Cranford is a

township A township is a form of human settlement or administrative subdivision. Its exact definition varies among countries. Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, this tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, Canad ...

in Union County, in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its so ...

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 ...

, located southwest of

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

. As of the 2020 United States census, the township's population was 23,847, an increase of 1,222 (+5.4%) from the 2010 census count of 22,625, which in turn reflected an increase of 47 (+0.2%) from the 22,578 counted in the 2000 census.

NJ Transit New Jersey Transit Corporation, branded as NJ Transit or NJTransit and often shortened to NJT, is a state-owned public transportation system that serves the U.S. state of New Jersey and portions of the states of New York and Pennsylvania. I ...

rail service is available at the Cranford station, along 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, Middlesex, Essex, and Hunterdon counties in the Raritan Valley region, primarily in centra ...

, with service to Newark Penn Station and to

New York Penn Station Pennsylvania Station (also known as New York Penn Station or simply Penn Station) is the main intercity railroad station in New York City and the busiest transportation facility in the Western Hemisphere, serving more than 600,000 passengers ...

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

via Midtown Direct. It is part of the

New York metropolitan area The New York metropolitan area, also called the Tri-State area and sometimes referred to as Greater New York, is the List of cities by GDP, largest metropolitan economy in the world, with a List of U.S. metropolitan areas by GDP, gross metropo ...

. Cranford 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 ...

on March 14, 1871, from portions of the Townships of Clark, Linden, Springfield Township, Union Township and Westfield. Portions of the township were taken to form Garwood (in 1903) and

Kenilworth Kenilworth ( ) is a market town and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Warwick (district), Warwick District of Warwickshire, England, southwest of Coventry and north of both Warwick and Leamington Spa. Situated at the centre of t ...

(in 1907).Snyder, John P
''The Story of New Jersey's Civil Boundaries: 1606–1968''
Bureau of Geology and Topography; Trenton, New Jersey; 1969. p. 237. Accessed July 17, 2012. The township's name is said to derive from the Crane family, including John Crane, who built a mill in 1720 along the

Rahway River The Rahway River is a river in Essex County, New Jersey, Essex, Middlesex County, New Jersey, Middlesex, and Union County, New Jersey, Union Counties, New Jersey, United States, The Rahway flows into the Arthur Kill, the tidal channel between ...

Historic preservation

Historic sites in the township are overseen by the Cranford Historic Preservation Advisory Board. The Cranford Historical Society, a private entity founded in 1927 and located in Hanson Park on Springfield Avenue, maintains the Crane-Phillips House (), located at 124 North Union Avenue, as a museum.

Historic figures

Though no known Cranford residents died in the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

, at least 22 were active in the Union Army at the time of General

Robert E. Lee Robert Edward Lee (January 19, 1807 – October 12, 1870) was a general officers in the Confederate States Army, Confederate general during the American Civil War, who was appointed the General in Chief of the Armies of the Confederate ...

's surrender. Cranford's last surviving Civil War veteran died in 1935. James E. Warner is a former sheriff of Union County who was the namesake of the James E. Warner Plaza at the Cranford Train Station. Concerned by the then-growing pollution of the Rahway given the cleaner waters of his youth, Warner advocated for the preservation of the

and Rahway River Parkway parkland. One of Sheriff Warner's successful targets in fighting Rahway River pollution was his battle against the discharge of paper makers; one such site is now the

regional theater In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as areas, zones, lands or territories, are portions of the Earth's surface that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and ...

known as the

Paper Mill Playhouse Paper Mill Playhouse is a regional theater containing approximately 1,200 seats located in Millburn, within Essex County, New Jersey, United States, on the banks of the Rahway River. Due to its relative proximity to Manhattan, the theater draw ...

in Millburn. The Cranford Canoe Club, built in 1908, continues to offer canoes and kayaks for rent on the river in town. Charles Hansel was co-founder of the Union County Parks Commission that preserved parkland all along the

and its tributaries in the 1920s, a greenway now known as the Rahway River Parkway. He was an engineer for the

Pennsylvania Railroad The Pennsylvania Railroad ( reporting mark PRR), legal name as the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, also known as the "Pennsy," was an American Class I railroad that was established in 1846 and headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. At its ...

and

Central Railroad of New Jersey Central is an adjective usually referring to being in the center of some place or (mathematical) object. Central may also refer to: Directions and generalised locations * Central Africa, a region in the centre of Africa continent, also known as ...

. Hansel lived in the 300 block of North Union Avenue in a home that still stands today, later moving to what is now Gray's Funeral Home, near what is now called Hansel's Dam by Sperry Park. For his

preservation efforts, a memorial copper plaque was placed to Hansel in Echo Lake Park. Joshua Bryant Chrome

Joshua Bryant was Cranford's first Black law enforcement officer and the township's first Black elected official. William P. Westervelt was credited with thwarting the

Baltimore Plot The Baltimore Plot concerned alleged conspiracies in February 1861 to assassinate President-elect of the United States Abraham Lincoln during a whistle-stop tour en route to his inauguration. Allan Pinkerton, founder of the Pinkerton National ...

, an unsuccessful assassination attempt against president-elect

Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln (February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was the 16th president of the United States, serving from 1861 until Assassination of Abraham Lincoln, his assassination in 1865. He led the United States through the American Civil War ...

. He did so by cutting telegraph wires that would have alerted assassins to Lincoln's arrival.

Geography

According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...

, the township had a total area of , including of land and of water (0.78%). There are nine municipalities bordering the township: Garwood and Westfield to the west, Springfield Township to the north,

to the northeast, Roselle and Roselle Park to the east, Linden to the southeast, Winfield Township and Clark to the south.

Parks

Township parks

Parks run by the township and overseen by the Cranford Recreation and Parks Department include:Parks and Facilities
Township of Cranford. Accessed October 3, 2017. * Adams Park – Adams Avenue and Lambert Street. Morses Creek dips into Cranford behind this park. * Buchanan Park – Centennial Avenue and Buchanan Avenue * Cranford Canoe Club – Springfield Avenue and Orange Avenue The Cranford Canoe Club rents canoes and kayaks for trips on the

in Cranford. The current structure was built as a private canoe club in 1908. * Community Center – Walnut Avenue. The Cranford Community Center, adjacent to the Cranford Public Library, offers classes, sports, speaker series and other recreational activities. * Josiah Crane Park – Springfield Avenue and North Union Avenue. In 1971, the Cranford Historical Society marked the farm and village home of Josiah Crane Sr. (1791–1873) in a park across from the First Presbyterian Church on the

. This park now features Cranford's 9/11 Memorial. * Cranford West – Hope, N.J. Originally the home of the Cranford Boys Club on Silver Lake from the 1920s to the 1960s * Girl Scout Park – Springfield Avenue and Orange Avenue. This was once the site of a canoe club, later the Neva Sykes Girl Scout House, demolished in the 1950s. * Hampton Park – Eastman Street and Hampton Street * Hanson Park – Springfield Avenue and Holly Street. Home of the Hanson Park Conservancy. * Johnson Park – Johnson Avenue. The Johnson Avenue playground opened in July 1957. * Lincoln Park – Lincoln Avenue at South Union. What is now Lincoln Park was the Cranford Golf Club in 1899, now moved to Westfield and called the Echo Lake Country Club. The Lincoln Avenue grounds were designed by Willie Dunn. Lincoln Park was also originally a former estate said to have supplied lumber to build the USS ''Constitution'' ("Old Ironsides") in the 1700s. The grounds, at the corner of the

