#newjersey #edison #thomasedison #edisontownship #menlopark #raritan #lenapetrovacpa

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Thomas Edison was an inventor who is the township's namesake.
Edison Township was settled by Europeans in the 17th century. The earliest residents of the area were the Raritan people of the Lenape Native Americans. In 1876, Thomas Edison set up his home and research laboratory in New Jersey at "Menlo Park", (currently located in Edison State Park). While there he earned the nickname "the Wizard of Menlo Park." Before his death at age 83 in 1931, the prolific inventor amassed a record 1,093 patents for creations including the phonograph, a stock ticker, the motion-picture camera, the incandescent light bulb, a mechanical vote counter, the alkaline storage battery including one for an electric car, and the first commercial electric light.

In 1954, the township's name was changed to honor inventor Thomas A. Edison.

The Menlo Park lab was significant in that was one of the first laboratories to pursue practical, commercial applications of research. It was in his Menlo Park laboratory that Thomas Edison came up with the phonograph and a commercially viable incandescent light bulb filament. Christie Street was the first street in the world to use electric lights for illumination. Edison subsequently left Menlo Park and moved his home and laboratory to West Orange in 1886.

Edison has been one of the fastest-growing municipalities in New Jersey. As of the 2000 United States Census, it was the fifth most-populated municipality in the state, after the cities of Newark, Jersey City, Paterson, and Elizabeth.

Edison is primarily a middle-class community with more than 75 ethnic communities represented. Edison has a large Jewish community next to Highland Park, with multiple synagogues located in Edison. Edison also has a growing Indian community and a number of temples serving the religious needs of the community. Reflecting the number of Edison's residents from India and China, the township has sister city arrangements with Shijiazhuang, China, and Baroda, India.

Edison was ranked the 28th most-livable small city in the United States by CNN Money Magazine, and second in New Jersey in 2006 in Money Magazine's "Best Places To Live". In 2008, two years later, Money Magazine ranked the township 35th out of the top 100 places to live in the United States. In the 2006 survey of America's Safest Cities, the township was ranked 23rd, out of 371 cities included nationwide, in the 13th annual Morgan Quitno survey. In 2009, Edison was ranked as one of "America's 10 Best Places to Grow Up" by U.S. News & World Report. The rankings focused on low crime, strong schools, green spaces, and abundance of recreational activities. In 2014, parenting.com ranked Edison as the top safest city in America.

Source: Wikipedia.org