatively inexpensive to purchase, near major utility networks for water, gas, electric, and sewer connections, and be in a financially stable host community with underutilized public facilities and services. Major urban areas in northern New Jersey were eliminated early because no plots of land were large enough for the project. The marshy rural areas near the shipyards were also found unacceptable early on. Quickly the committee began focusing its attention on the surrounding suburban communities, which were very popular among its work constituency. Suburban communities lacked financial stability because they lacked the industrial base necessary to keep residential property taxes low. The people of these prospective host communities were also frightened that the new project would be a direct liability rather than an asset for their towns. Early resistance from potential host communities over financial impact concerns meant that the committee had two choices: to stop the project and wait for the problems to be resolved or push ahead, utilizing the powers granted in the

Lanham Act The Lanham (Trademark) Act (, codified at et seq. () is the primary federal trademark statute of law in the United States. The Act prohibits a number of activities, including trademark infringement, trademark dilution, and false advertising. ...

powers to overrule local resistance, but creating a great deal of friction that could potentially affect the project's future success. The housing need was so great, though, that the only viable choice was the second one, and they pushed forward to find a site. Consciously attempting to avoid conflict, the committee tried to assure potential host communities that projects built within the mutual ownership program would pay real taxes and not make payments in place of taxes as outlined in the Lanham Act of 1940. They also petitioned the

United States Congress The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is bicameral, composed of a lower body, the House of Representatives, and an upper body, the Senate. It meets in the U.S. Capitol in Washing ...

to provide additional funds to host communities that would allow them to expand

public services A public service is any Service (economics), service intended to address specific needs pertaining to the aggregate members of a community. Public services are available to people within a government jurisdiction as provided directly through pub ...

and facilities without imposing additional local taxes. But the financial concerns of the residents only served to exacerbate other local fears about the new project. Many defense workers took these other fears very personally.

"Realizing that such an influx of families would engulf them (host community) in a tidal wave of financial difficulty, the municipal government of the various towns considered, stirred up a tremendous opposition to the project and the people to live in it with untrue and unjust charges such as decreased realty values, 'tax exempt properties,' 'lower class of people,' and so forth, which are all obviously false. We are a class of people who are gainfully employed, we are law abiding, decent, and respectable, and we are Americans."

Seven potential host communities were eventually identified and researched. The committee named Union Township, New Jersey as their final choice, but under intense community and olitical pressurethis decision was reversed, and

Clark, New Jersey Clark is a township in southern Union County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, the township's population was 15,544 an increase of 788 (+5.3%) from the 2010 census count of 14,756, which had in turn increased by ...

was selected as the final site of the project. Colonel

Lawrence Westbrook Lawrence Westbrook (born January 17, 1988) is an American professional basketball point guard. As a senior with the University of Minnesota Golden Gophers basketball team, he averaged 12.2 points per game in the 2008-09 season, and was the Gold ...

, Special Assistant in the Federal Works Agency with responsibility for the

, wrote the following letter to Union Township opponents of the project, clearly showing his frustration.

"Your letter to Congressmen
McLean MacLean, also spelt Maclean and McLean, is a Goidelic languages, Gaelic surname Mac Gille Eathain, or, Mac Giolla Eóin in Irish language, Irish Gaelic), Eóin being a Gaelic form of Johannes (John (given name), John). The clan surname is an A ...
protesting the location of a proposed defense housing project in Union Township has been referred to this office. This is to advise you that a decision has been made to locate the project in Clark Township. It is desired to make it entirely clear, however, that in reaching this decision this office in no manner agrees that the numerous protests received from various persons and organizations in Union Township were based upon valid premises. We feel certain that if you and the other protesters had been acquainted with all of the facts in the situation, you would not have filed your protest. On the contrary, it is believed that you would have urged the Government to locate the project in your township. Since the project will be undertaken in your immediate neighborhood, you will have ample opportunity to determine whether or not the disadvantages to the community, as claimed by your Mayor, were based upon sound facts."

Clark Township's municipal government had been very desirous of the siting of the project in their township. It had extended an invitation to the Federal Works Agency after the Union Township protests had erupted. However, the reaction of Clark's residents to the project indicates that the Township Committee did not have a good understanding of the actual desires of their constituents.

Clark Township protests

The residents of

—in 1940, a rural community of 350 homes and 1,250 registered voters—were first informed of their municipality's selection as the final site of the 700-unit mutual housing project at a town meeting on April 1, 1941. During the meeting, a letter fro
John Carmody
Federal Works Administrator, was read to the residents, in which he said:

"I am glad to say that a decision has been reached to construct this project in your township, and I want to take this occasion to thank you and your associates on the Township Committee for your intelligent and patriotic attitude."

But the residents of Clark were not moved by Mr. Carmody's supportive words. One local paper reported that

"Joseph Aaron, who came up from his winter home in Florida to attend the session, demanded the ousting of the Township Committee. Several spirited sallies of this type marked the meeting, the largest gathering of its kind ever held in the township."

The residents of the Township demanded that they be provided with answers to the following questions:

1. Why was the siting of the project in the Township handled so secretly?
2. What guarantees could be given that this project would be permanent in nature?
3. Would Clark have to pick up the cost of maintaining the project after the emergency ends?
4. Who would pay for new schools, equipment, streets, sewers, fire and police protection?
5. Would the Federal Works Agency guarantee in writing that the project will never become a burden to Clark?

Special Counsel Colvin, rather than trying to calm the residents' fears, reminded one and all that the FWA had been empowered by Lanham Act to place a defense housing project anywhere it deemed necessary appropriate, without discussions with residents. During his remarks, he made only brief mention of new public works being provided by the Federal Works Agency, or Title II of the Lanham Act (then being discussed in the

US Congress The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is bicameral, composed of a lower body, the House of Representatives, and an upper body, the Senate. It meets in the U.S. Capitol in Washingto ...

to provide $150 million for the construction and provision of public services and facilities in host communities of defense housing projects). A worker from the Kearny Shipyards also spoke and assured the residents that their new neighbors would be "good people" and that employment at the yards would be stable for at least the "next 10 to 15 years". Not satisfied by any of this information and feeling betrayed by their own leaders, the residents demanded that an immediate vote be taken against the project. This request was denied. In response, the residents announced the formation of an opposition group, headed by Mr. Arthur de Laski, with the stated goals of seeking the impeachment of all municipal officials and stopping the mutual housing project. The residents of Clark opposed to Winfield, believed that its sitting within their community would double local taxes. Opposition leaders created elaborate models to show how the additional needs for general services, election, fire and police protection, streets, lighting, water, sanitation, and school costs would quickly double the municipal budget from a yearly total of $33,929 to $66,563. The residents also expressed concern that the project would add approximately 1500 new registered voters to the community: original residents would now be substantially outnumbered in local elections. Additionally, local real estate interests were fearful that the project would flood the local housing market, severely deflating prices after the emergency because of postwar abandonment. Most planned units would not be single-family homes, which many believed would lead to a less stable community and a deterioration of the real estate market. The Union County Parks Department expressed concern about the construction of Winfield—

Park surrounded the project on three sides—since their own planning program had called for the development of this particularly desirable tract of land with expensive

single family homes A stand-alone house (also called a single-detached dwelling, detached residence or detached house) is a free-standing residential building. It is sometimes referred to as a single-family home, as opposed to a multi-family residential dwelling ...

