Edison is a township in Middlesex County, New Jersey, United States. Situated in Central New Jersey within the core of the state's Raritan Valley region, Edison is a commercial hub (home to Menlo Park Mall and Little India) and is a bedroom community of New York City within the New York metropolitan area.
As of the 2020 United States census, the township was the state's sixth-most-populous municipality, with a population of 107,588, an increase of 7,621 (+7.6%) from the 2010 census count of 99,967, which in turn reflected an increase of 2,280 (+2.3%) from the 97,687 counted in the 2000 census.
What is now Edison Township was originally incorporated as Raritan Township by an act of the New Jersey Legislature on March 17, 1870, from portions of both Piscataway and Woodbridge Township. The township was originally named after the Raritan indigenous people. Portions of the township were taken to form Metuchen on March 20, 1900, and Highland Park on March 15, 1905. The name was officially changed to Edison Township on November 10, 1954, in honor of inventor Thomas Edison, who had his main laboratory in the Menlo Park section of the township.
History
Early history
The earliest residents of the area were the Raritan people of the Lenape Native Americans, who lived there and traveled through it to the shore. In 1646, Chief Matouchin led a group of 1,200 warriors.
Edison Township, which was formed from sections of Piscataway and Woodbridge townships, was settled (by Europeans) in the 17th century. The earliest village was Piscatawaytown, which is centered around St. James Church and the Piscatawaytown Common, near the intersection of Plainfield and Woodbridge Avenues in South Edison. The Laing House of Plainfield Plantation (listed on the National Register in 1988), the Benjamin Shotwell House (listed 1987) and the Homestead Farm at Oak Ridge (listed 1995), are buildings from the colonial era included in National Register of Historic Places listings in Middlesex County.
The community was previously known as "Raritan Township", not to be confused with the current-day Raritan Township in Hunterdon County.
The Edison era
In 1876, Thomas Edison set up his home and research laboratory in New Jersey on the site of an unsuccessful real estate development in Raritan Township called "Menlo Park", (currently located in Edison State Park). While there, he earned the nickname "the Wizard of Menlo Park". Before his death at age 83 in 1931, the prolific inventor amassed a record 1,093 patents for creations including the phonograph, a stock ticker, the motion-picture camera, the incandescent light bulb, a mechanical vote counter, the alkaline storage battery, including one for an electric car, and the first commercial electric light.
The Menlo Park lab was significant in that it was one of the first laboratories to pursue practical, commercial applications of research. It was in his Menlo Park laboratory that Thomas Edison came up with the phonograph and a commercially viable incandescent light bulb filament. Christie Street was the first street in the world to use electric lights for illumination. Edison subsequently left Menlo Park and moved his home and laboratory to West Orange in 1886.
20th century
Near Piscatawaytown village, a portion of the township was informally known as "Nixon", after Lewis Nixon, a manufacturer and community leader. Soon after the outbreak of World War I, Nixon established a massive, volatile-chemical processing facility there, known as the Nixon Nitration Works. It was the site of the 1924 Nixon Nitration Works disaster, a massive explosion and resulting fire that killed 20 people and destroyed several square miles of the township.
In 1954, the township's name was changed to honor inventor Thomas A. Edison. Also on the ballot in 1954 was a failed proposal to change the community's name to Nixon.
In 1959, the Menlo Park Mall, a two-level super regional shopping mall, opened on U.S. Route 1.
21st century
Edison has been one of the fastest-growing municipalities in New Jersey. As of the 2000 United States census, it was the fifth most-populated municipality in the state, after the cities of Newark, Jersey City, Paterson, and Elizabeth.
Edison is primarily a middle-class community with more than 75 ethnic communities represented. Edison has a large Jewish community near Highland Park, with multiple synagogues. Edison also has a growing Indian community and some temples that serve its religious needs. Reflecting the number of Edison's residents from India and China, the township has sister city arrangements with Shijiazhuang, China, and Baroda, India.
Edison was ranked the 28th most-livable small city in the United States by CNN Money magazine, and second in New Jersey in 2006 in Money magazine's "Best Places To Live". In 2008, two years later, Money ranked the township 35th out of the top 100 places to live in the United States. In the 2006 survey of America's Safest Cities, the township was ranked 23rd, out of 371 cities included nationwide, in the 13th annual Morgan Quitno survey. In 2009, Edison was ranked as one of "America's 10 Best Places to Grow Up" by U.S. News & World Report. The rankings focused on low crime, strong schools, green spaces, and an abundance of recreational activities. In 2014, parenting.com ranked Edison as the top safest city in America.
Geography
According to the United States Census Bureau, the township had a total area of 30.69 square miles (79.49 km2), including 30.06 square miles (77.86 km2) of land and 0.63 square miles (1.63 km2) of water (2.05%).
Edison is on the east side of Raritan Valley (a line of communities in central New Jersey), along with Plainfield, and surrounds the borough of Metuchen, making it part of 21 pairs of "doughnut towns" in the state, where one municipality surrounds another. The township borders the municipalities of East Brunswick, Highland Park, New Brunswick, Piscataway, Sayreville, South Plainfield and Woodbridge Township in Middlesex County; Clark, Plainfield and Scotch Plains in Union County.
Edison has numerous sections and neighborhoods. Unincorporated communities, localities and place names located partially or completely within the township include Bonhamtown, Briarwood East, Camp Kilmer, Centerville, Clara Barton, Eggert Mills, Greensand, Haven Homes, Lahiere, Lincoln Park, Lindenau, Martins Landing, Menlo Park, Millville, New Dover, New Durham, Nixon, North Edison, Oak Tree, Phoenix, Potters, Pumptown, Raritan Arsenal, Raritan Manor, Sand Hills, Silver Lake, Stelton, Stephenville, Valentine, and Washington Park.
