Hillside, New Jersey

Hillside is a township in Union County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the township's population was 21,404.

Hillside was incorporated as a township on April 3, 1913, from portions of Union Township, based on the results of a referendum held on April 29, 1913.

The town is split between area codes 908 and 862/973.

Geography
Hillside township is located at 40.69589°N, -74.2288°W (40.695889,-74.2288). According to the United States Census Bureau, the township had a total area of 2.761 square miles (7.150 km2), of which, 2.750 square miles (7.122 km2) of it is land and 0.011 square miles (0.028 km2) of it (0.39%) is water.

The township is located on the northern edge of Union County and is bordered to the northwest by Irvington and to the north and northeast by Newark, both in Essex County. Elizabeth borders Hillside to the east and southeast, while Union borders to the west.

2010 Census
The Census Bureau's 2006-2010 American Community Survey showed that (in 2010 inflation-adjusted dollars) median household income was $55,520 (with a margin of error of +/- $5,760) and the median family income was $67,492 (+/- $5,643). Males had a median income of $44,421 (+/- $3,088) versus $42,927 (+/- $4,392) for females. The per capita income for the township was $35,486 (+/- $3,349). About 9.4% of families and 11.7% of the population were below the poverty line, including 15.7% of those under age 18 and 13.3% of those age 65 or over.

2000 Census
As of the 2000 United States Census there were 21,747 people, 7,161 households, and 5,578 families residing in the township. The population density was 7,793.6 people per square mile (3,009.5/km2). There were 7,388 housing units at an average density of 2,647.7 per square mile (1,022.4/km2). The racial makeup of the township was 40.03% White, 46.54% African American, 0.23% Native American, 3.45% Asian, 0.08% Pacific Islander, 5.26% from other races, and 4.41% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 14.50% of the population. 11% of the current population is of Portuguese ancestry or origin.

There were 7,161 households out of which 36.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 53.5% were married couples living together, 18.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 22.1% were non-families. 18.0% of all households were made up of individuals and 7.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.04 and the average family size was 3.45.

In the township the population was spread out with 25.6% under the age of 18, 8.9% from 18 to 24, 30.3% from 25 to 44, 24.1% from 45 to 64, and 11.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females there were 88.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 84.2 males.

The median income for a household in the township was $59,136, and the median income for a family was $64,635. Males had a median income of $39,439 versus $31,817 for females. The per capita income for the township was $21,724. About 3.2% of families and 5.3% of the population were below the poverty line, including 5.4% of those under age 18 and 9.1% of those age 65 or over.

History
Hillside was created from parcels of land carved out of neighboring Newark, Elizabeth, and Union. It originally contained the farms of Woodruff, Conant and Saybrook. Local streets still bear their names.

Hillside was incorporated shortly after the appearance of Halley's Comet in 1910, and for that reason, the team nickname of Hillside High School is the "Comets." Several local businesses take the name "Comet" for the same reason.

The Hillside Historical Society was established in the 1980s in the Woodruff home on Conant Street, perhaps the township's oldest. The Woodruff House and Eaton Store Museum is operated and maintained by the Hillside Historical Society. Purchased by the Society in 1978, the house has been faithfully restored to its original grandeur. The Woodruff House spans three centuries in one structure, from the original 1735 building, to the 1790 addition, to the 1890s kitchen all the way to the 1900s store. The society has also added to the grounds an authentic post and beam barn, a Phil Rizutto and All Sports Museum honoring the Hillside legend as well as an archive to house the many documents the society has obtained over the years.

Jean-Ray Turner, a reporter for the Elizabeth Daily Journal, wrote Along the Upper Road, in the 1970s, a book of the history of Hillside.

Hillside has been the home of Bristol-Myers Squibb and for years was the site of the Lionel Trains factory. The town thrived for decades and reached an economic peak in the 1960s. Blue collar workers who lived primarily in the central part of town were employed in local manufacturing concerns. White collar workers established the neighborhood known as Westminster where Yankee shortstop and broadcaster Phil Rizzuto lived for most of his adult life, until his death. That section of town also included the private Pingry School for boys, which became co-ed in 1974.

In the 1950s and 1960s the township was approximately one-half Jewish, many of whom lived either in Westminster or in the area of Hillside near Chancellor Avenue, adjacent to the Weequahic, section of Newark. This section of Newark was the early home of comedian Jerry Lewis and writer Philip Roth ("Portnoy's Complaint").

In the early 1950s the township established Conant Park, its largest. The park is bounded by the Elizabeth River and Conant Street. At the rear area of the park near Pingry School was the boundary of the Kean Estate, the boyhood home of Governor Thomas Kean (1982–1990). The wealthy Kean family also donated the land on Morris Avenue and helped to establish Newark Normal College in 1885, which was renamed Kean College, and later Kean University, in the family's honor. Also in the 1950s the Town Hall, Police Headquarters and Municipal Library were constructed at the corner of Liberty and Hillside Avenues.

Popular township organizations include Rotary International, Kiwanis, Knights of Columbus, Elks, the Hillside Industrial Association, the Hillside Business and Professional Women's Club, the Republican Club and the Democratic Club, as well as a number of ethnic clubs and associations.

In 1991, police from both Hillside and Newark fired nearly 40 shots at a van that had rammed a Hillside police vehicle after a high-speed chase. The pursuit had started after the van had been reported stolen at gunpoint in Newark and was being followed by three Newark police cars before crossing into Hillside. Two of the people inside the vehicle were killed and four of the five other passengers were wounded, though the Union County Prosecutor indicated that there was no clear explanation for why the police had started shooting. The Reverend Al Sharpton held a rally outside Town Hall on Hillside Avenue demanding that the police officers involved in the shootings should be prosecuted for their actions.

