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Fanwood, New Jersey
Borough
Borough of Fanwood
Fanwood station on the Raritan Valley Line
Fanwood station on the Raritan Valley Line
Map of Fanwood in Union County. Inset: Location of Union County highlighted in the State of New Jersey.
Map of Fanwood in Union County. Inset: Location of Union County highlighted in the State of New Jersey.
Census Bureau map of Fanwood, New Jersey
Census Bureau map of Fanwood, New Jersey
Fanwood, New Jersey is located in Union County, New Jersey
Fanwood, New Jersey
Fanwood, New Jersey
Location in Union County, New Jersey
Fanwood, New Jersey is located in New Jersey
Fanwood, New Jersey
Fanwood, New Jersey
Location in New Jersey
Fanwood, New Jersey is located in the United States
Fanwood, New Jersey
Fanwood, New Jersey
Location in the United States
Country  United States
State  New Jersey
County Union
Incorporated October 2, 1895
Named for Fannie Wood
Government
 • Type Borough
 • Body Borough Council
Area
 • Total 1.34 sq mi (3.47 km2)
 • Land 1.34 sq mi (3.47 km2)
 • Water 0.00 sq mi (0.00 km2)  0.00%
Area rank 465th of 565 in state
18th of 21 in county
Elevation
157 ft (48 m)
Population
 • Total 7,318
 • Estimate 
(2019)
7,697
 • Rank 311th of 566 in state
18th of 21 in county
 • Density 5,454.1/sq mi (2,105.8/km2)
 • Density rank 99th of 566 in state
10th of 21 in county
Time zone UTC−05:00 (Eastern (EST))
 • Summer (DST) UTC−04:00 (Eastern (EDT))
ZIP Code
07023
Area code(s) 908 exchanges: 322, 490, 889
FIPS code 3403922860
GNIS feature ID 0885216

Fanwood is a borough in Union County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the borough's population was 7,318 reflecting an increase of 144 (+2.0%) from the 7,174 counted in the 2000 Census, which had in turn increased by 59 (+0.8%) from the 7,115 counted in the 1990 Census.

Fanwood Train Station Building
Fanwood train station is regarded as the symbol of Fanwood by the residents.

Fanwood was incorporated as a borough by an act of the New Jersey Legislature on October 2, 1895, from portions of Fanwood Township (now known as Scotch Plains), based on the results of a referendum held the previous day. The borough was named for Fannie Wood, an author.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, Fanwood borough had a total area of 1.342 square miles (3.475 km2), all of which was land.

The borough is bordered by Plainfield in the southwest and by Scotch Plains in all other directions.

Demographics

Historical population
Census Pop.
1900 399
1910 471 18.0%
1920 724 53.7%
1930 1,681 132.2%
1940 2,310 37.4%
1950 3,228 39.7%
1960 7,963 146.7%
1970 8,920 12.0%
1980 7,767 −12.9%
1990 7,115 −8.4%
2000 7,174 0.8%
2010 7,318 2.0%
2019 (est.) 7,697 5.2%
Population sources:1900-1920
1900-1910 1910-1930
1930-1990 2000 2010

Census 2010

As of the census of 2010, there were 7,318 people, 2,627 households, and 2,070 families residing in the borough. The population density was 5,454.1 per square mile (2,105.8/km2). There were 2,686 housing units at an average density of 2,001.9 per square mile (772.9/km2)*. The racial makeup of the borough was 84.72% (6,200) White, 5.30% (388) Black or African American, 0.14% (10) Native American, 6.75% (494) Asian, 0.00% (0) Pacific Islander, 0.97% (71) from other races, and 2.12% (155) from two or more races. [[Hispanic (U.S. Census)|Hispanic or Latino of any race were 6.26% (458) of the population.

There were 2,627 households out of which 41.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 68.7% were married couples living together, 7.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 21.2% were non-families. 18.8% of all households were made up of individuals, and 11.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.78 and the average family size was 3.19.