Edison is about halfway between Midtown Manhattan, and New Jersey's capitol, Trenton, being about 27 miles (43 km) from each.
While the township's topography is mostly flat, there are some hillier areas, especially along the Perth Amboy Moraine, which forms an arc across the township, left by the southern limit of the Laurentide ice sheet. The highest point is on Grandview Avenue, which reaches a maximum elevation of about 220 feet (67 m). The lowest elevation in the township is at sea level on the Raritan River.
The Robinsons Branch of the Rahway River flows through Edison en route to the Robinson's Branch Reservoir.
Climate
Extreme temperatures in Edison have ranged from −17 °F (−27 °C), recorded in February 1934, to 106 °F (41 °C), recorded in July 1936 and August 1949.
According to the Köppen Climate Classification system, Edison has a humid subtropical climate (Cfa), with abundant rainfall year-round, though late summer months tend to receive more rain. Summers tend to be hot and humid with frequent rain, and winters tend to be cool to cold, with snowfall an annual occurrence, falling multiple times each winter.
Demographics
Edison is home to one of the region's main centers of Asian American cultural diversity. The township was 50.0% ethnically Asian by population as of the 2020 Census.
Oak Tree Road is a South Asian-focused commercial strip in Middlesex County, the U.S. county with the highest concentration of Indians in the New York City metropolitan region. The Oak Tree Road strip runs for about one-and-a-half miles through Edison and neighboring Iselin in Woodbridge Township, near the area's sprawling Chinatown and Koreatown, running along New Jersey Route 27. It is the largest and most diverse South Asian cultural hub in the United States. In Middlesex County, election ballots are printed in English, Spanish, Gujarati, Hindi, and Punjabi. As part of the 2020 Census, 34.9% of Edison residents identified themselves as being Indian American, an increase from 28.3% in 2010. In the 2000 Census, 17.75% of Edison residents identified themselves as being Indian American, the highest percentage of Indian-American people of any municipality in the United States with 1,000 or more residents identifying their ancestry. The Oak Tree Road corridor also serves as a focal point for South Asian cultural life in New Jersey, with annual Navratri Garba dances, Diwali street festivals, and other community celebrations drawing large crowds. The nearby New Jersey Convention and Exposition Center in Raritan Center frequently hosts Indian cultural expos and wedding conventions, further highlighting the township's role as a hub of South Asian commerce and culture. Edison is also home to numerous Hindu temples, Sikh gurdwaras, and mosques that serve the township's South Asian population, alongside community media such as TV Asia, one of the first 24-hour South Asian television networks in the United States. The township's demographic concentration has also made Oak Tree Road a frequent campaign stop for political candidates seeking to engage Indian American voters.
Edison also has a significant Chinese population. The town contains several Chinese-language schools and cultural associations. The area near the borders with Highland Park and the Livingston Campus at Rutgers University in Piscataway, has some Chinese food establishments, including Kam Man Food, 99 Ranch Market, and various dim sum, dumpling, dessert, and tea shops as well as the pan-Asian Korean-founded supermarket, H Mart. Other Chinese operations in Edison include Sino Monthly magazine and Chinese News Weekly.
The township's Lunar New Year parade typically travels northbound from Division Street to festivities in Papaianni Park by the lake and township municipal building.
Edison is also home to a large Jewish community, especially Orthodox. The world's largest gathering of rabbis outside Israel took place at the New Jersey Convention and Exposition Center in December 2024.
2010 census
The 2010 United States census counted 99,967 people, 34,972 households, and 26,509 families in the township. The population density was 3,339.0 per square mile (1,289.2/km2). There were 36,302 housing units at an average density of 1,212.5 per square mile (468.1/km2). The racial makeup was 44.10% (44,084) White, 7.05% (7,046) Black or African American, 0.23% (229) Native American, 43.19% (43,177) Asian, 0.04% (36) Pacific Islander, 2.72% (2,718) from other races, and 2.68% (2,677) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino residents of any race were 8.11% (8,112) of the population.
Of the 34,972 households, 36.4% had children under the age of 18; 62.3% were married couples living together; 9.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 24.2% were non-families. Of all households, 20.4% were made up of individuals, and 7.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.80, and the average family size was 3.26.
22.7% of the population was under the age of 18, 7.6% from 18 to 24, 30.1% from 25 to 44, 27.0% from 45 to 64, and 12.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38.1 years. For every 100 females, the population had 95.8 males. For every 100 females ages 18 and older, there were 93.8 males.
The Census Bureau's 2006–2010 American Community Survey showed that (in 2010 inflation-adjusted dollars) median household income was $86,725 (with a margin of error of +/− $3,000) and the median family income was $100,008 (+/− $2,624). Males had a median income of $66,898 (+/− $4,094) versus $50,953 (+/− $1,462) for females. The per capita income for the township was $36,464 (+/− $1,184). About 3.5% of families and 7.2% of the population were below the poverty line, including 8.6% of those under age 18 and 6.3% of those age 65 or over.
2000 census
As of the 2000 United States census there were 97,687 people, 35,136 households, and 25,881 families residing in the township. The population density was 3,243.0 inhabitants per square mile (1,252.1/km2). There were 36,018 housing units at an average density of 1,195.7 per square mile (461.7/km2). The racial makeup of the township was 59.49% White, 29.27% Asian, 6.89% African American, 0.14% Native American, .04% Pacific Islander, 2.02% from other races, and 2.15% from two or more races. 6.37% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.