Old Bridge, New Jersey, United States

🇺🇸 Old Bridge Township is a township in Middlesex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, located in the Raritan Valley region and within the New York metropolitan area. As of the 2020 United States census, the township was the state's 21st-most-populous municipality. Old Bridge is a bedroom suburb of New York City located across the Raritan Bay from Staten Island, and it is about 25 miles (40 km) from Manhattan, and about 30 miles (48 km) south of Newark.

What is now Old Bridge Township was originally incorporated as Madison Township by an act of the New Jersey Legislature on March 2, 1869, from portions of South Amboy Township (now City of South Amboy). In a referendum held on November 5, 1975, voters approved changing the township's name to Old Bridge Township by a margin of 7,150 votes to 4,888. The township's name was changed to avoid confusion with the borough of Madison in Morris County. After the township was established, the area was made up primarily of farms and the population grew slowly. In 1880, the population was 1,662 and in 1950 it had reached 7,365. Over the next decade, a building boom started and farms gave way to developments, and the population grew to 22,772 by 1960. The township saw major changes with the extension of Route 18 to the shore.

The township was named as a contender for the title of one of the best places to live in the United States by Money magazine in both 2005 and 2007.

In 2016, SafeWise named Old Bridge Township as the sixth-safest city in America to raise a child; the township was the second-highest ranked of the 12 communities in New Jersey included on the list.

History The first inhabitants of the area known as Old Bridge were the Lenni Lenape Native Americans. Those who settled in Old Bridge were known as the Unami, or "people down the river". They migrated to the shore along the Raritan each summer from their hunting grounds in the north. When the English gained control from the Dutch in 1664, the state was divided into two provinces, East Jersey and West Jersey. In 1683, the general assembly of East Jersey defined the boundaries of Middlesex County and the three other original counties (Bergen, Essex and Monmouth) as containing all plantations on both sides of the Raritan River, as far as Cheesequake Harbor to the east, then south-west to the Provincial line, with the south-west line being the border of Monmouth and Middlesex counties and the Township's southern border.

Thomas Warne, one of the original 24 proprietors of East Jersey, was listed as a landowner of this area, and his son is said to have been the earliest European resident residing in the Cheesequake area in 1683. John and Susannah Brown were granted a 1,000 acres (4.0 km²) land grant from the King of England in 1737. They called the area Brownville, and today this part of town is now known as Browntown.

In 1684, South Amboy Township was formed. At that time, it covered an area that now consists of the Townships of Monroe and Old Bridge, the Borough of Sayreville and the City of South Amboy. The Township covers 42 square miles (110 km²) that separated from South Amboy on March 2, 1869, and was originally called Madison Township. In 1975, the name was changed by referendum to the Township of Old Bridge. The purpose was to establish a single postal designation and ZIP code for the township and to differentiate the township from the Borough of Madison in Morris County. The community of Old Bridge in East Brunswick derives its name from the fact that the first bridge spanning the South River was built there, and as other bridges were built across the river the first one became known as "the Old Bridge".

Geography According to the United States Census Bureau, the township had a total area of 40.93 square miles (106.00 km²), including 38.18 square miles (98.89 km²) of land and 2.75 square miles (7.11 km²) of water (6.71%).

Brownville (2010 population of 2,383), Laurence Harbor (2010 population of 6,536), Madison Park (2010 population of 7,144) and Old Bridge CDP (2010 population of 23,753) are unincorporated communities and places (CDPs) located within Old Bridge Township. Other unincorporated communities, localities and place names within Old Bridge Township include Browntown, Brunswick Gardens, Cheesequake, Cottrell Corners, Matchaponix, Moerls Corner, Morristown, Parlin, Redshaw Corner, Runyon, Sayre Woods South, South Old Bridge and Texas.

Old Bridge Township borders the municipalities of East Brunswick, Monroe Township, Sayreville and Spotswood in Middlesex County; Aberdeen Township, Manalapan Township, Marlboro Township and Matawan in Monmouth County; and shares a border with the borough of Staten Island in New York City, across Raritan Bay.

Major streams/rivers • Raritan Bay • South River • Matchaponix Brook • Deep Run • Tennets Brook • Barclay Brook • Cheesequake Creek.

Economy: Mill streams Madison Township had many mill streams that were used to generate water power. The Warne family owned fulling mills in the area. Fulling was used as a finishing process used on woolen cloth that would remove the dirt and grease and to compact the wool fibers. The mill is said to have been run behind Old Bridge High School and flows east into the Matawan Creek. The area of Old Bridge was also known for its many mills that manufactured snuff, a scented tobacco product that was used by men and women during that time. The Washington Snuff mill (later renamed the Dill Snuff Mill) was established in 1801 and was located on Mount Pleasant and Old Bridge Turnpike (now Route 516).