. The residents continued to be concerned that their new neighbors would be of a lower class of people (although they had been promised that they would be primarily middle-class and would all be white thanks to housing officials not permitting

racial integration Racial integration, or simply integration, includes desegregation (the process of ending systematic racial segregation). In addition to desegregation, integration includes goals such as leveling barriers to association, creating equal opportunity ...

in most public housing projects of the time), and were annoyed these potential new neighbors would be getting subsidies at their expense. Lawrence Westbrook believed that Charles Palmer, the Defense Housing Coordinator, had encouraged and supported the formation of the Clark Township opposition group to accomplish his own hidden agenda of centralizing control over the Defense Housing initiative in his hands. Westbrook testified before Congress that Palmer's brother-in-law, who lived in northern New Jersey, had secretly led a delegation from Clark to visit Palmer and discuss their concerns about the construction of Winfield Park. Westbrook believed that Palmer, during this meeting, had provided this group with information and advice on how to successfully fight the project. By late May 1941, the Clark opposition group had successfully organized in advance of municipal elections and replaced all township leaders responsible for bringing the Winfield Park project to Clark. Attention now turned to stop the mutual housing project, or at least transferring most of its costs and impact to someone else. Opposition leaders carefully studied the publicity surrounding the earlier construction of the Audubon Park Mutual Ownership Defense Housing Project just outside

Camden, New Jersey Camden is a city in and the county seat of Camden County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Camden is part of the Delaware Valley metropolitan area and is located directly across the Delaware River from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. At the 2020 ...

. The community, in that case, had followed an unsuccessful attempt to stop the project with building codes and local ordinances. All of these attempted blocks to construction were overturned by courts sympathetic to the powers given to the WAby the Lanham Act. The Clark opposition developed a new and innovative opposition strategy. They would attempt to have the entire Winfield Park Mutual Housing project declared as a separate municipality by the

New Jersey State 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 S ...

. As a separate municipality, all costs for public services and facilities would be the responsibility of the residents of Winfield Park and not the residents of Clark. With Winfield Park Township established as a separate municipality, opponents believed the project would be killed because the federal government and potential residents would shy away from the overwhelming expenses and confusing legalities of this new governmental structure. Immediately Westbrook and other project supporters reacted to this strategy by declaring that the opposition was attempting the sabotage the entire national defense program. In defiance, Westbrook declared that he was sure the project would not only survive this attack but would outlive its surrounding communities.

The creation of Winfield Township

On June 30, 1941—six days after the construction of Winfield Park had begun—Union County Assemblyman Pascoe presented a bill to the

New Jersey General Assembly The New Jersey General Assembly is the lower house of the New Jersey Legislature. Since the election of 1967 (1968 Session), the Assembly has consisted of 80 members. Two members are elected from each of New Jersey's 40 legislative districts for ...

establishing Winfield Township, New Jersey (originally, the bill called for the establishment of Lindark, New Jersey). After presenting the bill, Pascoe asked for and received a suspension of the rules so that the vote on the bill could follow its first reading. The bill passed the assembly 35 to 20 and was sent immediately on to the

New Jersey Senate The New Jersey Senate was established as the upper house of the New Jersey Legislature by the Constitution of 1844, replacing the Legislative Council. There are 40 legislative districts, representing districts with an average population of 232, ...

, which also suspended its rules and voted the bill through 14 to 0 on July 14, 1941. On July 21, 1941, Governor

Charles Edison Charles Edison (August 3, 1890 – July 31, 1969) was an American politician, businessman, inventor and animal behaviorist. He was the Assistant and then United States Secretary of the Navy, and served as the 42nd governor of New Jersey. Commonly ...

vetoed A veto is a legal power to unilaterally stop an official action. In the most typical case, a president or monarch vetoes a bill to stop it from becoming law. In many countries, veto powers are established in the country's constitution. Veto pow ...

the bill returning it to the legislature with a letter chastising the members for approving a bill that he believed was counter to the needs of the national defense program. In his view, it was

discriminatory Discrimination is the act of making unjustified distinctions between people based on the groups, classes, or other categories to which they belong or are perceived to belong. People may be discriminated on the basis of race, gender, age, relig ...

towards defense workers; it did not consider the important passage of Title II of the Lanham Act by Congress on June 28, 1941 (another indication that money was only a partial driving force for opposition against Winfield); it created an unprecedented "Federal Island" in the State of New Jersey; it failed to consider that the State's constitution would not permit Winfield's new residents to elect local government officials until they had resided in the town for at least one year. It ignored that the bill's passage violated the

New Jersey Constitution The Constitution of the State of New Jersey is the basic governing document of the State of New Jersey. In addition to three British Royal Charters issued for East Jersey, West Jersey and united New Jersey while they were still colonies, the sta ...

's specific guidelines concerning public announcements and opening hearings before a bill could be passed. Governor Edison's letter was read before the Legislature on July 28, 1941. At the reading's conclusion, there was no debate; Assemblyman Pascoe once again asked for a suspension of the rules, and the veto was immediately overturned by a vote of 33 to 24. The bill was immediately sent to the Senate, which suspended its rules on the same afternoon and overturned the Governor's veto by a vote of 11 to 5. Thus on July 28, 1941, Winfield Township, New Jersey, was established. Forty Clark Township opposition leaders were present in

Trenton, New Jersey Trenton is the capital city of the U.S. state of New Jersey and the county seat of Mercer County. It was the capital of the United States from November 1 to December 24, 1784.Capital building. Winfield Township is a unique municipality in the United States. No other defense housing project had been established as a separate municipality. This unique status also created a number of unique problems. As the ''Elizabeth Daily Journal'' reported:

"Now
Uncle Sam Uncle Sam (which has the same initials as ''United States'') is a common national personification of the federal government of the United States or the country in general. Since the early 19th century, Uncle Sam has been a popular symbol of ...
owns a town. Uncle Sam cannot tax himself or vote for himself. The occupants of houses cannot be taxed like a regular homeowner and he has promised them low monthly charges, but with all the benefits of living in town."

The construction of Winfield continued unabated and the establishment of Winfield Township resulted in the unforeseen effect of permitting the project's residents to control their own future. In an article entitled "County Clerk Places Winfield On His List," a local newspaper reported:

"Winfield has attained a modicum of recognition in these days of rebuffs and snubs among the powers. On all lists of municipalities required for records of official business in the office of County Clerk Henry G. Nulton, it now appears with its rebellious neighbors, Clark and Linden, the other towns. The fact that it is at the bottom of the list, insisted Abraham Grosman, in charge of revising the list, is that it alphabetically falls there, wrestling the last position from Westfield."

