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DHistory
History · Winfield Township

Winfield Township dates to 1941

More historic than 11% of U.S. towns. What drives it

Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1888 on, and the census since 1950.

1941founded
0on the National Register
6%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: Mr. Matté (if there is an issue with this image, contact me using this image's Commons talk page, my Commons user talk page, or my English Wikipedia user talk page; I'll know about it a lot faster) · CC BY-SA 4.0
Quick answers

How Winfield Township began

When was Winfield Township founded?

1941

Winfield Township dates its founding to 1941 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1950.

First census: 2,719 in 19502020 census: 1,42385 years

How historic is Winfield Township?

D

More historic than 11% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: Wikidata.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Winfield Township’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Winfield Township is more historic than 11% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its age pulls it down.

D
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Winfield Township’s overall grade.
Founding era1941, from Wikidata: founded 1900–1944, an older era than 9% of U.S. townsDHomes built before 19406.2% of homes (±3.1) · typical NJ town 14.7% · U.S. 8.4%CNational RegisterNo listings counted · typical NJ town 3.7 per 10,000 · U.S. 2.4C−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 11%
NewerOlder

New Jersey towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical New Jersey town has 3.7 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Winfield Township’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (12% of New Jersey towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.

NoteThe founding year comes from Wikidata alone; no second source gives 1941.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from D− to C−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±3.1 points).

Founding year: Wikidata (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →

What stands out about Winfield Township’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 1 old photo is in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 18888 editions of the USGS map, 1888 to 1995. Watch Winfield Township change.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Winfield Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Winfield Township’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Date a photo1 archive item has no date. Guess the decade.+2Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
On the map

Winfield Township on the map, 1888 to 1995

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Winfield Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Winfield Township on the 1888 USGS mapWinfield Township on the 1893 USGS mapWinfield Township on the 1905 USGS mapWinfield Township on the 1921 USGS mapWinfield Township on the 1955 USGS mapWinfield Township on the 1970 USGS mapWinfield Township on the 1981 USGS mapWinfield Township on the 1995 USGS map1888Plainfield sheet · 1:62,500

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Winfield Township.

The story

How Winfield Township came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Winfield Township.

Read it all →

The Winfield Park Mutual Ownership Defense Housing Project (Project No. 28071) is a 700-unit development of 254 buildings that were originally planned and developed by and built for the defense workers of the Kearny, New Jersey, shipyards. This was the last of eight projects undertaken by the Mutual Ownership Defense Housing Division of the Federal Works Agency under the leadership of Colonel Lawrence Westbrook. In earlier stages, Winfield Park was known as the Rahway River Park Project. John T. Rowland served as the project's architect. Winfield Park is located almost immediately off of exit 136 of the Garden State Parkway; the municipalities of Cranford, Linden and Clark surround Winfield Township, a governmental entity established to enclose the Winfield Park Project. The Township is bordered on three sides by the Rahway River and Rahway River Park (which adds substantially to the pa…

ChaptersChoosing the siteClark Township protestsThe creation of Winfield TownshipConstructionCommunity lifeAfter the warSociological research

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Winfield Township, 1888 to 1946

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1888On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  3. 20th century
  4. 1941
    FoundingWinfield Township is established
  5. 1946Born hereJeffrey Moran is born here
By decade

Winfield Township, decade by decade

Date unknown1 to date
Census Bureau map of Winfield Township, New JerseyDate?Census Bureau map of Winfield Township, New JerseyMap
Today9 recent
Winfield Twp., NJ municipal building, Oct. 20242024Winfield Twp., NJ municipal building, Oct. 2024Winfield Twp., NJ fire department and ambulance squad, Oct. 20242024Winfield Twp., NJ fire department and ambulance squad…Winfield School, Winfield Twp., NJ, Oct. 20242024Winfield School, Winfield Twp., NJ, Oct. 2024Winfield Mutual Housing Corporation building, Winfield Twp., NJ, Oct. 20242024Winfield Mutual Housing Corporation building, Winfiel…Winfield5th48-492009Winfield5th48-49Winfield Vo. Fire-Aux early 40s2009Winfield Vo. Fire-Aux early 40sWinfield Park School Play 40s2009Winfield Park School Play 40sMary Burke 19412009Mary Burke 1941Winfield twp nj 0392005Winfield twp nj 039
People over time

Winfield Township, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0002,5003,0001960198020002020Peak: 2,719

Between 1,423 and 2,719 people in every census since 1950.

8 censuses, 1950–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Winfield Township’s Wikipedia page.

Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Clark Township2 historic placesCLindenIts storyC+Cranford Township2 historic placesB

Questions about Winfield Township’s history

What year was Winfield Township founded?

In 1941, according to Wikidata. the census of 1950 counted 2,719 people here.

How does Winfield Township rank for history?

Winfield Township is more historic than 11% of U.S. towns. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.

How old are the homes in Winfield Township?

6% of Winfield Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.1 points), against a typical 15% for a New Jersey town.

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

From Wikimedia Commons (10), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps and U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.