Cranford is a township in Union County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, located 18 miles (29 km) southwest of Manhattan.

[28] Though no known Cranford residents died in the American Civil War, at least 22 were active in the Union Army at the time of General Robert E. Lee's surrender.

For his Rahway River preservation efforts, a memorial copper plaque was placed to Hansel in Echo Lake Park.

[35] William P. Westervelt was credited with thwarting the Baltimore Plot, an unsuccessful assassination attempt against president-elect Abraham Lincoln.

There are facilities for summer and winter sports, a rifle range, and picnic grove.

Gardens of fine old Victorian houses line the edge of the parkway on the riverbank.

A broadening of the river parkway at the northern end of Cranford is known as Nomahegan Park.

It is translated as women Mohegans or she-wolves and was applied to them in scorn by the fighting Iroquois.

[61] The Cranford Riverwalk and Heritage Corridor portion of the Rahway River Parkway begins at the parklands near where Orange Avenue meets Springfield at the Cranford Canoe Club and follows the Rahway River on its path southbound to the Williams-Droescher Mill from the early 18th century.

At Heritage Plaza at the southwest corner of South Avenue and Centennial, the century-old stone walls and iconic stone columns winding through woodland to Droescher's Mill are still in place, but are in need of restoration and preservation.

[62][63] Future plans include repairing the Kaltenbach Estate skating pond, the Victorian footbridge and Squire Williams Picnic Grove at Droescher's Mill Park.

[70][71] The Riverfront redevelopment project on South Avenue brought restaurants and housing into downtown Cranford.

[77] The climate in this area is characterized by hot, humid summers and generally mild to cool winters.

[4][83][84][85][86] In June 2023, the township committee appointed Paul Gallo to fill the seat expiring in December 2023 that had been held by Jason Gareis until he resigned from office.

Mayor Brande was elected to the Township Committee in 1974 and reelected in 1977, serving a total of six years.

Carolyn Vollero, who served the longest length of time for a woman on the Township Committee—nine years—was Cranford's second female Mayor in 1994.

[89] For the 119th United States Congress, New Jersey's 10th congressional district is represented by LaMonica McIver (D, Newark).

[91] For the 2024-2025 session, the 22nd legislative district of the New Jersey Legislature is represented in the State Senate by Nicholas Scutari (D, Linden) and in the General Assembly by Linda S. Carter (D, Plainfield) and James J. Kennedy (D, Rahway).

[93] As of 2025[update], Union County's County Commissioners are: Rebecca Williams (D, Plainfield, 2025),[94] Joesph Bodek (D, Linden, 2026),[95] James E. Baker Jr. (D, Rahway, 2027),[96] Michele Delisfort (D, Union Township, 2026),[97] Sergio Granados (D, Elizabeth, 2025),[98] Bette Jane Kowalski (D, Cranford, 2025),[99] Vice Chair Lourdes M. Leon (D, Elizabeth, 2026),[100] Alexander Mirabella (D, Fanwood, 2027)[101] and Chair Kimberly Palmieri-Mouded (D, Westfield, 2027).

[102][103] Constitutional officers elected on a countywide basis are: Clerk Joanne Rajoppi (D, Union Township, 2025),[104][105] Sheriff Peter Corvelli (D, Kenilworth, 2026)[106][107] and Surrogate Christopher E. Hudak (D, Clark, 2027).

[110] Among the township's 2010 Census population, 69.2% (vs. 53.3% in Union County) were registered to vote, including 91.2% of those ages 18 and over (vs. 70.6% countywide).

[144][145] The school's Cranford campus, one of four county locations, covers 50 acres (20 ha) and was established in 1959.

[176] The major roadways in the township are the Garden State Parkway[177] and Route 28 (North Avenue).

[178] The parkway runs along the eastern border of the township, connecting Clark in the south to Kenilworth in the north.

[183] Cranford Station also offers transit to other points east, along with Raritan, High Bridge and numerous points west on the NJ Transit Raritan Valley Line, formerly the mainline of the Central Railroad of New Jersey.

An express bus route (the 113x) offers nonstop weekday travel from the north side of the Cranford Station, and other Cranford points on North Avenue, to Port Authority Bus Terminal in midtown Manhattan in about 40 minutes.

[191] Cranford is the setting of the 2005 film Guess Who, starring Bernie Mac and Ashton Kutcher.

[192] Portions of the films Far from Heaven, Garden State, September 12 and HBO's miniseries The Plot Against America were shot in Cranford.

[193] Billy Eichner's comedy Bros filmed a Pride parade scene in Downtown Cranford.

[194] Additional film shoots in town during the 2020s have included Maybe I Do, Mothers' Instinct, Dumb Money, Eileen, Daughter of the Bride, Sweethearts, Cat Person, and Presence.