Local government
Hillside is governed under the Faulkner Act (Mayor-Council) form of New Jersey municipal government, by a mayor and a seven-member Township Council. Four council embers come from wards and three are elected at large, all elected to four-year terms in office on a staggered basis in non-partisan elections.

, the Mayor of Hillside is Joseph G. Menza. The Township Council President is Angela R. Garretson, the Council Vice President is President Carlisle, Jr. and Frank Deo all members (at-large) the wards are represented by Tonia Hobbs (Ward 1), Salonia Saxton (Ward 2), Donald DeAugustine (Ward 3) and Gerald Freedman (Ward 4).

Federal, state and county representation
Hillside is located in the 10th Congressional District and is part of New Jersey's 20th state legislative district. Prior to the 2011 reapportionment following the 2010 Census, Hillside had been in the 29th state legislative district.

Education
The Hillside Public Schools serve students in kindergarten through twelfth grade. Schools in the district (with 2009-10 enrollment data from the National Center for Education Statistics ) are A.P. Morris Early Childhood Center & Saybrook Annex (K-2; 858 students), Calvin Coolidge (3-6; 198), Hurden Looker (3-6; 398), George Washington (3-6; 356), Walter O. Krumbiegel Middle School for grades 7 and 8 (443) and Hillside High School for grades 9-12 (906). Hillside High School on Liberty Avenue was originally constructed in 1941, replacing the Coe Avenue (A.P. Morris) School which became a grammar school. Additions were later added to accommodate the baby-boomers of the 1950s and 1960s. In the mid-sixties the high school held some 1,500 students.

Catholic grammar schools included Christ the King on Columbia Ave and St. Catherine of Siena School in Elizabeth on North Broad Street until the two were merged in 2004 to form Hillside Catholic Academy, with the students from both schools together at the facility on Bloy Street.

A portion of Kean University is located in the Westminster Section of Hillside, on the grounds of the former Pingry School.

Commerce
Portions of Hillside are part of an Urban Enterprise Zone. In addition to other benefits to encourage employment within the Zone, shoppers can take advantage of a reduced 3½% sales tax rate (versus the 7% rate charged statewide).

Transportation
There is New Jersey Transit bus service to New York City and New Jersey points. There is one train line that passes through the town but there are no stations. The Irvington Branch of the Lehigh Valley Railroad breaks off of the mainline. The closest train stations are Union Station in Union, and North Elizabeth Station in Elizabeth.

Newark Liberty International Airport is approximately two miles east of Hillside.

Garden State Parkway, U.S. Route 22, and Interstate 78 are located in Hillside. A toll gate is located on the northbound lanes of the parkway, approaching the interchange for 78. The New Jersey Department of Transportation finished a project that added previously unavailable connections with the 2010 completion of a ramp that lets vehicles heading south on the Parkway connect to Interstate 78 heading east, which followed a project completed in 2009 that allowed drivers heading north on the Parkway to access Interstate 78.

Notable people
Some noted current and former residents:
 * William Bendix (1908–1964), actor (Lifeboat, Life of Riley), lived here in the 1930s.
 * Blanks 77, a street punk band active from 1990 was originally based in Hillside.
 * Marquis Cunningham (born 1989), finalist on So You Think You Can Dance on FOX.
 * Michael V. Gazzo (1923–1995), playwright (A Hatful of Rain) and Academy Award-nominated film actor (birthplace).
 * Marc Leepson (born 1945), journalist and historian, author of Saving Monticello, Flag: An American Biography, and Desperate Engagement, and editor of The Webster's New World Dictionary of the Vietnam War.
 * Rollie Massimino (born 1934), college basketball coach, led Villanova University's win in the 1985 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship.
 * Mr. Len (Leonard "Lenny" Smythe), hip-hop artist, former member of the underground group Company Flow, current member of the group Roosevelt Franklin.
 * Kendall Ogle (born 1976), 1999 draft pick of the National Football League's Cleveland Browns.
 * Robert Parham (born 1966), kickboxing former World Kickboxing Champion and actor.
 * Ralph H. Spanjer (1920–1999), U.S. Marine Corps Major General.
 * Tab Ramos (born 1966), footballer and member of the United States' 1990 and 1994 World Cup teams (childhood home).
 * Phil Rizzuto (1917–2007), Hall of Fame baseball player (longtime resident).
 * Arthur Seale (born 1946), serving life sentence for 1980s kidnapping, murder of Exxon oil executive, Sidney Reso.
 * Tame One (Rahem Brown), hip-hop artist, member of the supergroup The Weathermen.
 * Zygi Wilf (born 1950), real estate developer and the principal owner of the Minnesota Vikings of the National Football League, and his younger brother Mark Wilf, president of the Vikings.
 * Hela Young (1949–2002), Miss New Jersey 1971, New Jersey Pick 6 television host.
 * Dick Zimmer (born 1944), former member of the United States House of Representatives, Republican candidate for United States Senate in 1996 and 2008 (childhood home)

Evergreen Cemetery
Hillside is the site of Evergreen Cemetery, known locally as the burial site of many Roma (or Gypsy) families and a number of notable writers, including:
 * Stephen Crane, author of The Red Badge of Courage
 * Mary Mapes Dodge, author of Hans Brinker or The Silver Skates
 * Edward Stratemeyer, creator of the Hardy Boys, Bobbsey Twins, Nancy Drew, Rover Boys, and Tom Swift series, among others

The Evergreen cemetery was mentioned in Weird NJ for an incident in 1902 when after a downpour, bodies were found on the streets.

Pop culture

 * Hip hop artist Lauryn Hill mentions Hillside on her album The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill. In the song "Every Ghetto, Every City," in which she describes her experiences growing up in New Jersey, she raps, "Hillside brings beef with the cops."