Winfield's official history, written in 1976, even begins with the following:

"Winfield, Winfield Park, Winfield Township, is a big title for the 'baby of Union County.' Most of us use the plain 'Winfield' address simply because it is the quickest to write. People still say, 'Where's that?' However, after thirty-five years of the same question, we are accustomed to the remark. Sometimes the remarks given to our town, when a person knows where Winfield is, are far harder to swallow than when he is ignorant of its location. Some milder titles are, '
barracks Barracks are usually a group of long buildings built to house military personnel or laborers. The English word originates from the 17th century via French and Italian from an old Spanish word "barraca" ("soldier's tent"), but today barracks are u ...
', or 'oh, those places.' We are so tiny, that even state and county
cartographers Cartography (; from grc, χάρτης , "papyrus, sheet of paper, map"; and , "write") is the study and practice of making and using maps. Combining science, aesthetics and technique, cartography builds on the premise that reality (or an im ...
sometimes forget to put us on their maps. Sure, we feel a bit miffed at times, but we then look across our 'Green Acres' and realize our blessing."

But this local community pressure also had the positive effect of forcing Winfield's residents to work together more closely and form a more tightly knit community than could ever have been anticipated in the original site plan.

Construction

The construction of Winfield Park began on June 23, 1941, and was contracted through the MacEvoy Company of

Wanaque Reservoir Wanaque Reservoir is a man-made lake located within Wanaque and Ringwood, New Jersey along the Wanaque River. The reservoir came into being in 1928 by the construction of the Raymond Dam along the river in Wanaque. Besides the Wanaque River, th ...

, and was then working on developing reinforced concrete oil tankers (a project that failed spectacularly, and remnants of which can be still be seen off the coastline of

Cape May, New Jersey Cape May is a city located at the southern tip of Cape May Peninsula in Cape May County, New Jersey, United States, where the Delaware Bay meets the Atlantic Ocean. It is one of the country's oldest vacation resort destinations, and part of th ...

). The entire Winfield project—254 buildings on 110 acres—eventually required 7500 gallons of paint; 2500 rolls of wallpaper; of lumber; and would employ 1,223 construction workers for five months. From the start, work did not proceed well. Labor Union disputes stopped construction at least once. The construction work completed by the MacEvoy Company was exceptionally poor—so poor that it attracted the attention of the

Truman Committee The Truman Committee, formally known as the Senate Special Committee to Investigate the National Defense Program, was a United States Congressional investigative body, headed by Senator Harry S. Truman. The bipartisan special committee was form ...

investigating abuses with the National Defense Program. The investigation would eventually uncover the facts that the Winfield Park project lacked complete

architectural Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and constructing buildings o ...

or engineering plans and that financial records—at least the few that could be found—were criminally maintained. The project's construction was so badly botched that in many of the new buildings, residents discovered that nails had been hammered through water pipes, chimneys still contained the wooden forms used for their construction, roofs leaked, water pipes had never been soldered, floors were buckled, the paintwork was molding, sewer lines and pumps rarely worked, and many roads, sidewalks, and curbs had never been completed. On average, thirty-seven items needed to be repaired and/or replaced in each unit to make it habitable. To accomplish this repair work, the federal government spent an additional $100,000.00 and hired a new contractor, even after the project had officially been declared complete by Westbrook. The final cost for Winfield Park, including

provided public works, came to $4,392,075.55 or $6,274.00/ unit; the Lanham Act specified a limit of $3,500.00. Continuing investigations uncovered that MacEvoy Company had manipulated bids and committed extensive fraud. MacEvoy rented and sold equipment and supplies to itself at an inflated cost, provided insurance to the government for its own work, employed the son-in-law of one of the government inspectors on the project, and generally milked the Winfield Park Project for everything that it could. Much of this is outlined in a ''Life Magazine'' article from the November 30, 1942 issue.

Community life

The construction difficulties outlined above had a major impact on the early days of Winfield Township. On November 30, 1941, the first 145 families (popularly referred to by township residents today as the "pioneers") arrived in their new town. A planned parade from

Newark, New Jersey Newark ( , ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey and the seat of Essex County and the second largest city within the New York metropolitan area.Pearl Harbor Pearl Harbor is an American lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. It was often visited by the Naval fleet of the United States, before it was acquired from the Hawaiian Kingdom by the U.S. with the signing of the Re ...

. No fire protection was provided, but the government hired a few guards and provided bicycles for "law enforcement". The school was not yet under construction, and all school-age children were sent to three different school districts. As expected, Winfield's neighbors were not warm to the new residents and were even heard to make rude comments as the township's residents trudged into their communities, in their mud-covered boots, to make food purchases. Transportation to the Kearny Shipyards was difficult if not impossible when the bus provided by the government broke down. Although one would think things could not be worse, there was an outbreak of

polio Poliomyelitis, commonly shortened to polio, is an infectious disease caused by the poliovirus. Approximately 70% of cases are asymptomatic; mild symptoms which can occur include sore throat and fever; in a proportion of cases more severe s ...

in Winfield, and the entire town was

quarantined A quarantine is a restriction on the Freedom of movement, movement of people, animals and goods which is intended to prevent the spread of disease or Pest (organism), pests. It is often used in connection to disease and illness, preventing th ...

. But even with these difficulties, there would soon be far more applicants than available units. Quickly the township's population increased, and the new residents were employed not only by the Kearny shipyards but also by

Merck & Company Merck & Co., Inc. is an American multinational pharmaceutical company headquartered in Rahway, New Jersey, and is named for Merck Group, founded in Germany in 1668, of whom it was once the American arm. The company does business as Merck Sharp ...

, National Pneumatic Company, Lawrence Engineering, and Research Company, American Type Founders Co., American Gas Accumulator, Singer Manufacturing, and many other manufacturers. The

cooperative A cooperative (also known as co-operative, co-op, or coop) is "an autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly owned and democratically-control ...

nature of the town as a mutual housing project, the difficult physical environment of the town during its early days, and the animosity exhibited toward the new residents by their neighbors all served to bind the community together, creating a very strong and vigorous community life. Volunteer Police and Fire departments were quickly established by the residents, as was a volunteer Ambulance Squad and cooperative food store. Community leaders actively sought to discover Winfield's residents' special skills and interests. They utilized this information to organize and promote an astonishing number of clubs and social groups for a community of this size. Cooperative child care was provided in a building built by the community itself. Other community construction projects included a community center and shopping center. The great community event of the early days of Winfield Township was the opening of the town's grammar school on September 8, 1943. To increase the speed of repairs of structural deficiencies caused by the MacEvoy Company's poor workmanship, the residents of the Winfield participated in a

rent strike A rent strike is a method of protest commonly employed against large landlords. In a rent strike, a group of tenants come together and agree to refuse to pay their rent ''en masse'' until a specific list of demands is met by the landlord. This can ...

against the federal government during the first year of occupancy; it was this strike that brought the attention of the Truman Committee to the Winfield Park project. A lasting problem caused by the township's unique status was the ill-defined relationship between the newly appointed Township Committee and the Mutual Housing Corporation. Both groups represented the same constituency; one (Mutual Housing) controlling all of the buildings and the other (Township Committee) with taxation authority; conflict and confusion were inevitable.

