Cranford is a township in Union County, New Jersey, United States. In 2018, The Star-Ledger named Cranford the best downtown in New Jersey, calling it “adorable [and] snowglobe-like.” New Jersey Monthly magazine ranked Cranford as its 34th best place to live in its 2010 rankings of the “Best Places To Live”.
Cranford was incorporated as a township by an act of the New Jersey Legislature on March 14, 1871, from portions of the Townships of Clark, Linden, Springfield, Union and Westfield. Portions of the township were taken to form Garwood (March 19, 1903) and Kenilworth (March 13, 1907). The township’s name is said to derive from the Crane family, including John Crane, who built a mill in 1720 along the Rahway River.
There are nine municipalities bordering the township: Garwood and Westfield to the west, Springfield Township to the north, Kenilworth to the northeast, Roselle and Roselle Park to the east, Linden to the southeast, Winfield Park and Clark to the south.
As of the 2010 United States Census, there were 22,625 people, 8,583 households, and 6,154 families residing in the township. The population density was 4,684.6 per square mile (1,808.7/km2). There were 8,816 housing units at an average density of 1,825.4 per square mile (704.8/km2). The racial makeup of the township was 91.85% (20,781) White, 2.62% (592) Black or African American, 0.08% (18) Native American, 2.84% (643) Asian, 0.02% (4) Pacific Islander, 1.03% (234) from other races, and 1.56% (353) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 6.51% (1,474) of the population.
Source: Wikipedia
