Hillside, New Jersey
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Hillside, New Jersey | |
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| Coordinates: | |
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| Country | United States |
| State | New Jersey |
| County | Union |
| Incorporated | April 29, 1913 |
| Government | |
| - Type | Faulkner Act (Mayor-Council) |
| - Mayor | Karen McCoy Oliver |
| Area | |
| - Total | 2.8 sq mi (7.2 km²) |
| - Land | 2.8 sq mi (7.2 km²) |
| - Water | 0.0 sq mi (0.0 km²) |
| Elevation [1] | 82 ft (25 m) |
| Population (2006)[2] | |
| - Total | 21,684 |
| - Density | 7,793.6/sq mi (3,009.1/km²) |
| Time zone | Eastern (EST) (UTC-5) |
| - Summer (DST) | EDT (UTC-4) |
| ZIP code | 07205 |
| Area code(s) | 908 and 973 |
| FIPS code | 34-31980[3] |
| GNIS feature ID | 0882211[4] |
| Website: http://www.townshipofhillside.org | |
Hillside is a township in Union County, New Jersey, United States. As of the United States 2000 Census, the township population was 21,747.
Hillside was incorporated as a township on April 3, 1913, from portions of Union Township, based on the results of a referendum held on April 29, 1913.[5]
The town is split between area codes 908 and 973.
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[edit] Geography
Hillside is located at (40.695552, -74.228561)[6].
The township is located on the northern edge of Union County and is bordered to the northwest by Irvington and to the north and northeast by Newark, both in Essex County. Elizabeth borders Hillside to the east and southeast, while Union borders to the west.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the township has a total area of 2.8 square miles (7.2 km²), all of it land.
[edit] Demographics
| Historical populations | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Census | Pop. | %± | |
| 1930 | 17,601 |
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| 1940 | 18,556 | 5.4% | |
| 1950 | 21,007 | 13.2% | |
| 1960 | 22,304 | 6.2% | |
| 1970 | 21,636 | −3% | |
| 1980 | 21,440 | −0.9% | |
| 1990 | 21,044 | −1.8% | |
| 2000 | 21,747 | 3.3% | |
| Est. 2006 | 21,684 | [2] | −0.3% |
| Population 1930 - 1990.[7] | |||
As of the census[3] of 2000, there were 21,747 people, 7,161 households, and 5,578 families residing in the township. The population density was 7,793.6 people per square mile (3,009.5/km²). There were 7,388 housing units at an average density of 2,647.7/sq mi (1,022.4/km²). The racial makeup of the township was 40.03% White, 46.54% African American, 0.23% Native American, 3.45% Asian, 0.08% Pacific Islander, 5.26% from other races, and 4.41% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 14.50% of the population. 11% of the current population is of Portuguese ancestry or origin.
There were 7,161 households out of which 36.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 53.5% were married couples living together, 18.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 22.1% were non-families. 18.0% of all households 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 3.04 and the average family size was 3.45.
In the township the population was spread out with 25.6% under the age of 18, 8.9% from 18 to 24, 30.3% from 25 to 44, 24.1% from 45 to 64, and 11.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females there were 88.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 84.2 males.
The median income for a household in the township was $59,136, and the median income for a family was $64,635. Males had a median income of $39,439 versus $31,817 for females. The per capita income for the township was $21,724. About 3.2% of families and 5.3% of the population were below the poverty line, including 5.4% of those under age 18 and 9.1% of those age 65 or over.
[edit] History
Hillside was created from parcels of land carved out of neighboring Newark, Elizabeth, and Union. It originally contained the farms of Woodruff, Conant and Saybrook. Local streets still bear their names.
Hillside was incorporated shortly after the appearance of Halley's Comet in 1910, and for that reason, the team nickname of Hillside High School is the "Comets." Several local businesses take the name "Comet" for the same reason. The Hillside Historical Society was established in the 1980s in the Woodruff home on Conant Street, perhaps the township's oldest. Jean-Ray Turner, a reporter for the Elizabeth Daily Journal, wrote Along the Upper Road, in the 1970s, a book of the history of Hillside.
Hillside has been the home of Bristol-Myers Squibb and for years was the site of the Lionel Trains factory. The town thrived for decades and reached an economic peak in the 1960s. Blue collar workers who lived primarily in the central part of town were employed in local manufacturing concerns. White collar workers established the neighborhood known as Westminster where Yankee shortstop and broadcaster Phil Rizzuto lived for most of his adult life. That section of town also included the private Pingry School for boys, which became co-ed in 1974.
In the 1950s and 1960s the township was approximately one-half Jewish, many of whom lived either in Westminster or in the area of Hillside near Chancellor Avenue, adjacent to the Weequahic, section of Newark. This section of Newark was the early home of comedian Jerry Lewis and writer Philip Roth ("Portnoy's Complaint").