Old York Road Old York Road, originally York Road, with reference to New York, is a roadway that was built during the 18th century to connect Philadelphia with New York City. The road was built along the Raritan tribe, Raritan tribe's Naraticong Trail, als ...

and Benjamin Street, also included the largest sour gum ever recorded in the Northeastern states, known as the Cranford Pepperidge Tree or "Old Peppy". The cultivated shoots from Old Peppy's root system now form a grove of saplings offering shade to the Deborah Cannon Partridge Wolfe Reading Garden in the park. The park has hosted

bocce ball (, or , ), sometimes anglicized as bocce ball, bocci, or boccie, is a ball sport belonging to the boules family. Developed into its present form in Italy, it is closely related to English bowls and French , with a common ancestry from anci ...

tournaments since the mid-1960s. * Mayor's Park – Springfield Avenue and North Union Avenue * Memorial Park – Springfield Avenue and Central Avenue, in 2014, the Cranford Historical Society dedicated a civil war monument. * Roosevelt Park – Orange Avenue and Pacific Avenue * Sherman Park – Lincoln Avenue East. Former site of Sherman School and located on the

. * At the corner of Elizabeth and North Union Avenues sits a memorial bench dedicated to the Cranford Dixie Giants, the town's semiprofessional baseball team organized by and composed entirely of African-American players, which played in the early 1900s.

County parks

Bridge and trees near lake in Nomahegan Park NJ

Parks run by the county inside Cranford's borders (overseen by the

Union County, New Jersey Union County is a County (United States), county in the northern part of the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the county was the state's List of counties in New Jersey, seventh-most-populous county

Parks and Recreation Department) include: * Lenape Park in Cranford,

, Springfield, Union and Westfield. Two tusks from an ancient American

mastodon A mastodon, from Ancient Greek μαστός (''mastós''), meaning "breast", and ὀδούς (''odoús'') "tooth", is a member of the genus ''Mammut'' (German for 'mammoth'), which was endemic to North America and lived from the late Miocene to ...

were found in 1936 north of Kenilworth Boulevard in what is now Lenape Park (other sources name the swampy area directly behind what is now the parking lot of

Union College Union College is a Private university, private liberal arts college in Schenectady, New York, United States. Founded in 1795, it was the first institution of higher learning chartered by the New York State Board of Regents, and second in the s ...

's main building). * MacConnell Park (formerly known as Liberty Park and frequently misspelled as "McConnell Park") is named after the township's first physician, Joseph Kerr MacConnell. It is located on Eastman Street and was known as the Peninsula during the Victorian era due to its position nearly encircled by the

. * Nomahegan Park (off Springfield Avenue across from

) is named for a tributary of the Rahway River that runs through it, to Lenape Park to Echo Lake Park in Westfield and Springfield, called Nomahegan Brook. The name "Nomahegan" has had many different spellings in the historical sources (such as "Normahiggins") and may mean "she-wolf" or "women Mohegans." According to the

Federal Writers' Project The Federal Writers' Project (FWP) was a federal government project in the United States created to provide jobs for out-of-work writers and to develop a history and overview of the United States, by state, cities and other jurisdictions. It was ...

, ''The WPA Guide to New Jersey: The Garden State'' (1939):

"CRANFORD is an old residential town spread along the Rahway River Parkway, a link of nearly 7 miles joining a series of county parks and playgrounds with the Essex County park system. There are facilities for summer and winter sports, a rifle range, and picnic grove. The Fourth of July canoe regatta is an annual affair. Gardens of fine old Victorian houses line the edge of the parkway on the riverbank. A broadening of the river parkway at the northern end of Cranford is known as Nomahegan Park. The name Nomahegan is a variation of Noluns Mohegans, as the New Jersey Indians were called in the treaty ending the Indian troubles in 1758. It is translated as women Mohegans or she-wolves and was applied to them in scorn by the fighting Iroquois.

In 2019, the county purchased a long-abandoned house and demolished it, adding the land to the park's footprint. * Droescher's Mill Park, located near the dam at Droescher's Mill on High Street. Also called Squire Williams Park. * Mohawk Park is located on Mohawk Drive in Cranford's Indian Village section of town. * Sperry Park (named after William Miller Sperry), located off North Union Avenue. Home of annual rubber duck derby as a fundraiser for Hanson Park further upstream on the

. * Unami Park (located at Lexington and S. Union Avenue).

Rahway River Parkway – Cranford Section

The Rahway River Parkway is a greenway of parkland that hugs the

and its tributaries. It was designed in the 1920s by the

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

firm, who were the sons of the eminent landscape architect

Frederick Law Olmsted Frederick Law Olmsted (April 26, 1822 – August 28, 1903) was an American landscape architect, journalist, Social criticism, social critic, and public administrator. He is considered to be the father of landscape architecture in the U ...

. The Cranford section follows the banks of the meandering

as it flows south through Lenape Park, Nomahegan Park, Hampton Park, MacConnell Park, Hanson Park, Sperry Park, Crane's Park, Droescher's Mill Park, and Mohawk Park.

Cranford Riverwalk

The Cranford Riverwalk and Heritage Corridor portion of the Rahway River Parkway begins at the parklands near where Orange Avenue meets Springfield at the Cranford Canoe Club and follows the

on its path southbound to the Williams-Droescher Mill from the early 18th century. At Heritage Plaza at the southwest corner of South Avenue and Centennial, the century-old stone walls and iconic stone columns winding through woodland to Droescher's Mill are still in place, but are in need of restoration and preservation. Future plans include repairing the Kaltenbach Estate skating pond, the Victorian footbridge and Squire Williams Picnic Grove at Droescher's Mill Park.

Demographics

2010 census

The 2010 United States census counted 22,625 people, 8,583 households, and 6,154 families in the township. The

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

was 4,684.6 per square mile (1,808.7/km²). There were 8,816 housing units at an average density of 1,825.4 per square mile (704.8/km²). The racial makeup was 91.85% (20,781)

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

, 2.62% (592) Black or African American, 0.08% (18) Native American, 2.84% (643) Asian, 0.02% (4)

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, 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 th ...

, 1.03% (234) from other races, and 1.56% (353) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 6.51% (1,474) of the population. Of the 8,583 households, 33.4% had children under the age of 18; 60.2% were married couples living together; 8.4% had a female householder with no husband present and 28.3% were non-families. Of all households, 24.8% were made up of individuals and 13.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.61 and the average family size was 3.15. 24.2% of the population were under the age of 18, 5.8% from 18 to 24, 23.6% from 25 to 44, 29.3% from 45 to 64, and 17.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 42.8 years. For every 100 females, the population had 91.7 males. For every 100 females ages 18 and older there were 87.2 males. The Census Bureau's 2006–2010

American Community Survey The American Community Survey (ACS) is an annual demographics survey program conducted by the United States Census Bureau. It regularly gathers information previously contained only in the long form of the United States census, decennial census ...

showed that (in 2010 inflation-adjusted dollars)

median household income The median income is the income amount that divides a population into two 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 und ...

was $107,052 (with a margin of error of +/− $5,725) and the median family income was $128,534 (+/− $7,200). Males had a median income of $81,979 (+/− $7,672) versus $61,649 (+/− $4,965) for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...

for the township was $48,008 (+/− $2,581). About 2.1% of families and 3.3% 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 ...

