Metuchen ( ) is a suburban borough in Middlesex County in the U.S. state of New Jersey. The borough is a commuter town of New York City, located in the heart of the Raritan Valley region within the New York Metropolitan area.Lasky, Julie. "Living In Metuchen, N.J.: A ‘Doughnut Hole’ with a Storied Past and New Development", The New York Times, September 13, 2017. Accessed July 18, 2022. The borough, along with Edison (which completely surrounds Metuchen), is a regional commercial hub for Central New Jersey. The borough is northeast of New Brunswick, southwest of Newark, southwest of Jersey City, and southwest of Manhattan.Distance from Metuchen, NJ to New Brunswick, NJ, Distance between cities. Accessed July 18, 2022.from Metuchen, NJ to Newark, NJ, Distance between cities. Accessed July 18, 2022.from Metuchen, NJ to Jersey City, NJ, Distance between cities. Accessed July 18, 2022.from Metuchen, NJ to New York, NY, Distance between cities. Accessed July 18, 2022. As of the 2020 United States census, the borough's population was 15,049, an increase of 1,475 (+10.9%) from the 2010 census count of 13,574, which in turn had reflected an increase of 734 (+5.7%) from the 12,840 counted at the 2000 census.Table 7. Population for the Counties and Municipalities in New Jersey: 1990, 2000 and 2010, New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development, February 2011. Accessed May 1, 2023.
Metuchen was incorporated as a borough by an act of the New Jersey Legislature on March 20, 1900, from portions of Raritan Township (Since renamed to Edison).Snyder, John P. The Story of New Jersey's Civil Boundaries: 1606-1968, Bureau of Geology and Topography; Trenton, New Jersey; 1969. p. 170. Accessed May 30, 2024. Metuchen's Main Street won Great American Main Street of the Year in 2023. Metuchen is nicknamed The Brainy Borough.
History
The earliest residents of the area were the Raritan people of the Lenape Native Americans, who lived in the area and travelled through it to the shore. In 1646, Chief Matouchin was part of a group that included 1,200 warriors.History of Metuchen, Federal Writers' Project of the Works Project Administration, 1941. Accessed December 3, 2019. "The local natives were doubtless a group of the Raritans who belonged to the Unami tribe. Philhower, an expert on New Jersey’s Indians, describes them as 'a quickwitted, modest, fine looking people, black-haired and of a dark copper color' who spoke the Lenape dialect. In 1646 the tribe consisted of 1200 warriors and twenty chiefs, among whom tradition has it was Matouchin, chief of the Indians in this section."
Until 1870, what is now Metuchen was part of Woodbridge Township. The settlers in the western part of the township developed their own separate identity, because they were so far removed from the main settlement of Woodbridge. The name "Metuchen" first appeared in 1688/1689, and its name was derived from the name of a Native American chief, whose name was variously spelled as Matouchin or Matochshegan.Cheslow, Jerry. "If You're Thinking of Living in: Metuchen", The New York Times, August 5, 1990. Accessed April 6, 2015. "Named for the Raritan Indian chief Matouchin, who lived in the area in the late 17th century, Metuchen is one of the oldest settlements in New Jersey. Deeds in the area date to the 1680s, when it was part of Woodbridge Township, chartered by Lord Carteret in 1688."Hutchinson, Viola L. The Origin of New Jersey Place Names, New Jersey Public Library Commission, May 1945. Accessed September 5, 2015.Gannett, Henry. The Origin of Certain Place Names in the United States, p. 21. United States Government Printing Office, 1905. Accessed September 5, 2015. In 1701, an overseer of roads was appointed for "Metuchen district". In 1705, Main Street was laid out at the same time as the road from Metuchen to Woodbridge, which one source calls a "reworking of the original road".
Sometime between 1717 and 1730, a meeting house was constructed for weekday meetings conducted by the pastor of the Woodbridge Presbyterian Church. In 1756, Metuchen Presbyterians succeeded in forming their own congregation, attesting to their growing numbers. In 1770, the congregations merged, with Metuchen getting 2/5 of the pastor's services and Woodbridge 3/5; by 1772, Metuchen had grown sufficiently to warrant half of his time. In 1793, the two churches again separated.
Metuchen was little changed from the late 18th to the early 19th century. A map from 1799 shows ten buildings in the center of the community along Main Street. By 1834, a Presbyterian church, a store, two taverns and about a dozen dwellings could be found. The opening of the Middlesex and Essex Turnpike (now Middlesex Avenue, portions in concurrency with Route 27) in 1806, and the Perth Amboy and Bound Brook Turnpike in 1808 did not spur growth. Not until the beginning of the railroad era did commercial and residential development surge.
In 1836, the New Jersey Railroad was completed to New Brunswick.Next Stop Metuchen: Three Railroads Shape a Crossroads Community , RichardGrubb.com. Accessed April 6, 2015. The construction of a station at Main Street made it inevitable that this would develop as the principal street. A business section soon began to appear between Middlesex Avenue and the railroad tracks, and commercial and service establishments gradually began to assume a more modern aspect (the typical 18th century tavern, for example, was replaced by the equally typical 19th century hotel).
