Kearny, New Jersey facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Kearny, New Jersey
Town
Kearny Library and Museum, November 2011
Flag Seal
Nickname(s):  Soccer Town, U.S.A., K-Town
Kearny, New Jersey Location in Hudson County, New Jersey Show map of Hudson County, New Jersey Kearny, New Jersey Location in New Jersey Show map of New Jersey Kearny, New Jersey Location in the United States Show map of the United States
Country	United States
State	New Jersey
County	Hudson
Incorporated	April 8, 1867
Named for	Philip Kearny
Government
• Type	Town
• Body	Town Council
Area
• Total	10.27 sq mi (26.61 km2)
• Land	8.84 sq mi (22.91 km2)
• Water	1.43 sq mi (3.70 km2)  13.91%
Area rank	209th of 565 in state 3rd of 12 in county
Elevation	7 ft (2 m)
Population  (2020)
• Total	41,999
• Estimate  (2023)	39,370
• Rank	54th of 565 in state 7th of 12 in county
• Density	4,748.9/sq mi (1,833.6/km2)
• Density rank	122nd of 565 in state 11th of 12 in county
Time zone	UTC−05:00 (Eastern (EST))
• Summer (DST)	UTC−04:00 (Eastern (EDT))
ZIP Codes	07032, 07099
Area code(s)	201 and 973
FIPS code	3401736510
GNIS feature ID	0885266

Kearny (/ˈkɑːrni/ KAR-nee) is a town in the western part of Hudson County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, and a suburb of Newark. As of the 2020 United States census, the town's population was 41,999, an increase of 1,315 (+3.2%) from the 2010 census count of 40,684, which in turn reflected an increase of 171 (+0.4%) from the 40,513 counted in the 2000 census.

Kearny is named after Civil War general Philip Kearny. It began as a township formed by an act of the New Jersey Legislature on April 8, 1867, from portions of Harrison Township. Portions of the township were taken on July 3, 1895, to form East Newark. Kearny was incorporated as a town on January 19, 1899, based on the results of a referendum held two days earlier. The Arlington section of town was named for Arlington Station on the Erie Railroad at the Arlington Mill plant, owned by Arlington Mills of Lawrence, Massachusetts.

History

Colonial roots

The area of Kearny Township, created in 1867, had been part of the original Crown Grant of 30,000 acres (120 km²) obtained by Major William Sandford of Barbados on July 4, 1668. Major Sandford named it New Barbadoes Neck after his old home. As was the custom of the time, the Major paid 20 pounds sterling to Chief Tantaqua of the Hackensack tribe for all their reserve rights and titles.

Sanford's Uncle, Major Nathaniel Kingsland acquired the property in 1708 and sold the upper western tract of the Grant for 300 pounds sterling to Captain Arent Schuyler two years later. The new purchase included present-day Kearny, North Arlington, Lyndhurst and Kingsland.

Shortly after Schuyler's purchase of his new homestead, a peculiar green stone was uncovered. It was sent to England for analysis and he learned that it contained 80% copper. His opening of a copper mine brought the first steam engine to America from England; it was used to pump out the deep mine shaft. The engine was secretly delivered by its engineer, Josiah Hornblower. The engine and mines were destroyed by fire in 1772 and remained idle for some years.

Schuyler Mansion played a role during the American Revolutionary War Era. When Lord Howe of England took possession of New York Harbor, the proximity of Schuyler Mansion drew many of his officers. They generally traveled over a road that today is referred to as the Belleville Turnpike, which was originally constructed in 1759 using cedar logs from the nearby swamps.

During September 1777, General Henry Clinton, head of the British Expeditionary Forces in America, selected Schuyler Mansion for his headquarters during one of his more important raiding operations, which included the famed Battle of Second River. The Mansion stood until 1924, a period of 214 years, when it was torn-down by a land development company, despite the company's offers to transfer the land to an organization that would be able to pay to maintain the property.

19th century

Knox Presbyterian Church

In the middle 19th century, Kearny was the upper, or northern, section of the Township of Harrison. A prominent citizen and resident of the upper section, General N. M. Halsted, felt it was impossible under these political conditions for his section to obtain proper recognition. He engaged an energetic campaign for an independent township. He succeeded when the NJ Legislature of 1867 on March 14, adopted "an act creating the Township of Kearny". The town was named to honor Major General Philip Kearny, Commander of the New Jersey Forces in the Civil War and the owner of the mansion known as Belle Grove (or Belgrove), locally called "Kearny Castle".

On April 8, 1867, the first election of town officers was held. General N. M. Halsted was elected Chairman. The first official seat of Government was three rooms in the old Lodi Hotel, on the northeast corner of Schuyler and Harrison Avenues.

