HILLSIDE, NEW JERSEY

'Hillside' is a township in Union County, New Jersey, United States. As of the United States 2000 Census, the township population was 21,747.
Hillside was incorporated as a township on April 3, 1913, from portions of Union Township, based on the results of a referendum held on April 29, 1913."The Story of New Jersey's Civil Boundaries: 1606-1968", John P. Snyder, Bureau of Geology and Topography; Trenton, New Jersey; 1969. p. 239.
The town is split between area codes 908 and 973.

Contents

Geography

Demographics

History

Government

Local government

Federal, state and county representation

Education

Transportation

Notable residents

Evergreen Cemetery

References in Pop Culture

References

External links

Geography

Hillside is located at (40.695552, -74.228561).
The township is located on the northern edge of Union County and is bordered to the northwest by Irvington and to the north and northeast by Newark, both in Essex County. Elizabeth borders Hillside to the east and southeast, while Union borders to the west.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the township has a total area of 7.2 km² (2.8 mi²), all land.

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 21,747 people, 7,161 households, and 5,578 families residing in the township. The population density was 3,009.5/km² (7,793.6/mi²). There were 7,388 housing units at an average density of 1,022.4/km² (2,647.7/mi²). The racial makeup of the township was 40.03% White, 46.54% African American, 0.23% Native American, 3.45% Asian, 0.08% Pacific Islander, 5.26% from other races, and 4.41% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 14.50% of the population. 11% of the current population is of Portuguese ancestry or origin.
There were 7,161 households out of which 36.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 53.5% were married couples living together, 18.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 22.1% were non-families. 18.0% of all households were made up of individuals and 7.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.04 and the average family size was 3.45.
In the township the population was spread out with 25.6% under the age of 18, 8.9% from 18 to 24, 30.3% from 25 to 44, 24.1% from 45 to 64, and 11.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females there were 88.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 84.2 males.
The median income for a household in the township was $59,136, and the median income for a family was $64,635. Males had a median income of $39,439 versus $31,817 for females. The per capita income for the township was $21,724. About 3.2% of families and 5.3% of the population were below the poverty line, including 5.4% of those under age 18 and 9.1% of those age 65 or over.

History

Hillside was created from parcels of land carved out of neighboring Newark, Elizabeth, and Union. It originally contained the farms of Woodruff, Conant and Saybrook. Local streets still bear their names.
Hillside was incorporated shortly after the appearance of Halley's Comet in 1910, and for that reason, the team nickname of Hillside High School is the "Comets." Several local businesses take the name "Comet" for the same reason. The Hillside Historical Society was established in the 1980s in the Woodruff home on Conant Street, perhaps the township's oldest. Jean-Ray Turner, a reporter for the Elizabeth Daily Journal, wrote ''Along the Upper Road,'' in the 1970s, a book of the history of Hillside.
Hillside has been the home of Bristol-Myers Squibb and for years was the site of the Lionel Trains factory. The town thrived for decades and reached an economic peak in the 1960s. Blue collar workers who lived primarily in the central part of town were employed in local manufacturing concerns. White collar workers established the neighborhood known as Westminster where Yankee shortstop and broadcaster Phil Rizzuto lived for most of his adult life. That section of town also included the private Pingry School for boys.
In the 1950s and 1960s the township was approximately one-half Jewish, many of whom lived either in Westminster or in the area of Hillside near Chancellor Avenue, adjacent to the Weequahic, section of Newark. This section of Newark was the early home of comedian Jerry Lewis and writer Philip Roth ("Portnoy's Complaint").
In the early 1950s the township established Conant Park, its largest. The park is bounded by the Elizabeth River and Conant Street. At the rear area of the park near Pingry School was the boundary of the Kean Estate, the boyhood home of the future governor, Thomas Kean. The wealthy Kean family also donated the land on Morris Avenue and helped to establish Newark State Teachers College, which today has been expanded and renamed Kean College in the family's honor. Also in the 1950s the Town Hall, Police Headquarters and Municipal Library were constructed at the corner of Liberty and Hillside Avenues.
Popular township organizations included Rotary, Kiwanis, Knights of Columbus, Elks, the Hillside Industrial Association, the Hillside Business and Professional Women's Club, the Republican Club and the Democratic Club, as well as a number of ethnic clubs and associations.
In the eighties, following an issue with the Hillside Police Department, the Reverend Al Sharpton held a rally outside Town Hall on Hillside Avenue.
In many ways Hillside was a microcosm of the political, economic and sociological forces that shaped America in the post World War II era. These included the original baby-boomers in the 1950s, the abandonment of the township in the 1970s by both the baby-boomers and their parents, the simultaneous settlement and integration by blacks following the Newark race riots in the 1960s, the influx of Hispanic and Portuguese in the 1980s, the rise and fall of the manufacturing-based local economy and more.

