Editing Victory Gardens, New Jersey (section)

==History==
[[File:Washington Ave. (2), Victory Gardens, NJ, Sept 2022.jpg|thumb|Along Washington Avenue]]
The origins of the borough began in 1941, when the federal government acquired {{convert|91|acre|m2}} in Randolph Township as the site of a 300-unit housing project for war industry employees. The borough's name is derived from the [[victory garden]]s planted at homes and parks during [[World War II]] to provide additional supplies of fruits and vegetables.<ref>[http://www.victorygardensnj.gov/history/index.html History], Borough of Victory Gardens. Accessed October 18, 2015. "The borough was named for the victory gardens planted at private residences during World War II."</ref><ref>[http://www.hiddennj.com/2013/03/victory-gardens-tiny-town-with.html "Victory Gardens: a tiny town with an interesting past"], Hidden New Jersey, March 28, 2013. Accessed October 18, 2015. "As you might have guessed from the name, Victory Gardens was born during World War II as housing for workers who were employed at nearby Picatinny Arsenal and other private defense contractors manufacturing war goods."</ref> Streets are named for U.S. Presidents.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20070928014049/http://www.co.morris.nj.us/generalHTML/DB39_Profiles_VictoryGardensBorough.pdf Victory Gardens profile], [[Morris County, New Jersey]], backed up by the [[Internet Archive]] as of September 28, 2007. Accessed August 29, 2011.</ref>

Randolph Township residents approved a referendum as part of a September 1951 special election in which voters were asked if the township's Victory Gardens neighborhood should be removed from the township and created as an independent municipality for its 1,300 residents covering {{convert|92|acre}}.<ref>Staff. [https://www.nytimes.com/1951/09/19/archives/community-separates-federal-housing-project-is-split-from-jersey.html "Community Separates; Federal Housing Project Is Split From Jersey Township"], ''[[The New York Times]]'', September 19, 1951. Accessed November 10, 2013. "Randolph Township voters decided tonight by a margin of twenty-four ballots to discontinue a Federal housing development as part of the township."</ref> Residents of other areas of Randolph Township argued that the compensation paid by the federal government for the more than 250 students attending the [[Randolph Township Schools]] did not adequately cover the cost of their public education, that the housing and other structures in Victory Gardens was out of compliance with the township's building and zoning ordinances and that the overwhelming [[Democratic Party (New Jersey)|Democratic Party]] political leanings of residents of Victory Gardens were out of sync with the largely [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican Party]] township.<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/1951/09/17/archives/township-to-vote-on-excluding-area-randolph-nj-to-decide-by-ballot.html "Township To Vote On Excluding Area; Randolph, N.J., to Decide by Ballot Tomorrow Fate of Victory Gardens Section"], ''[[The New York Times]]'', September 17, 1951. Accessed November 10, 2013. "Citizens in near-by Randolph Township will ballot Tuesday to decide whether the Victory Gardens section should be excluded from the township and ordered to form a municipality of its own."</ref>

Victory Gardens was incorporated as a borough by an act of the [[New Jersey Legislature]] on June 20, 1951, from portions of [[Randolph, New Jersey|Randolph Township]], based on the results of the referendum passed on September 18, 1951.<ref name=Story>Snyder, John P. [https://nj.gov/dep/njgs/enviroed/oldpubs/bulletin67.pdf ''The Story of New Jersey's Civil Boundaries: 1606-1968''], Bureau of Geology and Topography; Trenton, New Jersey; 1969. p. 197. Accessed May 30, 2024.</ref><ref>[http://mclib.info/reference/local-history-genealogy/historical-timeline-of-morris-county-boundaries/ Historical Timeline of Morris County Boundaries], Morris County Library. Accessed December 24, 2016. "1951, September. Victory Gardens is established from Randolph. Victory Gardens had been a temporary community of defense industry workers during World War II whose municipal services were provided by Randolph Township. From PL 1951, c. 259."</ref>

The small town made news on November 16, 1958, when 262 members of its 297 families participated voluntarily as "refugees" in a civil defense exercise, while other residents of the town — "school boys with Geiger counters, staff men with fancy helmets, girls with typewriters, Explorer Scouts, police and fire crews, medical teams and the dozens who just washed pots and pans and ladled stew" — volunteered to assist. "Those who remained home," ''[[The New York Times]]'' wrote, "were restricted in their movements by guards who patrolled the town."<ref>O'Kane, Lawrence.[https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1958/11/17/82217050.html?pageNumber=33 "Residents Evacuate Jersey Town As 2 Counties Hold Bomb Drill"], ''[[The New York Times]]'', November 17, 1958, p. 33</ref>

A project approved in 1973 brought the construction of 184 units of garden apartments on a site covering {{convert|12.4|acre}}, providing additional rateables and offering permanent housing for an estimated 400 people, that would contrast with the temporary original structures built in the 1940s that had long passed their expected lifespan.<ref>Staff. [https://www.nytimes.com/1973/03/11/archives/victory-gardens-expanding.html "Victory Gardens Expanding"], ''[[The New York Times]]'', March 11, 1973. Accessed November 10, 2013. "Victory Gardens-This tiny community, which faces an uncertain future, is engaged in its biggest expansion ever, the development of Carmel Gardens, a 184-unit garden-apartment complex on 12.4 acres of land."</ref>