Paddlers race past theCranford Canoe Club on theRahway River during the annual Fourth of July competition in Cranford.Cranford as depicted on a 1913 Board of Trade brochure
The cover of Souvenir of Cranford (1894) by architectFrank T. Lent1894 river carnival announcement by the Cranford Boating AssociationIllustration of Cranford's lantern-lit river carnival in a 1908 edition ofHarper's Weekly[25][26]
Though no known Cranford residents died in theAmerican Civil War, at least 22 were active in theUnion Army at the time of GeneralRobert E. Lee's surrender. Cranford's last surviving Civil War veteran died in 1935.[29]
James E. Warner is a former sheriff of Union County who was the namesake of the James E. Warner Plaza at theCranford Train Station.[30] Concerned by the then-growing pollution of the Rahway given the cleaner waters of his youth, Warner advocated for the preservation of theRahway River 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 theregional theater known as thePaper Mill Playhouse inMillburn.[31] TheCranford Canoe Club, built in 1908, continues to offer canoes and kayaks for rent on the river in town.
Charles Hansel[32] was co-founder of the Union County Parks Commission that preserved parkland all along theRahway River and its tributaries in the 1920s, a greenway now known as theRahway River Parkway.[33] He was an engineer for thePennsylvania Railroad andCentral Railroad of New Jersey. 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 bySperry Park. For hisRahway River preservation efforts, a memorial copper plaque was placed to Hansel inEcho Lake Park.[34]
Joshua Bryant (1852–1898) was Cranford's first Black law enforcement officer, the township's first Black elected official, and an influential figure in local politics. He was born in Virginia during slavery and moved to Cranford. Bryant is buried locally inFairview Cemetery & Arboretum.
Joshua Bryant was Cranford's first Black law enforcement officer and the township's first Black elected official.[35]
William P. Westervelt was credited with thwarting theBaltimore Plot, an unsuccessful assassination attempt against president-electAbraham Lincoln. He did so by cutting telegraph wires that would have alerted assassins to Lincoln's arrival.[36]
According to theUnited States Census Bureau, the township had a total area of 4.87 square miles (12.6 km2), including 4.84 square miles (12.5 km2) of land and 0.04 square miles (0.10 km2) of water (0.78%).[2][3]
Parks run by the township and overseen by the Cranford Recreation and Parks Department include:[40]
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[41] The Cranford Canoe Club rents canoes and kayaks for trips on theRahway River in Cranford. The current structure was built as a private canoe club in 1908.[42]
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)[43] in a park across from the First Presbyterian Church on theRahway River. 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.[44]
Johnson Park – Johnson Avenue. The Johnson Avenue playground opened in July 1957.[45]
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 theEcho Lake Country Club. The Lincoln Avenue grounds were designed byWillie Dunn. Lincoln Park was also originally a former estate said to have supplied lumber to build theUSSConstitution ("Old Ironsides") in the 1700s.[46] The grounds, at the corner of theOld York Road 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 theDeborah Cannon Partridge Wolfe Reading Garden in the park.[47][48] The park has hostedbocce ball 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.[49]
Roosevelt Park – Orange Avenue and Pacific Avenue
Sherman Park – Lincoln Avenue East. Former site of Sherman School and located on theOld York Road.[50]
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.[51][52]
Parks run by the county inside Cranford's borders (overseen by theUnion County, New Jersey Parks and Recreation Department) include:[40][53]
Lenape Park in Cranford,Kenilworth,Springfield,Union andWestfield.[54] Two tusks from an ancient Americanmastodon 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 ofUnion College's main building).[55]
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 theRahway River.[56]
Nomahegan Park (off Springfield Avenue across fromUnion College) 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.[57] 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 theFederal Writers' Project,The WPA Guide to New Jersey: The Garden State (1939):
"CRANFORD is an old residential town spread along theRahway 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.[58]
In 2019, the county purchased a long-abandoned house and demolished it, adding the land to the park's footprint.[59]
Mohawk Park is located on Mohawk Drive in Cranford's Indian Village section of town.
