About Bloomfield
Bloomfield is a township in Essex County, New Jersey, is over 200 years old and named in honor of General Joseph Bloomfield, a Revolutionary War hero and one-time governor of New Jersey. It surrounds the Bloomfield Green Historic District. Bloomfield is both residential and commercial in character. If one were to stand on the Revolutionary War Parade grounds, known as “The Green,” surrounded by beautiful colonial-style homes, you would feel the striking peacefulness of a New England village. Intersected by the Garden State Parkway, this town of moderately priced homes just 15 miles from midtown Manhattan. A recent transportation enhancement is NJ Transit’s Montclair Connection being routed through Bloomfield directly into Penn Station, shaving 15 minutes off the current half-hour commute to Manhattan and eliminating the transfer to the NJPATH train in Hoboken.
Bloomfield has a public library and two arts centers (Oakside-Bloomfield Cultural Center and Westminster Theater) which is part of Bloomfield College but open to the public.
Bloomfield has two county parks.
Brookdale Park, established in 1928, covers over 121 acres in the areas of Bloomfield and Montclair, establishing it as the third-largest park in Essex County (77 acres in Bloomfield).
Watsessing Park, which is Essex county’s fourth largest park, is 70-acres in the south section of town, split between Bloomfield and East Orange (60 acres in Bloomfield) Watsessing features sections of the Second River and Toney’s Brook which flows through the park.
Both parks are administered by the Essex County Department of Parks, Recreation, and Cultural Affairs. There are also 55 acres of local parks, which include Memorial Park (John F. Kennedy Drive), Halcyon Park, and several other playground facilities.
New upscale housing developments have been built in and around Bloomfield Center, operating within the transportation hub, most noteworthy is Avalon Bloomfield Station, consisting of several hundred units. Honorable mention includes Parkway Lofts, Heritage, and The Grove.
Overall, Bloomfield is a socially growing hub of Essex County with a wide range of facilities and services for its residents. Currently experiencing historic growth in retail, residential and entertainment venues aimed to cater to individuals of all demographics and family dynamics.
Recently the township decided to Go Green with an electric fleet of cars. The Township of Bloomfield has recently purchased and put into use four new Chevy Bolts . There are currently a total of six electric vehicle charging stations in the municipal parking lot, with plans to add more in the coming months. Charging stations will also be added at the Glenwood Garage. Residents will have access to public charging stations at the rate of $2 per full charge.
Other Facts
The original land that became Bloomfield was conferred to the English Puritan colonists of Newark, the area assigned to Essex County in 1675, and Newark Township in 1693. From then on until the early 1700s, much of the land was sold to heirs of New Netherland colonists who had settled Acquackanonk. The rest mostly sold to English families. Speertown (now Upper Montclair), Stone House Plains (now Brookdale), and Second River (now Belleville and Nutley) were effectively Dutch and Jersey Dutch speaking, while Cranetown, Watsessing, and the Morris Neighborhood (now North Center) were predominantly English. Over time the English and Dutch neighborhoods unified, with Thomas Cadmus being among the first Dutchmen to settle in an English neighborhood.
Numerous residents served in the Revolutionary War and General George Washington is believed to have visited at least two residences. The Presbyterian Society of Bloomfield was formed in 1794 and named in honor of then-brigadier Joseph Bloomfield, commander of New Jersey troops in the Whiskey Rebellion.
When incorporated, the township covered 20.52 square miles which is almost four times its current area of 5.3 square miles. It included several municipalities which were formed from areas of Bloomfield including Belleville (created on April 8, 1839), Montclair (April 15, 1868), Woodside Township (March 24, 1869) and Glen Ridge (February 13, 1895).
Bloomfield was incorporated as a township on February 26, 1900.
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