Editing Caldwell, New Jersey (section)

== History ==
In 1702, settlers purchased a {{convert|14,000|acre|km2}} [[Horseneck Tract]] from the [[Lenape]] [[Native Americans of the United States|Native American]] tribe for goods equal to $325 (equivalent to ${{Inflation|US|325|1702|fmt=c|r=1}} in {{Inflation/year|US}}). This purchase encompassed much of western Essex County, from the [[Watchung Mountains|First Mountain]] to the [[Passaic River]] at Pine Brook. Caldwell is located in the center of the Horseneck Tract. Settlement began about 1740 by Thomas Gould and Saunders Sanders.

The Horseneck Tract consisted of present-day Caldwell, [[West Caldwell, New Jersey|West Caldwell]], [[North Caldwell, New Jersey|North Caldwell]], [[Fairfield Township, Essex County, New Jersey|Fairfield]], [[Verona, New Jersey|Verona]], [[Cedar Grove, New Jersey|Cedar Grove]], [[Essex Fells, New Jersey|Essex Fells]], [[Roseland, New Jersey|Roseland]], and portions of [[Livingston, New Jersey|Livingston]] and [[West Orange, New Jersey|West Orange]]. This land was part of the larger purchase and had been referred to as the Horse Neck Tract until February 17, 1787, when the town congregation voted to change the name to Caldwell, in honor of the Reverend [[James Caldwell (clergyman)|James Caldwell]] who pushed for their organization's creation.<ref>Hutchinson, Viola L. [http://mapmaker.rutgers.edu/356/nj_place_names_origin.pdf#page=9 ''The Origin of New Jersey Place Names''], New Jersey Public Library Commission, May 1945. Accessed August 28, 2015.</ref><ref>[[Henry Gannett|Gannett, Henry]]. [https://books.google.com/books?id=9V1IAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA63 ''The Origin of Certain Place Names in the United States''], p. 63. [[United States Government Printing Office]], 1905. Accessed August 28, 2015.</ref>

Caldwell Township included present-day West Caldwell and Caldwell. Soon after, the area of Caldwell Township just to the east of Caldwell Borough between Caldwell Borough and Montclair (present-day Verona and Cedar Grove) decided to follow Caldwell's lead and incorporated itself as its own borough, Verona. Some of the already developed eastern neighborhoods of Caldwell Township chose to become part of Montclair, as it was a rapidly developing suburb of [[Newark, New Jersey|Newark]] and [[Paterson, New Jersey|Paterson]]. At around the same time, the area north of Caldwell Borough became its own town, North Caldwell. The wooded area directly to the south of downtown Caldwell Borough became Essex Fells. Meanwhile, the farmland to the south of the western portion of Caldwell township attempted to become its own municipality known as South Caldwell. This failed, as much of developed sections of that area lied on its southernmost and easternmost borders, along the expanding Newark suburbs of Livingston and West Orange respectively. Those areas were engulfed by those two towns once they became incorporated municipalities of several small villages and developments.

This left only the most rural farmland south of Caldwell Borough and Essex Fells to become its own township, Roseland. At this point, all that remained of the original Caldwell Township was 6,600 acres of rural farmland and meadows in the northwesternmost part of Essex County. In 1963, Caldwell Township changed its name to Fairfield in order to avoid being confused with Caldwell Borough.<ref>Wright, George Cable. [https://www.nytimes.com/1963/11/03/archives/jersey-aroused-by-referendums-some-ballots-on-tuesday-to-list-nine.html "Jersey Aroused by Referendums; Some Ballots on Tuesday to List Nine Questions"], ''[[The New York Times]]'', November 3, 1963. Accessed July 5, 2012. "The voters of Caldwell Township wilt be asked to substitute the name of Fairfield, which the township bore 100 years ago when it stretched east to Newark. The name change was recommended because of confusion of mail distribution in Caldwell, West Caldwell and North Caldwell. There is presently a Fairfield Township in Cumberland County."</ref>

Immediately following the separation of the original Caldwell, the western part of Caldwell Borough generally remained less developed than downtown Caldwell Borough and contained several farms and a large area of undeveloped swampland known as [[Hatfield Swamp]]. However, two individual settlements, known as Franklin and Westville, soon formed in the western part of Caldwell Borough. As development increased and population grew in the western part of Caldwell, the town's more rural western population and more urban east often could not reconcile their differences. This led to the areas of Franklin and Westville consolidating into their own township known as West Caldwell in 1904, leaving only the one square mile of original downtown Horseneck development as the borough of Caldwell. Lewis G. Lockward was elected the first mayor of Caldwell.<ref name=NYT1979>[https://www.nytimes.com/1979/06/10/archives/new-jersey-weekly-old-caldwell-branch-at-end-of-the-line.html "Old Caldwell Branch at End of the Line"], ''[[The New York Times]]'', June 10, 1979. Accessed November 3, 2019.</ref> In 1929, an attempt to consolidate the three Caldwells into a single municipality was rejected by voters.{{citation needed|date=November 2019}}