Sperry Park (named afterWilliam Miller Sperry), located off North Union Avenue. Home of annual rubber duck derby as a fundraiser for Hanson Park further upstream on theRahway River.
Unami Park (located at Lexington and S. Union Avenue).[60]
TheRahway River Parkway is a greenway of parkland that hugs theRahway River and its tributaries. It was designed in the 1920s by theOlmsted Brothers firm, who were the sons of the eminent landscape architectFrederick Law Olmsted. The Cranford section follows the banks of the meanderingRahway River 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.[61]
The Cranford Riverwalk and Heritage Corridor portion of the Rahway River Parkway begins at the parklands near where Orange Avenue meets Springfield at theCranford Canoe Club and follows theRahway River on its path southbound to theWilliams-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.[62][63]Future plans include repairing the Kaltenbach Estate skating pond, the Victorian footbridge and Squire Williams Picnic Grove atDroescher's Mill Park.[64]
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.[19]
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.[19]
The Census Bureau's 2006–2010American Community Survey showed that (in 2010inflation-adjusted dollars)median household income 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. Theper capita income for the township was $48,008 (+/− $2,581). About 2.1% of families and 3.3% of the population were below thepoverty line, including 3.9% of those under age 18 and 8.5% of those age 65 or over.[73]
There were 8,397 households, out of which 32.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 63.0% weremarried couples 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.[70][71]
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.[70][71]
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. Theper capita income for the township was $33,283. About 1.0% of families and 2.5% of the population were below thepoverty line, including 1.5% of those under age 18 and 6.3% of those age 65 or over.[70][71]
Stores in the downtown areaIntersection in downtown Cranford
The Riverfront redevelopment project on South Avenue brought restaurants and housing into downtown Cranford.[74]
In the 1980s, Cranford founded the state's firstspecial 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 theCranford Downtown Management Corporation.[75] The DMC is governed by aBoard of Directors consisting of business owners, property owners, and residents, members of which are appointed by the Township Committee.
Cranford was ranked the seventh safest municipality in New Jersey.[76] 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.[77]
The climate in this area is characterized by hot, humid summers and generally mild to cool winters. According to theKöppen Climate Classification system, Cranford has ahumid subtropical climate, abbreviated "Cfa" on climate maps.[78]
Scene near downtownThe town clock at twilight in downtown Cranford
Cranford is governed under theTownship 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.[80] The Township Committee is comprised of five members, who are elected directly by the votersat-large 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.[7][81]
The Committee members elect a chairman of the committee who assumes the title ofMayor and another who is selected asDeputy Mayor. 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. TheMayor 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.[5][4] The chief of police is Ryan Greco,[82] the township administrator is Lavona Patterson,[5] and the township clerk is Patricia Donahue.[6]
As of 2025[update], 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).[4][83][84][85][86]
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.[87]
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 theUnion 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)
Union County is governed by aBoard of County Commissioners, whose nine members are electedat-large 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.[93] As of 2025[update], Union County's County Commissioners are:
Constitutional officers elected on a countywide basis are:Clerk Joanne Rajoppi (D, Union Township, 2025),[104][105]Sheriff Peter Corvelli (D,Kenilworth, 2026)[106][107] andSurrogate Christopher E. Hudak (D,Clark, 2027).[108][109]
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 asDemocrats, 3,701 (23.7% vs. 15.3%) were registered asRepublicans and 7,046 (45.0% vs. 42.9%) were registered asUnaffiliated. There were 15 voters registered asLibertarians orGreens.[110] 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).[110][111]
United States presidential election results for Cranford[112]