In the early 1950s the township established Conant Park, its largest. The park is bounded by the Elizabeth River and Conant Street. At the rear area of the park near Pingry School was the boundary of the Kean Estate, the boyhood home of governor, Thomas Kean (1982-1990). The wealthy Kean family also donated the land on Morris Avenue and helped to establish Newark Normal College in 1885, which has been renamed Kean University in the family's honor. Also in the 1950s the Town Hall, Police Headquarters and Municipal Library were constructed at the corner of Liberty and Hillside Avenues.
Popular township organizations included Rotary, Kiwanis, Knights of Columbus, Elks, the Hillside Industrial Association, the Hillside Business and Professional Women's Club, the Republican Club and the Democratic Club, as well as a number of ethnic clubs and associations.
In the eighties, following an issue with the Hillside Police Department, the Reverend Al Sharpton held a rally outside Town Hall on Hillside Avenue.
In many ways Hillside was a microcosm of the political, economic and sociological forces that shaped America in the post World War II era. These included the original baby-boomers in the 1950s, the abandonment of the township in the 1970s by both the baby-boomers and their parents, the simultaneous settlement and integration by blacks following the Newark race riots in the 1960s, the influx of Hispanic and Portuguese in the 1980s, the rise and fall of the manufacturing-based local economy and more.
[edit] Government
[edit] Local government
Hillside is governed under the Faulkner Act (Mayor-Council) form of New Jersey municipal government, by a mayor and a seven-member Township Council. Four council embers come from wards and three are elected at large, all elected to four-year terms in office on a staggered basis in non-partisan elections.[8]
The Mayor of Hillside is Karen McCoy Oliver. The members of the Hillside Township Council are:[9]
- Council President Leonard D. Gilbert
- Council Vice President John Kulish
- Council at Large Jerome P. Jewel
- Council at Large Frank Deo
- 1st Ward Council Edward Brewer
- 2nd Ward Council Shelley-Ann Bates
- 3rd Ward Council John G. Kulish
- 4th Ward Council Gerald Freedman
[edit] Federal, state and county representation
Hillside Township is in the Tenth Congressional District and is part of New Jersey's 29th Legislative District.[10]
New Jersey's Tenth Congressional District, covering portions of Essex County, Hudson County, and Union County, is represented by Donald M. Payne (D, Newark). New Jersey is represented in the Senate by Frank Lautenberg (D, Cliffside Park) and Bob Menendez (D, Hoboken).
For the 2008-2009 Legislative Session, the 29th District of the New Jersey Legislature is represented in the State Senate by Teresa Ruiz (D, Newark) and in the Assembly by Alberto Coutinho (D, Newark) and L. Grace Spencer (D, Newark).[11] The Governor of New Jersey is Jon Corzine (D, Hoboken).[12]
Union County is governed by a nine-member Board of Chosen Freeholders, elected at-large to three-year terms on a staggered basis. As of the January 2008 reorganization, Union County's Freeholders are Freeholder Chairman Angel G. Estrada (Elizabeth), Freeholder Vice Chairman Alexander Mirabella (Roselle Park), Chester Holmes (Rahway), Bette Jane Kowalski (Cranford), Rick Proctor (Rahway), Deborah P. Scanlon (Union), Daniel P. Sullivan (Elizabeth), Rayland Van Blake (Plainfield) and Nancy Ward (Linden).[13]
[edit] Education
The Hillside Public Schools serve students in kindergarten through twelfth grade. Schools in the district (with 2005-06 enrollment data from the National Center for Education Statistics[14]) are A.P. Morris Early Childhood Center & Saybrook Annex for grades K-2 (874 students), three elementary schools for grades 3-6 — Calvin Coolidge (209) Hurden Looker (445) and , George Washington (333) — Walter O. Krumbiegel Middle School for grades 7 and 8 (467), and Hillside High School for grades 9-12 (1,048). Hillside High School on Liberty Avenue was originally constructed in 1941, replacing the Coe Avenue (A.P. Morris) School which became a grammar school. Additions were later added to accommodate the baby-boomers of the 1950s and 1960s. In the mid-sixties the high school held some 1,500 students.
Catholic grammar schools included Christ the King on Columbia Ave and St. Catherine's of Sienna School in Elizabeth on North Broad Street until the two were merged in 2004 to form Hillside Catholic Academy, with the students from both schools together at the facility on Bloy Street.[15]
[edit] Transportation
There is New Jersey Transit bus service to New York City and New Jersey points. There is one train line that passes through the town but there are no stations. The Irvington Branch of the Lehigh Valley Railroad breaks off of the mainline.
Newark Liberty International Airport is approximately four miles east of Hillside.
Garden State Parkway, U.S. Route 22, and Interstate 78 are located in Hillside. A toll gate is located on the northbound lanes of the parkway, approaching the interchange for 78. At the present time, the interchange between 78 & the parkway is lacking certain ramp movements due to the cancellation of Interstate 278. This is to be corrected by 2012.
