PLAINFIELD, NEW JERSEY

'Plainfield' is a City in Union County, New Jersey, United States. As of the United States 2000 Census, the city population was 47,829.
Plainfield was originally formed as a township on April 5, 1847, from portions of Westfield Township, while the area was still part of Essex County. On March 19, 1857, it became part of the newly-created Union County. Plainfield was incorporated as a city by an Act of the New Jersey Legislature on April 21, 1869, from portions of Plainfield Township, based on the results of a referendum held that same day. The city and township coexisted until March 6, 1878, when Plainfield Township was dissolved and parts absorbed by Plainfield City and the remainder becoming Fanwood Township (now known as Scotch Plains)."The Story of New Jersey's Civil Boundaries: 1606-1968", John P. Snyder, Bureau of Geology and Topography; Trenton, New Jersey; 1969. p. 240.
Plainfield is nicknamed "The Queen City".^[1]

Contents

Geography

Demographics

History

Civil disturbance

Government

Local government

Federal, state and county representation

Education

Transportation

Plainfield Teacher's College hoax

Popular culture

Famous residents and natives

References

External links

Geography

Plainfield is located at (40.615352, -74.416070).
The city is located on the southwestern edge of Union County and is bordered by nine municipalities. Scotch Plains lies to the north and east, and Fanwood to the northeast. Bordered to the south are South Plainfield and Piscataway, and to the southwest lies Dunellen, all which are in Middlesex County. Green Brook lies to the southwest, North Plainfield lies to the north and Watchung borders to the northwest. All three of these municipalities are in Somerset County.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 15.6 km² (6.0 mi²), all land.

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 47,829 people, 15,137 households, and 10,898 families residing in the city. The population density was 3,057.4/km² (7,921.7/mi²). There were 16,180 housing units at an average density of 1,034.3/km² (2,679.8/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 21.45% White, 61.78% African American, 0.41% Native American, 0.93% Asian, 0.10% Pacific Islander, 10.78% from other races, and 4.55% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 25.16% of the population.
There were 15,137 households out of which 35.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 39.3% were married couples living together, 24.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 28.0% were non-families. 21.1% of all households were made up of individuals and 7.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.10 and the average family size was 3.49.
In the city the population was spread out with 27.5% under the age of 18, 10.2% from 18 to 24, 32.6% from 25 to 44, 20.5% from 45 to 64, and 9.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 33 years. For every 100 females there were 95.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 92.2 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $46,683, and the median income for a family was $50,774. Males had a median income of $33,460 versus $30,408 for females. The per capita income for the city was $19,052. About 12.2% of families and 15.9% of the population were below the poverty line, including 21.3% of those under age 18 and 12.6% of those age 65 or over.

History

It was settled in 1684 by Quakers, and incorporated as a city in 1869. Formerly a bedroom suburb in the New York metropolitan area, it has become the urban center of 10 closely allied municipalities, with diversified industries, including printing and the manufacture of chemicals, clothing, electronic equipment, and vehicular parts. Among the several 18th-century buildings remaining are a Friends' meetinghouse (1788), the Martine house (1717), and the Nathaniel Drake House (1746), known as George Washington's headquarters. Nearby Washington Rock is a prominent point of the Watchung Mountains and is reputed to be the vantage point from which Washington watched British troop movements.
In music history, Plainfield is known as the birthplace of P-Funk. George Clinton founded The Parliaments while working in a barber shop in Plainfield. Parliament - Funkadelic was inducted in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1997. Plainfield is now home to former New Jersey governor James McGreevey.

Civil disturbance

Plainfield was affected by the Plainfield riots in July 1967. This civil disturbance occurred in the wake of the larger Newark riots. One Plainfield police officer died, about fifty people were injured, and several hundred thousand dollars of property was damaged by looting and arson. The New Jersey National Guard restored order after three days of unrest. "Plainfield Burning: Black Rebellion in the Suburban North", Thomas J. Sugrue and Andrew M. Goodman, Journal of Urban History, vol. 33 (May 2007), pp. 368-401.