, including 3.9% of those under age 18 and 8.5% of those age 65 or over.

2000 census

As of the 2000 United States census there were 22,578 people, 8,397 households, and 6,222 families residing in the township. The

was . There were 8,560 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the township was 93.70%

, 2.58%

Black Black is a color that results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without chroma, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness.Eva Heller, ''P ...

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

, 0.04% Native American, 2.15% Asian, 0.02%

, 0.67% from other races, and 0.84% from two or more races. 3.89% of the population were

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

or Latino of any race.Census 2000 Profiles of Demographic / Social / Economic / Housing Characteristics for Cranford township, Union County, New Jersey
,

. Accessed July 16, 2012.DP-1: Profile of General Demographic Characteristics: 2000 – Census 2000 Summary File 1 (SF 1) 100-Percent Data for Cranford township, Union County, New Jersey
,

. Accessed July 16, 2012. There were 8,397 households, out of which 32.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 63.0% were

married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...

living together, 8.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 25.9% were non-families. 21.9% of all households were made up of individuals, and 10.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.62 and the average family size was 3.09. In the township the population was spread out, with 23.3% under the age of 18, 5.3% from 18 to 24, 29.4% from 25 to 44, 24.1% from 45 to 64, and 17.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females, there were 90.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 86.2 males. The median income for a household in the township was $76,338, and the median income for a family was $86,624. Males had a median income of $60,757 versus $41,020 for females. The

for the township was $33,283. About 1.0% of families and 2.5% of the population were below the

, including 1.5% of those under age 18 and 6.3% of those age 65 or over.

Economy

The Riverfront redevelopment project on South Avenue brought restaurants and housing into downtown Cranford. In the 1980s, Cranford founded the state's first special improvement district, which allows for the downtown district to have a special tax on building and business owners for downtown development and marketing which is managed by th
Cranford Downtown Management Corporation
The DMC is governed by a

Board of Directors A board of directors is a governing body that supervises the activities of a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government agency. The powers, duties, and responsibilities of a board of directors are determined by government regulatio ...

consisting of business owners, property owners, and residents, members of which are appointed by the Township Committee.

Crime

Cranford was ranked the seventh safest municipality in New Jersey. In 2018 the Cranford crime rate was 28.47 per 100,000, which is lower than New Jersey's 208 crime rate, which is in turn lower than the United States' 381.

Climate

The climate in this area is characterized by hot, humid summers and generally mild to cool winters. According to the

Köppen Climate Classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...

system, Cranford has a

humid subtropical climate A humid subtropical climate is a subtropical -temperate climate type, characterized by long and hot summers, and cool to mild winters. These climates normally lie on the southeast side of all continents (except Antarctica), generally between ...

, abbreviated "Cfa" on climate maps.

Government

Local government

Cranford NJ building and firetruck and intersection

Cranford is governed under the

Township A township is a form of human settlement or administrative subdivision. Its exact definition varies among countries. Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, this tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, Canad ...

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 Township Committee is comprised of five members, who 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 tha ...

in partisan elections to serve three-year terms of office on a staggered basis, with either one or two seats 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'',

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

Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy, March 2013, p. 94. The Committee members elect a chairman of the committee who assumes the title of

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

and another who is selected as

Deputy Mayor The deputy mayor (also known as vice mayor and assistant mayor) is an elective or appointive office of the second-ranking official that is present in many local governments. Duties and functions Many elected deputy mayors are members of the loca ...

. Both positions carry one-year terms. Four of the committee members take on departmental oversight assignments as Commissioner of Finance, Commissioner of Public Safety, Commissioner of Public Works and Engineering, and Commissioner of Public Affairs. The Mayor of Cranford does not take on a departmental assignment. The Township Committee is a part-time body and the township government is run on a day-to-day basis by the township administrator and various department heads. The chief of police is Ryan Greco, the township administrator is Lavona Patterson, and the township clerk is Patricia Donahue. , members of the Cranford Township Committee are Mayor Terrence Curran ( D, term on committee ends 2026; term as mayor ends December 31, 2025), Deputy Mayor Paul A. Gallo (D, term on committee ends 2026; term as deputy mayor ends 2025), Brian Andrews (D, 2026), Gina Black ( R, 2027), and Kathleen Miller Prunty (D, 2025).Township Committee
Township of Cranford. Accessed January 12, 2025.Elected Officials

. Accessed January 12, 2025.General Election November 5, 2024 Official Results

, updated November 22, 2024. Accessed January 12, 2025.General Election November 7, 2023 Official Results

, updated November 22, 2023. Accessed January 3, 2024.General Election November 8, 2022 Official Results

, updated November 21, 2022. Accessed January 1, 2023. In June 2023, the township committee appointed Paul Gallo to fill the seat expiring in December 2023 that had been held by Jason Gareis until he resigned from office.

Women in elected office

River with reflections of trees autumn in Cranford New Jersey

Through 2022, a total of 12 women have been elected to the Cranford Township Committee, and four women have served as Mayor of Cranford. Barbara Brande was the first woman elected to the Township Committee and the first woman mayor of the township. Mayor Brande was elected to the Township Committee in 1974 and reelected in 1977, serving a total of six years. She was Mayor of Cranford in 1977. Carolyn Vollero, who served the longest length of time for a woman on the Township Committee—nine years—was Cranford's second female Mayor in 1994. Barbara Bilger, the township's third female mayor in 2002 and 2004, was also the first woman to serve two terms as the township's mayor. Mayor Bilger is the first Republican woman to serve as a township commissioner and as mayor. Union County Freeholder Bette Jane Kowalski is a Cranford resident and the first woman from Cranford to be elected to the Union County Board of Chosen Freeholders. Freeholder Kowalski was an unsuccessful candidate for Cranford Township Committee in 1999 and served as Union County Freeholder Chairwoman in 2007 and 2019. Female township commissioners include: *Barbara Brande ( Democrat) – 1975 to 1980 (Mayor in 1977) *Sandy Weeks (Democrat) – 1982 to 1984 *Mary Lou Farmer (Democrat) – 1984 to 1986 *Carolyn Vollero (Democrat) – 1988 to 1996 (Mayor in 1994, Deputy Mayor in 1993) *Barbara Bilger ( Republican) – 1990 to 1992, 2002 to 2004 and Sept. 2015 to Nov. 2015 (Mayor in 2002 & 2004, Deputy Mayor in 1992 & 2003) *Ann Darby (Republican) – 2003 to 2005 (Deputy Mayor in 2004) *Martha Garcia (Republican) – 2008 to 2010 (Deputy Mayor in 2010) *Lisa Adubato (Republican) – 2012 to Aug. 2015 (Deputy Mayor in 2014 and 2015 (part)) *Mary O'Connor (Republican) – 2014 to present (Deputy Mayor in 2015 (part) and 2016) *Ann Dooley (Democrat) – 2016 to 2019 (Deputy Mayor in 2018 and 2019) *Kathleen Miller Prunty (Democrat) – 2020 to present (Deputy Mayor 2020, Mayor 2021–2022) *Gina Black (Republican) – 2022 to present

Federal, state, and county representation

Cranford is located in the 10th Congressional District2022 Redistricting Plan

New Jersey Redistricting Commission The New Jersey Redistricting Commission is a constitutional body of the government of New Jersey tasked with redrawing the state's Congressional election districts after each decade's census. Like Arizona, Idaho, Hawaii, Montana, and Washington ...

