CRANFORD
Known at the turn of the century as the Venice of New Jersey, the Union County
Township of Cranford grew up around the meandering Rahway River. In 1720, John Crane
of nearby Elizabeth Towne (now Elizabeth) built a grist mill on the north side of a
ford in the river and a sawmill on the south side. That mill at Crane's Ford
provided grain for Washington's troops during the Revolution.
Cranford remained a small village until 1838, when the Elizabethtown &
Somerville Railroad made it accessible to New York City.
The railroad and river led to Cranford's development, first as a recreation area and later as a
commuter suburb to New York. In 1871 Cranford was incorporated as a township and, within 15 years, about 76
residents were commuting daily to the city.
The most important of the many historic buildings in Cranford is the 1740 Williams Droescher Mill,
on Lincoln Avenue. Now owned by a messenger sevice and used as an office building,
it is the oldest continuoisly operated commercial building in New Jersey.
Its cast-iron water turbine is still in place.
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