After the war

Winfield Park was the last of the Mutual Ownership Defense Housing Projects to be built and occupied. Because it was opened just before the start of the United States' involvement in World War II, it was also one of the last housing projects of a permanent nature to be built for the defense housing program. The current residents of Winfield believe that their town was built as temporary housing and are very proud of how well the structures have held up over the past 68 years thanks to their repair efforts; clearly, this grew out of the poor workmanship of the original construction. The Winfield Park Mutual Housing Corporation purchased the Winfield Park project from the federal government for $1,358,567.21 on December 28, 1950, and entered into a 45-year

mortgage A mortgage loan or simply mortgage (), in civil law jurisdicions known also as a hypothec loan, is a loan used either by purchasers of real property to raise funds to buy real estate, or by existing property owners to raise funds for any pu ...

bearing a 3% interest rate, which was completed on July 1, 1984. By 1966, a

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 ...

economic study of the town reported that the town had "elements of a cooperative utopia, a feudal manor, and company town (with only one party and one company)." It continued on that:

"One of the apparent by-products of this situation (Town and Corporation being one and the same) is that the normal inter-party rivalry has been replaced by a running battle between the corporation and the township, both of which are elected by the same voters."

The 1966 study also made another observation about Winfield Park.

"One effect of outside resentment upon Winfield itself was to solidify sentiment among the inhabitants against their neighbors. If their neighbors didn't like Winfield, the feeling was definitely mutual. Another effect was to make the early Winfield settlers suspicious of all bureaucracy, including their own elected officers. In this respect, the trying experiences and disillusionment attending the early days of Winfield have made its citizens even more sensitive than usual to rumors respecting changes in the community structures."

This sensitivity was especially prevalent in the 1960s when residents began to realize that the town's property was worth far more than the structures built upon it. Although several experts have presented proposals to Winfield for more efficient and economical use of the property—ranging from selling the entire community and splitting the profits to moving every resident into a single high-rise building and then developing the remaining property for more profitable uses—residents have never considered any of these proposals very seriously. The residents have continually recommitted themselves to the mutual ownership concept. In August 2001, the entire township celebrated its 60th Anniversary with a community picnic and a parade led by Grand Marshal Leona Harriot Burke (1917–2007), who had moved from

Kearny, New Jersey Kearny ( ) is a town in the western part of Hudson County, New Jersey, United States and a suburb of Newark. As of the 2010 United States Census, the town's population was 40,684,social interactions A social relation or also described as a social interaction or social experience is the fundamental unit of analysis within the social sciences, and describes any voluntary or involuntary interpersonal relationship between two or more individuals ...

and patterns within public housing projects. This was one of the first studies undertaken by

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

Bureau of Applied Social Research The Bureau of Applied Social Research was a social research institute at Columbia University which specialised in mass communications research. It grew out of the Radio Research Project at Princeton University, beginning in 1937. The Bureau's fi ...

under the leadership of sociologist

Robert K. Merton Robert King Merton (born Meyer Robert Schkolnick; July 4, 1910 – February 23, 2003) was an American sociologist who is considered a founding father of modern sociology, and a major contributor to the subfield of criminology. He served as th ...

. Dr. Merton would become one of the most influential sociologists of the 20th century; he was known as the "Father of the

focus group A focus group is a group interview involving a small number of demographically similar people or participants who have other common traits/experiences. Their reactions to specific researcher/evaluator-posed questions are studied. Focus groups are ...

" and was the first sociologist to win a

National Medal of Science The National Medal of Science is an honor bestowed by the President of the United States to individuals in science and engineering who have made important contributions to the advancement of knowledge in the fields of behavioral and social scienc ...

(1994). During his career, Dr. Merton coined terms including "

self-fulfilling prophecy A self-fulfilling prophecy is a prediction that comes true at least in part as a result of a person's or group of persons' belief or expectation that said prediction would come true. This suggests that people's beliefs influence their actions. ...

" (in an article that dealt with Winfield) and "

role model A role model is a person whose behaviour, example, or success is or can be emulated by others, especially by younger people. The term ''role model'' is credited to sociologist Robert K. Merton, who hypothesized that individuals compare themselves ...

". Other sociologists involved in these studies included

Paul Lazarsfeld Paul Felix Lazarsfeld (February 13, 1901August 30, 1976) was an Austrian-American sociologist. The founder of Columbia University's Bureau of Applied Social Research, he exerted influence over the techniques and the organization of social resea ...

, Patricia Salter West, and

Marie Jahoda Marie Jahoda (26 January 1907 – 28 April 2001) was an Austrian-British social psychologist. Biography Jahoda was born in Vienna to a Jewish merchant's family, and like many other psychologists of her time, grew up in Austria where political o ...

. Winfield Park was presented in several published articles by these researchers under the pseudonym "Craftown" and was presented as a homogeneous white middle-income public housing project. In these articles, "Craftown" was often compared and contrasted with "Hilltown," a racially integrated lower-income public housing project. An aspect of this research beyond interviewing every adult resident of the community was the decision to observe and provide detailed analysis and reports on community organizational meetings taking place during the summer and fall of 1945. In addition to the articles, there was also an unpublished manuscript on this research entitled ''Patterns of Social Life: Explorations in the Sociology and Social Psychology of Housing''. When asked in 2002 why this manuscript had not been published, Dr. Merton described the period of its writing as being during the Red Scare of the post-war years and his fear, along with those of the other researchers, that the study could have negatively affected Winfield Park. Dr. Merton described the mutual housing projects as some of the closest examples of functioning socialist communities within the United States and as such, was one of the primary attractions for studying Winfield Park and its residents.

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 0.18 square miles (0.47 km²), all of which was land. The township is bordered to the north and east by Linden and to the south and west by

Demographics

Census 2010

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 $55,323 (with a margin of error of +/− $6,372) and the median family income was $61,563 (+/− $8,257). Males had a median income of $54,034 (+/− $3,966) versus $38,333 (+/− $2,212) 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 borough was $27,284 (+/− $1,840). About 7.3% of families and 7.2% 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 6.5% of those under age 18 and 12.8% of those age 65 or over.

Census 2000

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 1,514 people, 694 households, and 394 families residing in the township. The population density was 8,578.4 people per square mile (3,247.5/km²). There were 697 housing units at an average density of 3,949.2 per square mile (1,495.1/km²). The racial makeup of the township was 96.96%

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 ...

, 0.33%

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

, 0.20% Native American, 0.13%

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 ...

, 0.66% 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 1.65% 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 2.44% of the population.Census 2000 Profiles of Demographic / Social / Economic / Housing Characteristics for Winfield township, New Jersey
,

. Accessed October 31, 2016.DP-1: Profile of General Demographic Characteristics: 2000 - Census 2000 Summary File 1 (SF 1) 100-Percent Data for Winfield township, Union County, New Jersey
,

. Accessed May 25, 2013. There were 694 households, of which 25.6% had children under 18 living with them, 40.9% were married couples living together, 13.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 43.1% were non-families. 38.3% of all households were made up of individuals, and 17.6% had someone who was 65 years of age or older living alone. The average household size was 2.18, and the average family size was 2.92. In the township the population was spread out, with 20.9% under the age of 18, 5.9% from 18 to 24, 32.6% from 25 to 44, 24.7% from 45 to 64, and 15.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females, there were 84.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 79.1 males. The median income for a household in the township was $37,000, and the median income for a family was $47,167. Males had a median income of $41,133 versus $30,139 for females. The per capita income for the township was $21,565. About 2.8% of families and 7.5% of the population were below the poverty line, including 5.7% of those under age 18 and 7.3% of those age 65 or over.