, December 8, 2022. and is part of New Jersey's 22nd state legislative district.Municipalities Sorted by 2023-2031 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 New Jersey State Council on the Arts, artistic, cultural, and New Jersey Historical Com ...

. Accessed September 1, 2023.

Politics

As of March 2011, there were a total of 15,649 registered voters in Cranford Township, of which 4,887 (31.2% vs. 41.8% countywide) were registered as Democrats, 3,701 (23.7% vs. 15.3%) were registered as Republicans and 7,046 (45.0% vs. 42.9%) were registered as Unaffiliated. There were 15 voters registered as

Libertarians Libertarianism (from ; or from ) is a political philosophy that holds freedom, personal sovereignty, and liberty as primary values. Many libertarians believe that the concept of freedom is in accord with the Non-Aggression Principle, according ...

or Greens.Voter Registration Summary – Union

Division of Elections, March 23, 2011. Accessed May 5, 2013. Among the township's 2010 Census population, 69.2% (vs. 53.3% in Union County) were registered to vote, including 91.2% of those ages 18 and over (vs. 70.6% countywide). In the 2020 presidential election, Democrat

Joe Biden Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. (born November 20, 1942) is an American politician who was the 46th president of the United States from 2021 to 2025. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he served as the 47th vice p ...

received 170,245 votes in Union County beating

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...

's 80,002 votes.

won Union County with 67.3% of the vote. In the 2016 presidential election, Democrat

Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, lawyer and diplomat. She was the 67th United States secretary of state in the administration of Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, a U.S. senator represent ...

received 6,244 votes (52.3% vs. 65.6% countywide) beating

's 5,110 votes (42.8% vs. 30.9% countywide) and other candidates receiving a combined total of 593 votes (4.9% vs. 3.6% countywide). From Cranford, 11,947 ballots were cast out of 16,844 registered voters (70% voter turnout vs. 68.87% countywide). In the 2012 presidential election, Democrat

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...

received 6,236 votes (51.0% vs. 66.0% countywide), ahead of Republican

Mitt Romney Willard Mitt Romney (born March 12, 1947) is an American businessman and retired politician. He served as a United States Senate, United States senator from Utah from 2019 to 2025 and as the 70th governor of Massachusetts from 2003 to 2007 ...

with 5,772 votes (47.2% vs. 32.3%) and other candidates with 141 votes (1.2% vs. 0.8%), among the 12,223 ballots cast by the township's 16,332 registered voters, for a turnout of 74.8% (vs. 68.8% in Union County). In the 2008 presidential election, Democrat Barack Obama received 6,513 votes (49.6% vs. 63.1% countywide), ahead of Republican

John McCain John Sidney McCain III (August 29, 1936 – August 25, 2018) was an American statesman and United States Navy, naval officer who represented the Arizona, state of Arizona in United States Congress, Congress for over 35 years, first as ...

with 6,371 votes (48.6% vs. 35.2%) and other candidates with 164 votes (1.3% vs. 0.9%), among the 13,120 ballots cast by the township's 16,145 registered voters, for a turnout of 81.3% (vs. 74.7% in Union County). In the 2004 presidential election, Republican

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician and businessman who was the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Bush family and the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he i ...

received 6,455 votes (50.4% vs. 40.3% countywide), ahead of Democrat

John Kerry John Forbes Kerry (born December 11, 1943) is an American attorney, politician, and diplomat who served as the 68th United States secretary of state from 2013 to 2017 in the Presidency of Barack Obama#Administration, administration of Barac ...

with 6,160 votes (48.1% vs. 58.3%) and other candidates with 111 votes (0.9% vs. 0.7%), among the 12,795 ballots cast by the township's 15,822 registered voters, for a turnout of 80.9% (vs. 72.3% in the whole county). In the 2017 gubernatorial election, Democrat

Phil Murphy Philip Dunton Murphy (born August 16, 1957) is an American politician, diplomat, and financier serving as the 56th governor of New Jersey since 2018. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he was elected governor i ...

received 4,433 votes (53.8% vs. 65.2% countywide), ahead of Republican

Kim Guadagno Kimberly Ann Guadagno (; ''née'' McFadden; born April 13, 1959) is an American lawyer and politician who served as the first lieutenant governor and 33rd secretary of state of New Jersey from 2010 to 2018. Guadagno was the Republican nominee ...

with 3,598 votes (43.7% vs. 32.6%), and other candidates with 207 votes (2.5% vs. 2.1%), among the 8,424 ballots cast by the township's 17,268 registered voters, for a turnout of 48.8%. In the 2013 gubernatorial election, Republican

Chris Christie Christopher James Christie (born September 6, 1962) is an American politician and former United States Attorney, federal prosecutor who served as the 55th governor of New Jersey from 2010 to 2018. A member of the Republican Party (United States) ...

received 62.5% of the vote (4,926 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 35.9% (2,834 votes), and other candidates with 1.6% (124 votes), among the 8,017 ballots cast by the township's 16,108 registered voters (133 ballots were spoiled), for a turnout of 49.8%. In the 2009 gubernatorial election, Republican Chris Christie received 4,787 votes (52.3% 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 f ...

with 3,421 votes (37.4% vs. 50.6%), Independent Chris Daggett with 793 votes (8.7% vs. 5.9%) and other candidates with 82 votes (0.9% vs. 0.8%), among the 9,146 ballots cast by the township's 15,871 registered voters, yielding a 57.6% turnout (vs. 46.5% in the county).

Education

Public schools

The Cranford Township Public Schools is a comprehensive

public In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociology, sociological concept of the ''Öf ...

school district A school district is a special-purpose district that operates local public Primary school, primary or Secondary school, secondary schools or both in various countries. It is not to be confused with an attendance zone, which is within a school dis ...

serving students in

kindergarten Kindergarten is a preschool educational approach based on playing, singing, practical activities such as drawing, and social interaction as part of the transition from home to school. Such institutions were originally made in the late 18th cen ...

through

twelfth grade Twelfth Grade (also known as Grade 12, Senior Year, Standard 12, 12th Standard, 12th Class, or Class 12th or Class 12) is the twelfth and final Educational stage, year of Formal education, formal or compulsory education. It is typically the final ...

. As of the 2022–23 school year, the district, comprised of seven schools, had an enrollment of 3,745 students and 334.1 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a

student–teacher ratio The student–teacher ratio or student–faculty ratio refers to the number of students who attend a school or university divided by the number of teachers or staff in the institution. For example, a student–teacher ratio of 10:1 indicates that ...

of 11.2:1.District information for Cranford Public School District

National Center for Education Statistics The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) is the principal federal agency responsible for collecting, analyzing, and reporting data on education in the United States. Established under , it operates within the Institute of Education S ...

. Accessed February 1, 2024. Schools in the district (with 2022–23 enrollment data from the

) are Bloomingdale Avenue School with 233 students in grades K-2, Brookside Place School with 355 students in grades K-5, Hillside Avenue School with 734 students in grades K-8, Livingston Avenue School with 253 students in grades 3-5, Orange Avenue School with 765 students in grades 3-8, Walnut Avenue School with 294 students in grades PreK-2 and Cranford High School with 1,095 students in grades 9-12. Cranford High School's curriculum focuses on technology in the schools and stresses service learning. The high school was recognized for its work in service learning and for being a national school of character. Cranford High School was ranked 51st among 328 public high schools in New Jersey in 2012 by ''

New Jersey Monthly ''New Jersey Monthly'' is an American monthly magazine featuring issues of possible interest to residents of New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United St ...

