Garwood, New Jersey facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Garwood, New Jersey
Borough
Unami Park in Garwood
Flag Seal
Location of Garwood in Union County highlighted in yellow (left). Inset map: Location of Union County in New Jersey highlighted in black (right).
Census Bureau map of Garwood, New Jersey
Garwood, New Jersey Location in Union County, New Jersey Show map of Union County, New Jersey Garwood, New Jersey Location in New Jersey Show map of New Jersey Garwood, New Jersey Location in the United States Show map of the United States
Country	United States
State	New Jersey
County	Union
Incorporated	March 19, 1903
Government
• Type	Borough
• Body	Borough Council
Area
• Total	0.65 sq mi (1.68 km2)
• Land	0.65 sq mi (1.68 km2)
• Water	0.00 sq mi (0.00 km2)  0.00%
Area rank	532nd of 565 in state 20th of 21 in county
Elevation	82 ft (25 m)
Population  (2020)
• Total	4,454
• Estimate  (2023)	5,161
• Rank	397th of 565 in state 20th of 21 in county
• Density	6,848.2/sq mi (2,644.1/km2)
• Density rank	69th of 565 in state 8th of 21 in county
Time zone	UTC−05:00 (Eastern (EST))
• Summer (DST)	UTC−04:00 (Eastern (EDT))
ZIP Code	07027
Area code(s)	908
FIPS code	3403925800
GNIS feature ID	0885229

Garwood is a borough in Union County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the borough's population was 4,454, an increase of 228 (+5.4%) from the 2010 census count of 4,226, which in turn reflected an increase of 73 (+1.8%) from the 4,153 counted in the 2000 census.

History

Garwood was incorporated as a borough on March 19, 1903, from portions of Cranford and Westfield Town.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the borough had a total area of 0.65 square miles (1.68 km²), all of which was land.

The borough is roughly bisected by the tracks of NJ Transit's Raritan Valley Line, originally built as part of the Jersey Central railroad. On the north side of the railroad, most of the streets are numbered, while on the south side of Garwood most of the streets are named after trees.

Garwood borders the Union County municipalities of Cranford and Westfield.

Demographics

2010 census

The 2010 United States census counted 4,226 people, 1,778 households, and 1,118 families in the borough. The population density was 6,362.7 per square mile (2,456.7/km²). There were 1,870 housing units at an average density of 2,815.5 per square mile (1,087.1/km²). The racial makeup was 93.23% (3,940) White, 1.06% (45) Black or African American, 0.02% (1) Native American, 2.04% (86) Asian, 0.00% (0) Pacific Islander, 1.80% (76) from other races, and 1.85% (78) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 8.83% (373) of the population.

Of the 1,778 households, 23.9% had children under the age of 18; 47.5% were married couples living together; 10.7% had a female householder with no husband present and 37.1% were non-families. Of all households, 29.9% were made up of individuals and 10.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.38 and the average family size was 3.00.

19.3% of the population were under the age of 18, 6.4% from 18 to 24, 30.4% from 25 to 44, 28.7% from 45 to 64, and 15.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 41.4 years. For every 100 females, the population had 93.9 males. For every 100 females ages 18 and older there were 92.3 males.

The Census Bureau's 2006–2010 American Community Survey showed that (in 2010 inflation-adjusted dollars) median household income was $72,254 (with a margin of error of +/− $9,274) and the median family income was $86,959 (+/− $8,603). Males had a median income of $58,258 (+/− $3,197) versus $43,455 (+/− $3,625) for females. The per capita income for the borough was $35,753 (+/− $2,821). About 0.9% of families and 1.8% of the population were below the poverty line, including none of those under age 18 and none of those age 65 or over.

Emergency services

Police

Garwood's primary law enforcement is the borough's police department, serving the borough since its establishment in 1906. The Garwood Police Department is a small force consisting of Chief of Police James H. Wright, one captain, two lieutenants, two sergeants, ten patrolmen, and four civilian dispatchers. Patrol operations normally consist of one north side car, one south side car, and one supervisor. Officers work 12-hour shifts, four days on, four days off, alternating between days and nights.

EMS

Garwood First Aid Squad serves as the emergency medical service in town. Founded in 1939, it is non-profit service, consists of a dedicated all volunteer staff serving the borough 24 hours per day, seven days a week, at no cost to the residents. Drivers and EMTs on the squad also answer calls for mutual aid when an ambulance is needed in other towns where one is not available. GFAS answers anywhere from 350 to 400 calls annually.

Fire

Garwood Fire Department is entirely volunteer, and serves the borough in the capacity of fire protection, fire prevention, and fire code enforcement. The fire chief is John Scalzadonna.

Education

The Garwood Public Schools serves students in pre-kindergarten through eighth grade at Lincoln School. As of the 2022–23 school year, the district, comprised of one school, had an enrollment of 360 students and 31.6 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 11.4:1.

Public school students in ninth through twelfth grades attend Arthur L. Johnson High School in neighboring Clark as part of a sending/receiving relationship with the Clark Public School District. As of the 2022–23 school year, the school had an enrollment of 884 students and 69.0 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 12.8:1.

Students from Garwood, and all of Union County, are eligible to attend one of the Union County Vocational Technical Schools.

Transportation

Roads and highways

Route 28 eastbound in Garwood

As of May 2010^[update], the borough had a total of 13.88 miles (22.34 km) of roadways, of which 11.90 miles (19.15 km) were maintained by the municipality, 1.02 miles (1.64 km) by Union County and 0.96 miles (1.54 km) by the New Jersey Department of Transportation.

Route 28 is the main highway through Garwood, connecting east to Cranford and west to Westfield. Route 59, which borders Cranford to the east, has been described as the shortest four-lane paved highway in the United States. It was built in the late 1920s, numbered Route 22 at the time and was originally planned to run from Fairfield Township to Rahway, but was never completed. Its total length is 792 feet (241 m).

Public transportation

The Garwood station offers limited NJ Transit rail service on the Raritan Valley Line. The station has limited service, does not have platforms and is not ADA compliant.

NJ Transit also provides bus service along two different lines, the 113 route to the Port Authority Bus Terminal in Midtown Manhattan and the 59 bus to Newark.

Newark Liberty International Airport is approximately 15 minutes away. Linden Airport, a general aviation facility is in nearby Linden, New Jersey.

Notable people

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

• David Durante (born 1980), national men's gymnastics champion
• Loree Jon Hasson (born 1965), professional pool player
• Barry Lubin (born 1952), creator of the clown character "Grandma" of the Big Apple Circus
• John J. McCarthy (1927–2001), politician who served in the New Jersey General Assembly and as Mayor of Garwood
• Tom Perrotta (born 1961), author
• David Joseph Weeks (born 1944), neuropsychologist, educator and author best known for his study of eccentricity

See also

In Spanish: Garwood (Nueva Jersey) para niños