Government

Local government

Winfield Township is governed under the

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 ...

form of New Jersey municipal government, one of 141 municipalities (of the 564) statewide that use this form, the second-most commonly used form of government in the state. The governing body is comprised of the Township Committee, whose three members are elected directly by the voters

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 ...

in partisan elections to serve three-year terms of office on a staggered basis, with one seat coming up for election each year as part of the November general election in a three-year cycle.''2012 New Jersey Legislative District Data Book'',

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. 90. At an annual reorganization meeting, the Township Committee selects one of its members to serve as Mayor. The Mayor, in addition to voting as a member of the Township Committee, presides over the committee's meetings and carries out ceremonial duties. , members of the Winfield Township Committee are Mayor Robert F. Reilly ( R, term on committee and as mayor ends December 31, 2022), Joseph P. Byrne ( D, 2024) and Adam Koomer (D, 2023).Municipal Departments
Township of Winfield. Accessed April 29, 2022.''Union County Elected Officials''

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.

Clerk. Accessed June 30, 2022.General Election November 2, 2021 Official Results

, updated November 15, 2021. Accessed January 3, 2022.General Election November 3, 2020 Official Results

, updated December 14, 2020. Accessed November 12, 2021.General Election November 5, 2019 Official Results

, updated December 5, 2019. Accessed January 1, 2020. In March 2016, Sue E. Wright was appointed to fill the term expiring in December 2017 that had been held by Oneida M. Braithwaite. In 2018, the township had an average property tax bill of $3,574, the lowest in the county, compared to an average bill of $11,278 in Union County and $8,767 statewide.

Federal, state and county representation

Winfield Township is located in the 7th Congressional DistrictPlan Components Report

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 23, 2011. Accessed February 1, 2020. and is part of New Jersey's 22nd 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. Union County is governed by a

Board of County Commissioners A county commission (or a board of county commissioners) is a group of elected officials (county commissioners) collectively charged with administering the county government in some states of the United States; such commissions usually comprise ...

, whose nine members are elected

to three-year terms of office on a staggered basis with three seats coming up for election each year, with an appointed County Manager overseeing the day-to-day operations of the county. At an annual reorganization meeting held in the beginning of January, the board selects a Chair and Vice Chair from among its members. , Union County's County Commissioners are Chair Rebecca Williams ( D, Plainfield, term as commissioner and as chair ends December 31, 2022), Vice Chair Christopher Hudak (D, Linden, term as commissioner ends 2023; term as vice chair ends 2022), James E. Baker Jr. (D,

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 ...

, 2024), Angela R. Garretson (D, Hillside, 2023), Sergio Granados (D,

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 ...

, 2022), Bette Jane Kowalski (D, Cranford, 2022), Lourdes M. Leon (D, Elizabeth, 2023), Alexander Mirabella (D, Fanwood, 2024) and Kimberly Palmieri-Mouded (D, Westfield, 2024). Constitutional officers elected on a countywide basis are County Clerk Joanne Rajoppi (D, Union Township, 2025), Sheriff Peter Corvelli (D,

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 ...

, 2023) and Surrogate Susan Dinardo (acting). The County Manager is Edward Oatman.

Politics

As of March 23, 2011, there were a total of 1,030 registered voters in Winfield Township, of which 383 (37.2% vs. 41.8% countywide) were registered as Democrats, 180 (17.5% vs. 15.3%) were registered as

Republicans Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

and 467 (45.3% vs. 42.9%) were registered as Unaffiliated. There were no voters registered to other parties.In the short history of the community, no Republican has ever been elected to a township office
Voter Registration Summary - Union

Division of Elections, March 23, 2011. Accessed May 26, 2013. Among the township's 2010 Census population, 70.0% (vs. 53.3% in Union County) were registered to vote, including 84.7% of those ages 18 and over (vs. 70.6% countywide). In the

2012 presidential election This national electoral calendar for 2012 lists the national/federal elections held in 2012 in all sovereign states and their dependent territories. By-elections are excluded, though national referendums are included. January *3–4 January: E ...

, 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 426 votes (59.0% vs. 66.0% countywide), 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 271 votes (37.5% vs. 32.3%) and other candidates with 13 votes (1.8% vs. 0.8%), among the 722 ballots cast by the township's 1,053 registered voters, for a turnout of 68.6% (vs. 68.8% in Union County). In the 2008 presidential election, Democrat Barack Obama received 406 votes (51.0% vs. 63.1% countywide), 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 371 votes (46.6% vs. 35.2%) and other candidates with 13 votes (1.6% vs. 0.9%), among the 796 ballots cast by the township's 1,063 registered voters, for a turnout of 74.9% (vs. 74.7% in Union County). 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 420 votes (51.3% vs. 58.3% countywide), ahead of 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 389 votes (47.6% vs. 40.3%) and other candidates with 6 votes (0.7% vs. 0.7%), among the 818 ballots cast by the township's 1,051 registered voters, for a turnout of 77.8% (vs. 72.3% in the whole county). In the 2013 gubernatorial election, 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 ...

received 61.0% of the vote (282 cast), ahead of 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 ...

with 37.0% (171 votes), and other candidates with 1.9% (9 votes), among the 477 ballots cast by the township's 1,048 registered voters (15 ballots were spoiled), for a turnout of 45.5%. In the 2009 gubernatorial election, Republican Chris Christie received 264 votes (51.9% vs. 41.7% countywide), ahead of 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 ...

with 189 votes (37.1% vs. 50.6%), 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 38 votes (7.5% vs. 5.9%) and other candidates with 8 votes (1.6% vs. 0.8%), among the 509 ballots cast by the township's 1,049 registered voters, yielding a 48.5% turnout (vs. 46.5% in the county).

Sports

Even though Winfield is a small community, they do have a sports program for their elementary school students. They play soccer, basketball, and baseball. They also have a year-round recreational sports program.

Education

The

Winfield Township School District The Winfield Township School District is a community public school district that serves students in pre-Kindergarten to eighth grade from Winfield Township in Union County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2018–19 school year, the distr ...

serves public school 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 ...

eighth grade Eighth grade (or grade eight in some regions) is the eighth post-kindergarten year of formal education in the US. The eighth grade is the ninth school year, the second, third, fourth, or final year of middle school, or the second and/or final ye ...

at Winfield School. As of the 2018–2019 school year, the district, comprised of one school, had an enrollment of 139 students and 18.0 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 7.7:1.District information for Winfield Township

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 ...

. Accessed April 1, 2020. In the 2016–2017 school year, Winfield had the 19th-smallest enrollment of any school district in the state, with 140 students. The school offers a class for students with special needs. Public school students in

ninth In music, a ninth is a compound interval consisting of an octave plus a second. Like the second, the interval of a ninth is classified as a dissonance in common practice tonality. Since a ninth is an octave larger than a second, its ...