'' magazine after being ranked 13th in 2010 and was among the top-ranked high schools in the state in 2020. Lincoln School, which is the home of the district's administrative offices, also houses the district's two alternative education programs, CAP and CAMP.

Private schools

Cranford hosts several religious and private schools. Saint Michael's School, located in downtown Cranford, is a

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

parochial school which serves students in Nursery through Grade 8 and is accredited by the Middle States Commission on Elementary Schools, operating under the auspices of the

Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Newark The Archdiocese of Newark () is a Latin Church ecclesiastical jurisdiction, or archdiocese, of the Catholic Church in northeastern New Jersey in the United States. The mother church of the archdiocese is the Cathedral Basilica of the Sacred Hea ...

. Helen K. Baldwin Nursery School at the First Presbyterian Church was founded in 1956."Helen K. Baldwin Nursery School Adds Early Morning & Late Afternoon Care"
TAP into Cranford, February 6, 2020. Accessed August 26, 2022. "Helen K. Baldwin Nursery School is excited to announce new and extended programs within the same warm, nurturing and safe environment that has existed since the school’s inception in 1956."

Union College

The main campus of

is located in Cranford; the school opened in 1933 in Roselle and has been located in Cranford since 1942. The school's Cranford campus, one of four county locations, covers and was established in 1959.

Local media

Cranford media includes: *''The Westfield Leader''. This locally published weekly newspaper covers all Cranford township committee meetings and offers other Cranford coverage. * ''Union News Daily''. A news outlet covering Union County news, it has a dedicated Cranford section. It is part of LocalSource and published by Worrall Community Newspapers of Union. The paper's Cranford coverage is also published on a monthly basis as ''Cranford Life''. *''TAPInto Cranford'' is a local digital news site covering Cranford news exclusively, part of the

TAPinto TAPinto is a network of more than 95 independently owned and operated local news and digital marketing platforms in New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and Florida. Based in New Providence, New Jersey. TAPinto.net is one of the largest online loc ...

network of news in Central and Northern New Jersey. The Cranford edition reopened under new ownership in 2022. *''Cranford Patch'' is an online hyperlocal Cranford digital news site, part of the Patch local news network. * ''Westfield + Cranford Local'', a monthly magazine serving the two towns, launched in the early 2020s. * ''Cranford Radio'' is a long-running podcast on Cranford news hosted by

Bernie Wagenblast Bernie Wagenblast (born September 1, 1956) is an American transportation journalist, radio personality and voice-over artist. She is the founder and editor of the Transportation Communications Newsletter. The newsletter originated as a discussio ...

. * Remaining multi-community newspapers include the ''

Courier News The ''Courier News'' is a daily newspaper headquartered in Somerville, New Jersey, that serves Somerset County and other areas of Central Jersey. The paper has been owned by Gannett since 1927. Notable employees *John Curley, former presi ...

'', a daily newspaper based in Bridgewater Township, and ''

The Star-Ledger ''The Star-Ledger'' was the largest circulation newspaper in New Jersey. It is based in Newark, New Jersey. The newspaper ceased print publication on February 2, 2025, but continues to publish a digital edition. In 2007, ''The Star-Ledger''s ...

'' and the ''Suburban News'' based in Newark. * ''Cranford Monthly'' is published by Renna Media, located on Walnut Street in Cranford, NJ. 9,800 newspapers are printed up each month and mailed free. *''TV-35''. Cranford also has its own channel, TV-35, which airs township committee meetings live each week and is available to cable and Verizon FiOS television subscribers. The channel was founded in 1986. *Emergency radio. The township operates a low-power AM radio station at 680

kHz The hertz (symbol: Hz) is the unit of frequency in the International System of Units (SI), often described as being equivalent to one event (or cycle) per second. The hertz is an SI derived unit whose formal expression in terms of SI base uni ...

, WQWE 201, which provides information during emergencies in the township. *The ''Cranford Chronicle'' (formerly the ''Cranford Citizen & Chronicle'') established in 1893 closed in June 2015.

Arts and culture

* The Cranford Film Festival at the Cranford Theater is held annually. * The

Garden State Film Festival The Garden State Film Festival is a film festival in the United States held in Asbury Park, New Jersey, Asbury Park and Cranford, New Jersey, Cranford, New Jersey, which debuts more than 200 independent films annually over four days each spring. ...

began holding festival screenings at the township's century-old film theater, the Cranford Theater, in 2021. A small performing arts stage, in front of one of the screens, opened at the film theater in 2022. * The Cranford Dramatic Club is a local theatrical company founded in 1918 that puts on various annual productions. The company has its own small performing arts theater on the south side of town. * PorchFest is an annual music festival in Cranford starting in 2017. Performances are held on lawns and porches in town. * Dreyer Farms, one of the last remaining farms in Union County, hosts art shows and performances in the offseason. * The Roy W. Smith Theater and Tomasulo Art Gallery at

offer live performances and art shows. * The Cranford Public Library began in 1910 as a Carnegie library. *

American Atheists American Atheists is a non-profit organization in the United States dedicated to defending the civil liberties of atheists and advocating complete separation of church and state. It provides speakers for colleges, universities, clubs, and th ...

is headquartered in Cranford.

Places of worship

* The Cranford United Methodist Church, at the corner of Walnut and Lincoln Avenue, was founded as Cranford's Methodist congregation in the 1850s. It is an LGBTQ-welcoming community, making a "reconciling commitment to intersectional LGBTQ justice." Its brick sanctuary was built in 1954. * Temple Beth-El Mekor Chayim, on Walnut Avenue in Cranford, has been a community of worship for more than 100 years, serving the Cranford and Union County area egalitarian-traditional Jewish community. * Trinity Episcopal Church on Forest Avenue was founded in 1872. Its day school offers preschool, kindergarten, and elementary aftercare programs. * First Presbyterian Church of Cranford on Springfield Avenue, home to Helen K. Baldwin Nursery School, was founded in 1850. * The First Baptist Church on High Street was founded in June 1887. Its former minister, Cranford native Deborah Cannon Partridge Wolfe, was the first Black woman ordained by the American Baptist Church. * St. Michael's Church on Alden Street was founded as the township's

parish in 1872. * The Cranford

Alliance An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or sovereign state, states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not an explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an a ...

Church that stands at the corner of Cherry and Retford was founded as a Bible study in 1898, and organized as a church under the teachings of Pastor A. B. Simpson in 1905. Its permanent location at 7 Cherry Street was dedicated in 1924. British

suffragette A suffragette was a member of an activist women's organisation in the early 20th century who, under the banner "Votes for Women", fought for the right to vote in public elections in the United Kingdom. The term refers in particular to members ...

Christabel Pankhurst Dame Christabel Harriette Pankhurst (; 22 September 1880 – 13 February 1958) was a British suffragette born in Manchester, England. A co-founder of the Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU), she directed Suffragette bombing and arson ca ...

spoke at the church in 1929. * Calvary Lutheran Church on Eastman Street was founded in the 1920s. Its Calvary Nursery School opened in 1993.

