Verona, New Jersey

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Verona is a township in Essex County, New Jersey, United States. As of the United States 2000 Census, the township population was 13,533, making it the 181th most populous municipality in New Jersey (out of 566 statewide).<ref>List of municipalities in New Jersey (by population), accessed October 27, 2006</ref>

[edit] Geography

Verona is located at 40°49′57″N, 74°14′32″W (40.832449, -74.242276)^GR1.

Verona lies between two mountains, with a small river, the Peckman, flowing at the bottom of the valley.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the township has a total area of 7.2 km² (2.8 mi²). 7.1 km² (2.8 mi²) of it is land and 0.1 km² (0.04 mi²) of it (0.72%) is water.

Verona is bordered by Cedar Grove (North), Montclair (East), West Orange (South), Essex Fells (Southwest) and North Caldwell (Northwest).

[edit] History

Verona and several neighboring towns were all originally one town known as the Horseneck Tract. In the early 1700s, a group of settlers left Newark and purchased a large tract of land northwest of their home city for the equivalent of a few hundred dollars from the Lenni Lenape Native Americans. This piece of land extended west and north to the Passaic River, south to the town center of what would become Livingston, and east to the First Watchung Mountain, and was called Horseneck by the natives because it resembled the neck and head of a horse.

What was then known as Horseneck contained most of the present day northern Essex County towns: Verona, along with Caldwell, West Caldwell, Cedar Grove, Essex Fells, Fairfield, North Caldwell, and Roseland are all located entirely in Horseneck, and parts of what are today Livingston, Montclair, and West Orange also were contained in the Horseneck tract. After the Revolutionary War, Horseneck changed its name to "Caldwell Township" in honor of a local war hero and pastor, James Caldwell, who used burning pages from his church's bibles to ignite the ammo in soldiers' cannons and helped to drive the British out of Horseneck.<ref>Caldwell New Jersey Historical Photographs and History, accessed October 15, 2006</ref>

By the mid-19th century, the area of Caldwell to the east of today's Caldwell Borough and Montclair became known as Vernon Valley. However, when application was made for a United States Post Office, the townspeople were informed that another Vernon Valley, in Sussex County, had first claim to the name. The name Verona was put forth by the townspeople as a suitable alternative and was eventually accepted.

At various times between 1798 and 1892, issues arose which caused dissatisfaction between the Caldwell and Verona areas. These included a desire of the citizens of Verona to more closely control their own governmental affairs. With the population growing, Verona needed to centrally locate essential services such as schools and places of worship; problems with the water supply; and the disposition of road repair funds. And so, in 1892, the citizens of Verona voted to secede from Caldwell Township to form Verona Township. Further growth and the need for a water system and other public utilities found Verona moving ahead of the other half of the township and in 1902 the two areas decided to separate into 2 separate municipalities: Verona Township and Verona Borough. It took two sessions of the state legislature to approve the new borough, but on May 13, 1907, the borough of Verona was incorporated. Verona Township was later renamed to Cedar Grove Township.

In the 1970s the borough of Verona was renamed to “The Township of the Borough of Verona,” as part of an effort to obtain greater federal aid from programs that granted additional funds to Townships, but not to Boroughs and other forms of local government.

[edit] Demographics

By national standards, Verona is an upper middle class town.

As of the census^GR2 of 2000, there were 13,533 people, 5,585 households, and 3,697 families residing in the township. The population density was 1,900.0/km² (4,917.4/mi²). There were 5,719 housing units at an average density of 803.0/km² (2,078.1/mi²). The racial makeup of the township was 92.99% White, 1.53% African American, 0.02% Native American, 3.41% Asian, 0.06% Pacific Islander, 0.71% from other races, and 1.27% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 3.45% of the population.

There were 5,585 households out of which 29.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 56.3% were married couples living together, 7.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 33.8% were non-families. 30.0% of all households were made up of individuals and 15.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.42 and the average family size was 3.06.

In the township the population was spread out with 22.5% under the age of 18, 4.3% from 18 to 24, 28.8% from 25 to 44, 25.1% from 45 to 64, and 19.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 41 years. For every 100 females there were 89.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 83.8 males.

The median income for a household in the township was $74,619, and the median income for a family was $97,673. Males had a median income of $60,434 versus $43,196 for females. The per capita income for the township was $41,202. About 1.4% of families and 3.3% of the population were below the poverty line, including 2.6% of those under age 18 and 6.2% of those age 65 or over.

[edit] Transportation

Within the limits of the town lies Route 23; Major roads around the township are State routes 3, 7, 10, and 21 ; County Routes CR 506 and CR 577; US 46; Interstates 80, 280 and 287. The Garden State Parkway and New Jersey Turnpike are minutes away.

New Jersey Transit has several bus routes that serve Verona: 11, 28, 29, 75.
DeCamp Bus lines also has Commuter services that go into New York City: 33, West Caldwell/Port Authority

[edit] Government

[edit] Local government

The members of the Verona Township Council are Mayor Jay Sniatkowski (term ends December 31, 2009), Deputy Mayor Jim Robbins (2007), Robert Detore (2007), Santi Condorelli (2009) and Ken McKenna (2009).<ref>Verona Township Council 2005-2006, accessed June 8, 2006</ref>

The day-to-day activities are supervised by Township Manager Joseph Martin

[edit] Federal, state and county representation

Verona is in the Eighth Congressional District and is part of New Jersey's 40th Legislative District.<ref>League of Women Voters: 2006 New Jersey Citizen's Guide to Government, p. 65, accessed August 30, 2006</ref>

New Jersey's Eighth Congressional District, covering the southern portion of Passaic County and northern sections of Essex County, is represented by Bill Pascrell Jr. (D, Paterson). New Jersey is represented in the Senate by Frank Lautenberg (D, Cliffside Park) and Robert Menendez (D, Hoboken).