In the early 1870s, Kearny erected its first Town Hall, on the corner of Kearny and Woodland Avenues, the present site of the Knox Presbyterian Church Parish Hall. This served as a Town Hall, Court House, and Schoolhouse. The Minute Book of the Township states on August 16, 1870, the first step toward establishing Kearny's present public school system was taken. The first schoolhouse was housed in the Town Hall built at Kearny and Woodland Avenues in 1873.

Highland Hose No. 4

The Highland Hose No. 4 firehouse, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, was built in 1895.

The town's nickname, "Soccer Town, U.S.A." is derived from a soccer tradition that originated in the mid-1870s, when thousands of Scottish and Irish immigrants settled in the town, after two Scottish companies, Clark Thread Company and Nairn Linoleum, opened two local mills and a factory.

When the town's growth demanded larger quarters, the present Kearny Town Hall, built of Indiana limestone, was erected in 1909.

Factory town

The early influx and development of industry in Kearny dates back to 1875 when the Clark Thread Company of Paisley in Scotland extended its activities to the United States by erecting two large mills in Kearny, and adding two others in 1890. These mills brought to Kearny thousands of Scots immigrants. Many of them would play on Kearny's soccer teams in National Association Football League. Many are buried at Arlington Memorial Park in the Kearny Uplands.

In 1876, the Mile End Thread Mills started operating, giving employment to several hundred operators.

In 1883, the Marshall Flax Spinning Company of England erected a large plant in Kearny, known as the Linen Thread Company. Their need for experienced flax spinners brought an influx of workers from other sections of the British Isles. Families of those early textile workers were the nucleus of Kearny's present population.

The Puraline Manufacturing Company, later called the Arlington Company, which became a subsidiary of E. I. DuPont de Nemours Company, had purchased a large tract of land east of the Arlington Station on the Erie Railroad extending well out, north of the railroad embankment, into the meadowland.

In 1887, Sir Michael Nairn established the Nairn Linoleum Company of Kirkcaldy in Scotland, now the Congoleum Nairn Company of Kearny, giving further impetus to local industrial growth. This also led to the growth in the Scottish American population which in the 1960s was about 21,000, accounting for more than half of the town's residents.

In 1902, the Lovell–Dressel Company, manufacturers of marine and railway lamps and fixtures, located in Kearny adjacent to the Erie Railroad.

Other industries which located in Kearny include: Swift & Company, Koppers Company, Theobald Industries, Standard Tool & Manufacturing, Wilkata Box Company, Harris Steel Company and L & R Manufacturing.

Cargo ships were built at Kearny Yards during World War I, and warships during World War II.

Kearny Works

On June 15, 1928, Western Electric broke ground on their second manufacturing facility at 110 Central Avenue to be known as Kearny Works, which would grow to 3,579,000 square feet (332,500 m²) throughout the years and be the second- largest Western Electric manufacturing plant built before the 1930s, behind the Hawthorne Works at Cicero, Illinois.

Between 1925 and 1986, the Kearny Works of Western Electric employed as many as 24,000 in producing a variety of hardware and supplies for the Bell System. It was sold by AT&T in 1984, by which time the plant had 4,000 employees who earned a total of $128 million a year, making it one of the county's largest employers. Henry J. Hill, the mayor of Kearny at the time of the AT&T Kearny Works closure, had himself worked 41 years at the facility as a manufacturing manager and retired three years prior to the closure.

Movie and television filming

In 1982, filming occurred in Kearny at a railroad bridge previously owned by Conrail until closure in 1977. The abandoned bridge, located at the Passaic River is called the NX Bridge and it was used for the motion picture, Annie. Several scenes were done with the bridge in its open position. Locals call this bridge the "Annie Bridge" and has not had freight operations since the closure.

Scenes from the HBO drama series The Sopranos were filmed in Kearny. One of its buildings, used for Satriale's Pork Store, was later razed to prepare for a parking lot. An Irish pub now resides where Satriale's was located.

The film Spinning Gold, which had been delayed during the pandemic for completion, had scenes filmed in Kearny.

The 2022 horror movie, Smile had a scene filmed at Jersey Oil located at 926 Passaic Avenue. The film is attributed as entirely filmed in New Jersey.

Kearny Point has two studios that are part of the film and television industry. Kearny Mayor Al Santos confirmed, "...our vision for Kearny Point as a hub for film and television production. This investment will create employment opportunities and bring increased economic activity to our community."

Theaters

Kearny had a few theaters for film showings starting in the early 20th Century. The few that had opened approximately before World War I were no longer listed among the three theaters of the 1920s and 1930s that opened. Those early movie theaters had been repurposed for other building uses either as apartments or meeting places. The ones that opened during the 1920s and 1930s took a few decades to close. The Lincoln Theater was operating until August 2015. The empty Lincoln Theater was placed for sale after the closure, until September 2022 when it was purchased for $975,000. The new owner realized opening the theater again, without movie business knowledge, would not be the plans for the business and will proceed instead to have apartments approved by the town for the property redevelopment. There are no movie theaters currently operating in the township.