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 ...

s attend

David Brearley High School David Brearley High School is a four-year comprehensive public high school that serves students in ninth through twelfth grades from Kenilworth in Union County, New Jersey, United States, operating as the lone secondary school of the Kenilwort ...

, as part of a

sending/receiving relationship A sending/receiving relationship is one in which a public school district sends some or all of its students to attend the schools of another district. This is often done to achieve costs savings in smaller districts or continues after districts hav ...

with the

Kenilworth Public Schools The Kenilworth Public Schools is a comprehensive community public school district that serves students in pre-kindergarten through twelfth grade from the borough of Kenilworth, in Union County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2019–20 ...

. As of the 2018–2019 school year, the high school had an enrollment of 757 students and 63.5 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a

of 11.9:1. Before the current sending relationship had been established with Brearley, students had attended

Rahway High School Rahway High School is a four-year public high school that serves students in ninth through twelfth grades from Rahway, in Union County, New Jersey, United States, operating as the lone secondary school of the Rahway Public Schools. The high sc ...

until a decision by the

New Jersey Department of Education The New Jersey Department of Education (NJ DOE) administers state and federal aid programs affecting more than 1.4 million public and non-public elementary and secondary school children in the state of New Jersey. The department is headquartered ...

in March 2000 allowed for termination of the relationship. Students in public school for grades 9–12 may also attend the schools of the

Union County Vocational Technical Schools The Union County Vocational-Technical Schools (UCVTS) are a grouping of schools on the Union County Vocational Technical Schools Campus in Scotch Plains, New Jersey, United States, which offers educational programs for students across Union C ...

in Scotch Plains.

Transportation

Roads and highways

, the township had a total of of roadways, of which were maintained by the municipality and by Union County. North Stiles Street ( County Route 615) forms the northeastern edge of Winfield Township. In addition, a small piece of Raritan Road ( County Route 607) forms the northern border of the township. The

, west of the Rahway River, just misses the municipality by about 100 yards and is accessible at Exit 136 on the Cranford / Clark border.

Public transportation

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 ...

provides bus service between the township and the

Port Authority Bus Terminal The Port Authority Bus Terminal (colloquially known as the Port Authority and by its acronym PABT) is a bus station, bus terminal located in Manhattan in New York City. It is the busiest bus terminal in the world by volume of traffic, serving abo ...

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 ...

on the

112 112 may refer to: *112 (number), the natural number following 111 and preceding 113 *112 (band), an American R&B quartet from Atlanta, Georgia **112 (album), ''112'' (album), album from the band of the same name *112 (emergency telephone number), t ...

route, with local service offered on the 56 and 57 routes. Passenger rail service is provided by NJ Transit from the neighboring communities of Cranford on the

Raritan Valley Line The Raritan Valley Line is a commuter rail service operated by New Jersey Transit (NJT) which serves passengers in municipalities in Union, Somerset, and Hunterdon counties in the Raritan Valley region in central New Jersey, United States. Th ...

and from the Linden station on the

Northeast Corridor The Northeast Corridor (NEC) is an electrified railroad line in the Northeast megalopolis of the United States. Owned primarily by Amtrak, it runs from Boston through Providence, New Haven, Stamford, New York City, Philadelphia, Wilmington, a ...

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 ...

is approximately 12 minutes away in

Linden Airport Linden Airport is a mile southeast of downtown Linden, in Union County, New Jersey. Also known as Linden Municipal Airport, it is next to U.S. Route 1&9. The National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2011–2015 categorized it as a gene ...

, a

general aviation General aviation (GA) is defined by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) as all civil aviation aircraft operations with the exception of commercial air transport or aerial work, which is defined as specialized aviation services ...

facility, is in Linden.

Crime

Winfield has experienced a number of violent crimes in recent years. In 2001, there were two stabbings and three robberies. Then in 2003, there were three robberies. Domestic violence incidents tend to dominate local crime with one of the worst incidents occurring in April 1946 when Walter Fizer, an ex-policeman, shot and killed his wife, her sister and her mother, and then killed himself within sight of his three children near his home at 74 C Wavecrest Avenue.

Notable people

People who were born in, residents of, or otherwise closely associated with Winfield Township include: * Tom Dugan (born 1961), actor who starred in the music video ''

Legs A leg is a weight-bearing and locomotive anatomical structure, usually having a columnar shape. During locomotion, legs function as "extensible struts". The combination of movements at all joints can be modeled as a single, linear element ...

'' by

ZZ Top ZZ Top is an American rock band formed in 1969 in Houston, Texas. For 51 years, they comprised vocalist-guitarist Billy Gibbons, drummer Frank Beard and vocalist-bassist Dusty Hill, until Hill's death in 2021. ZZ Top developed a signature sound ...

Dan Graham Daniel Graham (March 31, 1942 – February 19, 2022) was an American visual artist, writer, and curator in the writer-artist tradition. In addition to his visual works, he published a large array of critical and speculative writing that spanned ...

(born 1942), conceptual artist, art critic *

Jeffrey Moran Jeffrey W. Moran (born December 23, 1946, Winfield Township, New Jersey) is an American Republican Party (United States), Republican politician, who served in the New Jersey New Jersey General Assembly, General Assembly from 1986 to 2003, where ...

(born 1946),

Ocean County Ocean County is a county located along the Jersey Shore in the south-central portion of the U.S. state of New Jersey. It borders the Atlantic Ocean on the east. Its county seat is Toms River.New Jersey General Assembly The New Jersey General Assembly is the lower house of the New Jersey Legislature. Since the election of 1967 (1968 Session), the Assembly has consisted of 80 members. Two members are elected from each of New Jersey's 40 legislative districts for ...

from 1986 to 2003, where he represented the 9th Legislative DistrictAbout The Surrogate

Ocean County Ocean County is a county located along the Jersey Shore in the south-central portion of the U.S. state of New Jersey. It borders the Atlantic Ocean on the east. Its county seat is Toms River.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 ...

''. February 3, 1947. p. 21. * Bauer, Catherine. "Social Questions in Housing and Community Planning" in ''The Journal of Social Issues'', Volume VII Numbers 1&2, 1951. p. 1–34 * "Co-Op Stores Sold: Residents of Winfield, NJ Quit $250,000 a Year Business." ''

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 ...

