Cranford Students Hear About History
Submitted by Maureen Strazdon
Did you know that the first school in Cranford was the “Old Red School House” built in 1805 at the corner of Union Avenue and Lincoln Avenue? It was 24 feet long, 16 feet wide and had only one room. It was Cranford’s only school until 1868.
That was one of the fun facts about the history of Cranford that was read with the morning announcements at each of the schools in the Cranford school district the week of March 9.
“We thought that announcing facts the students would be able to relate to would be a great way for them to learn about the history of Cranford,” said Amy Imhof, Elementary World Language teacher at Brookside Place School and Hillside Avenue School. “We declared it Cranford History Week in honor of Cranford’s incorporation on March 14, 1871 and decided to celebrate it this way.” Amy worked with the Historic Preservation Advisory Board to find the facts and with the school principals and PTAs to iron out the delivery.
Cooper Groll, a 4th grade student at Orange Avenue School said “I like how Cranford will celebrate 150 years, it makes it a fun community to live in.” Kelly Rotella, a 4th grader at Brookside Place School said “It is really amazing. The river carnivals are something I would have liked to have seen!” Charlotte Groll, a 3rd grader at Orange Avenue School said “It is amazing to learn that the town grew from 60 people to 22,000. People must have come for the river carnival and stayed because Cranford does such cool things.”
Another of the facts announced at the schools concerned the Annual River Carnivals that were held on the Rahway River in Cranford from 1886 to 1928, with over 10,000 people watching decorated boats floating down the River. Another was about the Crane Phillips House on North Union Avenue, the most well-known historical building in Cranford and the home of the Cranford Historical Society, visited by all Cranford 3rd graders.
Students heard that Cranford was settled in the early 1700s by people from Elizabeth and was known as Cranes Mills when it became part of Westfield in 1794. Cranford became its own township in 1871, and the first official act of the Township Committee was to get land to build a dog pound. The oldest home in Cranford is the Norris Oakley House at 1117 Orange Avenue.
Because of school closures students missed hearing about the fact that the original Native American name for the Cranford area was Wawahakewany meaning “place where eggs are found” and that Nomahegan Park, an Algonquin word meaning “baby wolf”, was once a Native American camping ground. The Rahway River is named for Rahwack, a Native American chief.
The students as well as the teachers look forward to more activities relating to Cranford’s history when the township celebrates its 150th anniversary in 2021.
