About Edison, New Jersey

EDISON, NJ

Picture of Thomas Edison
Thomas Edison
Edison is a township in Middlesex County, New Jersey. It is situated in Central Jersey, within the core of the Raritan Valley region. With its close proximity to New York City, Edison is a popular bedroom community. The area is also home to Menlo Park Mall and Little India, making it a commercial hub.

​According to the 2020 United States census, the township was the sixth most populous in the state, with a population of 107,588. This marked an uptick of 7,621 people (+7.6%) compared to the 2010 census count of 99,967, and an increase of 2,280 (+2.3%) from the 97,687 recorded in the 2000 census.

On March 17, 1870, an act of the New Jersey Legislature divided parts of Piscataway Township and Woodbridge Township and created what is now Edison Township, originally known as Raritan Township, after the Raritan people. Later, on March 20, 1900 and March 15, 1905, parts of the township were taken to form Metuchen and Highland Park, respectively. Eventually, on November 10, 1954, the name of the township was changed to honor famous inventor Thomas Edison, who had his main laboratory in the Menlo Park area of the township.

Inventions & Notable People
Picture of Piazza Thomas Edison
Piazza Thomas Edison
In 1876, Thomas Edison established his laboratory and home in Raritan Township, New Jersey, on the site of a failed real estate development known as "Menlo Park" (which is now part of Edison State Park). There, he earned himself the title of "the Wizard of Menlo Park" before his death in 1931 at the age of 83.

During his lifetime, he received an astounding 1,093 patents for inventions such as the phonograph, the motion-picture camera, the incandescent light bulb, a mechanical vote counter, the alkaline storage battery, an electric car, and the world's first commercial electric light.
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​At the Menlo Park lab, Edison was one of the first to apply research to practical, commercial uses.
In the lab, he invented the phonograph and an incandescent light bulb filament that was suitable for commercial production. In addition, Christie Street was the first street in the world to use his electric lights for illumination.

Edison's History 
  • The Raritan people of the Lenape Native Americans were the initial inhabitants of the area, traveling through it to the shore. Chief Matouchin was the head of a party of 1,200 fighters in 1646.
  • European settlers first arrived in the area in the 17th century, establishing the township of Piscatawaytown and the village of Woodbridge. These two settlements form the basis for Edison Township today.
  • Notable historic sites from this period that are listed on the National Register of Historic Places include the Laing House of Plainfield Plantation, the Benjamin Shotwell House, and the Homestead Farm at Oak Ridge.
  • The area was initially known as "Raritan Township"; this is not to be confused with the modern-day Raritan Township in Hunterdon County.​​

Edison's Growth in the 21st Century

Asian Community
Edison has been one of the most rapidly growing municipalities in New Jersey, with a population of the fifth largest in the state as per the US Census of 2000, following Newark, Jersey City, Paterson and Elizabeth.

This middle-class community is home to over 75 ethnicities, including a sizable Jewish neighborhood in proximity to Highland Park and various synagogues. There is also an expanding Indian population and a number of temples to meet their religious needs.

The township has formed sister city connections with Shijiazhuang, China, and Baroda, India, in accordance to the large Indian and Chinese populace of Edison.

​CNN Money magazine granted Edison the title of 28th most livable small city in the US and the second best place to live in New Jersey in 2006. Two years later, it was placed 35th in Money’s list of the 100 best locations to live in the nation.
Edison is home to one of the most prominent centers for Asian American cultural diversity in the region. The expansive Little India in Middlesex County - the US county with the highest concentration of Asian Indians - is a South Asian-centric commercial strip extending along New Jersey Route 27, which links Edison and neighboring Iselin in Woodbridge Township, and is in close proximity to both Chinatown and Koreatown.

​It is the most extensive and diverse South Asian cultural epicenter in the country. In order to accommodate the local population, election ballots in Middlesex County are printed in English, Spanish, Gujarati, Hindi, and Punjabi. As recorded in the 2010 Census, 28.3% of Edison residents claimed Indian American ancestry, the highest proportion of any municipality in the United States with over 1,000 inhabitants citing Indian American roots. This figure is a substantial increase from the 2000 Census, which revealed that 17.75% of Edison residents had Indian American ancestry.

Edison's Parks

Picture of Roosevelt Park
Roosevelt Park
Roosevelt Park, located between Parsonage Road and Route 1, west of the Mall, is the home of the Battle of Short Hills, a small encounter during the American Revolutionary War, that brought about the transformation of the area into a public park, thus settling a real estate development issue. This 196-acre space, which incorporates the 8-acre Roosevelt Park Lake, is the oldest county park in Middlesex County, having been created in 1917. Two other parks in the township are Edison State Park and Dismal Swamp.

Manufacturing Presence

In the beginning of the 2000s, a number of production sites located in and near the region, such as:
  • Edison Assembly, Ford Motor Company's Ranger, Mustang, Pinto, Mercury, and Lincoln production plant, Frigidaire air-conditioner plant in Edison, and Siemens in Edison, began to see a decline in manufacturing operations, with many of these facilities eventually shutting down and relocating overseas.
  • By 2008, the Ford plant was no longer in operation and had been demolished and replaced by Sam's Club, Topgolf, and Starbucks.

Corporate Presence 

  • Majesco Entertainment, a video game company, has its corporate headquarters in Edison. Other companies such as Colavita, an Italian food producer and importer, an Amazon fulfillment center, FedEx, UPS, and Newegg also have warehouse operations in the city.
  • Moreover, Edison is home to the New Jersey Convention and Exposition Center, the largest private convention center in the state, which is situated in the Raritan Center Business Park. Raritan Center is the largest industrial park on the east side of the Mississippi River. ​
Additionally, Edison is the location of the US headquarters of Zylog Systems, as well as the headquarters of the e-commerce companies Boxed and Bare Necessities.
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