Rutherford, New Jersey
Rutherford is a borough in Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the borough's population was 18,834, an increase of 773 from the 2010 census count of 18,061, which in turn reflected a decline of 49 from the 18,110 counted in the 2000 census.
Rutherford was formed as a borough by an act of the New Jersey Legislature on September 21, 1881, from portions of Union Township, based on the results of a referendum held on the previous day. The borough was named for John Rutherfurd, a U.S. Senator who owned land in the area.
Rutherford has been called the "Borough of Trees" and "The First Borough of Bergen County", and is known as well for its pedestrian-focused downtown area adjacent to the borough's Bergen County Line railway station.
History
The ridge above the New Jersey Meadowlands upon which Rutherford sits was settled by Lenape Native Americans long before the arrival of Walling Van Winkle in 1687. Union Avenue, which runs from the Meadowlands to the Passaic River, may have been an Indian trail, but was more likely a property boundary line; it was referenced in the 1668 grant of land by proprietary Governor Philip Carteret to John Berry.Image:Rutherford 1904.jpg|thumb|left|300px|Bird's-eye view of Rutherford in 1904
During the early days of settlement, the land that is now Rutherford was part of New Barbadoes Township, as Berry had lived in Barbados, another English colony, before claiming his grant in New Jersey. New Barbadoes was part of Essex County from 1693 to 1710, when Bergen County was formed. In 1826, the land became part of Lodi Township. When Hudson County was formed in 1840, the area that is today North Arlington, Lyndhurst, Rutherford and East Rutherford became part of Harrison Township. However, the area reverted to Bergen County in 1852 and became known as Union Township.
Part of the region was known as Boiling Springs for a powerful and ceaseless spring located in the vicinity. Despite its name, the spring actually consisted of cold groundwater seeps rather than hot springs.
The Erie Railroad built its Main Line from Jersey City across the Meadowlands in the 1840s. Daniel Van Winkle, a descendant of Walling, donated land in 1866 for a train station at Boiling Springs. Several resorts were built along the Passaic, with guests disembarking at Boiling Springs station and taking Union Avenue to the river. Later, the railroad opened a station closer to the river, at Carlton Hill, and a horsecar line along Jackson Ave took travelers to the resort area.
At the time, much of the property in Rutherford was farmland owned by the estate of John Rutherfurd, a former New Jersey legislator and U.S. Senator, whose homestead was along the Passaic River, near present-day Rutherford Avenue. Van Winkle opened a real estate office at Depot Square to sell the land of the Rutherfurd Park Association, and began to lay out the area's street grid. The main roads were Orient Way, a wide boulevard heading south-southwest from Station Square, and Park Avenue, which headed west-southwest from Station Square to bring traffic to the new Valley Brook Race Course in what is now Lyndhurst.
In the 1870s, the area began to be called "Rutherford". The definitive reason for the change in spelling of the final syllable from "furd" to "ford" is unknown, though the change may have been the result of name recognition of the Ohio politician Rutherford B. Hayes, who was elected President in 1876, or could have been because of a clerical error by the United States Postal Service. The Post Office opened a facility called "Rutherford" in 1876. On September 21, 1881, the Borough of Rutherford was formed by formal vote of secession from Union Township. By then, the community had about 1,000 residents.
In August 2025, a fire destroyed the Victorian building of Congregation Beth-El, an Orthodox Jewish synagogue dating back to its founding in 1919. In 2012, a Molotov cocktail had been thrown the synagogue.
Historic sites
Rutherford is home to the following locations on the National Register of Historic Places:- Iviswold – 223 Montross Avenue. Located on the campus of Felician College, a $9 million renovation project of the Iviswold castle that took 14 years was completed in 2013. Originally constructed by Floyd W. Tomkins in 1869, the house was expanded to three levels, 25 rooms and by textbook publisher David Brinkerhoff Iverson after he acquired the home in 1887, based on a design by architect William H. Miller.
- Kip Homestead – 12 Meadow Road.
- Rutherford station – Station Square. New Jersey Transit initiated a $1 million project in 2009 to renovate the station, which had been constructed in 1898, to restore the interior of the structure.
