History:
In 1667 Reverend Abraham Pierson and several Elizabethtown families purchased a track of land northwest of that community and established the settlement which would eventually become Union Township. Since the group had originally hailed from Connecticut, their settlement was named Connecticut Farms. This rich farmland, bought from the Indians, cost between twelve and fifteen cents per square mile, and each family was allotted 150 acres for farming, as well as six acres for a house lot.
Between 1901 and 1913, several outlying sections of the Township became the autonomous municipalities of Roselle Park, Kenilworth and Hillside. Following World War I, the Rahway Valley Railroad and Lehigh Valley Railroad were constructed through the Township. The automobile age had also begun, and Union entered a period of rapid development. Between 1920 and 1930 the population increased from 3,962 to 16,472. Following World War II, a number of light industries developed rapidly, and the pressures of suburbanization led to the disappearance of much of Union’s farmland. Today, it has the second largest population in Union County. The community now consists primarily of single family homes and clean, light industry on the periphery of town, which provides employment for many Township residents.
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