In the2020 presidential election, DemocratJoe Biden received 170,245 votes inUnion County beatingDonald Trump's 80,002 votes.Joe Biden wonUnion County with 67.3% of the vote.[113] In the2016 presidential election, DemocratHillary Clinton received 6,244 votes (52.3% vs. 65.6% countywide) beatingDonald Trump'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).[114] From Cranford, 11,947 ballots were cast out of 16,844 registered voters (70% voter turnout vs. 68.87% countywide).[114][115] In the2012 presidential election, DemocratBarack Obama received 6,236 votes (51.0% vs. 66.0% countywide), ahead of RepublicanMitt Romney 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).[116][117] In the2008 presidential election, Democrat Barack Obama received 6,513 votes (49.6% vs. 63.1% countywide), ahead of RepublicanJohn McCain 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).[118] In the2004 presidential election, RepublicanGeorge W. Bush received 6,455 votes (50.4% vs. 40.3% countywide), ahead of DemocratJohn Kerry 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).[119]
In the2017 gubernatorial election, DemocratPhil Murphy received 4,433 votes (53.8% vs. 65.2% countywide), ahead of RepublicanKim Guadagno 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%.[120][121]In the2013 gubernatorial election, RepublicanChris Christie received 62.5% of the vote (4,926 cast), ahead of DemocratBarbara Buono 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%.[122][123] In the2009 gubernatorial election, Republican Chris Christie received 4,787 votes (52.3% vs. 41.7% countywide), ahead of DemocratJon Corzine with 3,421 votes (37.4% vs. 50.6%), IndependentChris 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).[124]
TheCranford Township Public Schools is a comprehensivepublicschool district serving students inkindergarten throughtwelfth grade.[125] 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 anFTE basis), for astudent–teacher ratio of 11.2:1.[126] Schools in the district (with 2022–23 enrollment data from theNational Center for Education Statistics[127]) are Bloomingdale Avenue School[128] with 233 students in grades K-2, Brookside Place School[129] with 355 students in grades K-5, Hillside Avenue School[130] with 734 students in grades K-8, Livingston Avenue School[131] with 253 students in grades 3-5, Orange Avenue School[132] with 765 students in grades 3-8, Walnut Avenue School[133] with 294 students in grades PreK-2 andCranford High School[134] with 1,095 students in grades 9-12.[135][136][137] 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 byNew Jersey Monthly magazine after being ranked 13th in 2010[138] and was among the top-ranked high schools in the state in 2020.[139] Lincoln School, which is the home of the district's administrative offices, also houses the district's two alternative education programs, CAP and CAMP.[140]
Cranford hosts several religious and private schools. Saint Michael's School, located in downtown Cranford, is aRoman Catholic 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 theRoman Catholic Archdiocese of Newark.[141][142]
Helen K. Baldwin Nursery School at the First Presbyterian Church was founded in 1956.[143]
The main campus ofUnion College is located in Cranford; the school opened in 1933 inRoselle and has been located in Cranford since 1942.[144][145] The school's Cranford campus, one of four county locations, covers 50 acres (20 ha) and was established in 1959.[146]
The Westfield Leader. This locally published weekly newspaper covers all Cranford township committee meetings and offers other Cranford coverage.[147]
Union News Daily. A news outlet covering Union County news, it has a dedicated Cranford section.[148] 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 asCranford Life.
TAPInto Cranford is a local digital news site covering Cranford news exclusively, part of theTAPinto network of news in Central and Northern New Jersey. The Cranford edition reopened under new ownership in 2022.[149]
Cranford Patch is an online hyperlocal Cranford digital news site, part of thePatch local news network.[150]
Westfield + Cranford Local, a monthly magazine serving the two towns, launched in the early 2020s.[151]
Cranford Monthly is published by Renna Media, located on Walnut Street in Cranford, NJ.[155] 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.[156]
Emergency radio. The township operates a low-powerAM radio station at 680kHz, WQWE 201, which provides information during emergencies in the township.[157]
TheCranford Chronicle (formerly theCranford Citizen & Chronicle) established in 1893[158] closed in June 2015.[159]
TheGarden State Film Festival began holding festival screenings at the township's century-old film theater, theCranford 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.[161]
PorchFest is an annual music festival in Cranford starting in 2017. Performances are held on lawns and porches in town.[162]
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 atUnion College offer live performances and art shows.[163][164]
TheCranford 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.[166][167]
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.[168]
Trinity Episcopal Church on Forest Avenue was founded in 1872. Its day school offers preschool, kindergarten, and elementary aftercare programs.[169]
St. Michael's Church on Alden Street was founded as the township'sRoman Catholic parish in 1872.