Government

Local government

The Mayor of Hillside is Karen McCoy Oliver. The members of the Hillside Township Council are:^[1]

★ Council at Large Dr. Frank Deo

★ Council Vice President Joseph Pinckney

★ Council at Large Leonard D. Gilbert

★ Council at Large Jerome P. Jewel

★ 2nd Ward Council Shelley-Ann Bates

★ 3rd Ward Council John G. Kulish

★ 4th Ward Council Gerald Freedman

Federal, state and county representation

Hillside Township is in the Tenth Congressional District and is part of New Jersey's 29th Legislative District.^[2]

Education

The Hillside Public Schools serve students in kindergarten through twelfth grade. Schools in the district include
A.P. Morris Early Childhood Center & Saybrook Annex for grades K-2,
three elementary schools for grades 3-6 (
Calvin Coolidge,
George Washington and
Hurden Looker),
Walter O. Krumbiegel Middle School for grades 7 and 8, and
Hillside High School for grades 9-12.
Hillside High School on Liberty Avenue was originally constructed in 1941, replacing the Coe Avenue (A.P. Morris) School which became a grammar school. Additions were later added to accommodate the baby-boomers of the 1950s and 1960s. In the mid-sixties the high school held some 1,500 students.
Private schools included the prestigious Pingry School for boys on North Avenue and Vale Dean School for girls at the end of North Avenue just over the border in Elizabeth. Catholic grammar schools included Christ the King on Bloy Street and St. Catherine's on North Broad Street.

Transportation

New Jersey Transit provides bus service to New York City and New Jersey points. NJ Transit's Raritan Valley Line passes through Hillside via the tracks of the former Lehigh Valley Railroad but there is currently no station in the community. The former Irvington Branch of the Lehigh Valley Railroad breaks off of the mainline.
Newark Liberty International Airport is approximately four miles east of Hillside.
Hillside hosts the Garden State Parkway, U.S. Route 22, and Interstate 78. A toll gate is located on the northbound lanes of the parkway, approaching the interchange for 78.
At the present time, the interchange between 78 & the parkway is lacking certain ramp movements due to the cancellation of Interstate 278. This is to be corrected by 2012.

Notable residents

Some noted current and former residents:

★ William Bendix, (1908-1964) actor (''Lifeboat'', ''Life of Riley''), lived here in the 1930s.

★ Michael V. Gazzo, (1923-1995), playwright (''A Hatful of Rain'') and Academy Award-nominated film actor (birthplace)

★ Rollie Massimino, (b. 1934), college basketball coach, led Villanova University's win in the 1985 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship (childhood home)

★ Kendall Ogle, (b.1976), 1999 draft pick of the National Football League's Cleveland Browns.^[3]

★ Tab Ramos, (b. 1966), footballer and member of the United States' 1990 and 1994 World Cup teams (childhood home).^[4]

★ Tiffany Rayne, porn star, ''Hustler'' covergirl, May 2006

★ Phil Rizzuto, (1917-2007), Hall of Fame baseball player (longtime resident).^[5]

★ Arthur Seale, (b. 1946), serving life sentence for 1980s kidnapping, murder of Exxon oil executive, Sidney Reso

★ Hela Young, (1949-2002), Miss New Jersey 1971, New Jersey Pick 6 television host.^[6]

Evergreen Cemetery

Hillside is the site of Evergreen Cemetery, known locally as the burial site of many Roma (or Gypsy) families and a number of notable writers, including:

★ Stephen Crane, American novelist

★ Mary Mapes Dodge, author of Hans Brinker or The Silver Skates

★ Edward Stratemeyer, creator of the Hardy Boys, Bobbsey Twins, Nancy Drew, Rover Boys, and Tom Swift series, among others

References in Pop Culture

★ Hip hop artist Lauryn Hill mentions Hillside on her album ''The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill''. In the song "Every Ghetto, Every City," in which she describes her experiences growing up in New Jersey, she raps, "Hillside brings beef with the cops."

References

1. Union County webpage for Hillside Township, Hillside Township. Accessed March 24, 2007.
2. 2006 New Jersey Citizen's Guide to Government, New Jersey League of Women Voters, p. 55. Accessed August 30, 2006.
3. NFL Draft: Kendall Ogle, Linebacker, ''Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel'', accessed April 16, 2007.
4. A Yank's Goal: Gain in Spain, ''International Herald Tribune'', March 11, 1992. "Ramos, 25, a midfielder from Hillside, New Jersey, has played for Figueras of the Spanish second division since 1990."
5. Holy Cow! Rizzuto selling much of his memorabilia, ''Sports Illustrated'', February 3, 2006. "Rizzuto is downsizing in preparation for a move from the family's longtime house in Hillside, N.J., to a smaller home."
6. Archived copy of obituary, ''Newsday'', February 27, 2002.

External links

★ Union County web page for Hillside Township

★ Hillside Public Schools

★

★ National Center for Education Statistics data for the Hillside Public Schools