History:

To a large extent South Plainfield's landscape was formed thousands of years ago by a Glacier. As the Glacier inched across the borough from the direction of New Durham Avenue towards Woodland Avenue it picked up soil along the way. As a result the two highest points in our town are where the Glacier started (Durham Avenue near what is now the Prudential/Motorola building) and where it began to melt (Woodland Avenue near the West Nine Golf Course). In the middle a flat basin was formed near what is now Spring Lake. That is why all the good topsoil is on the north side of town and the soil content on the south side is shale. The landscape became important as prehistoric hunters arrived on the scene. They used the high points near Woodland Avenue and Durham Avenue as lookouts for the animals that grazed in the lower areas of town. South Plainfield remained a fertile hunting ground right up to the time of the Lenape Indians. A tribe of these Native Americans who lived here were called "Raritaing" from which the name "Raritan" was derived.

The area that later became South Plainfield was included in the "Elizabethtown Purchase" of 1664 as a part of Piscataway Township. The name "Piscataway" came from the "Piscataqua" Indians of Maine. (Remember the early settlers were originally from New England). Piscataway Township encompassed all of the land from Woodbrige to the southern most part of Middlesex County, including what later became New Brunswick, Spotswood, Millstone, Princeton and Cranbury. Most of the first settlers were of Scottish descent although some Quakers also lived here.

During the 1920's South Plainfield, which was still a part of Piscataway Township, began to acquire an identity of its own. The area known as New Brooklyn became the center of town. There was an Atlantic & Pacific Grocery Store (A&P), Pass's Drug Store, Nischwitz Feed & Grain, Randolph's butcher shop, and Vail's General Store. There was a pig farm in the Dismal Swamp and there was even a movie theatre, owned by the DeSabato family. The school population was growing so fast that a new school was built next to the Baptist Church and was named Grant School after the Civil War Hero.

In 1924, an airport was built on John Hadley's farm mainly for the use of the U.S. Postal Service. The first night airmail flight took off on July 1, 1925 and it took only 33 ½ hours to fly coast to coast. There were Sunday afternoon air shows announced by a young man who later became Mayor Henry Apgar. Bendix Aviation experimental planes and helicopters were tested at Hadley Airport.

South Plainfield's suburban character was established after World War II when the Geary Farm on Plainfield Avenue was developed into what became known as Geary Park. Shortly thereafter various housing developments sprang up throughout the north side of the Borough increasing South Plainfield's population form 8,000 in 1959 to 18,000 in 1960.

Commercial and Industrial uses were attracted to the borough in the 1960's and 70's. The highlights were the construction of the Golden Acres Shopping Center, the Middlesex Mall and the Prudential Building. In the bicentennial year of 1976, South Plainfield's population was 23,000. It remains at approximately that number today.