Bloomfield is a township in Essex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, and an inner-ring suburb of Newark. As of the 2020 United States census, the township's population was 53,105, an increase of 5,790 (+12.2%) from the 2010 census count of 47,315, which in turn reflected a decline of 368 (-0.8%) from the 47,683 counted in the 2000 census.Table 7. Population for the Counties and Municipalities in New Jersey: 1990, 2000 and 2010, New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development, February 2011. Accessed May 1, 2023. It is the location of the Bloomfield Green Historic District, which was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1978.New Jersey and National Registers of Historic Places - Essex County, New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection Historic Preservation Office, updated March 25, 2024. Accessed April 5, 2024.

History

The earliest settlers of the area were the Lenape Native Americans. The initial patent for European settlement of the land that would become Bloomfield Township was granted to the English Puritan colonists of Newark, and the area assigned to Essex County in 1675, and Newark Township in 1693. From the 1690s to about the 1720s, much of the northern and eastern land was sold to descendants of New Netherland colonists who had settled Acquackanonk, and the remainder mostly to English families. Speertown (now Upper Montclair), Stone House Plains (now Brookdale), and Second River (now Belleville and Nutley) were essentially Dutch and Jersey Dutch-speaking, while Cranetown, Watsessing, and the Morris Neighborhood (now North Center) were predominantly English. Starting in the mid-18th century, the English and Dutch neighborhoods gradually integrated, with Thomas Cadmus being among the first Dutchmen to settle in an English neighborhood.

Numerous residents served in the Revolutionary War.Folsom, Joseph Fulford. Bloomfield, old and new: an historical symposium, Bloomfield Centennial Historical Committee, 1912. Accessed February 15, 2023. No significant engagements occurred in Bloomfield, although the locale was on the Continental Army's retreat route after the Battle of Long Island; British and American troops conducted foraging operations; and General George Washington is believed to have visited at least two residences.Folsom, Joseph Fulford. Bloomfield, old and new: an historical symposium, p. 32. Bloomfield Centennial Historical Committee, 1912. Accessed February 15, 2023. The Green was set aside to commemorate the use of that space for drilling of militia.Folsom, Joseph Fulford. Bloomfield, old and new: an historical symposium, p. 54. Bloomfield Centennial Historical Committee, 1912. Accessed February 15, 2023.

The Presbyterian Society of Bloomfield (now the Bloomfield Presbyterian Church on the Green) was formed in 1794 and named in honor of then-brigadier Joseph Bloomfield, commander of New Jersey troops in the Whiskey Rebellion.Knox, Charles Eugene. Origin and Annals of the 'Old Church on the Green': The First Presbyterian Church of Bloomfield, Being a Historical Sermon: Covering Comprehensively the Period 1668-1896, with Explanatory and Reminiscent Notes, p. 25. S. Morris Hulin, 1901. Accessed November 3, 2019. About the same time, the Dutch Reformed Church of Stone House Plains (now Brookdale Reformed Church) was established.Folsom, Joseph Fulford. Bloomfield, Old and New : An Historical Symposium by Several Authors, Bloomfield Centennial Historical Committee, 1912. Accessed November 3, 2019. The two churches became integral institutions of southern and northern Bloomfield, respectively.

Bloomfield was incorporated as a township from portions of Newark Township by an act of the New Jersey Legislature on March 23, 1812.Snyder, John P. The Story of New Jersey's Civil Boundaries: 1606-1968, Bureau of Geology and Topography; Trenton, New Jersey; 1969. Accessed May 1, 2026. At the time, the Presbyterian parish's namesake was governor of New Jersey and had recently been appointed brigadier general for service in the looming War of 1812.Bloomfield, New Jersey - A Brief History , First Baptist Church of Bloomfield, New Jersey. Accessed August 21, 2007.Gannett, Henry. The Origin of Certain Place Names in the United States, p. 49. United States Government Printing Office, 1905. Accessed August 27, 2015.Hutchinson, Viola L. The Origin of New Jersey Place Names, New Jersey Public Library Commission, May 1945. Accessed August 27, 2015.

At the time it was incorporated, the township covered (almost four times its current area of ) and included several municipalities which were formed from portions of Bloomfield during the course of the nineteenth century, including Belleville (created on April 8, 1839), Montclair (April 15, 1868), Woodside Township (March 24, 1869) and Glen Ridge (February 13, 1895).Brief History of Bloomfield, Township of Bloomfield, New Jersey. December 8, 2014. Accessed November 3, 2019. The Stone House Plains neighborhood was renamed as Brookdale in 1873.

In the township's first century, Brookdale farms thrived while southern Bloomfield industrialized, and the township's infrastructure, civil framework and social institutions developed. Several miles of the Morris Canal passed through Bloomfield.Morris Canal Map 1824-1924, Canal Society of New Jersey. Accessed November 3, 2019. The Oakes woollen mill thrived as a major supplier to the Union Army.The Oakes Woolen Textile Mill, Oakeside Bloomfield Cultural Center. Accessed November 3, 2019.

