| Author | Message | ||
     Tom Reingold the prissy-pants Citizen Username: Noglider Post Number: 873 Registered: 1-2003  |
I recently learned that Maplewood was formed from South Orange in 1926. What was the reason for this? Tom Reingold There is nothing | ||
| Dave Ross Supporter Username: Dave Post Number: 5535 Registered: 4-1998  |
Something about a reval.  | ||
| vor Citizen Username: Vor Post Number: 72 Registered: 9-2003 |
LOL Hey Dave where is everybody? Last post was over 10 minutes ago. I'm going through withdrawal. Are they all at the Halloween parade? | ||
| vor Citizen Username: Vor Post Number: 73 Registered: 9-2003 |
never mind...they're back | ||
| vor Citizen Username: Vor Post Number: 74 Registered: 9-2003 |
Tom try this link, i didn't see anything like you mention, though. http://www.westfieldnj.com/whs/history/Counties/EssexCounty/maplewood.htm | ||
| Nohero Citizen Username: Nohero Post Number: 2347 Registered: 10-1999  |
Sorry, Vor. As for Mr. Reingold's question, South Orange and Maplewood were once a single municipality, with the name "Township of South Orange". The "village" part was around present-day downtown South Orange; the rest of the township (the "Maplewood" part) was more rural. This might explain why the Village split away, since the "townies" might have wanted more and different services (not to mention more expensive) than the folks out in the "boonies" might have wanted. So actually, Dave's response wasn't too far off, as it probably was related to the cost of government and taxes. As the timeline at this link indicates: 1903: Village of South Orange withdraws to form a separate municipality, leaving the remaining 3.85 sq. miles as the Township of South Orange. 1920's: Building boom underway, transforming Maplewood from rural to suburban. Elementary schools built were Jefferson, Tuscan (1925) and Clinton (1928). 1922: Township of South Orange officially becomes Township of Maplewood, taking the name from the train stop. | ||
| vor Citizen Username: Vor Post Number: 76 Registered: 9-2003 |
oops, guess the 2 entries for 1922 threw me off. | ||
| kathy Citizen Username: Kathy Post Number: 650 Registered: 5-2001 |
According to my favorite book, Henry W. Foster's "The Evolution of Public Education in a New Jersey School District", the split was caused by tax assessments. The Village of SO, which was separately incorporated within the Township, felt that its more-developed land was being overassessed compared to land in the rest of the Township. Also the Village had already taxed itself to provide certain improvements (such as streetlights) and did not want to be taxed again to provide similar improvements in the rest of the Township. However, the state would not allow the school district to be divided. The same session of the legislature that allowed the municipal division also passed a statute that said that "Each township, city, incorporated town and borough shall be a separate school district, but each incorporated village shall remain and be a part of the school district in which said incorporated village shall be situated at the time of its incorporation." (Foster p. 186) Foster notes that South Orange was one of only two villages in the state at that time. | ||
| Tom Reingold the prissy-pants Citizen Username: Noglider Post Number: 906 Registered: 1-2003 |
Interesting. So in a sense, the Villagers looked down upon the Townshippers. NY state still has that hierarchy of villages within towns. NJ no longer does. There are no municipalities within each other. As far as I can tell, there are four types in NJ: cities, towns, townships, and boroughs. I don't know what the differences are, but I suppose they have something to do with the structure of government and taxes. I read somewhere that lots of towns converted to townships some time ago. I think townships were more rural at the time which taxed people at a lower level. This is probably why there are very few towns left. Morristown and Westfield are two of the few remaining towns. Tom Reingold There is nothing | ||
| dytunck Real Name Username: Dytunck Post Number: 148 Registered: 3-2001 |
Tom, I posted something about this a while ago in a thread titled "Two South Oranges", which is now archived in the dusty "Attic". Unfortunately, I can't seem to link to it. Maybe Dave can help unearth it. Dytunck ****** ***** **** *** ** * | ||
| kathy Citizen Username: Kathy Post Number: 654 Registered: 5-2001 |
Tom R, Obviously there are also villages! South Orange and maybe a couple of others. I had heard at some point that a lot of other types of municipal entities converted to townships years ago because some Federal aid legislation was written in terms of townships. South Orange was for many years "The Township of South Orange Village", but lately they have been calling themselves the Village of South Orange. And not too long ago I saw some reference to Orange as "City of Orange Township" or somesuch. | ||
| Tom Reingold the prissy-pants Citizen Username: Noglider Post Number: 932 Registered: 1-2003 |
I'm pretty sure that "village" is not a legal definition in NJ. South Orange likes to call itself that, probably for sentimental reasons, and I don't blame them. I'm pretty sure that South Orange is a township in every sense all the other townships are, no more or less. Tom Reingold There is nothing | ||
| Nohero Citizen Username: Nohero Post Number: 2365 Registered: 10-1999 |
Actually, no. South Orange still has a traditional "village" form of government, I think. A number of years ago, a law called the "Faulkner Act" was passed in NJ. It set out various forms of government. Municipalities could stay with the form of government dictated by their original form (Township, Town, City, etc.) or adopt a form of government from the options in the Faulkner Act. This being New Jersey, this attempt to simplify things has (of course) made them more confusing. In South Orange, there is a separately elected "Village President", and a council. Here in Maplewood, we have a traditional Township form of government, where the Mayor is technically just the chair of the Township Committee. All of the members are elected in the same way, with no separate election for mayor. The Mayor has a vote equal to any other Committee member (unlike in a Mayor-Council form of government), and except for the part about marrying people, doesn't really have any distinct power separate from the other members. | ||
| SoOrLady Citizen Username: Soorlady Post Number: 142 Registered: 9-2003 |
However, the official name is "The Township of the Village of South Orange". | ||
| Jmaxlaw Citizen Username: Jmaxlaw Post Number: 4 Registered: 3-2004 |
The reasons for the name: Federal Dollars. Until, I believe, 1977, we were the "Village of South Orange." However, "Townships" got more government dollars. So, we changed our name to the "Township of the Village of South Orange." Now, the government no longer gives more money to townships-- so perhaps it is time to turn back the clock and just be a village again? | ||
| dytunck Real Name Username: Dytunck Post Number: 172 Registered: 3-2001 |
It's "The Township of South Orange Village." | ||
| Strawberry Citizen Username: Strawberry Post Number: 2383 Registered: 10-2001 |
obviously |