Clay industry The clay soil in the area surrounding Old Bridge was used for pottery and bricks way before the first European settlers. "Fine clay had surrounded Cheesequake Creek when the Lenni Lenape Native Americans lived there. The early discoveries of clay along the banks opened the clay industry to Middlesex County as well as the state of New Jersey. By the 1800s clay was a major industry. The clay deposits found along Cheesequake Creek are reported to be some of the finest stoneware clays in the United States". The clay supplied local potters as well as those in Hudson Valley, Norwalk, Connecticut, other New England states, and parts of Canada. The earliest use of clay from this area was used by Captain James Morgan before the Revolution. The Perrine clay pit was located near U.S. Route 9 and Ernston Road.

Apple farms The Cottrell homestead is a landmark in Old Bridge. It was built in 1831 and still stands today on the north-east corner of County Route 516 and Cottrell Road. The Cottrells owned a 150-acre (61 ha) apple orchard that was located across the street from their home. Apples that could not be used because of their size or quality did not go to waste. Across from the cold-storage building on the south-west corner of Cottrell Road and Route 516 (where Walgreens is now located), the family built the New Jersey Apple Growers Inc. distillery. It was at this distillery that they pressed the apples into cider and distilled the brandy in large vats. The brandy would age in barrels in a government warehouse that was located on the Cottrells' property. The Cottrells produced apple brandy for twenty years on the farm and sold it wholesale to distributors under the name Browntown.

Education The Old Bridge Township Public Schools serve students in kindergarten through twelfth grade. As of the 2020–21 school year, the district, comprised of 14 schools, had an enrollment of 8,058 students and 680.10 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 11.85:1. In 2019, Cheesequake Elementary School closed due to the state's reduction of school funding. Schools in the district (with 2020–21 enrollment data from the National Center for Education Statistics) are M. Scott Carpenter Elementary School (250; K–5), Leroy Gordon Cooper Elementary School (196; K–5), Virgil I. Grissom Elementary School (183; K–5), Madison Park Elementary School (278; K–5), James A. McDivitt Elementary School (514; K–5), Memorial Elementary School (416; K–5), William A. Miller Elementary School (273; K–5), Walter M. Schirra Elementary School (253; K–5), Alan B. Shepard Elementary School (273; K–5), Southwood Elementary School (385; K–5), Raymond E. Voorhees Elementary School (387; K–5), Jonas Salk Middle School (896; 6–8) and Carl Sandburg Middle School (981; 6–8) and Old Bridge High School (2,714; 9–12).

Eighth grade students from all of Middlesex County are eligible to apply to attend the high school programs offered by the Middlesex County Vocational and Technical Schools, a county-wide vocational school district that offers full-time career and technical education at Middlesex County Academy in Edison, the Academy for Allied Health and Biomedical Sciences in Woodbridge Township and at its East Brunswick, Perth Amboy and Piscataway technical high schools, with no tuition charged to students for attendance.

Multiple private schools operate in the township. Calvary Christian School serves students in grades K–10, operating within Calvary Chapel Old Bridge. St. Ambrose School and St. Thomas the Apostle School are Pre-K–8 Catholic elementary schools that operate under the supervision of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Metuchen. St. Thomas the Apostle School was recognised in 2018 by the National Blue Ribbon Schools Program of the United States Department of Education.

Transport: Road As of May 2010, the township had a total of 222.24 miles (357.66 km) of roadways, of which 179.32 miles (288.59 km) were maintained by the municipality, 24.41 miles (39.28 km) by Middlesex County and 16.65 miles (26.80 km) by the New Jersey Department of Transportation and 1.86 miles (2.99 km) by the New Jersey Turnpike Authority.

The township is crisscrossed by many major roads and highways.

The Garden State Parkway passes through Old Bridge for about 1.9 miles (3.1 km), connecting Aberdeen Township in Monmouth County in the south to Sayreville in the north and houses Interchange 120, which is signed for Laurence Harbor / Matawan.

Other routes, such as U.S. Route 9, Route 18, Route 34 and Route 35 also pass through the township. Major county routes that pass through are County Route 516, County Route 520, County Route 527 and County Route 615.

The New Jersey Turnpike (Interstate 95) is minutes north along Route 18 outside the township in bordering East Brunswick (Exit 9) and not too far also in bordering Monroe Township (Exit 8A).

Busing For busing, Old Bridge Park and Ride is located along Route 9 northbound, close to Ernston Road.

NJ Transit Bus Operations provides bus service to communities along U.S. Route 9 from Lakewood Township to Old Bridge Township, via bus routes 131, 133, 134, 135, 138, and 139 to the Port Authority Bus Terminal in Midtown Manhattan, service to Newark on the 67, on the 68 to Jersey City and local service on the 817 and 818 routes. Bus service is available from Route 9 to Wall Street in New York's Financial District via the Academy Bus Line.

Middlesex County Area Transit (MCAT) shuttles provide service on routes operating across the county, including the M3 route, which operates between Brunswick Square and Old Bridge Township and the M7 route between Brunswick Square and South Amboy.