Bloomfield was incorporated as a town on February 26, 1900. In 1904, the city of Newark failed in its attempts to reannex Bloomfield as part of the "Greater Newark" movement.Karcher, Alan J. Multiple Municipal Madness, p. 168. Rutgers University Press, 1998. . Accessed April 2, 2020. "Newark set out on three separate occasions to annex regions it had divested in the past. Referendums were conducted in 1903 and 1908 to annex Irvington, and in 1904 an effort was made to retrieve what still remained of Bloomfield." In 1981, the town was one of seven Essex County municipalities to pass a referendum to become a township, joining four municipalities that had already made the change, of what would ultimately be more than a dozen Essex County municipalities to reclassify themselves as townships in order to take advantage of federal revenue sharing policies that allocated townships a greater share of government aid to municipalities on a per capita basis., p. 73. New Jersey State Commission on County and Municipal Government, 1992. Accessed September 24, 2015."Removing Tiering From The Revenue Sharing Formula Would Eliminate Payment Inequities To Local Governments", Government Accountability Office, April 15, 1982. Accessed September 24, 2015. "In 1978, South Orange Village was the first municipality to change its name to the 'township' of South Orange Village effective beginning in entitlement period 10 (October 1978 to September 1979). The Borough of Fairfield in 1978 changed its designation by a majority vote of the electorate and became the 'Township of Fairfield' effective beginning entitlement period 11 (October 1979 to September 1980).... However, the Revenue Sharing Act was not changed and the actions taken by South Orange and Fairfield prompted the Town of Montclair and West Orange to change their designation by referendum in the November 4, 1980, election. The municipalities of Belleville, Verona, Bloomfield, Nutley, Essex Fells, Caldwell, and West Caldwell have since changed their classification from municipality to a township."Narvaez, Alfonso A. "New Jersey Journal", The New York Times, December 27, 1981. Accessed September 24, 2015. "Under the Federal system, New Jersey's portion of the revenue sharing funds is disbursed among the 21 counties to create three 'money pools.' One is for county governments, one for 'places' and a third for townships. By making the change, a community can use the 'township advantage' to get away from the category containing areas with low per capita incomes."Karcher, Alan J. New Jersey's Multiple Municipal Madness, pp. 119-120. Rutgers University Press, 1998. . Accessed September 24, 2015.Bloomfield, New Jersey - A Brief History , First Baptist Church of Bloomfield. Accessed July 6, 2007. "In July of 1981, by a special election, it changed its designation to 'Township' again."

In the 20th century, GE, Westinghouse and Schering built major facilities, and among others, the Charms Candy Company was started and grew. After World War I, Brookdale's farms were developed into residential neighborhoods and supporting services. Substantial population growth continued into the 1950s. During World War II, while many Bloomfield men served in the armed forces, Bloomfield's farms and factories, largely staffed by women, supported the war effort. In the decades after the war, the township's industrial base steadily shut down with stricter environmental regulations, rising labor costs, and growing competition. These influences, as well as construction of the Garden State Parkway, further drove urban decay and related population turnover and stagnation through the latter part of the 20th century.

In the early 21st century, redevelopment of blighted and underutilized properties has further shifted Bloomfield towards being a primarily residential municipality.Ballinger, Barbara. "Former GE Plant–Turned–Housing Revives Run-down NJ Neighborhood", Multifamily Executive, June 15, 2014. Accessed November 3, 2019.

Geography According to the United States Census Bureau, the township had a total area of 5.36 square miles (13.88 km2), including 5.34 square miles (13.82 km2) of land and 0.02 square miles (0.06 km2) of water (0.45%).

Silver Lake (2010 total population of 4,243, United States Census Bureau. Accessed November 4, 2012.) is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) defined by the United States Census Bureau as of the 2010 Census that is split between Belleville (with 3,769 of the CDP's residents) and Bloomfield (474 of the total).New Jersey: 2010 - Population and Housing Unit Counts - 2010 Census of Population and Housing (CPH-2-32), United States Census Bureau, August 2012, p. III-3. Accessed November 4, 2012. "Silver Lake (formed from parts of deleted whole-township Belleville and Bloomfield CDPs)" Brookdale (2010 population of 9,239, United States Census Bureau. Accessed November 4, 2012.) is a CDP located entirely within Bloomfield. Watsessing and Ampere North are CDPs in the southern part of the township that were first listed prior to the 2020 census.

Unincorporated communities, localities and place names located partially or completely within the township include Halycon.Locality Search, State of New Jersey. Accessed May 22, 2015. Bloomfield is in the New York metropolitan area.

The township borders the municipalities of Belleville, East Orange, Glen Ridge, Montclair, Newark and Nutley in Essex County; and Clifton in Passaic County.Areas touching Bloomfield, MapIt. Accessed March 19, 2020.Municipalities, Essex County, New Jersey Register of Deeds and Mortgages. Accessed March 19, 2020.New Jersey Municipal Boundaries, New Jersey Department of Transportation. Accessed November 15, 2019.

Demographics

In 2014, the cost of living in Bloomfield was 20% higher than the U.S. average.Cost of Living in Bloomfield (ZIP 07003), New Jersey, Sperling's BestPlaces. Accessed December 22, 2014.

According to a 2007 report from CNNMoney.com, the quality of life in Bloomfield in terms of crime are 3 incidents per 1,000 people as compared to the "best places to live average" of 1.3 incidents per 1,000. There were 35 property crime incidents per 1,000 people in Bloomfield as compared to the "best places to live average" of 20.6., CNNMoney, backed up by the Internet Archive as of August 13, 2007. Accessed December 22, 2014.

2020 census