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West Orange

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Map of West Orange Township in Essex County
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Map of West Orange Township in Essex County

West Orange is a township in Essex County, New Jersey, United States. As of the United States 2000 Census, the township population was 44,943. West Orange shares a border with the South Mountain Reservation.

Contents

Geography

West Orange is located at 40°47'19?N, 74°15'19?W (40.788650, -74.255416)GR1.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the township has a total area of 31.7 km² (12.2 mi²). 31.4 km² (12.1 mi²) of it is land and 0.3 km² (0.1 mi²) of it (0.90%) is water.

Government

The Township of West Orange is governed by the Mayor-Council system of municipal government under the Faulkner Act. In the current form of government, each member of the Township Council is elected in nonpartisan elections and serves on an at-large basis, representing the entire township.

The Mayor[1] and members of the Township Council[2] are:

  • John F. McKeon, Mayor (term ends June 30, 2010)
  • Renard Barnes, Township Councilman (2010)
  • Richard A. Giuditta, Jr., Township Councilman (2008)
  • Susan McCartney, Township Councilwoman (2010)
  • Robert Parisi, Township Council President (2008)
  • John Skarbnik, Township Councilman (2008) (Council President effective 07/01/2006)

Municipal Court

  • Harry L. Starrett, Presiding Judge, West Orange Municipal Court
  • Margaret Padovano, Municipal Judge, West Orange Municipal Court
  • Mark Infanti, Municipal Prosecutor

Key personnel

  • Nancy O'Hara, Township Clerk
  • John Sayers, Business Administrator / Director, West Orange Police Department
  • James P. Abbott, Chief, West Orange Police Department
  • Peter Smeraldo, Chief, West Orange Fire Department
  • Edward Coleman, Comptroller
  • Richard Trenk, Township Attorney
  • Amy Simon, Communications Director

Township facilities

  • The Municipal Building and Township Council offices are located at 66 Main Street
  • The Police Department and Municipal Court are located at 60 Main Street
  • The West Orange Fire Department is located at 415 Valley Road.

County Freeholders and State Legislators

U.S. Senate and House of Representatives

Politics

On the national level, West Orange leans toward the Democratic Party. In 2004, Democrat John Kerry received 65 percent of the vote there, as opposed to Republican George W. Bush, who received around 34 percent.

Education

Main article: West Orange Public Schools

The West Orange Public Schools serves students in Kindergarten through 12th grade. The district consist of a total of 10 school facilities: 7 elementary schools, three middle schools(of late December of 2005) and one high school. The West Orange school district has been ranked among the top 1% of schools in the nation by The Washington Post.

History

West Orange was initially a part of the city of Newark, and remained such until November 27, 1806, when the territory now encompassing all of The Oranges was detached. On April 13, 1807, the first government was elected, but not until March 13, 1860, was Orange officially incorporated as a city. Almost immediately, the new city began fragmenting into smaller communities, primarily because of local disputes about the costs of establishing paid police, fire, and street departments. South Orange was organized on January 26, 1861, Fairmount (later to become part of West Orange) on March 11, 1862 and East Orange on March 4, 1863. West Orange (including what had been the independent municipality of Fairmount) was formed on March 14, 1863.

Thomas Edison bought a property known as Glenmont in 1886 as a wedding gift for his bride. It occupies 13.5 acres (55,000 m²) in the Llewellyn Park district. The remains of both Thomas and Mina Edison are now buried there. Glenmont is maintained by the National Park Service as part of the Edison National Historic Site.

The first motion picture studio, The Black Maria, was located on the grounds of Edison's factory in West Orange.

The first Linens 'n Things store, now closed, was located in West Orange.

Turtle Back Zoo, founded in 1963 and currently one of only four zoos in New Jersey, is located in the township in the South Mountain Reservation.

Famous residents

References

  1. ^ West Orange Office of the Mayor, accessed May 23, 2006
  2. ^ West Orange Township Council, accessed May 23, 2006

External links