Piscataway is a township in Middlesex County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the township’s population was 56,044, reflecting an increase of 5,562 (+11.0%) from the 50,482 counted in the 2000 Census, which had in turn increased by 3,393 (+7.2%) from the 47,089 counted in 1990.
The name Piscataway may be derived from the area’s original Native American residents, transplants from near the Piscataqua River defining the coastal border between New Hampshire and Maine, whose name derives from peske (branch) and tegwe (tidal river), or alternatively from pisgeu (meaning “dark night”) and awa (“place of”) or from a Lenape language word meaning “great deer” or from words meaning “place of dark night”. The area was first settled in 1666 by Quakers and Baptists who had left the Puritan colony in New Hampshire.
Piscataway has advanced educational and research facilities due to the presence of Rutgers University, whose main campus spills into the township. High Point Solutions Stadium, home field for the Rutgers Scarlet Knights football team, is in Piscataway. Part of the Robert Wood Johnson Medical School is located in Piscataway as well.
In 2008, Money magazine ranked Piscataway 23rd out of the top 100 places to live in America. In 2014, the magazine ranked Piscataway 27th out of top 50 places to live in America.
On February 8, 1777, the Battle of Quibbletown, a running battle took place between approximately 2,000 British and Hessian troops under the command of British General Charles Lord Cornwallis and the local patriot militia led by Colonel Charles Scott and a separate militia commanded by Brigadier General Nathaniel Warner.
The township lies on the south side of the Raritan Valley, a line of cities in Central Jersey, along with New Brunswick, Highland Park and South Plainfield. Piscataway is 45 minutes southwest of New York City and 53 minutes northeast of Philadelphia.
As of the 2010 United States Census, there were 56,044 people, 17,050 households, and 12,958.000 families residing in the township. The population density was 2,975.5 per square mile (1,148.8/km2). There were 17,777 housing units at an average density of 943.8 per square mile (364.4/km2). The racial makeup of the township was 38.46% (21,554) White, 20.69% (11,596) Black or African American, 0.31% (173) Native American, 33.45% (18,744) Asian, 0.02% (13) Pacific Islander, 3.59% (2,011) from other races, and 3.48% (1,953) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 11.22% (6,289) of the population.
Source: Wikipedia