The second half of the 19th century was a period of social, cultural and religious diversification in Metuchen. Between 1859 and 1866 the Reformed Church was organized, the first Catholic mass was celebrated and St. Luke's Episcopal Church was founded. In 1870 both the Building and Loan Association and the library opened, the same year that Raritan Township was incorporated. As the largest village in the new township, Metuchen naturally became its commercial and cultural center and acquired substantial political control. In 1873, the town hosted Howard Newton Fuller and the Rutgers College Glee Club in the first-ever performance of their alma mater. In 1879, the literary and debating society was formed, and in 1883 the Village Improvement Society. By 1882, Metuchen School #15 had an enrollment of 256 pupils, and by 1885 the New Jersey Gazette listed 37 businesses.
The decade of the 1890s was a period of expansion for public utilities. In 1894, telegraph service was begun and in 1897 telephone service begun by the N.Y. and N.J. Telephone Company. In the same year the Midland Water Company began operation and supplied hydrants for "newly formed" volunteer fire companies. In 1899, a new street lighting system was installed. At about the same time a bicycling organization was formed, the Metuchen Wheelmen, which lobbied for improved roads. Trolley service began in 1900. In addition, commerce had grown to such an extent that the New Brunswick Directory listed 91 businesses in 1899.
Metuchen attracted an influx of artists, literary figures and noted intellectuals during this time, acquiring the nickname "the Brainy Boro".Spies, Stacy E. "Images of America: Metuchen", accessed via Google Books, May 26, 2008. One of the Borough's two post offices is named Brainy Boro Station.
The new century began with the borough's incorporation, in 1900.
On November 19, 1981, Metuchen became the Seat of the newly established Roman Catholic Diocese of Metuchen. The diocese includes Hunterdon, Middlesex, Somerset and Warren counties and more than 500,000 Catholics. A Short History of St. Francis of Assisi Cathedral Parish , Roman Catholic Diocese of Metuchen. Accessed May 26, 2008. "On November 19, 1981, Pope John Paul II established the Diocese of Metuchen, naming Auxiliary Bishop Theodore McCarrick of New York as its first Bishop."
Metuchen Borough Hall, dedicated in 2005, replaced a structure built in 1924 during the City Beautiful movement.Metuchen Borough Hall, Metuchen Edison History. Accessed November 25, 2012. "The Metuchen Borough Hall is locally significant under National Register Criterion A for its association with Metuchen's development as an independent municipality, and its representation of the national City Beautiful Movement effort to improve communities."
From 1948 until 2004, the Ford Motor Company manufactured seven million Ford and Mercury vehicles, including the Ford Mustang, at Edison Assembly, which was named for Metuchen until 1980.via Associated Press. "N.J. plant closes after building 7 million Fords", Deseret News, February 27, 2004. Accessed May 27, 2024. "Opened in 1948 and headed by the 28-year-old grandson of Henry Ford, the 1 million square-foot plant was part of Ford's major postwar expansion; it came on line along with facilities in St. Louis and Los Angeles.... The Edison facility, known until 1980 as the Metuchen plant, played a major role in that effort."
In 2022, Metuchen was nominated as one of the eight semifinalists for the 2023 Great American Main Street Award . They later won the award.
American Girl's 2023 "Girl of the Year" character, Kavi Sharma, is described as being from Metuchen. She is the first "Girl of the Year" doll of South Asian ancestry.Asmelash, Leah. "Kavi Sharma is American Girl's first South Asian 'Girl of the Year'", CNN, December 29, 2022. Accessed January 1, 2023. "American Girl's latest "Girl of the Year" is a spunky Broadway-loving dancer and singer -- and also the line's first-ever South Asian main character.... Kavi lives in Metuchen, New Jersey, according to American Girl. The town is a train ride away from New York City, home to all her favorite Broadway shows, and is also in a part of New Jersey with a significant Asian population."
In April 2024, Metuchen was named by Money Magazine as the best place to live in New Jersey and one of the best to live in the country.
Geography According to the United States Census Bureau, the borough had a total area of 2.85 square miles (7.39 km2), including 2.85 square miles (7.38 km2) of land and <0.01 square miles (0.01 km2) of water (0.07%).
The Borough of Metuchen is completely surrounded by Edison,Areas touching Metuchen, MapIt. Accessed February 27, 2020.Municipalities, Middlesex County, New Jersey. Accessed December 1, 2019.New Jersey Municipal Boundaries, New Jersey Department of Transportation. Accessed November 15, 2019. making it part of 21 pairs of "doughnut towns" in the state, where one municipality entirely surrounds another.DeMarco, Megan. "Voters to decide whether to merge two Princetons into one", The Star-Ledger, November 3, 2011. Accessed January 8, 2017. "There are 22 sets of 'doughnut towns' in New Jersey, those where one town wraps around the other town". Note that following voter approval of the Princeton, New Jersey, merger, 21 pairs of "doughnut towns" remain.
Unincorporated communities, localities and place names located partially or completely within the township include Jefferson Park and Robinvale.Locality Search, State of New Jersey. Accessed May 21, 2015.
Metuchen has been a state-designated "town center" since 1996 and "transit village" since 2001. The borough has been recognized for its smart growth development."Town Center Design and Development Winner: Borough of Metuchen; supporting partner: Looney Ricks Kiss Architects", NJ Future. Accessed April 6, 2015. Plans to build a residential and commercial center with 700 parking spaces on a parking lot adjacent to the train station were announced in July 2014.Amaral, Brian. "Major Metuchen development will bring uncertainty, change", NJ Advance Media for NJ.com, July 26, 2014. Accessed April 6, 2015.
Demographics
2020 census