This borough was one of the filming locations for the [[Columbia Pictures]] 1994 comedy film ''[[North (1994 film)|North]]''.{{citation needed|date=August 2014}}

=== Historical facts ===
* [[George Washington]] and his staff made their way through the community during the [[American Revolutionary War|Revolutionary War]]. They stopped for lunch at the old stone house of Saunders Sanders, located near present-day Brookside Avenue, one of the two original settlers of Caldwell.<ref name=Minutes2014/>
* [[Marquis de Lafayette]] visited in 1824, featuring a celebration party at the Crane Tavern.<ref name="Minutes2014">[https://web.archive.org/web/20191103213201/http://www.caldwell-nj.com/filestorage/6399/291/460/Council_Business_4-15-2014_(web).pdf Council Business Meeting April 15, 2014], Borough of Caldwell. Accessed November 3, 2019. "Whereas, General George Washington and his staff stopped for lunch at Saunders Sanders stone tavern during the Revolution, and the militia met and drilled at the Green to set off from the green for the battles of Connecticut Farms, Springfield, and Monmouth under the leadership of Captain William Gould, and... Whereas, the Marquis de Lafayette visited Caldwell on a triumphal tour, celebrated at the Crane Tavern, and Caldwell was given the brass cannon on the green by Colonel Peter Decatur during that visit in 1824, and"</ref>
* About 1816, Elias B. Caldwell and family, Presbyterians, helped found [[Liberia]], a nation for free blacks, and the town of [[Caldwell, Liberia]].<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=x6s9AAAAYAAJ ''The African Repository''], p. 5. January 1868. Accessed February 12, 2022.</ref>
* During the 1928 Presidential campaign, [[Herbert Hoover]] visited the Grover Cleveland Birthplace with his wife.<ref>Staff. [https://www.nytimes.com/1928/09/18/archives/hoover-in-appeal-to-labor-warns-against-tariff-cut-acclaimed-in.html "Hoover In Appeal To Labor Warns Against Tariff Cut; Acclaimed In Jersey Tour; 10,000 In Newark Hear Him Tells Workers They Owe Welfare to Policies of the Republicans. Stresses Immigration Bar Products and Wages Protected by Curb on Influx of Low-Paid Labor, Says Nominee. Hailed In Tour Of Towns Edisons Greet Candidate and His Wife in Essex County Ride --75,000 Cheer Them."], ''[[The New York Times]]'', September 18, 1928. Accessed July 31, 2013. "Another bright spot in the motor trip was a visit paid by Mr. and Mrs. Hoover to the birthplace of Grover Cleveland at Caldwell."</ref>
* Grover Cleveland lived the first four years of his life in Caldwell.
* In October 1897, a severe fire ripped through a large portion of Bloomfield Avenue, destroying buildings in its wake. These buildings were replaced, in part, by the Hasler Building, opposite the Presbyterian Church. This became Caldwell's first brick building.<ref name=Remembering />
* In, 1908 the Caldwell Public Library opened. It is one of 20 remaining [[List of Carnegie libraries in New Jersey|Carnegie libraries in New Jersey]]. In 2022, Preservation New Jersey listed the library on its list of the state's ten most endangered historic properties.<ref>[https://www.preservationnj.org/listings/caldwell-public-library/ Caldwell Public Library], Preservation New Jersey. Accessed June 27, 2022. "From 1900 to 1923, Carnegie funded 36 libraries in New Jersey; 29 are still standing, including 20 still functioning as public libraries."</ref>
* In 1914, during a Fourth of July fireworks celebration, a bomb fell, injuring 20 people. Local churches raised funds to defray the medical bills of the injured.
* In 1968, Caldwell's ornate historic bronze dolphin handle cannon was stolen off the town green. The cannon had been given to the borough by Marquis de Lafayette, who was a friend of Caldwell. A poorly cast rusting iron replica cannon was constructed and was placed at the site.<ref name=Remembering>Collins, John J. [https://books.google.com/books?id=ePDgbKf1K8UC&pg=PA120 ''Remembering the Caldwells''], p. 120. [[Arcadia Publishing]], 1998. {{ISBN|0-7385-4543-0}}. Accessed July 31, 2013. "The cannon on the green is a replica of the original cannon presented to Caldwell by Gen. Marquis de Lafayette. The original mounted cannon was stolen in 1968."</ref>
* On July 14, 1974, the landmark Park Theatre was destroyed by fire.<ref>[http://cpllocalhistorycollection.wordpress.com/2013/12/23/228/ The Park Theater Fire], The Caldwell Green — an online exhibit of items from the Gene Collerd Local History Collection at the Caldwell Public Library, December 23, 2013. Accessed August 20, 2014.</ref>