Union County New Jersey Homes for Sale
Union County New Jersey Homes for Sale
Union County is a county in the U.S. state of New Jersey. According to 2015 U.S. Census estimates, its population was 555,786, an increase of 3.6% from the 2010 United States Census, when its population was enumerated at 536,499,[4] in turn an increase of 13,958 (2.7%) from the 522,541 enumerated in the 2000 Census and making Union County the seventh-most populous county in the state, having been surpassed by Ocean County.[5][6] Union County is part of the New York metropolitan area. Its county seat is Elizabeth.[2][7] The Bureau of Economic Analysis ranked the county as having the 119th-highest per capita income of all 3,113 counties in the United States (and the eighth-highest in New Jersey) in 2009.[8] A study by Forbes.com determined that Union County pays the second-highest property taxes of all U.S. counties, based on 2007 data.[9] With a population density of 4,955 people per square mile (water excluded), Union County was the 15th-most densely populated county in America as of the 2010 Census, and third-densest in New Jersey, behind Hudson County (ranked 6th at 9,754) and Essex County(ranked 11th at 6,126).[10][11]
History
All of present-day Union County was part of the Elizabethtown Tract, which was purchased in 1664, by English colonists from the Lenape Native Americans that lived in the area of present-day Elizabeth, New Jersey. Union County was formed on March 19, 1857, from portions of Essex County; it was the last of New Jersey’s 21 counties to be established.[1]
Many historic places and structures are to be found in the county, including on the National Register of Historic Places listings in Union County, New Jersey.[12]
Every fall, Union County holds its annual “Four Centuries in a Weekend” festival for the public, celebrating and touring historic buildings, museums and sites in the county.[13]
Museums and historical societies
Union County Historical Society
In 1869, the Union County Historical Society of New Jersey was incorporated. Union County New Jersey Homes for Sale. The society meets at the Hanson House in Cranford.[14]
Municipal historical societies
- Berkeley Heights – The Berkeley Heights Historical Society.[15]
- Clark – The Clark Historical Society was founded in 1970. It operates the Dr. William Robinson Plantation House Museum, built in 1690 by a doctor from Scotland.[16]
- Cranford – The Cranford Historic Preservation Advisory Board is an official township committee body, while the Cranford Historical Society itself is citizen-run. It is located in the Hanson House in Hanson Park on Springfield Avenue and maintains the Crane-Phillips House (c. 1845) a couple of blocks south on North Union Avenue as a museum.[17]
- Garwood – Garwood Historical Committee.[18]
- Hillside – The Hillside Historical Society, founded in 1975, meets at the Woodruff House.[19]
- Kenilworth – The Kenilworth Historical Society dates to 1974. It runs the Oswald J. Nitschke House (c. 1880).[20]
- Linden – The Linden Society for Historical Preservation is an offshoot of an official cultural board in the city. [21]
- Mountainside – The Mountainside Restoration Committee, Inc. is also called the Mountainside Historic Committee, founded in 1984.[22]
- Plainfield – The Historical Society of Plainfield is headquartered at the Nathaniel Drake House Museum, built in 1746 on the Old York Road.[23][24]
- Scotch Plains and Fanwood – The Scotch Plains-Fanwood Historical Society runs the Osborn Cannonball House.[25]
- Rahway – The Rahway Historical Society is now called the Merchants’ and Drovers’ Tavern Museum Association.[26]
- Westfield – The Westfield Historical Society is in the Reeve History & Cultural Resource Center, a structure from the 1870s. The Society also runs the Miller-Cory House Museum, in a home that dates back to the 1740s.[27]
Other historical preservation groups
- Friends of Rahway River Parkway is dedicated to preserving Olmsted design principles and features of county parkland along the Rahway River as it flows to the Arthur Kill.
Geography
According to the 2010 Census, the county had a total area of 105.40 square miles (273.0 km2), including 102.86 square miles (266.4 km2) of land (97.6%) and 2.55 square miles (6.6 km2) of water (2.4%).[6][28]
Much of Union County is relatively flat and low-lying. Only in the northwestern corner does any significant relief appear as the Watchung Mountains cross the county. Union County New Jersey Homes for Sale. It is there that highest elevations, two areas approximately 560 feet (170 m) above sea level, are found in Berkeley Heights.[29] The lowest elevation is sea level along the eastern shore. Union County New Jersey Homes for Sale.