Hometown community

By Gwen Donovan

Visitors walking around the family neighborhoods of Clark today may be surprised to learn that it was mainly a farming community until the late 1940s, when the Garden State Parkway bisected the town.

"Prior to 1946, Clark was a fertile township," notes municipal historian Brian Toal.

Like so many other towns in the state, Union County's Clark witnessed great changes during the post-World War II years. Local farmers were facing economic issues just as a housing shortage appeared, leading many to sell some or all of their land to housing developers.

In the 50 years that followed, Clark's appearance evolved from a district of wide-open spaces to a suburban town with thriving residential and business districts.

Today, the town is nearly 98 percent developed. "We welcome change," Toal says, "But we want to retain the town's history. We don't want to stop progress-it's a part of life-but we want it to be controlled in a proper manner." This sentiment is echoed by Clark's newly elected mayor Sal Bonaccorso. He says the town has just one industrial zone on Terminal Avenue, where L'Oreal cosmetics has its headquarters.

Clark has approximately 15,000 residents, some of whom commute the 20 miles to Manhattan from the Rahway train station five minutes away, or take the 35-minute trip by car.

Bonaccorso grew up in Clark and is raising his own children there, so running for mayor was both a personal and professional goal. "This is a wonderful community to live and raise a family in. It's nice to preserve that old hometown feeling. We have enough commercial activity and a lot pride. It's a great hometown community."

Some of Clark's commercial activity includes a Super ShopRite, Barnes & Noble, Bally's Health and Fitness, and Rite Aid drug store. Dining choices vary from pizza and Chinese food to the Windsor Diner, Chili's, Steak & Ale and Alipertie's Italian restaurant. Woodbridge and Menlo Park malls offer more extensive shopping nearby, the mayor notes.

The Clark Public Schools serve 2,149 students from preschool through high school, notes Dr. Paul Ortenzio, superintendent of schools. The Valley Road and Frank K. Hehnly Schools teach kindergarten through fifth grade, with a preschool handicapped program available at Valley Road School. The Carl T. Kumpf Middle School is for students in sixth to eighth grade, and the Arthur L. Johnson High School accepts students from neighboring Garwood, which is a total of 139 additional students this year.

The focus is on academics, music, art and computer programs during the elementary years, says superintendent Ortenzio. In the middle school, electives and after-school activities are offered, including the Founders Club, a community service organization.

At the high-school level, 16 advanced placement courses are offered, "everything from physics to French," Ortenzio says. There is an active Debate and Forensic League, which recently competed in the U.S. Senate competition in Portland, Oregon. They also attended the Harvard Invitational Debates in Massachusetts.

Athletic programs are available from the middle school years on, and 62 different teams compete in a wide variety of sports.

At Arthur L. Johnson High School, the mean SAT scores for the class of 2000 were 507 verbal and 535 math. 89 percent of the class of 2000 went on to post-secondary education, the superintendent says.

Clark takes pride in a number of scenic landmarks. One of these is the Clark Wildlife Habitat and Preserve on Madison Hill Road. The site is part of the old Clark Reservoir, the largest body of water in Union County. When the dam was re-built with state funding, the preserve incorporated walking paths and an observation area. The area backs up on Clark High School, where students conduct science projects from the banks of the reservoir. Fishing piers are being considered for the future, the mayor says.

The town offers "major recreation programs," says the mayor. Some of the most recent opportunities were adult aerobics, yoga, kickboxing and roller skating for kids. Summer concerts once a week, a Teen Center and a popular community pool have drawn many families to Clark. "The pool is an excellent recreational facility," the mayor notes, "It's been here for more than 25 years." Family rates for pool admission in 2000 were $225 for the Summer. Fun Time Junction is a new playground built by tax dollars and donations at the old Pickton Station railroad stop.

Golfers don't have to travel far to find a course. A new 9-hole golf course is being constructed at the old General Motors site in town, and when complete will also have a miniature golf course and driving range. The Oak Ridge Golf Club has an 18-hole course, and its circa 1732 country club is listed on the National Registry of Historic Places as the former estate of Judge Hugh Bowne.   (UPDATE-Golf Course is up and running)

Clark has several other historic sites and is rich in Revolutionary War history, notes municipal historian Toal. "Rahway and Clark were called the crossroads of the Revolutionary War. The entire area saw much troop movement and skirmishes. No battles, but a lot of Colonial Revolution activity."

Some of that history can be seen at the Municipal Museum in Clark's municipal building, where the Historic Society has preserved many files and artifacts dating back to the 1700s. The Doctor William Robinson Plantation is a fully restored farmhouse in the Dutch tradition, dating back to 1690. Jackson Falls is a section of Clark settled by the Lenni Lenape Indians and Colonials.

Some of the town's historic homes have been razed by owners or developers, which is a problem throughout the area, Toal says. "We're looking to save history, which can be a challenge in Union County."

As a non-voting member and advisor to the town's Planning Board and Board of Adjustment, Toal tries to retain the original charm and character of Clark. One of the ways this is being accomplished is the ongoing renovations on Westfield Avenue. The project calls for a new downtown streetscape, including old-fashioned street lanterns and brick pavers, an appearance all future businesses will comply with, the mayor says.