Edison, New Jersey

Edison is a township in Middlesex County, New Jersey, United States. Situated in Central New Jersey within the core of the state's Raritan Valley region, Edison is a commercial hub (home to Menlo Park Mall and Little India) and is a bedroom community of New York City within the New York metropolitan area.

As of the 2020 United States census, the township was the state's sixth-most-populous municipality, with a population of 107,588,

What is now Edison Township was originally incorporated as Raritan Township by an act of the New Jersey Legislature on March 17, 1870, from portions of both Piscataway and Woodbridge Township. The township was originally named after the Raritan indigenous people. Portions of the township were taken to form Metuchen on March 20, 1900, and Highland Park on March 15, 1905. The name was officially changed to Edison Township on November 10, 1954, in honor of inventor Thomas Edison, who had his main laboratory in the Menlo Park section of the township.

History

Early history

thumb|left|[[Stelton Baptist Church, Edison|Stelton Baptist Church and Cemetery, the second oldest Baptist Church in New Jersey and the tenth oldest in the United States.]]

The earliest residents of the area were the Raritan people of the Lenape Native Americans, who lived there and traveled through it to the shore. In 1646, Chief Matouchin led a group of 1,200 warriors.

Edison Township, which was formed from sections of Piscataway and Woodbridge townships, was settled (by Europeans) in the 17th century. The earliest village was Piscatawaytown, which is centered around St. James Church and the Piscatawaytown Common, near the intersection of Plainfield and Woodbridge Avenues in South Edison. The Laing House of Plainfield Plantation (listed on the National Register in 1988), the Benjamin Shotwell House (listed 1987) and the Homestead Farm at Oak Ridge (listed 1995), are buildings from the colonial era included in National Register of Historic Places listings in Middlesex County.

The community was previously known as "Raritan Township", not to be confused with the current-day Raritan Township in Hunterdon County.

The Menlo Park lab was significant in that it was one of the first laboratories to pursue practical, commercial applications of research. It was in his Menlo Park laboratory that Thomas Edison came up with the phonograph and a commercially viable incandescent light bulb filament. Christie Street was the first street in the world to use electric lights for illumination. Edison subsequently left Menlo Park and moved his home and laboratory to West Orange in 1886.

20th century

Near Piscatawaytown village, a portion of the township was informally known as "Nixon", after Lewis Nixon, a manufacturer and community leader. Soon after the outbreak of World War I, Nixon established a massive, volatile-chemical processing facility there, known as the Nixon Nitration Works. It was the site of the 1924 Nixon Nitration Works disaster, a massive explosion and resulting fire that killed 20 people and destroyed several square miles of the township.

In 1954, the township's name was changed to honor inventor Thomas A. Edison. Also on the ballot in 1954 was a failed proposal to change the community's name to Nixon.

In 1959, the Menlo Park Mall, a two-level super regional shopping mall, opened on U.S. Route 1.

21st century

thumb|left|[[Menlo Park Mall]]

Edison has been one of the fastest-growing municipalities in New Jersey. As of the 2000 United States census, it was the fifth most-populated municipality in the state, after the cities of Newark, Jersey City, Paterson, and Elizabeth.

Edison is primarily a middle-class community with more than 75 ethnic communities represented. Edison has a large Jewish community near Highland Park, with multiple synagogues. Edison also has a growing Indian community and some temples that serve its religious needs. Reflecting the number of Edison's residents from India and China, the township has sister city arrangements with Shijiazhuang, China, and Baroda, India.

Edison was ranked the 28th most-livable small city in the United States by CNN Money magazine, and second in New Jersey in 2006 in Money magazine's "Best Places To Live". In 2008, two years later, Money ranked the township 35th out of the top 100 places to live in the United States. In the 2006 survey of America's Safest Cities, the township was ranked 23rd, out of 371 cities included nationwide, in the 13th annual Morgan Quitno survey. In 2009, Edison was ranked as one of "America's 10 Best Places to Grow Up" by U.S. News & World Report. The rankings focused on low crime, strong schools, green spaces, and an abundance of recreational activities. In 2014, parenting.com ranked Edison as the top safest city in America.

Geography

thumb|250px|left|[[Roosevelt Park (Edison)|Roosevelt Park in Edison]]

According to the United States Census Bureau, the township had a total area of 30.69 square miles (79.49 km2), including 30.06 square miles (77.86 km2) of land and 0.63 square miles (1.63 km2) of water (2.05%).