The 40th legislative district of the New Jersey Legislature is represented in the State Senate by Henry McNamara (R, Wyckoff) and in the Assembly by Kevin J. O'Toole (R, Wayne) and David C. Russo (R, Midland Park). The Governor of New Jersey is Jon Corzine (D, Hoboken).

Essex County's County Executive is Joseph N. DiVincenzo, Jr. The executive, along with the Board of Chosen Freeholders administer all county business. Essex County's Freeholders are Freeholder President Johnny Jones, Freeholder Vice President Patricia Sebold, Freeholder-At-Large Blonnie R. Watson, Freeholder-At-Large Donald M. Payne, Jr., Freeholder District 1 Samuel Gonzalez, Freeholder District 2 D. Bilal Beasley, Freeholder District 3 Carol Y. Clark, Freeholder District 4 Linda Lordi Cavanaugh and Freeholder District 5 Ralph R. Caputo.

[edit] Politics

On the national level, Verona leans toward the Republican Party. In 2004, Republican George W. Bush received 51% of the vote here, defeating Democrat John Kerry, who received around 48%.

[edit] Education

The Verona Public Schools serve students in Kindergarten through twelfth grade. Verona has six schools which consist of four K-4 elementary schools — (Brookdale Avenue School (148 students), Frederic N. Brown School (268 students), Forest Avenue School (213 students) and Laning Avenue School (231 students) — strategically located in each corner of town<ref>Enrollment data from the New Jersey Department of Education's 2004-05 School Report Cards</ref>. Henry B. Whitehorne Middle School serves 584 students from grades 5-8, and 615 students in grade 9-12 attend Verona High School. The high school mascot is the "Hillbilly". However, this mascot has become controversial as a result of opposition from new school Superintendent.^{[citation needed]} Most students have opposed the name change.^{[citation needed]} While not officially changing the name, they are now often referred to as the "Maroon and White" by faculty, referring to the school colors.

For the 2004-05 school year, Laning Avenue School was named a "Star School" by the New Jersey Department of Education, the highest honor that a New Jersey school can achieve. In addition, Forest Avenue School won the "Star School" award for the 1998-99 school year, and Verona High School won it for the 1995-96 school year.<ref>New Jersey Department of Education Star School Award recipients: Verona, accessed August 04, 2006</ref>.

Our Lady of the Lake Catholic School serves students in pre-school through eighth grade, and is situated near Verona Park. The Children's Institute (TCI) is a private, non-profit school approved by the New Jersey Department of Education, serving children facing learning, language and social challenges, for children ages 3-21.

[edit] Noted Verona residents (past and present)

• John Bogle, founder of The Vanguard Group^{[citation needed]}
• Scott Chesney, Motivational speaker
• Anthony Fasano, NFL Player. Tight End for the Dallas Cowboys.
• Jed Graef, Gold Medal winner in the 200m Backstroke at the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo<ref>2004 VHSAA HALL OF FAME INDUCTEES: Jed Graef, 1960, U.S. Olympic Gold Medal Winner, accessed July 12, 2006</ref>
• Jay Mohr, actor/comedian
• Henry Orenstein, professional poker player and helped push Hasbro to produce Transformers (toyline)
• Rod Trafford, NFL Player. Tight end for the St. Louis Rams

[edit] Community

• The Verona Fire Department is the largest volunteer Fire Department<ref>Verona Fire Department Accessed October 16, 2006</ref> in Essex County, staffed by over 60 firefighters. They have two stations, three engines, one ladder truck, and one reserve engine.
• The Verona Rescue Squad (volunteer) has three ambulances, and one heavy rescue truck in one station on Church Street.
• The main street in Verona is Bloomfield Avenue, where the Town Hall, Library, Middle School, and many shops, restaurants, and businesses are located.
• Verona Park, Hilltop Reservation and Eagle Rock Reservation are all parts of the historic Essex County park system, that lie within the township.
• During the American Revolutionary War, George Washington and his troops used Eagle Rock Reservation as one of a chain of observation posts.
• Annin Flag Company, is the world's oldest & largest flag manufacturer and has it's main manufacturing plant in Verona. Annin & Company is the official flag manufacturer to the United Nations, and a major supplier to the United States Government. Annin produced flags that were used on Iwo Jima, planted on the surface of the moon, at the North and South Poles, atop Mount Everest and the rubble of the World Trade Center<ref>American Profile: August 13 - 19, 2006, accessed August 13, 2006</ref>.
• Essex Mountain Sanatorium - During the first half of the 20th century, was the leading sanatorium in the nation for the treatment of tuberculosis because of the fresh mountain air Verona provided.
• Most of Verona's housing stock is pre-World War II.
• At one point, Verona was serviced by a trolley line.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Official Website of the Township of Verona
• Verona Public Schools
• Verona Public Schools's 2004-2005 School Report Card from the New Jersey Department of Education
• National Center for Education Statistics data for the Verona Public Schools
• Verona Fire Department
• Verona Rescue Squad
• Verona-Cedar Grove Times (Local Newspaper)
• Verona Codes & Ordinances
• Maps and aerial photos Coordinates: 40.832449° -74.242276°
  • Street map from Google Maps, or Yahoo! Maps, or Windows Live Local
  • Satellite image from Google Maps, Windows Live Local, WikiMapia
  • Topographic map from TopoZone
  • Aerial image or topographic map from TerraServer-USA

Categories: Articles with unsourced statements | Essex County, New Jersey | Townships in New Jersey