''. March 22, 1948. p. 35. * "Defense Homes Get 135 Tenants: Workers' Families Move Into New Federal Development in Winfield, NJ." ''

''. December 2, 1941. p. 26. * "Defense Housing Project to be Built in Clark: Clark Site Fixed Opponents Told." ''Elizabeth Daily Journal''. April 2, 1941. * "Defense Housing Sold: Deal With US for Development in NJ Authorized." ''

''. November 18, 1949. p. 47. * "Edison Veto Hits 'Winfield' Setup: Governor, While Sympathizing with Clark, Linden, Fears Impression of Discrimination Against Defense Workers." ''Elizabeth Daily Journal''. July 22, 1941. * "Fraud Charges Denied; MacEvoy Groups in Jersey Disavow Housing Project Deals". ''

''. April 7, 1943. * "Ideals of Community Living Are to Be Stressed by Winfield Manager." Elizabeth Daily Journal. November 29, 1941. * Federal Emergency Administration of Public Works. "Urban Housing: The Story of the P.W.A. Housing Division 1933–1936, Bulletin No. 2." Washington, D.C.: GPO, August, 1936. * Federal Works Agency (United States Housing Authority). "Four Years of Public Housing." Washington, D.C.: GPO, 1941. *

. "1st Annual Report." Washington, D.C.: GPO, 1940. *

. "2nd Annual Report." Washington, D.C.: GPO, 1941. *

. "3rd Annual Report." Washington, D.C.: GPO, 1942. * Form, William H.. "Stratification in Low and Middle Income Housing Areas" in ''Journal of Social Issues'', Volume VII, Number 1&2, 1951. p. 109–131. * Friedland, Sandra. "Winfield Journal: Painful Debate Over Closing Town's Only School." ''

''. February 7, 1993. * Ground Breaking Ceremonies. Clark Township Defense Housing Project. Federal Works Agency. Saturday, June 14, 1941. * "Grants Winfield Delay: PHA Gives Month's Extension on Purchase of Housing." ''

''. September 13, 1949. p. 51. * House of Representatives Hearings on House Resolution 3213, (A Bill to Expedite Further the Provision of Housing in Connection With National Defense, and to Provide Public Works in Relation to such Housing and other National Defense Activities, and For Other Purposes) and House Resolution 3570, (A Bill Authorizing An Appropriation for Providing Additional Community Facilities Made Necessary By National Defense Activities and For Other Purposes). "Hearings Before the Committee On Public Buildings and Grounds, March 4,5,6,7,12 and 13, 1941." Washington, D.C.: GPO, 1941. * House of Representatives Hearings on House Resolution 3486, (A Bill to Authorize An Appropriation of An Additional $150,000,000 for Defense Housing). "Hearings Before the Committee On Public Buildings and Grounds, February 21, 1941." Washington, D.C.: GPO, 1941. * House of Representatives Hearings on House Resolution 5211, (A Bill to Authorize An Appropriation of An Additional $300,000,000 For Defense Housing). "Hearings Before the Committee On Public Buildings and Grounds, July 9,10,11,15,16,17,18,22,23,1941." Washington, D.C.: GPO, 1941. * House of Representatives Hearings on House Resolution 7312, (A Bill to Increase by $600,000,000 The Amount Authorized To Be Appropriated For Defense Housing Under the Act of October 14, 1940, As Amended). "Hearings Before the Committee on Public Buildings and Grounds, June 9,10,11,12,16,17,18,19,23,24,25 and 26, 1942." Washington, D.C.: GPO, 1942. * House of Representatives Hearings on House Resolutions 6482 and 6483, (Bills to Amend the Act Entitled 'An Act To Expedite the Provision of Housing In Connection with National Defense and For Other Purposes'). "Hearings Before the Committee on Public Buildings and Grounds, January 29 and 30, February 3, 1942, March 11,12,17,18,19 and 24, 1942." Washington, D.C." GPO, 1942. * House of Representatives Hearings on Message from the President of the United States, (A Draft of a Proposed Bill to Increase by $400,000,000 the Amount Authorized to be Appropriated for Defense Housing). "Hearings Before the Committee on Public Buildings and Grounds, May 18,19,20,21,26 and 27, June 1,2,4,8, and 10, 1943." Washington, D.C.: GPO, 1943. * Jahoda, Maria, Patricia Salter West. "Race Relations in Public Housing," in ''Journal of Social Issues'', Volume VII, Number 1&2, 1951. p. 132–139. * "Jersey Bill Stirs Housing Officials: Measure to Make Clark Township Project a Separate Area is Held Serious Precedent." ''

''. July 16, 1941. p. 12. * Kaledin, Eugenia. ''Daily Life in the US 1940–1959: Shifting Worlds.'' Greenwood Press, Westport, CT. 2000. * "Large Housing Job in Jersey Scored: Senate Committee Asks Justice Department to Investigate 'Bad' Winfield Project'." ''

''. November 20, 1942. p. 17. * "Launch Housing Work in Clark." ''Elizabeth Daily Journal''. June 16, 1941. * Lazarsfeld and Robert K. Merton. "Friendship as Social Process: A Substantive and Methodological Analysis" in Morroe Berger, Theodore Abel and Charles H. Page. ''Freedom and Control in Modern Society''. Octagon Books, New York, 1978 * "Many Difficult Engineering Problems Are Solved in Building Winfield." ''Elizabeth Daily Journal''. November 29, 1941. * Merton, Robert K. "The Self-Fulfilling Prophecy." ''The Antioch Review'', Summer 1948. p. 193–210. * Merton, Robert K. "Discrimination and the American Creed." In R.M. MacIver ed. Discrimination and National Welfare. New York: Harper and Brothers, 1949. * Merton, Robert K. "Selected Problems of Field Work in the Planned Community." ''American Sociological Review'', Volume 12, Issue 3, June 1947. p. 304–312 * Merton, Robert K. "Social Psychology of Housing." In Wayne Dennis, ed. Current Trends in Social Psychology. Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press, 1948. * Merton, Robert K. and Patricia L. Kendall, "The Focused Interview." ''American Journal of Sociology'', Number 51, 1946. p. 547–557. * Merton, Robert K. and Paul Lazarsfeld. "Friendship aa a Social Process: A Substantive and Methodological Analysis." In Monroe Berger, Theodore Abel, and Charles Page, eds. Freedom and Control in Modern Society. New York, N.Y.: Van Nostrand, 1954. * Merton, Robert K. and Patricia Salter West. "The First Year's Work, 1945–1946: An Interim Report on the Columbia Lavanburg Researches on Human Relations in the Planned Community", June 1946. * "Moving Day in Winfield." ''Elizabeth Daily Journal''. December 2, 1941. * National Housing Agency (Federal Public Housing Authority). "Public Housing: The Work of the Federal Public Housing Authority." Washington, D.C.: GPO, March, 1946. * National Housing Agency. "Housing for War and the Job Ahead: A Common Goal for Communities...for Industry, Labor and Government." Washington, D.C.: GPO, April, 1944. * National Housing Agency. "Housing Practices – War and Prewar: Review of Design and Construction, National Housing Bulletin 5." Washington, D.C.: GPO, May, 1946. * National Housing Agency. "Public Housing: The Work of the Federal Public Housing Authority." Washington, D.C.: GPO, March, 1946. * National Housing Agency. "Second Annual Report." Washington, D.C.: GPO, Oct., 1944. * National Housing Agency. "The Mutual Home Ownership Program." Washington, D.C.: Federal Public Housing Authority, January, 1946. * National Housing Agency. "War Housing In the United States." Washington, D.C.: GPO, April, 1945. * National Housing Agency/ "Mutual Housing A Veteran's Guide: Organizing, financing, constructing, and operating several selected types of cooperative housing associations, with special reference to Available Federal Aids." Washington, D.C.: GPO, 1946. * "New Defense Community: Winfield, NJ, Starts Its Existence as a Municipality." ''New York Times''. August 4, 1941. p. 15. * New Jersey General Assembly. "Minutes of Votes and Proceedings of the One Hundred and Sixty-Fifth General Assembly of the State of New Jersey." Trenton, N.J.: MacCrellish and Quigley Co., 1941. * New Jersey Senate. "Journal of the Ninety-Seventh Senate of the State of New Jersey Being the One Hundred and Sixty Fifth Session of the Legislature." Trenton, N.J.: MacCrellish and Quigley Co., 1941. * "Old Barracks as Co-Ops." ''

