South Plainfield Clerk history

On March 19, 1857, it became part of the newly-created Union County.

The home stayed in the family until 1864 when it was sold to the Harberger family.

In 1872, the sisters (from left, Elizabeth Tiffany, Belle, Mary and Florence) moved from New York City to Plainfield, joining other family members already in residence in the Queen City.

Soon, residents rallied for a city hospital to be built." The hospital, designed by the New York-based architectural firm of Tracy & Swartwout and completed in 1877, was named for a reverend who was a champion for finding care for the sick and poor.

In 1887, Eliza Elvira Kenyon, a “prominent society lady” and founder of the Monday Afternoon Club, and her sister, Mrs.

In 1890, the hotel was put up for sale, but had no buyers.

The caption on the back of the photo reads: "Riding the West Fourth Street Turn-Around." The first trolley, or electric streetcar, came to Plainfield on August 10, 1892, replacing most of the mule-drawn vehicles in the city.

In 1900, the two formed their own firm.

He built his own home in Plainfield on Hillside Avenue in 1901, from which he would have been able to watch progress at the Muhlenberg site when he was overseeing the construction of the original Muhlenberg Hospital buildings.”

The building was rebuilt and expanded after an insurance settlement was announced in the summer of 1902.

A photo of the Job Male building, the Plainfield Public Library, in 1905.

Behind the team members is the YWCA building at 232 E. Front St Established in 1907, the Plainfield YWCA was originally located at 210 E. Front St near Watching Avenue.

A Carnegie grant in 1912 funded an addition to the building.

In 1913, the Elks moved to 116 Watchung Avenue.

Lohrman sold the shop in 1914 and the name was changed to The Chocolate Shop.

As per the Star-Ledger, an article printed in the New York Age on March 8, 1917, notes that Saunders retired after 26 years as “the only colored officer” on the force, and would be paid a pension of $600 a year.

During the 1920’s South Plainfield, which was still a part of Piscataway Township, began to acquire an identity of its own.

On April 13, 1921, women sat on the jury in the Plainfield District Court for the first time.

In 1923, the organization moved to a building across from city hall on Watchung Avenue and East 6th Street, where it is still located.

In 1924, an airport was built on John Hadley’s farm mainly for the use of the United States Postal Service.

In December 1925, the Niles-Bement-Pond Co. sold the factory for $13 million to Mack Trucks, Inc., and moved the entire business to the company's headquarters in Ohio.

By 1927, the VNA covered an area that included Plainfield, North Plainfield, Scotch Plains/Fanwood, Dunellen, South Plainfield and Piscataway.

South Plainfield’s prosperity began in 1936 when Cornell-Dublier moved into the Spicer Building More than half of South Plainfield’s families were employed by Cornell-Dublier which manufactured condensers for the exploding radio industry.

Rushmore, a Plainfield resident, insisted the society’s five outbuildings and the dog warden’s home (pictured) be painted with large red hearts in time for Valentine’s Day in 1938.

A 1939 photo of Samuel W. Rushmore’s home, located on Belvidere Avenue in Plainfield.

In 1945, the team won the league's county and state championships.

In this photograph, members of the team pose for a picture before the 1946 season wearing their championship jackets.

Sears opened its current location on Route 22 and Terrill Road in Watchung around 1956, and, by that time, the Front Street location was closed.

The building was demolished in 1965 as part of the Park-Madison Renewal Project.

In 1968, a new 45,000 square-foot facility was opened to the public, and the older buildings were razed.

According to a 1970 Courier News article, "it was a rare Plainfielder who never set foot inside the Babcock Building in its early years, because it was used for lodge halls, music studios, stores, offices and the post office at one time or another."

Parliament-Funkadelic was inducted in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1997.

Mayor’s State of the City Address 2015

Mayor’s State of the City Address 2017