The CranfordAlliance 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 ofPastor A. B. Simpson in 1905. Its permanent location at 7 Cherry Street was dedicated in 1924. BritishsuffragetteChristabel Pankhurst spoke at the church in 1929.[172]
As of May 2010[update], the township had a total of 78.60 miles (126.49 km) of roadways, of which 67.25 miles (108.23 km) were maintained by the municipality, 7.77 miles (12.50 km) by Union County, 1.72 miles (2.77 km) by theNew Jersey Department of Transportation and 1.86 miles (2.99 km) by theNew Jersey Turnpike Authority.[176]
The major roadways in the township are theGarden State Parkway[177] andRoute 28 (North Avenue).[178] The parkway runs along the eastern border of the township, connectingClark in the south toKenilworth in the north. The Parkway is accessible at interchange 136 toCounty Route 607 forLinden /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.[179][180]
Cranford'sPace 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".[181]
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, toPort Authority Bus Terminal in midtown Manhattan in about 40 minutes.[185] The private bus service Boxcar provides direct commuter bus routes to midtown Manhattan in about 40 minutes.[186]
Robert Ferro (1941–1988), LGBT author whose work included a gay coming-of-age novel describing a fictionalized version of Cranford centered around theRahway River[209]
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[214]
^Kuperinsky, Amy."'The Jewel of the Meadowlands'?: N.J.'s best, worst and weirdest town slogans", NJ Advance Media forNJ.com, January 22, 2015. Accessed July 12, 2016. "Cranford, in Union County, uses 'Friendship & Progress' — and a crane bird (the town is named for Josiah Crane) — on its township seal, but since it is bisected by the Rahway River, the town is informally known as 'The Venice of New Jersey.'"
^Cheslow, Jerry."If You're Thinking of Living in: Cranford",The New York Times, March 8, 1992. Accessed August 29, 2015. "KNOWN at the turn of the century as the Venice of New Jersey, the Union County Township of Cranford grew up around the meandering Rahway River. In 1720, John Crane of nearby Elizabeth Towne (now Elizabeth) built a grist mill on the north side of a ford in the river and a sawmill on the south side."
^Fridlington, Robert J."Remembering Joshua Bryant, a prominent figure in Cranford's history",Cranford Chronicle, February 10, 2012. Accessed October 28, 2016. "Without formal training and despite prevailing attitudes, he became Cranford's first African-American law enforcement officer, the first African-American elected to public office in the township, and an influential figure in local politics."
^Bulletin of the United States Geological Survey, Issues 112-121 (1894) The "Nomahiggin" or "Normahiggin" is a brook in Westfield and Cranford townships, Union County, tributary to [Rahway River].
^Glackin, Jennifer."Cranford Township Committee Names Commissioner's Replacement, New Deputy Mayor",TAPinto Cranford, June 21, 2023. Accessed July 4, 2023. "At its meeting Tuesday evening, the Cranford Township Committee unanimously voted in a replacement for former Commissioner Jason Gareis, who recently resigned to take a position at the Union County Prosecutor's office. Paul Gallo, one of the three names put forth by the Cranford Democratic Committee last week, has been appointed to the Township Committee."