Here was a list of the former theaters:

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town had a total area of 10.27 square miles (26.6 km²), including 8.84 square miles (22.9 km²) of land and 1.43 square miles (3.7 km²) of water (13.91%).

Unincorporated communities, localities and place names located partially or completely within the town include Arlington, New Jersey, Schuylers Corner and West Arlington.

The town is bordered by East Newark and Harrison in Hudson County, and by Lyndhurst and North Arlington in Bergen County. The Passaic River separates the town from Newark and Belleville, both located in Essex County. The Hackensack River separates it from Secaucus and Jersey City.

The town is varied in topography and roughly divided into three parts: the Kearny Uplands, the Kearny Meadows and South Kearny, where the Hackensack and Passaic rivers meet. Main thoroughfares include the eponymous Kearny Avenue (the local segment of Ridge Road / Frank E. Rodgers Boulevard), Bergen Avenue, Midland Avenue, Schuyler Avenue and Passaic Avenue.

A number of small parks running along the Passaic River are collectively called Riverbank Park. The largest, located on the colloquial "Bunnyland Hill", is a gift from Kearny's veterans. It is named after a small zoo named Bunnyland, which was maintained by the local Kiwanis Club, that occupied part of the present Bunnyland Hill in the 20th century. During Kearny's Fourth of July celebrations (which include a fireworks display), Bunnyland Hill is the primary gathering spot for celebrants and observers. The largest park is West Hudson Park, shared with Harrison, which contains a variety of sports fields, recreational areas, and an artificial pond. The second largest recreational zone is the Kearny Playground at Gunnel Oval.

Demographics

2010 census

The 2010 United States census counted 40,684 people, 13,462 households, and 9,921 families in the town. The population density was 4,636.5 people per square mile (1,790.2 people/km²). There were 14,180 housing units at an average density of 1,616.0 units per square mile (623.9 units/km²). The racial makeup was 73.57% (29,933) White, 5.37% (2,186) Black or African American, 0.40% (163) Native American, 4.41% (1,793) Asian, 0.08% (32) Pacific Islander, 12.53% (5,099) from other races, and 3.63% (1,478) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 39.95% (16,253) of the population.

Of the 13,462 households, 33.5% had children under the age of 18; 51.6% were married couples living together; 15.6% had a female householder with no husband present and 26.3% were non-families. Of all households, 21.0% were made up of individuals and 7.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.83 and the average family size was 3.28.

20.7% of the population were under the age of 18, 11.0% from 18 to 24, 31.2% from 25 to 44, 26.4% from 45 to 64, and 10.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36.4 years. For every 100 females, the population had 106.0 males. For every 100 females ages 18 and older there were 105.7 males.

The Census Bureau's 2006–2010 American Community Survey showed that (in 2010 inflation-adjusted dollars) median household income was $58,698 (with a margin of error of ±$3,838) and the median family income was $66,272 (±$3,803). Males had a median income of $45,360 (±$2,598) versus $38,668 (±$3,893) for females. The per capita income for the borough was $24,977 (±$1,022). About 7.6% of families and 10.3% of the population were below the poverty line, including 14.2% of those under age 18 and 8.1% of those age 65 or over.

Economy

Former Western Electric Kearny Works

In 1982, the Kearny Works plant was assessed for property tax purposes at $23.9 million and represented about 7.3 percent of the towns' total tax base. The real estate taxes for the plant were $1.6 million but a closure was upcoming for 1983. According to Mayor Hill, Western Electric was one of the largest taxpayer's for the town. According to Ronnie Connors, assistant tax assessor, the company appealed with the town December 1982 for tax relief and agreement was reduced assessment to between $17 million and $18 million for 1983. With the closures evident, the officials needed to offset the $1.6 million loss by drawing new industry to Kearny with incentives.

Portions of the town are part of an Urban Enterprise Zone (UEZ), one of 32 zones covering 37 municipalities statewide. Kearny was selected in 1983 as one of the initial group of 10 zones chosen to participate in the program. In addition to other benefits to encourage employment and investment within the Zone, shoppers can take advantage of a reduced 3.3125% sales tax rate (half of the 6+5⁄8% rate charged statewide) at eligible merchants. Established in November 1992, the town's Urban Enterprise Zone status expires in November 2023. Since its inception, there has been $27 million in tax revenue that has been invested based on revenue from the Urban Enterprise Zone.

Arts and culture

Library

The Kearny Public Library is one of New Jersey's remaining Carnegie libraries, and houses a museum on its third floor which mounts exhibitions related to the history and culture of the town and has a collection of artifacts related to the town's namesake.

In 2023, the town acquired a former church for $1.5 million, which it intends to convert to a cultural center.

