Community Newspaper Special Sections Essex Community Guide 2016 | Page 16

Bloomfield History

B

efore Bloomfield was Bloomfield,
it was part of the large tract of
land of Newark in 1666. The land
was bought from the Yantecaw, a tribe of
the Lenni-Lenape. Dutch settlers from the
Hudson River Valley settled in what is
now the Brookdale Section of Bloomfield;
the southern end of town included
Englishmen from Connecticut. The
Second and Third rivers played important
roles for the first industries in town,
including saw the grist mills. By 1765,
sandstone was exported to New York
City's brownstone homes.
The first public school was established in
1758 but was not free - a small tuition was
needed. Bloomfield would be among the
first New Jersey towns to offer a truly free
public education. During the Revolutionary
War, there was no fighting within the town
but there were several raids by British and
Hessian troops. Gen. George Washington
did stay here on several occasions.
In 1812, Bloomfield became its own
town, taking its name from the
Presbyterian Church on the Green –
then called The Presbyterian Society of
Bloomfield. The church named itself
after Gen. Joseph Bloomfield.
14 Essex Community Guide | 2016

Bloomfield was a much larger municipality before towns split from it. The first
was Belleville in 1839. Montclair followed
in 1868 and Glen Ridge in 1895. Woodside
Township, separated in 1869 but stopped
existing just after two years of existence to
become part of Belleville and Newark.
After World War I, the town’s population began to rise. By 1930, the town had
68 industries and employed 6,000 people.
Industry roared during the Second World
War with those of General Electric,
Westinghouse, Lehn and Fink, Schering,
and Scientific Glass. In 1952, the Garden
State Parkway came through, effectively
splitting the town in half.
The township continues to grow more
and more diverse, despite a dip in total
population within the last decade,
according to updated census statistics.
Bloomfield’s population from 2000 to
2010 dropped by .66 percent, from
47,630 to 47,315 residents, according to
the U.S. Census Bureau. The current population is 52 percent female versus 48 percent male, while the median age is 37.9.
The town is divided up into three
wards and is governed by a mayor and
six council members. ◆

DALE MINCEY

Bloomfield Historical Society Trustee Rich
Rockwell gives a talk about the Morris
Canal at Bloomfield High School. The
township recently designated its section
as the Morris Canal Greenway.