In the borough, the population was spread out with 27.7% under the age of 18, 4.8% from 18 to 24, 25.5% from 25 to 44, 28.0% from 45 to 64, and 14.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40.5 years. For every 100 females there were 95.0 males. For every 100 females ages 18 and old there were 89.3 males. The Census Bureau's 2006-2010 American Community Survey showed that (in 2010 inflation-adjusted dollars) median household income was $127,450 (with a margin of error of +/- $8,852) and the median family income was $135,833 (+/- $6,654). Males had a median income of $92,262 (+/- $13,007) versus $62,845 (+/- $6,933) for females. The per capita income for the borough was $43,194 (+/- $2,939). About 0.6% of families and 2.2% of the population were below the poverty line, including none of those under age 18 and 2.8% of those age 65 or over.

Census 2000

As of the 2000 United States Census there were 7,174 people, 2,574 households, and 2,054 families residing in the borough. The population density was 5,363.4 people per square mile (2,067.1/km2). There were 2,615 housing units at an average density of 1,955.0 per square mile (753.5/km2). The racial makeup of the borough was 88.30% White, 5.14% African American, 0.10% Native American, 4.39% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 0.79% from other races, and 1.24% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 3.74% of the population. Among Fanwood residents, 23.2% identified as being of Italian ancestry, 23.0% as being of Irish ancestry and 20.6% as having German ancestry.

There were 2,574 households, out of which 38.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 70.0% were married couples living together, 7.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 20.2% were non-families. 18.0% of all households were made up of individuals, and 10.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.76 and the average family size was 3.13.

In the borough the population was spread out, with 25.8% under the age of 18, 4.5% from 18 to 24, 31.3% from 25 to 44, 23.8% from 45 to 64, and 14.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females, there were 91.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 87.9 males.

The median income for a household in the borough was $85,233, and the median income for a family was $99,232. Males had a median income of $65,519 versus $40,921 for females. The per capita income for the borough was $34,804. About 1.6% of families and 3.4% of the population were below the poverty line, including 2.6% of those under age 18 and 6.5% of those age 65 or over.

Transportation

Roads and highways

2018-06-20 17 14 49 View east along New Jersey State Route 28 (South Avenue) just east of Union County Route 655 (Martine Avenue) in Fanwood, Union County, New Jersey
Route 28 in Fanwood

As of May 2010, the borough had a total of 26.35 miles (42.41 km) of roadways, of which 20.58 miles (33.12 km) were maintained by the municipality, 4.62 miles (7.44 km) by Union County and 1.15 miles (1.85 km) by the New Jersey Department of Transportation.

Route 28 (known in Fanwood as South Avenue) passes through the borough, connecting Plainfield and Scotch Plains.

Another major thoroughfare is South and North Martine Avenue, which connects Fanwood to U.S. Route 22 .

Public transportation

Fanwood Station View
View of Fanwood Station South Side Parking Lot from overpass bridge

The Fanwood station is an NJ Transit railroad station on the Raritan Valley Line. The building on the north side of the tracks (westbound platform) is a Victorian building and, like the north building at Westfield station, is used by a non-profit organization. The ticket office is in the station building on the south side of the tracks (eastbound platform). The station provides service to Penn Station in Newark, and from there to Hoboken Terminal or Penn Station in Midtown Manhattan.

Currently riders can take one seat rides to Penn Station in Midtown Manhattan during rush hour on weekdays, with transfer at Newark Penn Station required to reach to New York Penn Station at all other times, including weekends. The Raritan Valley Railroad Coalition has been promoting economic benefits of one-seat rider to New York City since 1998. RVRC has so far succeeded to achieve such one seat riders during off peak hours during week and there are 9 trains in each direction that the riders do not need to transfer at Newark Penn Station. Ultimate goal of RVRC is to extend such one seat rider in during rush hours. One seat rider would have been achieved with the Access to the Region's Core tunnel program, but this was cancelled by then Governor Chris Christie.