^Cranford Board of Education District Policy 0110 - Identification, Cranford Township Public Schools. Accessed June 5, 2024. "Purpose: The Board of Education exists for the purpose of providing a thorough and efficient system of free public education in grades Pre-Kindergarten through twelve in the Cranford School District. Composition: The Cranford School District is comprised of all the area within the municipal boundaries of Cranford."
^ab"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."
^Burks, Edward C."Union College, at 40, Is Still Growing",The New York Times, April 1, 1973. Accessed May 20, 2024. "Forty years after a modest start as a Depression‐era W.P.A. project, Union College is completing a $4.5‐million expansion program that includes a new library and a humanities building with 17 classrooms. The two‐year junior college was established as an evening institution in Roselle High School in 1933, and became a private school two years later. It moved into an old Cranford public school building in 1942, and, finally, to its present 50‐acre site on Springfield Avenue in 1959."
^"Union College celebrates its 50th anniversary",Courier News, October 17, 1983. Accessed August 26, 2022, viaNewspapers.com. "Lean salary years followed, then an enrollment crisis in 1944 when education-hungry GIs suddenly overwhelmed the small, deficit-ridden school. By that time, the college had a campus of its own the dilapidated Grant School in Cranford. The college received full accreditation in 1956 and moved to its current 50-acre campus in Cranford in 1959."
^TV-35, Township of Cranford. Accessed October 3, 2017. "TV 35 is Cranford's local cable access channel that reaches more than 350,000 viewers in Cranford and nine neighboring towns on Comcast."
^"Cranford's Emergency Radio Station is Back on the Air",TAPinto Cranford, December 30, 2015. Accessed January 4, 2024. "Its call sign, WQWE 201, is located at 680 on the AM dial and is currently broadcasting a message detailing how to set the station, followed by current local NOAA weather reports."
^Staff."Cranford Chronicle to Cease Publication This Week", TAPintoCranford, May 26, 2015. Accessed August 20, 2015. "According to a press release issued by NJ Advance Media, the Cranford Chronicle will cease publication this week."
^About, Cranford Film Festival. Accessed August 26, 2022.
^About, Cranford Dramatic Club. Accessed August 26, 2022. "Beginning with the 1918–1919 season, a few local Cranford townspeople shared their love of theatre with friends and neighbors."
^Long Range Plan: 2019–2021, Cranford Public Library. Accessed July 8, 2022. "In 1910, a library building, financed in part by the Carnegie Fund, was erected on Miln Street. A white-columned structure, it resembled a Southern mansion more than a typical Carnegie library."
^Maureen E. Strazdon. Celebrating Cranford pg 24 (2021)
^"First Baptist Church in Cranford celebrating 125th anniversary",Cranford Chronicle, June 9, 2012, updated March 30, 2019. Accessed February 15, 2020. "The First Baptist Church, 100 High St. in Cranford is celebrating the 125th Anniversary. The church was founded in June 1887 by Reverend William A. Wallace."
^"Police Dept. launches Pace Car Program",Suburban News, September 18, 2008. Accessed August 26, 2022. "In conjunction with the start of the 2008–2009 school year, the Cranford Police Department is re-launching their Pace Car Program. The Pace Car Program is a citizen based traffic calming program which supplements the department's Keep Kids Alive Drive 25 initiative. The goal of the Pace Car Program is to create safer Cranford streets by encouraging residents to proactively promote driver responsibility and roadway safety through an educational and awareness campaign."
^Antonelli, Toniann."Lights, Camera...Cranford! A production crew filmed scenes from a commercial in Cranford Tuesday.", Cranford Patch, January 24, 2012. Accessed August 14, 2017. "Several episodes in the third season of the popular 1990's television show,The Adventures of Pete & Pete were filmed in Cranford. One episode was shot at Cranford's Orange Avenue Pool and another at Cranford High School and Brookside Place School. Another episode was filmed at Modern Barber Shop."