Government

Local government

Plainfield is governed by a mayor and a seven-member City Council, all of whom serve four-year terms in office.
The Mayor of the City of Plainfield is Sharon M. Robinson-Briggs (D), whose four-year term of office ends on December 31, 2009.^[2]
Members of the Plainfield City Council are:^[3]

★ Ward 1: Rayland Van Blake (D; 2006)

★ Ward 2: Cory Storch (D; 2007)

★ Ward 3: Don Davis (D; 2008)

★ Ward 4: Elliott Simmons (D; 2009)

★ Wards 1&4 at large: Linda Carter (D; 2007)

★ Wards 2&3 at large: Rashid Burney (D; 2006)

★ At large: Harold Gibson (D; 2008)

Federal, state and county representation

Plainfield is in the Sixth Congressional District and is part of New Jersey's 22nd Legislative District.^[4]

Education

The Plainfield Public School District includes the following schools (with 2003-04 enrollment data from the National Center for Education Statistics:
'Elementary Schools (grades K-5)'

★ Barlow Elementary School - 383 students

★ Cedarbrook Elementary School - 527 students

★ Clinton Elementary School - 273 students

★ Cook Elementary School - 286 students

★ Emerson Elementary School - 591 students

★ Evergreen Elementary School - 503 students

★ Jefferson Elementary School - 438 students

★ Stillman Elementary School - 262 students

★ Washington Community School - 601 students (including pre-K)

★ Woodland Elementary School - 267 students
'Middle Schools (grades 6-8)'

★ Hubbard Middle School - 681 students

★ Maxson Middle School - 985 students
'High School (grades 9-12)'

★ Plainfield High School [1] - 1,895 students

Transportation

Plainfield has two New Jersey Transit rail stations on the Raritan Valley Line, formerly the mainline of the Central Railroad of New Jersey. The main Plainfield station is in the downtown and a second, smaller Netherwood station is in the Netherwood section, east of the downtown.
NJ Transit also provides bus service on the 113 and 114 to the Port Authority Bus Terminal in Midtown Manhattan; the 59, 65 and 66 (Limited) to Newark; and local service on the 822 and 819 routes.^[5]
Newark Liberty International Airport is approximately 25 minutes away.

Plainfield Teacher's College hoax

★ Plainfield Teacher's College, a mythical institution created as a hoax by a duo of college football fans in 1941. The phony college's equally nonexistent football team had its scores carried by major newspapers including ''The New York Times'' before the hoax was discovered.^[6]

Popular culture

★ In the 1985 film ''Brewster's Millions'', Richard Pryor portrayed an aging minor league baseball pitcher whose team gets into a bar fight in Plainfield.

Famous residents and natives

★ Ernest R. Ackerman (1863-1931) represented New Jersey's 5th congressional district from 1919-1931.^[7]

★ John Adams (1772-1863), educator, taught at the Plainfield Academy here for some years.^[8]

★ Joe Black (1924-2002), childhood home, professional baseball player, Brooklyn Dodgers, Cincinnati Reds.^[9]

★ Van Wyck Brooks (1886-1963), author.^[10]

★ Benjamin Brown (b. 1968?), actor, attended Plainfield High School.

★ Taiwan Brown (b. 1987), childhood and current home, TV Personality, attended Plainfield High School for the 9th and beginning of 10th grade year. He returned after the start of 11th grade and graduated from Plainfield High School.

★ Milt Campbell (b. 1933), childhood home, 1956 Olympic Decathlon Gold Medal winner.^[11]

★ George Clinton (b. 1941), childhood home.^[12]

★ Harriet Theresa Comstock (1860-ca. 1943), educated there

★ Archibald Cox (1912-2004), childhood home.^[13]

★ Bill Evans (1929-1980), childhood home.^[14]

★ Robert Hand (b. 1942), childhood home

★ Bret Harte (1836-1902)

★ David T. Kenney (1866-1922), inventor, longtime resident

★ Robyn Kenney (b. 1979), birthplace

★ Phyllis Kirk (1927-2006), birthplace, actress

★ Peter Liske (b. 1942) ,birthplace, childhood home, former professional football player

★ Burke Marshall (1922-2003), childhood home

★ James Edgar Martine (1850-1925), United States Senator from New Jersey - childhood home

★ Mary McCormack (b. 1969), birthplace

★ Jim McGreevey (b. 1957), Governor of New Jersey, 2002-2004

★ Dudley Moore (1935-2002), resided there at time of death

★ Boogie Mosson (b. 1952), childhood home

★ James S. Negley (1826-1901), died there

★ Billy Bass Nelson (b. 1951), childhood home

★ Irving Penn (b. 1917), birthplace and childhood home

★ Jane Rule (b. 1931), birthplace

★ William Nelson Runyon (1871-1931), Acting Governor of New Jersey from 1919 to 1920.^[15]

★ Robert Shapiro (b. 1942), childhood home

★ Garry Shider (b. 1953), childhood home

★ Percy Hamilton Stewart (1867-1951), mayor of Plainfield in 1912 and 1913, represented New Jersey's 5th congressional district from 1931-1933.^[16]

★ Edward Herbert Thompson (1856-1935), died there

★ Jeff Torborg (b. 1941), Former professional baseball player and manager, birthplace

★ Rich Vos (b. 1957), childhood home

★ Vita, rapper who was raised here.