Edison is on the east side of Raritan Valley (a line of communities in central New Jersey), along with Plainfield, and surrounds the borough of Metuchen, making it part of 21 pairs of "doughnut towns" in the state, where one municipality surrounds another. The township borders the municipalities of East Brunswick, Highland Park, New Brunswick, Piscataway, Sayreville, South Plainfield and Woodbridge Township in Middlesex County; Clark, Plainfield and Scotch Plains in Union County.

Edison has numerous sections and neighborhoods. Unincorporated communities, localities and place names located partially or completely within the township include Bonhamtown, Briarwood East, Camp Kilmer, Centerville, Clara Barton, Eggert Mills, Greensand, Haven Homes, Lahiere, Lincoln Park, Lindenau, Martins Landing, Menlo Park, Millville, New Dover, New Durham, Nixon, North Edison, Oak Tree, Phoenix, Potters, Pumptown, Raritan Arsenal, Raritan Manor, Sand Hills, Silver Lake, Stelton, Stephenville, Valentine, and Washington Park.

Edison is about halfway between Midtown Manhattan, and New Jersey's capitol, Trenton, being about from each.

While the township's topography is mostly flat, there are some hillier areas, especially along the Perth Amboy Moraine, which forms an arc across the township, left by the southern limit of the Laurentide ice sheet. The highest point is on Grandview Avenue, which reaches a maximum elevation of about . The lowest elevation in the township is at sea level on the Raritan River.

The Robinsons Branch of the Rahway River flows through Edison en route to the Robinson's Branch Reservoir.

Climate

Extreme temperatures in Edison have ranged from , recorded in February 1934, to , recorded in July 1936 and August 1949.

According to the Köppen Climate Classification system, Edison has a humid subtropical climate (Cfa), with abundant rainfall year-round, though late summer months tend to receive more rain. Summers tend to be hot and humid with frequent rain, and winters tend to be cool to cold, with snowfall an annual occurrence, falling multiple times each winter.

Demographics

Asian community

Edison is home to one of the region's main centers of Asian American cultural diversity. The township was 50.0% ethnically Asian by population as of the 2020 Census.

Indian community

Oak Tree Road is a South Asian-focused commercial strip in Middlesex County, the U.S. county with the highest concentration of Asian Indians. The Oak Tree Road strip runs for about one-and-a-half miles through Edison and neighboring Iselin in Woodbridge Township, near the area's sprawling Chinatown and Koreatown, running along New Jersey Route 27. It is the largest and most diverse South Asian cultural hub in the United States. In Middlesex County, election ballots are printed in English, Spanish, Gujarati, Hindi, and Punjabi. As part of the 2020 Census, 34.9% of Edison residents identified themselves as being Indian American, an increase from 28.3% in 2010. In the 2000 Census, 17.75% of Edison residents identified themselves as being Indian American, the highest percentage of Indian-American people of any municipality in the United States with 1,000 or more residents identifying their ancestry. The Oak Tree Road corridor also serves as a focal point for South Asian cultural life in New Jersey, with annual Navratri Garba dances, Diwali street festivals, and other community celebrations drawing large crowds. The nearby New Jersey Convention and Exposition Center in Raritan Center frequently hosts Indian cultural expos and wedding conventions, further highlighting the township's role as a hub of South Asian commerce and culture. Edison is also home to numerous Hindu temples, Sikh gurdwaras, and mosques that serve the township's South Asian population, alongside community media such as TV Asia, one of the first 24-hour South Asian television networks in the United States. The township's demographic concentration has also made Oak Tree Road a frequent campaign stop for political candidates seeking to engage Indian American voters.

Chinese community

Edison also has a significant Chinese population. The town contains several Chinese-language schools and cultural associations. The area near the borders with Highland Park and the Livingston Campus at Rutgers University in Piscataway, has some Chinese food establishments, including Kam Man Food, 99 Ranch Market, and various dim sum, dumpling, dessert, and tea shops as well as the pan-Asian Korean-founded supermarket, H Mart. Other Chinese operations in Edison include Sino Monthly magazine and Chinese News Weekly.

The township's Lunar New Year parade typically travels northbound from Division Street to festivities in Papaianni Park by the lake and township municipal building.

Jewish community

Edison is also home to a large Jewish community, especially Orthodox. The world's largest gathering of rabbis outside Israel took place at the New Jersey Convention and Exposition Center in December 2024.