Education

Washington Elementary School

Kearny Library and Museum

Public schools

The Kearny School District serves public school students in pre-kindergarten through twelfth grade. As of the 2021–22 school year, the district, comprised of seven schools, had an enrollment of 5,142 students and 455.7 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 11.3:1. Schools in the district (with 2021–22 enrollment data from the National Center for Education Statistics) are Franklin Elementary School with 842 students in grades PreK-6, Garfield Elementary School with 439 students in grades PreK-6, Roosevelt Elementary School with 385 students in grades PreK-6, Schuyler Elementary School with 410 students in grades PreK-6, Washington Elementary School with 474 students in grades PreK-6, Lincoln Middle School with 752 students in grades 7-8 and Kearny High School with 1,742 students in grades 9-12.

Charter schools

Kearny also includes Hudson Arts and Science Charter School, a charter school that operates as part of iLearn Schools, based in Elmwood Park. HASCS has two campuses, an elementary and middle school. The elementary school is located at 131 Midland Avenue (formerly Mater Dei Academy) and the middle school is located at 114 Chestnut Street (formerly Mount Carmel Guild High School). HASCS Elementary serves grades K-3 and HASCS Middle serves grades 4-8. The two schools have a combined total of 815 students.

Private schools

Schools in Kearny include:

• Kearny Christian Academy, a Christian school founded in 1981 by the City of Hope International Church that serves students in kindergarten through twelfth grade.
• Mt. Carmel Guild School (now the site of Hudson Arts and Science Charter School - Middle)
• The Little Neighborhood Learning Center
• Happy Time Preschool & Day Care

In the face of declining enrollment, the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Newark closed Mater Dei Academy at the conclusion of the 2011–2012 school year. Mater Dei had been opened three years earlier as the merger of two existing schools, St. Stephen's and Holy Cross (the latter in Harrison), but attendance declined from 250 in its first year to 170 in its final year. Other former Catholic schools in Kearny include: Sacred Heart School and St. Cecilia School.

Transportation

The southbound New Jersey Turnpike (Interstate 95) in Kearny

Former West Arlington Station

Roads and highways

As of May 2010^[update], the town had a total of 70.89 miles (114.09 km) of roadways, of which 50.75 miles (81.67 km) were maintained by the municipality, 7.30 miles (11.75 km) by Hudson County, 7.73 miles (12.44 km) by the New Jersey Department of Transportation and 5.11 miles (8.22 km) by the New Jersey Turnpike Authority.

Several roadways pass through and intersect in the town. The Belleville Turnpike (Route 7) forms the northern border of the town with North Arlington and crosses the Rutgers Street Bridge over the Passaic River into Belleville. Kearny Avenue passes through the town and continues north as Ridge Road, the beginning of Route 17. U.S. Route 1/9 (Pulaski Skyway) and US 1/9 Truck pass through. The Essex Freeway (Interstate 280) passes through the town and ends at Interstate 95 (the New Jersey Turnpike eastern and western spurs) at the tollgate for Exit 15W.

Public transportation

NJ Transit offers bus service to the Port Authority Bus Terminal in Midtown Manhattan and to other New Jersey communities. Bus service to Newark is available on the 1, 30, 40, and 76 routes.

The NJ Transit Meadows Maintenance Complex in Kearny

Kearny was formerly served by trains of both the Erie Railroad's Newark Branch (later Erie-Lackawanna and then Conrail's Newark Industrial Branch) and its Greenwood Lake Division (later the Erie-Lackawanna's Greenwood Lake-Boonton Line; and Conrail and New Jersey Transit's Boonton Line) which stopped at the now-abandoned Arlington station. Newark Branch passenger service was terminated in October 1966. But freight service continued until 2005, when the last remaining shipper, Spar-Tech PolyCom, shut down. However, freight service on the Newark side is still active. New Jersey Transit discontinued Boonton Line service in 2002 when the Montclair Connection was opened. Through the early 1970s trains also stopped at a second station along this route known as West Arlington. This station was just to the east of the now abandoned WR Draw movable bridge. Prior to April 30, 1967, a station in South Kearny, was served by the Central Railroad of New Jersey's Newark and New York Railroad via the PD Draw over the Passaic River. This station was popular with employees of the giant Western Electric plant, and other industries in the area. In the final years of this service a pair of rush hour trains ran in each direction between South Kearny, and the CNJ's Broad Street Station in downtown Newark, as well as a single rush hour round trip between South Kearny, and Plainfield. This train operated via Elizabethport, and the CNJ main line. Kearny is also the location of the Meadows Maintenance Complex, the primary maintenance facility for NJ Transit rail operations.

The closest airport with scheduled passenger service is Newark Liberty International Airport, located 6.5 miles (10.5 km) away in Newark and Elizabeth.

Notable people

See also

In Spanish: Kearny (Nueva Jersey) para niños