★ David S. Ware, jazz saxophonist (b. 1949), birthplace

★ Vic Washington, Former professional football player (b. 1946), birthplace.^[17]

★ Harrison A. Williams (1919-2001), birthplace

★ Jay Williams (b. 1981), childhood home (He went to private school, but resided in Plainfield)

★ Malinda Williams (b. 1975), childhood home

★ Bernie Worrell (b. 1944), childhood home.^[18]

★ James A. Yorke (b. 1941), childhood home

References

1. City of Plainfield, accessed April 5, 2007. "On behalf of the City of Plainfield, I greet you with the passion and enthusiasm that hopefully you share for our Queen City, Plainfield, New Jersey."
2. Office of the Mayor, accessed February 28, 2007.
3. Plainfield City Council, accessed February 28, 2007.
4. 2006 New Jersey Citizen's Guide to Government, New Jersey League of Women Voters, p. 55. Accessed August 30, 2006.
5. Union County Bus/Rail Connections, New Jersey Transit. Accessed June 21, 2007.
6. Johnson, Bruce. "Plainfield State and Chung Were Too Good to Be True", ''Westfield Leader'', October 13, 2005. Accessed May 13, 2007. "Never heard of Plainfield State? Well, that’s because neither Plainfield State Teachers College nor Johnny Chung actually existed... On the spur of the moment, he decided to call The New York Times and said, “I want to report a score... Plainfield Teachers 21 (his secretary was from Plainfield) … Regency 12.” The next morning, there was the score in The New York Times!"
7. Ernest Robinson Ackerman, United States Congress. Accessed June 25, 2007.
8. Who Was Who in America, Historical Volume, 1607-1896, , , , Marquis Who's Who, ,
9. Joe Black, baseball pioneer and retired Greyhound Corp. executive, dies - Census - Obituary, ''Jet (magazine)'', June 3, 2002, accessed April 26, 2007. "A native of Plainfield, NJ, Black graduated from Morgan State in Baltimore."
10. NOT TO WRITE WAS NOT TO BE ALIVE, ''The New York Times'', November 1, 1981, accessed April 26, 2007. "Van Wyck Brooks grew up in Plainfield, N.J., second son of a wellto-do Episcopalian and Republican family."
11. "Field Day in Plainfield", ''Time (magazine)'', July 13, 1953, accessed April 26, 2007. "In Helsinki last summer, a big (6 ft. 3 in., 210 lbs.) Negro high-school boy from Plainfield, N.J. trudged wearily into a locker room in the Olympic stadium. Worn down by the two-day competition in the Olympics' most demanding test, Decathlon Man Milton Campbell gave World Champion Bob Mathias a congratulatory backslap, then flopped on a cot."
12. Fried, Johnathan. "JERSEY FOOTLIGHTS; A Funkmaster Comes Home", ''The New York Times'', October 17, 1999, accessed April 26, 2007. "The Mothership landed on Oct. 6 when George Clinton, Plainfield native and funkmaster, brought his band to the Community Theater in Morristown for the second night of a monthlong national tour."
13. Gormley, Ken. "IN MEMORIAM: ARCHIBALD COX", ''Harvard Law Review'', November 2004. Accessed May 13, 2007. "He grew up in Plainfield, New Jersey, the son of a distinguished New York patent attorney."
14. Lyons, Leonard S. "The Great Jazz Pianists: Speaking of Their Lives and Music", accessed May 13, 2007. "Bill Evans Grew up in Plainfield, New Jersey."
15.
★ New Jersey Governor William Nelson Runyon, National Governors Association. Accessed August 3, 2007.
16. Percy Hamilton Stewart biography, United States Congress. Accessed July 10, 2007.
17. Six Individuals, One Team Inducted into the 13th Hall of Fame Class, University of Wyoming, February 19, 2005. Accessed July 10, 2007. "Vic Washington. Hometown: Plainfield, N.J."
18. "The best keyboardist you've never heard of", ''St. Petersburg Times'', June 28, 2002.

External links

★ Plainfield, New Jersey's Homepage

★ Plainfield Public School District

★

★ National Center for Education Statistics data for the Plainfield Public School District

★ Plainfield Symphony

★ Plainfield Area YMCA

★ Cedarbrook Park & Shakespeare Garden

★ Plainfield High School - NJ's 2nd oldest