^Thomas, Shea."Santas move in when TV's 'Pete and Pete' move out",Cranford Chronicle, November 27, 1997. Accessed September 28, 2022. "The house on willow Street is affectionately known as the 'Santa Claus' house and rightfully so – it has 'thousands of Santas' displayed inside... It was used in filming the Nickelodeon programPete & Pete, as the home of the brothers with a shared name, but the show has been canceled."
^Kuperinsky, Amy."N.J. on Netflix: Stay out of the cold and under the covers with this hometown playlist", NJ Advance Media forNJ.com, January 14, 2016. Accessed August 14, 2017. "Guess Who (2005, rated PG-13, 1 hour 45 min.) If you feel like seeing Ashton Kutcher squirm under the death stare of Bernie Mac, this one's for you. Filmed in both Cranford and Madison, the romantic comedy, co-starring Passaic native Zoe Saldana, is a modern-day reboot of the 1967 filmGuess Who's Coming to Dinner, which took oninterracial dating."
^Lissner, Caren."Groundbreaking Film 'Bros' Is Shooting In Cranford This Week", Cranford, NJ Patch, September 28, 2021. Accessed June 17, 2022. "A new film called "Bros" will be filming in Downtown Cranford on Wednesday and Thursday, the Downtown Cranford organization said in a Facebook post on Tuesday. The organization noted that the film represents a 'first' in Hollywood:Bros is also making history by having an entirely LGBTQ main cast, including for the straight characters, the first for a major studio film.""
^Glackin, Jennifer."Saturdays with Bernie: What Makes Cranford a Destination for Filming?", TAP into Cranford, July 30, 2012. Accessed February 6, 2023. "You may also have seen roads closed, homes bustling with people in black masks, cameras, vintage cars, or large trailers. It's all because Hollywood has come to Cranford. In the last few months, multiple films have been filmed in town, includingMaybe I Do (starring Diane Keaton, William H. Macy),Mother's Instinct (Jessica Chastain, Anne Hathaway),Daughter of the Bride (Marcia Gay Harden, Halston Sage), and, earlier this week,Sweethearts (Kiernan Shipka, Nico Hiraga)."
^Glackin, Jennifer."Dumb Money Films in Cranford, Stars Spotted", TAP into Cranford, October 13, 2022. Accessed February 6, 2023. "Parents and kids got a glimpse of Hollywood this morning on their way to school. Pete Davidson was spotted near Cranford homes on the south side of town where he is filmingDumb Money."
^Sacks, Benjamin."Frederick W. Beinecke (1887–1971)", Immigrant Entrepreneurship, September 25, 2012. Accessed November 4, 2016. "In 1915 the family moved to a suburban house in Cranford, New Jersey, away from Manhattan's chaotic atmosphere."
^William Beinecke – 96, Old New York Stories, October 28, 2011. Accessed November 4, 2016. "My father and mother had a home on Prospect Street in Cranford. So we lived in Cranford, New Jersey, in a house, the address was 401 Prospect Street, Cranford, New Jersey and I even remember the phone number. The phone was 47."
^"Spotlight: Carol Blazejowski",SI for Women, May 28, 1999. Accessed May 4, 2007. "In 1974, while a student at Cranford High (NJ), Blazejowski told the school's athletic director (who was also the coach of the boys' basketball team) that she would play on boys' basketball team if no girls team was created. It wasn't long before Cranford had a girls' basketball team."
^TopVet: Bill Chatfield, Veterans Advantage, June 25, 2005. Accessed November 17, 2022. "Born in a small town in the Catskill Mountains of New York, Bill spent his formative years 'off Exit 13' of the New Jersey Turnpike in the towns of Springfield and Cranford."
^Donnelly, Jim."Howard A. Darrin",Hemmings Motor News, July 2006. Accessed August 22, 2020. "Howard Darrin was born in 1897 in Cranford, New Jersey, along what would later become the route of the Garden State Parkway."
