User:Ambmartino/Cranford, New Jersey

History
Cranford was incorporated as a township by an act of the New Jersey Legislature on March 14, 1871, from portions of the Townships of Clark, Linden, Springfield, Union and Westfield. Portions of the township were taken to form Garwood (in 1903) and Kenilworth (in 1907). The township's name is said to derive from the Crane family, including John Crane, who built a mill in 1720 along the Rahway River.

Civil War
Though no known Cranford residents died in the American Civil War, at least 22 were active in the Union's armed forces at the time of General Robert E. Lee's surrender. Cranford's last surviving Civil War veteran died in 1935.

World War I
During World War I, 15 Cranford veterans died in service.

World War II
During World War II, 57 Cranford veterans died in service.

The Korean Conflict
Two Cranford veterans died during the Korean Conflict.

The Vietnam War
12 Cranford veterans died during the Vietnam War.

Township parks

 * Memorial Park – Springfield Avenue and Central Avenue, in 2014, the Cranford Historical Society dedicated a civil war monument.

Historical Figures
William P. Westervelt was credited with thwarting The Baltimore Plot, an unsuccessful assassination attempt against president-elect Abraham Lincoln. He did so by cutting telegraph wires that would have alerted assassins to Lincoln's arrival.

Politics
In the 2016 presidential election, Democrat Hilary Clinton received 6,244 votes (52.3% vs. 65.6% countywide) beating Donald Trump's 5,110 votes (42.8% vs. 30.9% countywide) and other candidates receiving a combined total of 593 votes (4.9% vs. 3.6% countywide). From Cranford, 11,947 ballots were cast out of 16,844 registered voters (70% voter turnout vs. 68.87% countywide).

In the 2020 presidential election, Democrat Joe Biden received 170,245 votes in Union County beating Donald Trump's 80,002 votes. Joe Biden won Union County with 67.3% of the vote.

Crime
Cranford is considered a safe town to live in. In 2019, it was ranked the 7th safest city in New Jersey. In 2018 the Cranford crime rate was 28.47 per 100,000, which is lower than New Jersey's 208 crime rate, which is in turn lower than the United States' 381.