NJ Transit offers bus service to and from the Port Authority Bus Terminal in Midtown Manhattan on the 113 and local service on the 822 route.

Newark Liberty International Airport is approximately 25 minutes away to the east.

Economy

FanwoodDowntownNight
Downtown Fanwood at night

In 2014 Fanwood was recipient of a 2014 New Jersey Future Smart Growth Award for its downtown development plan.

Education

SPFHS
Scotch Plains-Fanwood High School

Public school students in Fanwood attend the schools of the Scotch Plains-Fanwood Regional School District, which serves students in pre-kindergarten through twelfth grade from the Township of Scotch Plains and the Borough of Fanwood. The district has five elementary schools (PreK/K-4), two middle schools (5-8) and a comprehensive high school (9-12), all of which are located in Scotch Plains. Students from School One, Evergreen and Brunner pool into Park Middle School, while students from Coles and McGinn feed into Terrill. School One is the only elementary school that teaches English as a second language. Most students from Park Middle School and Terrill Middle school continue their high school education at the Scotch Plains-Fanwood High School. As of the 2018–19 school year, the district, comprised of eight schools, had an enrollment of 5,649 students and 438.0 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 12.9:1. Seats on the district's nine-member board of education are allocated based on the population of the constituent districts, with two seats assigned to Fanwood.

Schools in the district (with 2018–19 enrollment data from the National Center for Education Statistics) are Howard B. Brunner Elementary School with 414 students in grades PreK-4, J. Ackerman Coles School with 552 students in grades PreK-4, Evergreen School with 402 students in grades PreK-4, William J. McGinn School with 512 students in grades K-4, School One with 395 students in grades PreK-4, Park Middle School with 909 students in grades 5–8, Terrill Middle School with 811 students in grades 5-8 and Scotch Plains-Fanwood High School with 1,574 students in grades 9–12.

Notable people

See also (related category): People from Fanwood, New Jersey

People who were born in, residents of, or otherwise closely associated with Fanwood include:

  • Edith Ajello (born 1944), politician who has served as a member of the Rhode Island House of Representatives.
  • H. W. Ambruster (1879–1961), football coach, chemical engineer, actor and lecturer.
  • Bill Austin (born c. 1930), former football player.
  • Derrick Caracter (born 1988), power forward/center who played for the Los Angeles Lakers, now with A.S. Ramat HaSharon of the Israeli Liga Leumit.
  • Maryanne Connelly (born 1945), former mayor of Fanwood.
  • Gerry Cooney (born 1956), boxer.
  • Róisín Egenton, selected The Rose of Tralee in 2000.
  • Eleanor C. Lambertsen (1916-1998), nurse who was inducted into the American Nurses Association Hall of Fame in 2012.
  • William Lowell Jr. (1863–1954), golf tee manufacturer.
  • Hiram Maxim (1840-1916), inventor of the Maxim gun, a curling iron, fire sprinklers, and other devices.
  • Hiram Percy Maxim (1869-1936), inventor, radio pioneer and founder of the American Radio Relay League.
  • Zahid Quraishi, United States Magistrate Judge of the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey who is an announced nominee to be a United States District Judge of the same court.
  • Todd D. Robinson (born c. 1963), American diplomat who was U.S. ambassador to Guatemala and Venezuela, and is now a senior advisor for Central America in the Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs.
  • Linda Stender (born 1951), member of the New Jersey General Assembly, and former mayor of Fanwood.
  • Robert T. Stevens (1899-1983), businessman and former chairman of J.P. Stevens and Company.
  • Sada Thompson (1927-2011), actress.
  • Thomas Chatterton Williams (born 1981), cultural critic and author, whose works include the 2019 book Self-Portrait in Black and White.

See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Fanwood para niños

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