^"Recycling program sets new records",Cranford Citizen and Chronicle, April 25, 1974. Accessed September 4, 2022. "The Cranford Recycling Program Inc., which will conduct a recycling exposition Saturday afternoon at Orange Avenue Junior High School, announced today that in its collection year ending March 31 it surpassed all previous local records. Albert M. Gessler, chairman of the program, reported 514,860 pounds of paper had been collected, compared with 471,500 pounds in the 1972–73 collection year."
^"Edward K. Gill",The New York Times, February 13, 1985. Accessed September 19, 2019. "Edward K. Gill, who was elected to the New Jersey Assembly in 1981 at the age of 62 after a long career in business, died of a heart ailment Saturday in Muhlenberg Hospital in Plainfield, N.J. He was 66 years old and lived in Cranford. Mr. Gill was the Mayor of Cranford from 1967 to 1970 and served on several town boards."
^"Faces in the Crowd",Sports Illustrated, June 3, 1974. Accessed June 6, 2022. "Karen Hummer, 12, a third-degree brown belt from Cranford, N.J. who took up judo four years ago, became the youngest person to win a National Senior Championship when she defeated four opponents in the 105-pound competition, in Phoenix, Ariz."
^About, Gary Kott's Creative Warehouse. Accessed July 17, 2012. "I grew up in Cranford, New Jersey – exit 137 on the Garden State Parkway – twenty-one miles from the Lincoln Tunnel and New York City."
^Bernstein, Michele W."Gary Kott Injects Cranford Memories into Cosby Show".Cranford Chronicle, June 4, 1987. Accessed September 28, 2022. "No wonder the Cougars won. Kott grew up in Cranford. He is the son of Marguerite Kott and the late Bernard Kott, and has enjoyed an almost storybook career since his graduation from Cranford High in 1965."
^Brule, M. "From a Home in the Suburbs to a Retreat in the Wilderness: The Domestic Architecture of Frank T. Lent." (2012).xii
^Fox, Margalit."Paul Lioy, Scientist Who Analyzed 9/11 Dust and Its Health Effects, Dies at 68",The New York Times, July 11, 2015. Accessed July 12, 2015. "Paul James Lioy was born on May 27, 1947, in Passaic, N.J. He earned a bachelor's degree in physics from Montclair State College, as it was then known, followed by a master's degree in the field from Auburn University in Alabama and master's and doctoral degrees in environmental science from Rutgers.... From his home in Cranford, N.J., Dr. Lioy could see the plumes of dust that rose from the ruins of the trade center towers on Sept. 11, 2001."
^Andrews, Edmund L."Economics Adviser Learns the Principles of Politics",The New York Times, February 26, 2004. Accessed September 19, 2019. "He describes himself as a lifelong Republican, which sets him apart from many Harvard colleagues. He distributed campaign literature for Richard Nixon in the early 1970s, and he grew up in Cranford, a fairly affluent suburb in New Jersey, the son of an engineer and a teacher."
^"Marston Will Remain In New Jersey Game",Courier News, April 3, 1918. Max Marston, the Cranford golf star and former New Jersey champion, who was reported to have changed his abode in Cranford to a residence in Philadelphia, comes out with the statement that he has not sworn allegiance to the Quaker town."
^Dean Mathey (1891–1972)Archived November 9, 2016, at theWayback Machine, Princeton Area Community Foundation. Accessed November 8, 2016. "Dean Mathey was born in 1891 and raised in Cranford, N.J. where he attended the Pingry School."
^Celebrating Cranford (2021) – Page 31 ("John Moody lived in Cranford from 1893 until 1913, first on Miln Street")
^"Astros World Series Team Has a Rutgers Alumnus in the Bullpen",Rutgers University. Accessed November 9, 2022. "A native of Cranford, New Jersey, Murphy was a standout shortstop and relief pitcher at Roselle Catholic High School before signing a national letter of intent to attend Rutgers and play baseball for Hall of Fame Head Coach Fred 'Moose' Hill."