[edit] Notable residents
Some noted current and former residents:
- William Bendix, (1908-1964) actor (Lifeboat, Life of Riley), lived here in the 1930s.[16]
- Michael V. Gazzo, (1923-1995), playwright (A Hatful of Rain) and Academy Award-nominated film actor (birthplace)
- Rollie Massimino, (b. 1934), college basketball coach, led Villanova University's win in the 1985 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship (childhood home)
- Kendall Ogle, (b.1976), 1999 draft pick of the National Football League's Cleveland Browns.[17]
- Tab Ramos, (b. 1966), footballer and member of the United States' 1990 and 1994 World Cup teams (childhood home).[18]
- Tiffany Rayne, porn star, Hustler covergirl, May 2006
- Phil Rizzuto, (1917-2007), Hall of Fame baseball player (longtime resident).[19]
- Arthur Seale, (b. 1946), serving life sentence for 1980s kidnapping, murder of Exxon oil executive, Sidney Reso.[20]
- Hela Young, (1949-2002), Miss New Jersey 1971, New Jersey Pick 6 television host.[21]
[edit] Evergreen Cemetery
Hillside is the site of Evergreen Cemetery, known locally as the burial site of many Roma (or Gypsy) families and a number of notable writers, including:
- Stephen Crane, author of The Red Badge of Courage
- Mary Mapes Dodge, author of Hans Brinker or The Silver Skates
- Edward Stratemeyer, creator of the Hardy Boys, Bobbsey Twins, Nancy Drew, Rover Boys, and Tom Swift series, among others
[edit] References in Pop Culture
- Hip hop artist Lauryn Hill mentions Hillside on her album The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill. In the song "Every Ghetto, Every City," in which she describes her experiences growing up in New Jersey, she raps, "Hillside brings beef with the cops."
[edit] References
- ^ USGS GNIS: Township of Hillside, Geographic Names Information System. Accessed January 4, 2008.
- ^ a b Census data for Hillside township, United States Census Bureau. Accessed August 16, 2007.
- ^ a b American FactFinder. United States Census Bureau. Retrieved on 2008-01-31.
- ^ US Board on Geographic Names. United States Geological Survey (2007-10-25). Retrieved on 2008-01-31.
- ^ "The Story of New Jersey's Civil Boundaries: 1606-1968", John P. Snyder, Bureau of Geology and Topography; Trenton, New Jersey; 1969. p. 239.
- ^ US Gazetteer files: 2000 and 1990. United States Census Bureau (2005-05-03). Retrieved on 2008-01-31.
- ^ Jersey Resident Population by Municipality: 1930 - 1990, Workforce New Jersey Public Information Network. Accessed March 1, 2007.
- ^ 2005 New Jersey Legislative District Data Book, Rutgers University Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy, April 2005, p. 131.
- ^ Hillside Council, Township of Hillside. Accessed April 14, 2008.
- ^ 2006 New Jersey Citizen's Guide to Government, New Jersey League of Women Voters, p. 55. Accessed August 30, 2006.
- ^ Legislative Roster: 2008-2009 Session, New Jersey Legislature. Accessed June 6, 2008.
- ^ About the Governor, New Jersey. Accessed June 6, 2008.
- ^ Board of Chosen Freeholders, Union County, New Jersey. Accessed February 20, 2008.
- ^ Data for the Hillside Public Schools, National Center for Education Statistics. Accessed April 14, 2008.
- ^ About our School, Hillside Catholic Academy. Accessed November 20, 2007.
- ^ Levy, Clifford J. "Rizzuto's the Talk of the Town", The New York Times, July 30, 1994. Accessed [{April 14]], 2008. ""This is a small town, who else we got?" asked Charlie Decker, 61, a drinking mate of Mr. Ciesla's who disagreed with his views on Mr. Rizzuto. "Him, and we had William Bendix, the actor, and that woman who picks the numbers from the bucket in the New Jersey lottery.""
- ^ NFL Draft: Kendall Ogle, Linebacker, Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, accessed April 16, 2007.
- ^ A Yank's Goal: Gain in Spain, International Herald Tribune, March 11, 1992. "Ramos, 25, a midfielder from Hillside, New Jersey, has played for Figueras of the Spanish second division since 1990."
- ^ Holy Cow! Rizzuto selling much of his memorabilia, Sports Illustrated, February 3, 2006. "Rizzuto is downsizing in preparation for a move from the family's longtime house in Hillside, N.J., to a smaller home."
- ^ Nieves, Evelyn. "Portrait of 2 Accused of Kidnapping: Ardent, Hapless Pursuit of Affluence", The New York Times, June 28, 1992. Accessed October 2, 2007. "Growing up in Hillside, N.J., Arthur Seale and Jackie Szarko were more than comfortable."
- ^ Archived copy of obituary, Newsday, February 27, 2002.
[edit] External links
- Official Website
- Union County web page for Hillside Township (dead as of 2007-09-13)
- Hillside Public Schools
- Hillside Public Schools's 2006-07 School Report Card from the New Jersey Department of Education
- Data for the Hillside Public Schools, National Center for Education Statistics
- Hillside, New Jersey is at coordinates Coordinates:
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