Briarwood East, New Jersey
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Briarwood East is an
unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a parcel of land that is not governed by a local general-purpose municipal corporation. (At p. 178.) They may be governed or serviced by an encompassing unit (such as a county) or another branch of the state (such as th ...
and
residential neighborhood A residential area is a land used in which housing predominates, as opposed to industrial and commercial areas. Housing may vary significantly between, and through, residential areas. These include single-family housing, multi-family resident ...
located within Edison Township in Middlesex County,
New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...
, United States. It is located in the northern half of Edison Township; east of Carriage Hill, south east of
Glenwood Park Glenwood Park is a mixed-use neighborhood on the east side of Atlanta, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, United States, located just west of North Ormewood Park. The neighborhood is an example of New Urbanism, promoting a sense of community with w ...
and Chandler Hill, south of the Oak Tree Park, west of Timber Grove and north of Tamarack North. The community is centered on the eastern half of Stephenville Parkway, a median strip-street which runs the entirety of the neighborhood between George Avenue and Midland Road. Briarwood East was established in 1963 and consists mainly of ranch-style, bi-level and split-level homes. The community was developed by contractors Jack J. Handshush and Albert Handshuh through their building and development firm Hand-Sum Homes. Briarwood East was named after Briarwood, a similar community previously developed by the Handshuh brothers in
Berkeley Heights, New Jersey Berkeley Heights is a Township (New Jersey), township in Union County, New Jersey, Union County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Located on a ridge in North Jersey, northern-central Jersey, central New Jersey, Berkeley Heights is a commuter to ...
.


History

The land on which Briarwood East sits was once owned by bridge engineer
Gustav Lindenthal Gustav Lindenthal (May 21, 1850 – July 31, 1935) was a civil engineer who designed the Queensboro Bridge, Queensboro and Hell Gate Bridge, Hell Gate bridges in New York City, among other bridges. Lindenthal's work was greatly affected by h ...
. After his death in 1935, the land was donated to Raritan Township. In January 1952, Frank P. Tufaro optioned between 140 and 160 acres of undeveloped land from the Raritan Park Company between Plainfield Road, Grove Avenue and Oak Tree Road. Tufaro intended to build an eastern addition to Stephenville, a residential community which he had developed through his firm, Terra-Nova Construction Company. Tufaro completed his purchase of 145 acres in mid-August 1952, planning for large residential homes to be built on the site, adjoining Arrowhead Park. Streets and utilities were scheduled to be laid in the fall of 1952, with housing construction to start early in 1953, but delay in sewer construction for the original Stephenville development kept things on hold. On October 31, 1953, Tufaro sold the 145 acres of land between Plainfield Road, Grove Avenue and Oak Tree Road to the Absig Corporation, one of the many subsidiaries of the Sommer Brothers Construction Company of
Iselin, New Jersey Iselin () is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) located within Woodbridge Township, in Middlesex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey.
. In November 1954, Raritan Township was renamed Edison Township. After several failed attempts to develop the land as a residential community named Oakview Heights in 1958 and 1959, the Absig Corporation sold off parcels of land to various developers, each of which established and built separate residential developments under various names. Joseph Deutsch and Jack W. Denholtz of Westover Realty acquired 37 acres of land in 1960 and hoped to build 62 houses but were denied by the Edison Township Planning Board due to lack of sewer connections. Briarwood East was announced in May 1963, as a new community developed by Jack J. Handshuh and Albert Handshuh through their firm Hand-Sum Homes. The community was to be built on and off Stephenville Parkway, between Plainfield Road, Grove Avenue and Oak Tree Road, and adjacent to Carriage Hill,
Glenwood Park Glenwood Park is a mixed-use neighborhood on the east side of Atlanta, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, United States, located just west of North Ormewood Park. The neighborhood is an example of New Urbanism, promoting a sense of community with w ...
, Chandler Hill, Timber Grove and Tamarack North (all residential communities built by developers who bought parcels from the planned Oakview Heights). Briarwood East was named after Briarwood, a similar community which the Handshuh brothers had developed in
Berkeley Heights, New Jersey Berkeley Heights is a Township (New Jersey), township in Union County, New Jersey, Union County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Located on a ridge in North Jersey, northern-central Jersey, central New Jersey, Berkeley Heights is a commuter to ...
. The first homes in Briarwood East were built during the spring of 1963, and residents began moving into the community during the fall of 1963. In May 1964, Briarwood East residents formed the Oak-Grove Civic Association and successfully protested against the construction of a Socony-Mobil Oil Company gasoline service station at the corner of Oak Tree Road and Grove Avenue. The Oak-Grove Civic Association also successfully protested against the enlargement of Stephenville Parkway for the purpose of turning it into a highway, which proposed to connect it to Route 27 and Talmadge Road.


See also

*
List of neighborhoods in Edison, New Jersey Edison, New Jersey is a Township (New Jersey), township in Middlesex County, New Jersey in central New Jersey. The township was originally founded as the settlement of Piscatawaytown, New Jersey, Piscatawaytown, a small neighborhood that still e ...


References

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