Transportation

Cranford NJ street and stores and train station

Roads and highways

, the township had a total of of roadways, of which were maintained by the municipality, by Union County, by the

New Jersey Department of Transportation The New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT) is the agency responsible for transportation issues and policy in New Jersey, including maintaining and operating the state's highway and public road system, planning and developing transport ...

and by the

New Jersey Turnpike Authority The New Jersey Turnpike Authority (NJTA) is a state agency responsible for maintaining the New Jersey Turnpike and the Garden State Parkway, which are two toll roads in the U.S. state of New Jersey. The agency is headquartered in Woodbridge Town ...

. The major roadways in the township are the

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

and

Route 28 Highway 28 may refer to: Australia * Cumberland Highway *Mountain Highway, Mountain Highway (Victoria) * – NT Canada * Alberta Highway 28 * British Columbia Highway 28 * Nova Scotia Trunk 28 * Ontario Highway 28 * Saskatchewan Highway 28 Cz ...

(North Avenue). The parkway runs along the eastern border of the township, connecting Clark in the south to

in the north. The Parkway is accessible at interchange 136 to County Route 607 for Linden / Roselle / Winfield Park and at interchange 137 for Route 28, which runs east–west through the center of the township. Interchange 136 is known as the "four corners", where Clark, Winfield, Cranford and Linden meet. Cranford's Pace Car Program aims to make the township's roads safer roads by encouraging drivers to pledge to "drive within the posted speed limit", "stop at all stop signs", "stop at all red traffic lights", and "yield to pedestrians in crosswalks".

Public transportation

Rail

The Cranford station offers train service to Newark Penn Station in about 20 minutes, and to

in about 49 minutes in total. The World Trade Center station on

PATH A path is a route for physical travel – see Trail. Path or PATH may also refer to: Physical paths of different types * Bicycle path * Bridle path, used by people on horseback * Course (navigation), the intended path of a vehicle * Desir ...

can likewise be reached from Cranford in under 50 minutes (42 minutes on 6:52 am express). Cranford Station also offers transit to other points east, along with Raritan, High Bridge and numerous points west on the

, formerly the mainline of the

. Via Newark Penn Station, Secaucus Junction and NYC Penn Station, connections are possible to most other NJ Transit rail lines, PATH trains,

AirTrain Newark AirTrain Newark is a monorail people mover system connecting the terminals and various parking facilities at Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR) and trains at Newark Liberty International Airport Station on the Northeast Corridor (NEC), ...

Newark Liberty International Airport Newark Liberty International Airport is a major international airport serving the New York metropolitan area. The airport straddles the boundary between the cities of Newark, New Jersey, Newark in Essex County, New Jersey, Essex County and E ...

, Amtrak regional / long-distance trains and the

Long Island Rail Road The Long Island Rail Road , or LIRR, is a Rail transport, railroad in the southeastern part of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, stretching from Manhattan to the eastern tip of Suffolk County, New York, Suffolk County on Long Islan ...

Bus

An express bus route (the 113x) offers nonstop weekday travel from the north side of the Cranford Station, and other Cranford points on North Avenue, to

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 ab ...

in midtown Manhattan in about 40 minutes. The private bus service Boxcar provides direct commuter bus routes to midtown Manhattan in about 40 minutes. NJ Transit also provides bus service on the 112 and

113 113 may refer to: *113 (number), a natural number *AD 113, a year *113 BC, a year *113 (band), a French hip hop group *113 (MBTA bus), Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority bus route *113 (New Jersey bus), Ironbound Garage in Newark and run to ...

routes between Cranford and the

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

and on the 59 and 66 to Newark. The 56, 57 and 58 routes provide local service.

Air

is approximately 13 minutes away in Newark /

Elizabeth Elizabeth or Elisabeth may refer to: People * Elizabeth (given name), a female given name (including people with that name) * Empress Elisabeth (disambiguation), lists various empresses named ''Elisabeth'' or ''Elizabeth'' * Princess Elizabeth ...

. Linden Airport, a

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

facility, is in nearby Linden.

Freight

The southern section of the township is bisected by

Conrail Conrail , formally the Consolidated Rail Corporation, was the primary Class I railroad in the Northeastern United States between 1976 and 1999. The trade name Conrail is a portmanteau based on the company's legal name. It continues to do busine ...

's freight-only Lehigh Line (jointly owned by

CSX CSX Transportation , known colloquially as simply CSX, is a Railroad classes, Class I freight railroad company operating in the Eastern United States and the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec. Operating about 21,000 route miles () of trac ...

and

Norfolk Southern The Norfolk Southern Railway is a Class I freight railroad operating in the Eastern United States. Headquartered in Atlanta, the company was formed in 1982 with the merger of the Norfolk and Western Railway and Southern Railway. The comp ...

) along the tracks of the former

Lehigh Valley Railroad The Lehigh Valley Railroad was a railroad in the Northeastern United States built predominantly to haul anthracite, anthracite coal from the Coal Region in Northeastern Pennsylvania to major consumer markets in Philadelphia, New York City, and ...

. The former

Staten Island Railway The Staten Island Railway (SIR) is a rapid transit, railroad line in the New York City borough (New York City), borough of Staten Island. It is owned by the Staten Island Rapid Transit Operating Authority (SIRTOA), a subsidiary of the Metropol ...

connects with the Raritan Valley Line in Cranford, reaching the island via the Arthur Kill Vertical Lift Bridge. That line has been rehabilitated and since 2007 between Port Newark and Howland Hook and transports containers from the

Howland Hook Marine Terminal The Howland Hook Marine Terminal, operating as Port Liberty New York, is a container port facility in the Port of New York and New Jersey located at Howland Hook in northwestern Staten Island, New York City. It is situated on the east side of ...

, an

intermodal freight transport Intermodal freight transport involves the transportation of freight in an intermodal container or vehicle, using multiple modes of transportation (e.g., rail, ship, aircraft, and truck), without any handling of the freight itself when changing ...

service known as

ExpressRail ExpressRail is a network of on- or near-dock rail yards supporting intermodal freight transport at the major container terminals of the Port of New York and New Jersey. The development of dockside trackage and rail yards for transloading has bee ...

In film and television

Several episodes in the third season of the 1990s

Nickelodeon Nickelodeon (nicknamed Nick) is an American pay television channel and the flagship property of the Nickelodeon Group, a sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on April 1, 1979, as the first ca ...

television show, '' The Adventures of Pete & Pete'' were filmed in Cranford. Episodes of the series were shot at various sites in Cranford, including Brookside Place School, Cranford High School, Orange Avenue Pool and Modern Barber Shop. Scenes for the home of the title characters were filmed at a house at 11 Willow Street. Cranford is the setting of the 2005 film '' Guess Who'', starring

Bernie Mac Bernard Jeffrey McCullough (October 5, 1957 – August 9, 2008), better known by his stage name Bernie Mac, was an American stand up comedian, actor and film producer. He joined fellow comedians Steve Harvey, Cedric the Entertainer, and D. L. H ...

and

Ashton Kutcher Christopher Ashton Kutcher (; born February 7, 1978) is an American actor, producer and entrepreneur. His accolades include a People's Choice Award and fifteen Teen Choice Awards, in addition to a nomination for a Screen Actors Guild Award. K ...