- William Carlos Williams House – 9 Ridge Road.
- Yereance-Berry House – 91 Crane Avenue.
Geography
Rutherford is an inner-ring suburb of New York City, located west of Midtown Manhattan.
The borough is bounded by the Passaic River bordering Clifton and Passaic in Passaic County to the west, the Erie Railroad bordering East Rutherford to the north and east, the Hackensack River bordering Secaucus to the southeast, and Berrys Creek, Wall Street West and Rutherford Avenue bordering Lyndhurst to the south and southwest.
Demographics
2020 census
As of the 2020 Census, Rutherford had a total population of 18,834, 6,955 Total Households, a median household income of $136,069, and 7,370 Total Housing Units.Income and Poverty
Income and Earnings
$136,069 Median Household Income- Families - $160,363
- Married-couple families - $193,984
- Nonfamily households - $70,638
Poverty
- Under 18 years - 4.2%
- 18–64 years - 4.3%
- 65 years and over - 7.8%
Education
Educational Attainment
Population 25 Years and Older- High school or equivalent - 17.3%
- Some college - 13.2%
- Associate's degree- 5.3%
- Bachelor's degree - 35.6%
- Graduate or professional degree - 23.2%
2010 census
Of the 6,949 households, 29.8% had children under the age of 18; 52.8% were married couples living together; 10.4% had a female householder with no husband present and 32.9% were non-families. Of all households, 27.4% were made up of individuals and 9.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.56 and the average family size was 3.17.
21.0% of the population was under the age of 18, 8.7% was from 18 to 24, 27.6% from 25 to 44, 29.3% from 45 to 64, and 13.5% was 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40.3 years. For every 100 females, the population had 92.7 males. For every 100 females ages 18 and older there were 90.2 males.
The Census Bureau's 2006–2010 American Community Survey showed that median household income was $85,783 and the median family income was $104,293. Males had a median income of $70,071 versus $55,080 for females. The per capita income for the borough was $41,662. About 3.6% of families and 4.6% of the population were below the poverty line, including 4.5% of those under age 18 and 5.3% of those age 65 or over.
Same-sex couples headed 65 households in 2010, an increase from the 48 counted in 2000.
2000 census
As of the 2000 United States census there were 18,110 people, 7,055 households, and 4,670 families residing in the borough. The population density was. There were 7,214 housing units at an average density of. The racial makeup of the borough was 81.99% White, 2.70% African American, 0.04% Native American, 11.34% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 1.86% from other races, and 2.03% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino residents of any race were 8.59% of the population.There were 7,055 households, out of which 28.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 53.5% were married couples living together, 9.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 33.8% were non-families. 28.3% of all households were made up of individuals, and 10.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.52 and the average family size was 3.16.
In the borough 20.8% of the population was under the age of 18, 7.4% was from 18 to 24, 32.6% from 25 to 44, 24.6% from 45 to 64, and 14.6% was 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females, there were 92.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 90.3 males.
The median income for a household in the borough was $63,820, and the median income for a family was $78,120. Males had a median income of $51,376 versus $39,950 for females. The per capita income for the borough was $30,495. About 2.3% of families and 3.7% of the population were below the poverty line, including 3.1% of those under age 18 and 6.9% of those age 65 or over.
Economy
Rutherford is the site of Architectural Window Manufacturing Corporation's plant and Blue Foundry Bank's corporate headquarters.Rutherford, together with Lyndhurst and North Arlington, was the site of the EnCap project, an effort to remediate landfills on the site and construct homes and golf courses on top of the remediated site. On May 27, 2008, the New Jersey Meadowlands Commission terminated its agreement with EnCap Golf Holdings, the company that had the contract to redevelop the site, after the company had missed targets to clean up the landfills as part of the project.
The Highland Cross Development is a proposed project to consist of 800 units of housing, including 160 affordable units, two hotels, and a large retail component. Rutherford officials have worked to get approval for the plan, in the face of opposition from the 14 mayors of the Hackensack Meadowlands Municipal Committee.