^"National Merit",The Westfield Leader, November 24, 2005. Accessed January 22, 2018. "Union Catholic students Amy Dooley of Carteret, Thomas Fitzgibbon of Fanwood, Bradley Gelles of Edison, Katherine McGhee of Edison and Victoria Spellman of Cranford, have been named Commended Students in the 2006 National Merit Scholarship Program. Each student will be presented with a letter of commendation from the school and National Merit Scholarship Corporation."
^Millar, Will."'8THEIST' License Plate Sparks Federal Lawsuit",Inquisitr, April 19, 2014. Accessed September 19, 2019. "Last August, Cranford resident David Silverman, the president of an organization called American Atheists, attempted to get 'ATHE1ST' as a license plate — with a numeral '1' instead of the letter 'I'. Silverman was denied his vanity plate after it was deemed offensive by a Motor Vehicle Commission clerk, only to have the decision reversed later that same month."
^"Gift of $100,000 to Make UJC Campus Site Of William M. Sperry Memorial Observatory",Cranford Citizen and Chronicle, February 29, 1964. Accessed September 28, 2022. "A long-time Cranford resident, the late William Miller Sperry was the father of Mrs. F. W. Beinecke and grandfather of William S. Beinecke, now president of the Sperry and Hutchinson Co., distributors of S&H Green Stamps."
^"William M. Sperry (1839–1927)Archived November 4, 2016, at theWayback Machine, Amateur Astronomers. Accessed November 4, 2016. "William Miller Sperry who came to Cranford in 1898, and two of his brothers Thomas Alexander Sperry and Joseph Austin Sperry, had much to do with the development of the Cranford community as all three maintained a sincere and continuing interest in the civic growth of the area."
^"Joseph Striker, Actor, 74, Played inKing of Kings",The New York Times, February 27, 1974. Accessed September 19, 2019. "Joseph Striker, a film and stage actor in the nineteentwenties and early thirties, died Sunday in St. Barnabas Hospital, Livingston, N. J. He was 74 years old and lived at 4 Riverside Drive in Cranford, N.J."
^Ensslin, John C."Breath of fresh air' for N.J.’s high court; colleagues praise nominee",The Record, April 15, 2016. Accessed May 7, 2021. "Timpone, a 65-year-old Cranford resident and former assistant U.S. attorney, has the judicial demeanor and knack for collegiality, they said, to build consensus on a court that by tradition is split between Democratic and Republican justices."
^"Cranford Resident, Radio Announcer, AirTrain Voiceover – Bernie Wagenblast's Boyhood Dream a Fruitful Career", TAP into Cranford, April 18, 2015. Accessed November 19, 2017. "Bernie Wagenblast might not be a household name, but the lifetime Cranford resident's voice is heard by hundreds of thousands of people everyday. Wagenblast is the announcer voice on many New York subway lines and throughout the Newark and JFK Airport AirTrain systems."
^Jennifer WesthovenArchived March 24, 2013, at theWayback Machine,HLN. Accessed March 28, 2013. "Westhoven earned a bachelor of arts degree in history and political science from Bryn Mawr College and grew up in Cranford, NJ."
^Ragonese, Dana."Cranford native Jordan White featured at Rev It Up concert starring Crystal Bowersox",Cranford Chronicle, August 4, 2011. Accessed February 20, 2013. "At least half of the profits from the concert will go towards juvenile diabetes. The benefit concert will also feature Hawthorne Heights, Carmen Magro, and Cranford, native Jordan White."
^"Meet Jordan White"Archived July 17, 2011, at theWayback Machine,The Valley Beat. Accessed July 17, 2012. "Jordan White was born in Cranford, New Jersey, but raised in Nazareth where he learned to play guitar and classical piano. At age 19, White first began writing songs, by the age of 28 he has landed a song with a national label."
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