Caldwell, New Jersey facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Caldwell, New Jersey
Borough
Grover Cleveland Birthplace Historic Site
Seal
Location of Caldwell in Essex County highlighted in red (right). Inset map: Location of Essex County in New Jersey highlighted in orange (left).
Census Bureau map of Caldwell, New Jersey
Caldwell, New Jersey Location in Essex County, New Jersey Show map of Essex County, New Jersey Caldwell, New Jersey Location in New Jersey Show map of New Jersey Caldwell, New Jersey Location in the United States Show map of the United States
Country	United States
State	New Jersey
County	Essex
Incorporated	February 10, 1892
Named for	James Caldwell
Government
• Type	Borough
• Body	Borough Council
Area
• Total	1.18 sq mi (3.05 km2)
• Land	1.18 sq mi (3.05 km2)
• Water	0.00 sq mi (0.00 km2)  0.08%
Area rank	490th of 565 in state 22nd of 22 in county
Elevation	397 ft (121 m)
Population  (2020)
• Total	9,027
• Estimate  (2023)	8,834
• Rank	263rd of 565 in state 17th of 22 in county
• Density	7,663.0/sq mi (2,958.7/km2)
• Density rank	57th of 565 in state 8th of 22 in county
Time zone	UTC−05:00 (Eastern (EST))
• Summer (DST)	UTC−04:00 (Eastern (EDT))
ZIP Codes	07006–07007
Area code(s)	973
FIPS code	3401309250
GNIS feature ID	2381010

Caldwell is a small town called a borough in northwestern Essex County, New Jersey. It's about 16 miles (26 km) west of New York City and 6 miles (10 km) north-west of Newark. In 2020, about 9,027 people lived there. This was an increase of over 1,200 people since 2010.

Caldwell became an official borough on February 10, 1892. It was formed from parts of what was then called Caldwell Township. For a while, in 1981, its name changed to "Township of the Borough of Caldwell." This was done so the town could get more money from the government. But in 1995, it changed back to being just a borough.

Did you know that Grover Cleveland, who was the 22nd and 24th President of the United States, was born in Caldwell? He was born here on March 18, 1837. His father was a pastor at the First Presbyterian Church. Today, the house where Grover Cleveland was born is a museum you can visit!

Even though Caldwell is now seen as a suburb of Newark and New York City, it actually started as its own separate community. When it was first settled, there were many miles of woods between Caldwell and the bigger cities. In 2010, New Jersey Monthly magazine even called Caldwell the third-best place to live in New Jersey!

Caldwell's History

How Caldwell Began

In 1702, settlers bought a large area of land, about 14,000 acres (57 km²), from the Lenape Native American tribe. They paid about $325 for it. This land was called the Horseneck Tract. Caldwell is located right in the middle of this area. People started settling here around 1740.

The Horseneck Tract included many of the towns you know today, like Caldwell, West Caldwell, North Caldwell, and Verona. On February 17, 1787, the people living here voted to change the name from Horseneck Tract to Caldwell. They did this to honor Reverend James Caldwell, who helped them form their own church group.

Forming New Towns

After Caldwell became a borough, other parts of the original Caldwell Township also became separate towns. For example, the area to the east became Verona and Cedar Grove. Some parts even joined Montclair. The area north of Caldwell Borough became North Caldwell, and the wooded area to the south became Essex Fells.

Eventually, only a large farming area in the northwest part of Essex County was left of the original Caldwell Township. In 1963, this area changed its name to Fairfield to avoid confusion with Caldwell Borough.

The western part of Caldwell Borough was less developed and had farms and a swamp. Two small settlements there, Franklin and Westville, grew. Because the western and eastern parts of Caldwell had different needs, Franklin and Westville formed their own town called West Caldwell in 1904. This left Caldwell Borough as just the original downtown area. In 1929, people voted against joining the three Caldwells (Caldwell, West Caldwell, and North Caldwell) back into one town.

Caldwell was also one of the places where the 1994 comedy movie North was filmed.

Interesting Facts from History

• George Washington and his team passed through Caldwell during the Revolutionary War. They even stopped for lunch at the old stone house of Saunders Sanders, one of the first settlers.
• The Marquis de Lafayette, a French hero who helped America in the Revolution, visited Caldwell in 1824. There was a big party for him at the Crane Tavern.
• In 1908, the Caldwell Public Library opened. It's one of 20 Carnegie libraries still around in New Jersey. These libraries were built with money from a famous businessman, Andrew Carnegie.
• In 1968, a historic bronze cannon with dolphin handles was stolen from the town green. This cannon had been given to Caldwell by the Marquis de Lafayette himself! A new, simpler iron replica was put in its place.
• On July 14, 1974, the famous Park Theatre in Caldwell was destroyed by a fire.

Caldwell's Geography

Caldwell covers about 1.18 square miles (3.05 km²) of land. There is almost no water area in the borough.

Caldwell is part of a group of three towns known as "The Caldwells". These towns all have "Caldwell" in their name: Caldwell, North Caldwell, and West Caldwell. They are all named after Reverend James Caldwell. He was a Patriot who helped the American army during the Revolutionary War. He famously gave soldiers pages from hymn books to use as wadding for their rifles during the Battle of Springfield.

Even though these three towns have their own governments, people often use "The Caldwells" to talk about the whole area. You might even see "The Caldwells" on highway exit signs! Caldwell borders other towns in Essex County like Essex Fells, North Caldwell, and West Caldwell.

Caldwell's People

In 2010, there were 7,822 people living in Caldwell. Most people (about 87%) were White. About 5% were Asian, and about 3% were Black or African American. About 10% of the population was Hispanic or Latino.

The average age of people in Caldwell in 2010 was about 40 years old. About 18.5% of the people were under 18 years old.

Education in Caldwell

Public Schools

The Caldwell-West Caldwell Public Schools district serves students from pre-kindergarten all the way through twelfth grade. This district includes both Caldwell and West Caldwell. It has seven schools and teaches about 2,669 students.

The schools in the district are:

• Harrison School (West Caldwell; grades K-PreK)
• Jefferson Elementary School (West Caldwell; grades K-5)
• Lincoln Elementary School (Caldwell; grades K-5)
• Washington Elementary School (West Caldwell; grades K-5)
• Wilson Elementary School (West Caldwell; grades K-5)
• Grover Cleveland Middle School (Caldwell; grades 6-8)
• James Caldwell High School (West Caldwell; grades 9-12)

Essex County also has vocational schools that offer special programs for students in grades 8-12.

Private Schools and Colleges

Mount Saint Dominic Academy is a private high school for girls (grades 9-12) in Caldwell. Trinity Academy was a private school for younger students (PreK-8) that closed. However, in 2015, Trinity Academy was recognized as a National Blue Ribbon School, which is a very high honor for schools in the United States.

Caldwell is also home to Caldwell University, which is a Catholic college with about 2,200 students.

Getting Around Caldwell

County Route 506 in Caldwell

Roads

Caldwell has about 18.41 miles (29.63 km) of roads. Most of these roads are taken care of by the town itself. County Route 506 is the most important road in Caldwell.

Buses and Trains

NJ Transit offers bus service to and from Caldwell on routes 29 and 71.

Caldwell used to have a train station that opened in 1891. However, the train service stopped in 1966, and the tracks were removed in 1979.

Famous People from Caldwell

The birthplace of former U.S. president Grover Cleveland in Caldwell

Many interesting people have been born in, lived in, or are connected to Caldwell:

See also

In Spanish: Caldwell (Nueva Jersey) para niños