Incorporated:

1808

Population:

50,023*

Total Square Miles:

9

Frequently Used Telephone Numbers (908):

Police

851-5000 or 911

Board of Education

851-6400

Fire

851-5420 or 911

Public Library (Main)

686-0420

Rescue Squad

851-5000

Public Library (Vauxhall)

277-1737

City Hall

688-2800

Post Office

688-0600


HISTORY:

In 1667 Reverend Abraham Pierson and several Elizabethtown families purchased a tract of land northwest of that community and established the settlement which would eventually become Union Township. Since the group had originally hailed from Connecticut, their settlement was named Connecticut Farms. This rich farmland, bought from the Indians, cost between twelve and fifteen cents per square mile, and each family was allotted 150 acres for farming, as well as six acres for a house lot.

Between 1901 and 1913, several outlying sections of the Township became the autonomous municipalities of Roselle Park, Kenilworth and Hillside. Following World War I, the Rahway Valley Railroad and Lehigh Valley Railroad were constructed through the Township. The automobile age had also begun, and Union entered a period of rapid development. Between 1920 and 1930 the population increased from 3,962 to 16,472. Following World War II, a number of light industries developed rapidly, and the pressures of suburbanization led to the disappearance of much of Union's farmland. Today, it has the second largest population in Union County. The community now consists primarily of single family homes and clean, light industry on the periphery of town, which provides employment for many Township residents.

*1990 Census figures



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