Berkeley Heights

Berkeley Heights Real Estate Market

 

History

The earliest construction in Berkeley Heights began in an area that is now part of the 1,960 acre (7.9 kmē) Watchung Reservation, a Union County park that includes 305 acres (1.2 kmē) of the township.

The first European settler was Peter Willcox, who received a 424 acre (1.7 kmē) land grant in 1720 from the Elizabethtown Associates, a group that bought much of northern New Jersey from the Lenni Lenape Native Americans in the late 17th century. Mr. Willcox built a grist and lumber mill across Green Brook.

In 1793, a regional government was formed. It encompassed the area from present-day Springfield Township, Summit, New Providence, and Berkeley Heights, and was called Springfield Township. Growth continued in the area, and by 1809, Springfield Township divided into Springfield Township and New Providence Township. New Providence Township included Summit, New Providence, and Berkeley Heights.

In 1845, Mr. Willcox's heirs sold the mill to David Felt, a paper manufacturer from New York, who built a small village called Feltville around the mill. It included homes for workers and their families, dormitories, orchards, a post office and a general store with a church above it.

In 1860, Feltville was sold to sarsaparilla makers, after which it was used for a number of manufacturing operations, before going into bankruptcy in 1882. When residents moved away, it became known as Deserted Village, the remains of which consist of 130 acres on which there are seven houses, the store, the mill and a barn.

The site, on the National Register of Historic Places, is under restoration by the Union County Parks Department, with grants of almost $2 million from various state agencies. Deserted Village, in the Watchung Reservation, is open daily for unguided walking tours during daylight hours. Please note that if you would like to learn more about Feltville, you may be able to join the "Friends of Feltville" Yahoo! group by requesting membership from Matt Tomaso, MA, RPA, ABD, Acting Director, Center for Archaeological Studies, Montclair State University.

In 1869, Summit seceded from New Providence Township. The Borough of New Providence and the City of Summit both incorporated in 1899. Present day Berkeley Heights remained as New Providence Township, (a name it kept until 1952) but also chose to incorporate in 1899. Many of the townships and regional areas in New Jersey were separating into small, locally governed communities at that time due to acts of the New Jersey Legislature that made it economically advantageous for the communities to due so.

Early life in Berkeley Heights is documented in the Littell-Lord Farmhouse Museum & Farmstead (31 Horseshoe Road in Berkeley Heights), an 18-acre museum surrounding two houses, one of which was built in the 1750's and the other near the turn of the century. The museum is open 2-4 p.m. on the third Sunday of each month from April through December, or by appointment. Call (908) 464-0961 for more information.

Among the exhibits are a Victorian master bedroom and a Victorian children's room, furnished with period antiques. The children's room also has reproductions of antique toys, which visitors can play with. The museum, which is on the National Register of Historic Places, also includes an outbuilding that was used as a summer kitchen, a corncrib dating to the 19th century and a spring house, built around a spring and used for refrigeration.

Although the origin of the township's name has never been completely established, it is believed that the name Berkeley refers to Lord John Berkeley, one of the two proprietors who jointly held all of New Jersey by grant. The term "Heights" probably refers to the hilly section of the township. The township owes its rural character to its late development. Until 1941, when the American Telephone and Telegraph Company built its Bell Laboratories research facility in the township, it was a sleepy farming and resort community. According to a history compiled by the League of Women Voters in 1963, the population mushroomed to 9,500 in 1962 from 2,194 in 1940.

 

Location and Transportation

Berkeley Heights is a township in Union County, New Jersey, United States. As of the United States 2000 Census, the township population was 13,407.

The Berkeley Heights station is part of the Gladstone Branch of the New Jersey Transit commuter rail system, serving Hoboken Terminal, Newark Broad Street Station, and Penn Station in Midtown Manhattan. Berkeley Heights is also in close proximity of the Summit train station, which provides frequent commuter rail service to New York City.

Lakeland Bus Lines also provides commuter bus service to New York City.

Freight rail transportation is provided by Norfolk Southern via off-peak use of New Jersey Transit's Gladstone Branch line. The Berkeley Heights plant of Reheis Chemical located on Snyder Avenue is an active freight rail customer.

Newark Liberty International Airport is approximately 18 miles east of Berkeley Heights.

 

Corporate/Residential Community

Downtown Berkeley Heights is unofficially located along Springfield Avenue, approximately between the Plainfield Ave. intersection and the Snyder Avenue intersection. In addition, a post office, the Municipal Building, police station, train station, and many other shops and services are located in this part of town. There is an abundance of pizzerias, delicatessens and other restaurants in downtown Berkeley Heights.

A brick walk with personalized bricks engraved with the names of many long-time Berkeley Heights residents runs from near the railroad station towards Kings grocery store. A 9/11 memorial adjoins a wooded area alongside Park Avenue, just southwest of downtown.

 

Recreation

Located in Berkeley Heights are many municipal parks, including the largest one, Columbia Park (located along Plainfield Avenue). Columbia Park boasts tennis courts, two baseball fields, basketball courts, and a large children's play area. In addition to those located at each of the schools, athletic fields are located along Snyder Avenue (Sansone Field) and along Springfield Ave.

There are three Swimming clubs located in Berkeley Heights: the Berkeley Heights Community Pool (Locust Avenue), the Berkeley Swim Club (behind Columbia Park), and Berkeley Aquatic (off of Springfield Avenue).

Also, the Watchung Reservation and Passaic Valley Park are in the township and maintained by Union County. The Watchung Reservation has hiking trails, horseback riding trails, a large lake (Lake Surprise) and picnic areas.

 

Education

The Berkeley Heights Public Schools provide an education to over 2,815 students in six district schools. The superintendent of the district is Judith Rattner. The Board of Education and administrative offices for the district are located in the original Columbia School building on Plainfield Avenue, adjacent to middle school building. The Berkeley Heights Public School District consistently ranks among the best in New Jersey.

The Early Childhood Center at the Hamilton Terrace School houses pre-Kindergarten through first grade students. This school opened in 1997 after the Berkeley Heights school district bought the former Westlake School property. The concept of a pre-kindergarten - grade one school came about as a result of proposals to address school space issues in a way that would enhance the educational program in the district.

There are three elementary schools in the district, each of which houses students of grades two through five. These schools are the Mountain Park Elementary School, the Thomas P. Hughes Elementary School, and the William Woodruff Elementary School.

Columbia Middle School is the single middle school in the district. It houses grades six through eight.

Governor Livingston High School is the single high school in the district. It houses approximately 1000 students in grades nine through twelve. In addition to serving the public school students of Berkeley Heights Township, high school students from the neighboring Borough of Mountainside are educated at the high school as part of a sending / receiving relationship with the Mountainside School District. Governor Livingston also provides programs for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing and Cognitively Impaired, of which students are enrolled from all over north-central New Jersey.

There are three private pre-kindergarten schools in Berkeley Heights. The Westminster Nursery School is located at the corner of Plainfield Ave. and Mountain Avenue, the Union Village Nursery is located bordering Warren Township at the corner of Mountain Avenue and Hillcrest Road, and the Diamond Hill Montessori is located along Diamond Hill Road opposite McMane Avenue.

There are no primary or secondary private schools in Berkeley Heights.

 

Berkeley Heights Resources