. Portions of the films ''

Far from Heaven ''Far from Heaven'' is a 2002 historical romantic drama film written and directed by Todd Haynes and starring Julianne Moore, Dennis Quaid, Dennis Haysbert and Patricia Clarkson. It premiered at the Venice Film Festival, where Moore won the ...

'', '' Garden State'', ''

September 12 Events Pre-1600 * 490 BC – Battle of Marathon: The conventionally accepted date for the Battle of Marathon. The Athenians and their Plataean allies defeat the first Persian invasion force of Greece. * 372 – Sixteen Kingdoms: Sima ...

'' and HBO's miniseries ''

The Plot Against America ''The Plot Against America'' is a novel by Philip Roth published in 2004. It is an alternative history in which Franklin D. Roosevelt is defeated in the presidential election of 1940 by Charles Lindbergh. The novel follows the fortunes of the R ...

'' were shot in Cranford.

Billy Eichner Billy Eichner ( ; born September 18, 1978) is an American comedian, actor, screenwriter, and television show host. He is the star, executive producer, and creator of Funny or Die's '' Billy on the Street'', a comedy game show that aired on truT ...

's comedy ''Bros'' filmed a

Pride parade A pride parade (also known as pride event, pride festival, pride march, or pride protest) is an event celebrating lesbian, Gay men, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) social and self-acceptance, achievements, LGBT rights by country o ...

scene in Downtown Cranford. Additional film shoots in town during the 2020s have included '' Maybe I Do'', '' Mothers' Instinct'', '' Dumb Money'', '' Eileen'', '' Daughter of the Bride'', '' Sweethearts'', ''

Cat Person "Cat Person" is a short story by Kristen Roupenian that was first published in December 2017 in ''The New Yorker'' before going viral online. The BBC described the short story as "being shared widely online as social media users discuss how m ...

'', and '' Presence''.

Notable people

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

Valentino Ambrosio Valentino Ambrosio (born May 13, 2000) is an American football placekicker. He played college football at Rutgers and finished his career at Tulane, where he holds the highest field goal percentage of any kicker in Tulane football history (84. ...

(born 2000),

American football American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...

placekicker In gridiron football, the placekicker (PK), or simply kicker (K), is the player responsible for attempts at scoring Field goal (football), field goals and extra points. In most cases, the placekicker also serves as the team's kickoff specialist ...

who played for the

Tulane Green Wave football The Tulane Green Wave football team represents Tulane University in the sport of American football. The Tulane Green Wave, Green Wave compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) as a memb ...

team * Frederick W. Beinecke (1887–1971), founder of

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...

Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library The Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library () is the rare book library and literary archive of the Yale University Library in New Haven, Connecticut. It is one of the largest buildings in the world dedicated to rare books and manuscripts and ...

* William Sperry Beinecke (1914–2018), founder of the

Central Park Conservancy The Central Park Conservancy is an American private, nonprofit park conservancy that manages New York City's Central Park under a contract with the government of New York City and NYC Parks. The conservancy employs most maintenance and opera ...

and former chairman of

S&H Green Stamps S&H Green Stamps was a line of trading stamps popular in the United States from 1896 until the late 1980s. They were distributed as part of a rewards program operated by the Sperry & Hutchinson company (S&H), founded in 1896 by Thomas Sperry an ...

Carol Blazejowski Carol Ann Blazejowski (born September 29, 1956) is an American former basketball player and the former president and general manager of the New York Liberty of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). Blazejowski was inducted in the in ...

(born 1956), member of

Basketball Hall of Fame The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame is an American history museum and hall of fame, located at 1000 Hall of Fame Avenue in Springfield, Massachusetts. It serves as basketball's most complete library, in addition to promoting and pres ...

* Gordon Chalmers (1911–2000),

swimmer Swimming is an individual or team racing sport that requires the use of one's entire body to move through water. The sport takes place in pools or open water (e.g., in a sea or lake). Competitive swimming is one of the most popular Olympic ...

, swimming coach, and college athletics administrator. He competed in the men's 100 meter backstroke at the

1932 Summer Olympics The 1932 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the X Olympiad and also known as Los Angeles 1932) were an international multi-sport event held from July 30 to August 14, 1932, in Los Angeles, California, United States. The Games were held du ...

* William A. Chatfield (born 1951), government executive and lobbyist who served as the 11th Director of the

Selective Service System The Selective Service System (SSS) is an Independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the United States government that maintains a database of registered male U.S. Citizenship of the United States, citizens and o ...

, from 2004 to 2009 * Curtis G. Culin (1915–1963), sergeant in the 2d Armored Division during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

who developed the rhino tank to cut through hedgerows during the

Battle of Normandy Operation Overlord was the codename for the Battle of Normandy, the Allied operation that launched the successful liberation of German-occupied Western Europe during World War II. The operation was launched on 6 June 1944 (D-Day) with the N ...

* Howard "Dutch" Darrin (1897–1982), free-lance automotive stylist * Hugh S. Delano (1933–2015), sports journalist for the ''

New York Post The ''New York Post'' (''NY Post'') is an American Conservatism in the United States, conservative daily Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid newspaper published in New York City. The ''Post'' also operates three online sites: NYPost. ...

'' and author honored by induction into the

Hockey Hall of Fame The Hockey Hall of Fame () is a museum and hall of fame located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Dedicated to the history of ice hockey, it holds exhibits about players, teams, National Hockey League (NHL) records, memorabilia and National Hockey Le ...

with the

Elmer Ferguson Memorial Award The Elmer Ferguson Memorial Award is an accolade presented annually to a print newspaper columnist or reporter in recognition of their achievements covering the game of ice hockey. The award is "to recognize distinguished members of the newspap ...

* Maria Dizzia (born 1974), actress who was nominated for the 2010

Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Play The Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play is an honor presented at the Tony Awards, a ceremony established in 1947 as the Antoinette Perry Awards for Excellence in Theatre, to actresses for quality supporting roles in a Broadway play. Th ...

for her performance in '' In the Next Room (or The Vibrator Play)'' * William C. Dudley (born 1952), economist who served as president and CEO of the

Federal Reserve Bank of New York The Federal Reserve Bank of New York is one of the 12 Federal Reserve Banks of the United States. It is responsible for the Second District of the Federal Reserve System, which encompasses the New York (state), State of New York, the 12 norther ...

and Vice Chairman of the

Federal Open Market Committee The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) is a committee within the Federal Reserve System (the Fed) that is charged under United States law with overseeing the nation's open market operations (e.g., the Fed's buying and selling of United Stat ...

Robert Ferro Robert Ferro (October 21, 1941 – July 11, 1988) was an American novelist whose semi-autobiographical fiction explored the uneasy integration of homosexuality and traditional American upper middle class values. Biography He was born in Cranfo ...

(1941–1988), LGBT author whose work included a gay coming-of-age novel describing a fictionalized version of Cranford centered around the

* Charles N. Fowler (1852–1932), represented 5th congressional district in the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...

from 1895 to 1911 *

Will Fries William Connor Fries (born April 4, 1998) is an American professional football guard for the Minnesota Vikings of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Penn State Nittany Lions and was selected by the Indianapo ...

