East Brunswick is a township in Middlesex County, New Jersey, United States. The suburban community is part of the New York City metropolitan area and is located on the southern shore of the Raritan River, directly adjacent to the city of New Brunswick. According to the 2010 United States Census, the township’s population was 47,512, reflecting an increase of 756 (+1.6%) from the 46,756 counted in the 2000 Census, which had in turn increased by 3,208 (+7.4%) from the 43,548 counted in the 1990 Census.
East Brunswick was incorporated as a township by an act of the New Jersey Legislature on February 28, 1860, from portions of both Monroe Township and North Brunswick Township. Portions of the township were taken to form Washington town within the township (February 23, 1870; became independent as South River on February 28, 1898), Helmetta (March 20, 1888), Milltown (January 29, 1889) and Spotswood (April 15, 1908).
As of the 2010 Census, the United States Census Bureau calculated that New Jersey’s center of population was located a few hundred feet east of Nenninger Lane, near the New Jersey Turnpike. Based on the results of the 2000 Census, the state’s center of population was located on Milltown Road in East Brunswick.
The general area of central New Jersey was once occupied by the Lenape Native Americans. According to a 1677 bill of sale now in the New Jersey State Museum in Trenton, New Jersey, Thomas Lawrence, a New York baker, purchased thousands of acres of land from local Native Americans named Querameck, Kesyacs, Isarick, Metapis, Peckawan, and Turantecas. In this document, the area is called Piscopeek, which later become known as Lawrence Brook, after its purchaser. Around the late 17th century, settlers began arriving in the northern part of East Brunswick, and by the mid-19th century, a small village had formed in the southeastern part, known as the Old Bridge section of the town, an area that was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1977.
The area today known as East Brunswick was incorporated in 1860 from parts of North Brunswick and Monroe townships, including the community of Old Bridge. Originally a farming community, suburban settlement started in the 1930s with improved road access. Large scale housing and road construction, especially after World War II, transformed East Brunswick into a more suburban community. The extension of the New Jersey Turnpike to East Brunswick in 1952 led to a sharp spike in population growth, with the 1950 Census population of 5,699 more than tripling to 19,965 as of the 1960 enumeration.
In the early 1970s a citizens group Concerned Citizens of East Brunswick sued the New Jersey Turnpike Authority over a proposed major widening project. The citizens group effectively won this case gaining concessions in turnpike design, scale and mitigation measures for noise and air quality. The citizens group presented technical data from their own experts and prevailed in what was one of the earliest technical confrontations regarding urban highway design related to environmental factors in U.S. history.
East Brunswick was also the site of the gunfight at Turnpike exit 9 shortly after midnight on May 2, 1973, in which a car being driven by Zayd Malik Shakur (born James F. Costan), with Assata Shakur (formerly JoAnne Chesimard) and Sundiata Acoli (born Clark Squire) as passengers, was stopped on the New Jersey Turnpike State Trooper James Harper, backed up by Trooper Werner Foerster in a second patrol vehicle. After Zayd Shakur was asked to step out of the car to address a discrepancy in his identification, a shootout ensued in which Trooper Foerster was shot twice in the head with his own gun. Zayd Shakur was killed, and both Assata Shakur and Trooper Harper were wounded.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the township had a total area of 22.270 square miles (57.679 km2), including 21.699 square miles (56.200 km2) of land and 0.571 square miles (1.479 km2) of water (2.56%).
The township lies on exit 9 of the New Jersey Turnpike. Its Municipal Building, named for 1970s Mayor Jean Walling, is located 31 miles (50 km) southwest of New York City’s Times Square and 49 miles (79 km) northeast of Center City, Philadelphia. It takes approximately 45–60 minutes to reach Midtown Manhattan or Center City, Philadelphia, depending on traffic and destination. Route 18 runs through the eastern part of the township.
Lawrence Brook, a tributary of the Raritan River, runs along the western border of the township. Farrington Lake and Westons Mill Pond are sections of the Lawrence Brook that have been widened by the presence of man-made dams.
The township borders the Middlesex County municipalities of Edison Township, Helmetta, Milltown, Monroe Township, New Brunswick, North Brunswick Township, Old Bridge Township, Sayreville, South River, South Brunswick Township and Spotswood.
As of the 2010 United States Census, there were 47,512 people, 16,810 households, and 13,179.040 families residing in the township. The population density was 2,189.6 per square mile (845.4/km2). There were 17,367 housing units at an average density of 800.4 per square mile (309.0/km2). The racial makeup of the township was 69.36% (32,954) White, 3.98% (1,890) Black or African American, 0.10% (48) Native American, 22.80% (10,835) Asian, 0.01% (6) Pacific Islander, 1.68% (798) from other races, and 2.06% (981) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 6.70% (3,184) of the population.
Source: Wikipedia
