This was the last of eight projects undertaken by the Mutual Ownership Defense Housing Division of the Federal Works Agency under the leadership of Colonel Lawrence Westbrook.

The final location had to be relatively inexpensive to purchase, near major utility networks for water, gas, electric, and sewer connections, and be in a financially stable host community with underutilized public facilities and services.

Early resistance from potential host communities over financial impact concerns meant that the committee had two choices: to stop the project and wait for the problems to be resolved or push ahead, utilizing the powers granted in the Lanham Act powers to overrule local resistance, but creating a great deal of friction that could potentially affect the project's future success.

Colonel Lawrence Westbrook, Special Assistant in the Federal Works Agency with responsibility for the Mutual Ownership Defense Housing Division, wrote the following letter to Union Township opponents of the project, clearly showing his frustration.

It is desired to make it entirely clear, however, that in reaching this decision this office in no manner agrees that the numerous protests received from various persons and organizations in Union Township were based upon valid premises.

Since the project will be undertaken in your immediate neighborhood, you will have ample opportunity to determine whether or not the disadvantages to the community, as claimed by your Mayor, were based upon sound facts."

[23] The residents of Clark—in 1940, a rural community of 350 homes and 1,250 registered voters—were first informed of their municipality's selection as the final site of the 700-unit mutual housing project at a town meeting on April 1, 1941.

One local paper reported that "Joseph Aaron, who came up from his winter home in Florida to attend the session, demanded the ousting of the Township Committee.

In response, the residents announced the formation of an opposition group, headed by Mr. Arthur de Laski, with the stated goals of seeking the impeachment of all municipal officials and stopping the mutual housing project.

Opposition leaders created elaborate models to show how the additional needs for general services, election, fire and police protection, streets, lighting, water, sanitation, and school costs would quickly double the municipal budget from a yearly total of $33,929 to $66,563.

Opposition leaders carefully studied the publicity surrounding the earlier construction of the Audubon Park Mutual Ownership Defense Housing Project just outside Camden, New Jersey.

With Winfield Park Township established as a separate municipality, opponents believed the project would be killed because the federal government and potential residents would shy away from the overwhelming expenses and confusing legalities of this new governmental structure.

Immediately Westbrook and other project supporters reacted to this strategy by declaring that the opposition was attempting the sabotage the entire national defense program.

In his view, it was discriminatory towards defense workers; it did not consider the important passage of Title II of the Lanham Act by Congress on June 28, 1941 (another indication that money was only a partial driving force for opposition against Winfield); it created an unprecedented "Federal Island" in the State of New Jersey; it failed to consider that the State's constitution would not permit Winfield's new residents to elect local government officials until they had resided in the town for at least one year.

Forty Clark Township opposition leaders were present in Trenton, New Jersey on July 28, 1941, and celebrated Winfield's establishment in the halls of Capital building.

On all lists of municipalities required for records of official business in the office of County Clerk Henry G. Nulton, it now appears with its rebellious neighbors, Clark and Linden, the other towns.

The entire Winfield project—254 buildings on 110 acres—eventually required 7500 gallons of paint; 2500 rolls of wallpaper; 5,500,000 board feet (13,000 m3) of lumber; and would employ 1,223 construction workers for five months.

The construction work completed by the MacEvoy Company was exceptionally poor—so poor that it attracted the attention of the Truman Committee investigating abuses with the National Defense Program.

[31] The investigation would eventually uncover the facts that the Winfield Park project lacked complete architectural or engineering plans and that financial records—at least the few that could be found—were criminally maintained.

The project's construction was so badly botched that in many of the new buildings, residents discovered that nails had been hammered through water pipes, chimneys still contained the wooden forms used for their construction, roofs leaked, water pipes had never been soldered, floors were buckled, the paintwork was molding, sewer lines and pumps rarely worked, and many roads, sidewalks, and curbs had never been completed.

To accomplish this repair work, the federal government spent an additional $100,000.00 and hired a new contractor, even after the project had officially been declared complete by Westbrook.

The current residents of Winfield believe that their town was built as temporary housing and are very proud of how well the structures have held up over the past 68 years thanks to their repair efforts; clearly, this grew out of the poor workmanship of the original construction.

[37] In August 2001, the entire township celebrated its 60th anniversary with a community picnic and a parade led by Grand Marshal Leona Harriot Burke (1917–2007), who had moved from Kearny, New Jersey to Winfield Park on the first move-in day for new residents on December 1, 1941.

When asked in 2002 why this manuscript had not been published, Merton described the period of its writing as being during the Red Scare of the post-war years and his fear, along with those of the other researchers, that the study could have negatively affected Winfield Park.

[citation needed][38] Merton described the mutual housing projects as some of the closest examples of functioning socialist communities within the United States and as such, was one of the primary attractions for studying Winfield Park and its residents.

[61] 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).

[63] As of 2025[update], Union County's County Commissioners are: Rebecca Williams (D, Plainfield, 2025),[64] Joesph Bodek (D, Linden, 2026),[65] James E. Baker Jr. (D, Rahway, 2027),[66] Michele Delisfort (D, Union Township, 2026),[67] Sergio Granados (D, Elizabeth, 2025),[68] Bette Jane Kowalski (D, Cranford, 2025),[69] Vice Chair Lourdes M. Leon (D, Elizabeth, 2026),[70] Alexander Mirabella (D, Fanwood, 2027)[71] and Chair Kimberly Palmieri-Mouded (D, Westfield, 2027).

[72][73] Constitutional officers elected on a countywide basis are: Clerk Joanne Rajoppi (D, Union Township, 2025),[74][75] Sheriff Peter Corvelli (D, Kenilworth, 2026)[76][77] and Surrogate Christopher E. Hudak (D, Clark, 2027).

[100] The Garden State Parkway, west of the Rahway River, just misses the municipality by about 100 yards and is accessible at Exit 136 on the Cranford / Clark border.

[102] Passenger rail service is provided by NJ Transit from the neighboring communities of Cranford on the Raritan Valley Line and from the Linden station on the Northeast Corridor.