(born 1998),

offensive guard Offensive may refer to: * Offensive (military), type of military operation * Offensive, the former name of the Dutch political party Socialist Alternative (Netherlands), Socialist Alternative * Fighting words, spoken words which would have a tende ...

for the

Indianapolis Colts The Indianapolis Colts are a professional American football team based in Indianapolis. The Colts compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. Since the 2008 India ...

of the

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* Albert M. Gessler (1919–2003),

ExxonMobil Exxon Mobil Corporation ( ) is an American multinational List of oil exploration and production companies, oil and gas corporation headquartered in Spring, Texas, a suburb of Houston. Founded as the Successors of Standard Oil, largest direct s ...

research chemist known for the development of elastomeric thermoplastics * Edward K. Gill (1917–1985), politician who served as Mayor of Cranford and was elected to two terms of office in 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 f ...

, where he represented the 21st Legislative District * Karen Hummer (born 1962), former competitor in judo who became the youngest US National Champion in the sport when she won a title at the age of 12 * Marc Johnstone (born 1996),

NHL The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...

hockey forward for the

Pittsburgh Penguins The Pittsburgh Penguins (colloquially known as the Pens) are a professional ice hockey team based in Pittsburgh. The Penguins compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), E ...

Gary Kott Gary Kott is an American television and advertising writer and artist. He has five pieces of his artwork, three paintings and two sculptures, held over at Smith Vargas Fine Art in Palm Springs after a successful featured-artist show there in Jan ...

(born ), television and advertising writer, who was a writer and supervising producer of ''

The Cosby Show ''The Cosby Show'' is an American television sitcom created by (along with Ed. Weinberger and Michael J. Leeson) and starring Bill Cosby that originally aired on NBC from September 20, 1984, to April 30, 1992, with a total of 201 half-hour e ...

'' * Alice Lakey (1857–1935), pure foods activist * Frank Townsend Lent (1855–1919), architect, painter and author * Paul J. Lioy (1947–2015), specialist in the field of

environmental health Environmental health is the branch of public health concerned with all aspects of the natural environment, natural and built environment affecting human health. To effectively control factors that may affect health, the requirements for a hea ...

and specializing in

exposure science Exposure science is the study of the contact between humans (and other organisms) and harmful agents within their environment – whether it be chemical, physical, biological, behavioural or mental stressors – with the aim of identifying the cause ...

who analyzed the effects of dust in the wake of the

collapse of the World Trade Center The World Trade Center in Lower Manhattan, New York City, was destroyed on September 11, 2001, as a result of al-Qaeda's terror attacks. Two commercial airliners hijacked by terrorists were deliberately flown into the Twin Towers of the com ...

after the

September 11 terrorist attacks The September 11 attacks, also known as 9/11, were four coordinated Islamist terrorist suicide attacks by al-Qaeda against the United States in 2001. Nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners, crashing the first two into ...

Greg Mankiw Nicholas Gregory Mankiw ( ; born February 3, 1958) is an American macroeconomist who is currently the Robert M. Beren Professor of Economics at Harvard University. Mankiw is best known in academia for his work on New Keynesian economics. Man ...

(born 1958), Harvard professor who chaired the

Council of Economic Advisers The Council of Economic Advisers (CEA) is a United States agency within the Executive Office of the President established in 1946, which advises the president of the United States on economic policy. The CEA provides much of the empirical resea ...

under President

* Ralph J. Marra Jr. (born ), former Acting

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* Max Marston (1892–1949), winner of the 1923 United States Amateur Championship golf tournament * Dean Mathey (1890–1972), tennis player and namesake of Mathey College at

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial ...

* John Moody (1868–1958), financial analyst and founder of

Moody's Investors Service Moody's Ratings, previously and still legally known as Moody's Investors Service and often referred to as Moody's, is the bond credit rating business of Moody's Corporation, representing the company's traditional line of business and its histo ...

* Bill Murphy (born 1989),

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in baseball league, leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Moder ...

pitching coach In baseball, a number of coaches assist in the smooth functioning of a team. They are assistants to the manager, who determines the starting lineup and batting order, decides how to substitute players during the game, and makes strategy decision ...

for the

Houston Astros The Houston Astros are an American professional baseball team based in Houston. The Astros compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League West, West Division. They are one of two major leag ...

* Victoria Napolitano (née Spellman, born 1988), politician who was chosen as mayor of

Moorestown, New Jersey Moorestown is a Township (New Jersey), township in Burlington County, New Jersey, Burlington County in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is an eastern suburb of Philadelphia and geographically part of the South Jersey region of the state. As of ...

, at age 26, making her the youngest female mayor in state history * Nancy Salzman (born 1954), felon convicted for her role as the co-founder of NXIVM, a multi-level marketing company and

cult Cults are social groups which have unusual, and often extreme, religious, spiritual, or philosophical beliefs and rituals. Extreme devotion to a particular person, object, or goal is another characteristic often ascribed to cults. The term ...

* David Silverman (born 1966), president of

* Thomas Sperry (–1913), co-founder (the "S") of

* William Miller Sperry (1858–1927), president of

and namesake of the William Miller Sperry Observatory and Sperry Park, who moved to Cranford in 1898 *

Joseph Striker Joseph Striker (December 23, 1898 – February 24, 1974) was an American actor. He appeared in 28 films between 1920 in film, 1920 and 1929 in film, 1929. Later in the 1930s he appeared on Broadway theatre, Broadway. He was born in New York ...

(1898–1974), actor who appeared on film and in Broadway theatre * John Coard Taylor (1901–1946),

track and field Track and field (or athletics in British English) is a sport that includes Competition#Sports, athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name used in North America is derived from where the sport takes place, a ru ...

athlete who placed fifth in the men's 400 meters at the

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. He was national champion in the 220-yd low hurdles in 1922 *

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(1847–1928), namesake of the J. Walter Thompson Company

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* Walter F. Timpone (born 1950), former Associate Justice of the

New Jersey Supreme Court The Supreme Court of New Jersey is the supreme court, highest court in the U.S. state of New Jersey. In its current form, the Supreme Court of New Jersey is the final judicial authority on all cases in the state court system, including cases cha ...

, who served from 2016 to 2020 * Harriet Morgan Tyng (1905–1952), poet and educator *

(born 1956), voiceover performer and former traffic reporter who is the founder and editor of the

Transportation Communications Newsletter Transportation Communications Newsletter is an electronic newsletter published Monday through Friday via Yahoo Groups and Google Groups. It has . The newsletter began as a discussion group on MakeList.com on June 13, 1998 and evolved into its ...

* Jennifer Westhoven (born 1971), business and finance correspondent on HLN's '' Morning Express with Robin Meade'' * Jordan White (born 1984), rock musician and ''

American Idol ''American Idol'' is an American Music competition, singing competition television series created by Simon Fuller, produced by Fremantle (company), Fremantle North America and 19 Entertainment, and distributed by Fremantle North America. It a ...

'' contestant * Deborah Cannon Partridge Wolfe (1916–2004), noted educator, Cranford native, and namesake of the Deborah Cannon Partridge Wolfe College of Education at

New Jersey City University New Jersey City University (NJCU) is a public university in Jersey City, New Jersey. Originally chartered in 1927, NJCU consists of the School of Business, College of Arts and Sciences, College of Education, and College of Professional Studies a ...

Ramirez, Robert
"Cranford High School Library Renamed After African American Trailblazer"
TAP into Cranford, February 7, 2020. Accessed September 28, 2022.

References

External links

Cranford Township home page
{{Authority control 1871 establishments in New Jersey Populated places established in 1871 Township form of New Jersey government Townships in New Jersey Townships in Union County, New Jersey