Westfield is a town in Union County, northern New Jersey, New Jersey United States, located 16 miles (26 km) southwest of Manhattan. As of the 2010 United States Census, the town’s population was 30,316, reflecting an increase of 672 (+2.3%) from the 29,644 counted in the 2000 Census, which had increased by 774 (+2.7%) from the 28,870 counted in the 1990 Census. In March 2018, Bloomberg ranked Westfield as the 99th highest-income place in the United States and the 18th highest-income location in northern New Jersey, NJ. According to a 2014 nationwide survey, Westfield was ranked as the 30th-safest city to live in the United States. The town has been one of the state’s highest-income communities. Based on data from the American Community Survey for 2013–2017, Westfield residents had a median household income of $159,923, ranked 8th in the state among municipalities with more than 10,000 residents, more than double the statewide median of $76,475.
History says that Westfield took its name from the rich “fields west of Elizabeth Town, and hence for over one hundred years went by the name of West Fields. ” Town records say that “the settlement of Westfield dates back to the seventeenth century’s last year (1699). It was the result of the ‘ Clinker Lot Division.’ Almost immediately after the division, emigration from the older parts of the town of Elizabeth began to set towards the interior—especially to the territory lying between the Rahway River on the east, and the mountains, on the west. However, it was not until 1720 that the settlers became numerous enough to constitute a distinct community.” The old village area, now the downtown district, was settled in 1720 as part of the Elizabethtown Tract.
Westfield was initially formed as a township on January 27, 1794, from portions of Elizabeth Township, while the area was still part of Essex County, and was incorporated on February 21, 1798, as one of New Jersey’s initial groups of 104 townships by an act of the New Jersey Legislature. It became part of the newly formed Union County on March 19, 1857. Portions of the township have been taken to form Rahway Township (February 27, 1804), Plainfield Township (April 5, 1847), Cranford Township (March 14, 1871), Fanwood Township (March 6, 1878; now known as Scotch Plains) and Mountainside (September 25, 1895). The Town of Westfield was incorporated on March 4, 1903, replacing Westfield Township. The town’s name is derived from its location in the western, undeveloped fields of the Elizabethtown tract. As recently as 2017, the Broaddus family living in Westfield received threatening letters from a supposed stalker who referred to himself as “The Watcher,” causing a national sensation.
Parks and Recreation
- Brightwood Park
- Gumbert Park
- Lenape Park is a 450-acre (180 ha) wildlife reserve and parks part of Union County’s Rahway River Parkway. The park also includes portions of Cranford, Kenilworth, and Springfield Township.
- Mindowaskin Park EZ Bed Bug Exterminator NJ
- Tamaques Park
- Gary Kehler Stadium is named in honor of Gary Kehler (1931-2007), the former Westfield High School football coach and long-time town resident.
Check out different neighborhoods like Berkeley Heights
