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The Township of Millburn is located in the southwest corner of Essex County and covers about ten square miles. It is 20 miles west of New York City. The southern border, adjacent to Summit and Springfield, is partially defined by Morris Turnpike, also called New Jersey Route 124. Maplewood lies to the east of Millburn; West Orange and Livingston lie to the north; and Florham Park and Chatham to the west.
About half of Essex County's 2,000-acre South Mountain Reservation lies within the Township. Other open spaces include three municipal parks, three golf courses, two water reserves, a reservoir and small parcels of undeveloped land. The Township is primarily a residential suburb, and many of its residents commute to work in New York City. Most live in single family houses. The Township has approximately 6,100 residential properties, 20 apartment buildings, more than 200 commercial buildings, and 32 industrial buildings.
After rapid growth in the first half of this century, Millburn's population peaked at 21,300 in 1970. It has declined slightly since then and is now approximately 18,630 according to the 1990 census.
The Township is composed of two areas; the older area is made up of the commercial center and its adjoining residential sections. To the north and west lies Short Hills with its own post office and railroad station, but an integral part of the Township and one of the finest residential areas in the nation.
The Township of Millburn provides all the services usually found in any well-managed suburban municipality of its size. These include full-time paid police and fire departments, a Township-operated refuse collection service, a sanitary sewer system, a separate storm sewer system, and a health department. The recreation department has an active program including a swimming pool and a par 3 golf course. Additional public works department services include shade trees, the maintenance and repair of streets and public buildings, building inspection and zoning enforcement. The Township also maintains an out-standing free public library service.
The Mall at Short Hills, located in the northwest corner of the Township, is an unusually beautiful, regional shopping center housing more than 150 fine shops, restaurants and department stores including branches of Bloomingdales, Brooks Brothers, Abercrombie and Fitch, Crouch & Fitzgerald, Tiffany's, Ralph Lauren, Nordstrom and Saks Fifth Avenue.
The community is also home to a $50 million Five Diamond Hotel and Office complex opposite the Mall. The 240,000 square foot office complex with a 300-room Hilton Hotel with conference and banquet facilities opened in 1988.
More than 1000 businesses and professionals are located in the Township. AT&T Laboratories is the largest employer in the Township, occupying the Prudential and Mack buildings on Kennedy Parkway and employing over 1000 people.
Millburn has two weekly newspapers: The Independent Press, distributed free, and The Item.
Buses and trains provide easy access to New York City--both mid-town and lower Manhattan--as well as to businesses in Hoboken, Newark and Jersey City. Commuter parking lots are available for residents. Trains stop in both Millburn and Short Hills, and buses pick up commuters at various points in town. In addition, Millburn-Short Hills is a quick 15 to 20 minutes from Newark Airport and is close to major highways.
The school district is made up of four elementary schools, a middle school with grades five through eight and a four-year high school. Millburn parents, teachers and school administrators work together to ensure that the community provides its students with an excellent academic program. The Millburn school district stresses individualized instruction and a full spectrum of academic and extracurricular activities.
Millburn High School offers a full program of studies featuring eighteen Advanced Placement courses and a wide range of academic electives. Approximately 80 percent of parents are college graduates with one or more degrees and, for the past ten years, over 95 percent of each high school graduation class have attended post secondary institutions.
The Paper Mill Playhouse on Brookside Drive in Millburn has been one of the country's outstanding nonprofit regional theaters for over 40 years. The theater offers a full range of cultural events, including musicals, plays and children's programs. It is large enough to accommodate the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra and the New Jersey State Opera.
The Cora Hartshorn Arboretum and Bird Sanctuary, located on Forest Drive in Short Hills, was created from undeveloped woodlands by its former owners, the Hartshorns. It is now owned and maintained by the Township, but operated by the Arboretum Association. Within its 16 acres are hundreds of varieties of birds, wild flowers and trees. The Arboretum sponsors classes, lectures, workshops and field trips in nature study and crafts.
The Millburn-Short Hills Historical Society was formed in 1975 in conjunction with the celebration of the United States Bicentennial to stimulate interest in the history, architecture and genealogy of the Township.
Electricity and gas are provided by GPU and Public Service Electric and Gas Company respectively. Sewage collection is provided by the Township and sewage treatment by the Joint Meeting of Essex and Union County. The Township picks solid waste up twice weekly, and there is an active recycling program. A drop off recycling center is located on Main Street in Millburn.