''. October 3, 1976. * "Pay Rise, Ends Winfield Strike." ''

''. June 13, 1954. p. 17. * "Pioneer Residents of Winfield Will be Given Welcome Monday: US Township to Be Opened." Elizabeth Daily Journal. November 29, 1941. * "Price Set on Housing: Government Fixes $1,400,000 for New Jersey Development." ''

''. November 9, 1949. p. 48. * Public Housing Administration. "First Annual Report Public Housing Administration." Washington, D.C.: GPO, 1948. * "Record Number of Carpenters Has Part in Erecting of Winfield Homes." ''Elizabeth Daily Journal''. November 29, 1941. * Rutgers University Bureau of Economic Research. "An Economic Profile of Winfield Park, New Jersey: Including Alternatives For the Use of Community Resources". New Brunswick, N.J.: Bureau of Economic Research, 1965. * "School Given to Town: Federal Agency Transfers Control to Winfield, NJ Board." ''

''. November 23, 1950. p. 38. * Selvin, Hanan C. "The Interplay of Social Research and Social Policy in Housing" in ''Journal of Social Issues'', Volume VII, Number 1&2, 1951. p. 172–185. * Senate Hearings on Proposed General Housing Act of 1945. " Hearings Before the Committee on Banking and Currency, Part 2, December 6,7,11,12,13,14,17,18, 1945, January 24 and 25, 1946, Revised." Washington, D.C.: GPO, 1946. * Senate Hearings on Senate Resolution 71, (A Resolution Authorizing and Directing An Investigation of the National Defense Program). "Investigation of the National Defense Program, Part 8, October 3,7,8,9,14,15,21,22,23,24,27,28,29, and 31, 1941." Washington, D.C.: GPO, 1942. * Senate Hearings on Senate Resolution 71, (A Resolution Authorizing and Directing An Investigation of the National Defense Program). "Investigation of the National Defense Program, Part 15, November 18,19, 23, 24 and 25, 1942." Washington, D.C.: GPO, 1943. * Szylvian Bailey, Kristin. ''The Federal Government and the Cooperative Housing Movement, 1917–1955''. Unpublished Doctoral Dissertation Carnegie-Mellon University, 1988. *Szylvian, Kristin M.
Our Mutual Friend: A Progressive Housing Legacy from the 1940s.
''Designer Builder: A Journal of the Human Environment''. Vol. 111 No. 9. January 1997. * Szylvian, Kristin M.
"The Federal Housing Program During World War II"
in ''From Tenements to The Taylor Homes: In Search of An Urban Housing Policy in Twentieth Century America'' edited by John F. Bauman, Roger Biles and Kristin Szylvian. Pennsylvania State Press, 2000. * "Talents Listed for Like Tastes: Winfield Tenants to be Grouped for Social Life." ''Elizabeth Daily Journal''. November 29, 1941. * "Tenants in Winfield Set to Buy Project." ''

''. September 5, 1948. p. R2. * Time Magazine
"Not for Rent, Not for Sale"
June 2, 1941 * "To Buy Jersey Housing: Winfield Group Ready to Acquire Government-Owned Project." ''

''. May 13, 1947. p. 43. * "Town is Quarantined: Third Paralysis Death Affects Jersey War Housing Area." ''

''. September 9, 1942. p. 16. * "Truman Committee Exposes Housing Mess." ''

Life Magazine ''Life'' was an American magazine published weekly from 1883 to 1972, as an intermittent "special" until 1978, and as a monthly from 1978 until 2000. During its golden age from 1936 to 1972, ''Life'' was a wide-ranging weekly general-interest ma ...

''. November 29, 1942. * United States Housing Authority. "Annual Report of the United States Housing Authority." Washington, D.C.: GPO, 1940. * "US Cuts Housing Price: Asking $50,000 Less for Project in Winfield, NJ." ''

''. October 14, 1949. p. 47. * "US Handed Boom Town: Winfield, Created Over Edison's Veto, Has Lone Status. Puzzle for Government Aides." ''Elizabeth Daily Journal''. July 29, 1941. p. 11. * "US Indicts 3 Firms For Housing Frauds: 5 Individuals Also Accused in Winfield, NJ Project." ''

''. March 31, 1943. p. 15. * "US Owned Jersey Town Appeals for Coal; 100,000 Homes Here Still Lacking Fuel." ''

''. October 21, 1943. p. 29. * "US to Resume Rule of Winfield Housing: Reason for Shift From Mutual Control Not Explained." ''

''. April 7, 1944. p. 36. * Winfield Cultural and Heritage Commission. History of Winfield. Winfield Township, N.J.: Winfield Cultural and Heritage Commission, 1976. * "Winfield Roads Get Sea Names: Shipyard Workers Honored in Choosing Titles." ''Elizabeth Daily Journal''. November 29, 1941. * "Winfield Sale Awaited: Meeting Tonight to Hear Terms of Purchase from Government." ''

''. August 11, 1949. p. 35. * "Winfield Seeks Town Officers: Pascoe Asked to Sponsor Bill in Legislature: Would Give Governor Appointive Power." ''Elizabeth Daily Journal''. December 9, 1942. * "Winfield Setup Veto Annulled by Legislature: Edison, US Government Lose Fight to Prevent 'Federal Island'." ''Elizabeth Daily Journal''. July 29, 1941. * "Winfield Unique Group in Series: No Other Defense Housing Unit Separate Town." ''Elizabeth Daily Journal''. November 29, 1941. * "Would Cut US Price on Winfield Housing." ''

''. August 21, 1949. p. R1. * "WPA Work in Creating New Township Largest Job Ever Done in State." Elizabeth Daily Journal. November 29, 1941.

External links

Winfield TownshipWinfield Township School District
*
School Data for the Winfield Township School District

NJ.com forum for Winfield Township
Architect of Winfield Park
Robert K. Merton Papers
Series VI: Studies and Projects, 1935–1997 (Housing Study/Craftown and Winfield – Memos and Drafts 1945–1946 – Winfield, General 1945, Card Design, Code Book 1945–1946, Questionnaires 1945–1946)
The Mutual Housing Experiment: New Deal Communities for the Urban Middle Class (Urban Life, Landscape, and Policy)
by Kristin M. Szylvian, Temple University Press, 2015. . {{Union County, New Jersey 1941 establishments in New Jersey Populated places established in 1941 Township form of New Jersey government Townships in Union County, New Jersey