Transport: Rail Old Bridge borders Matawan on Route 34, and the Aberdeen-Matawan train station, and it also borders South Amboy on U.S. Route 9, and the South Amboy train station, both located along the North Jersey Coast Line. Old Bridge is also close to the New Brunswick train station in nearby New Brunswick and Metropark in nearby Iselin on the Northeast Corridor Line.

Transport: Air Old Bridge Airport is a general aviation facility located 5 miles (8.0 km) south of the central business district. The closest commercial airport is Newark Liberty International Airport, which is about 23 miles (37 km) (about 32 minute drive) from the centre of Old Bridge Township.

Healthcare Raritan Bay Medical Center has two hospitals in the area, the Old Bridge division and the Perth Amboy division. The Old Bridge Division, which handles all but trauma cases is located at the intersection of, Route 18 and Ferry Road.

Other regional hospitals near the township that handle all but trauma cases include CentraState Medical Center in nearby Freehold and Bayshore Medical Center in nearby Holmdel. Most trauma cases are handled by Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in nearby New Brunswick.

Old Bridge also has many long-term care facilities and nursing homes.

Attractions • Cheesequake State Park covers 1,600 acres (650 ha), offering recreation opportunities including hiking and camping. • Laurence Harbor Beachfront offers 70 acres (28 ha) on the Raritan Bay waterfront, with beaches, playgrounds and fishing available, in addition to a boardwalk and walkways at Paul's Beach stretching 1.3 miles (2.1 km). • John Piccolo Arena • Old Bridge Airport • Old Bridge Township Raceway Park operated from 1965 to 2018 for drag racing, after which its owners planned to turn it into space for outdoor concerts. • Township parks include Veterans Park and Geick Park

Community and historical information • CPS Madison Industries Superfund Site has been identified as the 14th-worst Superfund site in the United States. That area is fenced off along Waterworks Road, near Cheesequake Road. This area has one chemical plant still operating, Old Bridge Chemical. A former plant, Ciba Chemical closed several years ago and a bulk of the plant was demolished, only the office building remains. • Many small ponds in the area are remnants of clay pits dug in the 19th century, as clay was a major industry. The Perrine clay pit was located near Route 9 and Ernston Road. • The Runyon coal yards were located off Bordentown Avenue and Cheesequake Road, where Stavola Asphalt Construction Company (formerly Manzos Contracting) currently operates. Rail cars at this yard were used to transport their loads to the South Amboy docks, where the coal was shipped to New York City. • Pilings of former docks can be found by foot traversing Steamboat Landing Road, also known as Dock Road, which is the extension of Cottrell Road at its intersection with Route 34. • The Ochwald Brickworks, now the site of Bridgepointe Development in Laurence Harbor, began operation in 1910 and continued operation into the early 1960s. Behind the Bridgepointe Development and far into the woodline and field, old bricks can still be found. • The Kepec Chemical Company in the Genoa section (off County Road) is where Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were reported to have contacted Russian spies in 1950. The FBI conducted surveillance of the building at the corner of Biondi Avenue and Gordon Street. Only a few bricks remain to mark this location at the foot of Columbus Avenue. • A mass grave in the Ernst Memorial Cemetery off Ernston Road holds the remains of over a dozen unidentified victims of the T. A. Gillespie Company Shell Loading Plant explosion of 1918. This plant exploded in the Morgan section of neighboring Sayreville, killing an estimated 100 persons. Shock waves were felt as far north as Newark. • A horse-racing track used to be located where present day Lakeridge development now stands (near the border with Matawan Borough.) • A circular car racing track (early 1950s to approximately 1982) used to be located off County Route 516 where the Whispering Pines Development is now. No visible trace remains. • Cheesequake State Park, one of the oldest in the country, opening on June 22, 1940, covers 1,274 acres (516 ha), partially located in Old Bridge. Located near the Garden State Parkway exit 120, Route 34 and Route 35, the park is often crowded by sunbathers, picnics, concert goers (nearby PNC Bank Arts Center) and tourists. • A Cold War-era Nike missile base is located off U.S. Route 9 on Jake Brown Road. Listed in Weird NJ as a haunted site, readers frequent this area and explore the fields where former base worker residences once stood. The actual base was purchased by Old Bridge Township Board of Education and is currently used to store their own supplies and vehicles. The former underground silos and tunnels were purposely flooded and caved in when the base was closed. • Old Bridge Township Raceway Park, a racetrack that had hosted Funny Car and drag racing including the NHRA Summernationals, is located off Route 527 (Englishtown Road) near the township's border with Manalapan and Monroe. As part of a January 2018 reorganization, the facility announced that it will no longer be holding drag racing events, retaining kart and motocross races, as well as car shows and concerts. • On September 3, 1977, the Grateful Dead performed for a crowd of 100,000 at Raceway Park. The show was recorded and released in album form as part of "Dick's Picks", a series of live albums, in 1999. • The heavy metal band Metallica relocated from Los Angeles to the township in the early 1980s to record the songs on what would be their debut album Kill 'Em All.