World War II
Winfield Park
The community was planned under the federal mutual-ownership defense-housing program for workers connected with the Kearny shipyards. Construction began in 1941.
Winfield Township, New Jersey
A tiny Union County township with an outsized story: a World War II-era mutual-housing community, its own municipal government and school, and a close-knit park-like setting between Clark and Linden.
Winfield at a glance
Union CountyBetween Clark and Linden
0.18 sq. mi.One of New Jersey’s smallest municipalities
1,4232020 Census population
1941Township incorporated
Winfield Township was created around the Winfield Park defense-housing project and remains unlike almost any other municipality in New Jersey. The community is immediately off Garden State Parkway Exit 136 and is bordered on three sides by the Rahway River and Rahway River Park. Its compact layout includes municipal offices, a school, community facilities, a small commercial area and the housing cooperative that defines the town.
A community built for defense workers
Municipality
Winfield becomes a township
Winfield Township was incorporated in August 1941 from land that had been part of Clark and Linden, creating a municipal boundary around the new housing community.
Mutual ownership
Winfield Mutual Housing Corporation
The housing corporation was incorporated in 1941 and later purchased the development from the federal government. The cooperative model remains central to how housing and community property are managed today.
Scale
Purpose-built community
The current housing corporation describes Winfield as 105 acres with 253 frame buildings housing 697 families, set in a park-like landscape.
Government & public safety
Winfield Municipal Building
The township website provides meeting notices, municipal contacts, public notices and resident services.
Winfield Police Department
Local police services, records, emergency management and related public-safety contacts.
Winfield Fire Department
Volunteer fire and emergency response serving the township.
Education
Winfield Township School District
Winfield operates its own small K–8 district. The state’s current school-choice profile lists 145 students in the district and identifies K–8 as the approved choice grades.
High school
Winfield students attend David Brearley Middle-High School in Kenilworth through a sending/receiving relationship with Kenilworth Public Schools.
Business & Shopping
Winfield’s commercial inventory is genuinely small, so this directory is intentionally short and municipality-tight rather than padded with Clark or Linden addresses.
Law Offices of Feeley & LaRocca
Law firm with current Winfield Park offices, including work in employment, workers’ compensation, pension, personal-injury and related matters.
Winfield Mutual Housing Corporation
The cooperative housing organization that manages the community’s housing structure and member services.
James F. Buckle Center
Senior and community center that also functions as a local event-hall resource.
Shopping note: For supermarkets, pharmacies, major retail and a wider range of services, residents typically use nearby Clark and Linden. Those businesses are outside Winfield and are not mixed into the in-town directory.
Food & Drink
There is currently one clearly verified in-town food business. That makes this a small section, but it is accurate.
Deli & catering
T & J Gourmet
GFDF
Breakfast and lunch deli service plus catering. The current catering menu specifically lists gluten-free chicken fingers that are also dairy-free, notes that many pasta items can be prepared gluten-free, and offers vegan or gluten-free lasagna.
GF / DF caution: The badges above reflect specific current menu options, not a dedicated allergen-free kitchen. Cross-contact is possible. Anyone with celiac disease, food allergies or medical dietary needs should confirm ingredients and preparation directly before ordering.
More dining nearby: Clark and Linden have substantially larger restaurant selections. Those options are outside Winfield, so NJTGO keeps them on their own town pages rather than presenting them as Winfield restaurants.
Living in Winfield: understand the mutual-housing model
Not a conventional subdivision
Winfield’s housing is rooted in a mutual-ownership structure rather than a typical collection of separately developed private parcels. The housing corporation manages the community and member relationships.
Housing mix
The community includes single-story homes, bi-level and attached dwellings, with unit types and occupancy governed through the housing corporation’s rules and membership structure.
Buying or transferring an interest
Anyone considering a move to Winfield should begin with Winfield Mutual Housing Corporation for current availability, membership requirements, transfer procedures, fees and property responsibilities.
Park-like setting
The compact community is surrounded in large part by the Rahway River and parkland, one of the defining characteristics envisioned in the original plan.
Visiting Winfield
See a rare planning story
Winfield is most interesting as a compact, intact example of federal defense-worker housing and mutual ownership from the World War II era.
Rahway River setting
The township’s edge follows the Rahway River and adjacent county parkland, giving the community an unusually green setting for such a small, densely developed municipality.
Community facilities
The municipal building, Winfield School, Mutual Housing offices, fire facilities and James F. Buckle Center are all part of the compact civic landscape.
Lodging: No current hotel or bed-and-breakfast was verified inside Winfield Township. Visitors should use nearby lodging in surrounding municipalities and keep those addresses clearly identified as outside Winfield.
Community resources
James F. Buckle Center
Senior programming, community use and event-hall functions make the center one of Winfield’s important gathering places.
Winfield School
The K–8 school is a central institution in a township where municipal and community life are concentrated into a very small footprint.
Township alerts & notices
The municipal website publishes public notices, meeting information and emergency-alert enrollment resources.
Classifieds
For a community this small, a simple resident marketplace is more useful than dozens of empty classified categories.
For Sale
Furniture, household items, tools, electronics, bicycles and other resident-to-resident listings.
Community Notices
Local events, meetings, fundraisers, school activities and volunteer needs.
Local Services
Tutoring, pet care, household help and other neighborhood-scale services.
Marketplace safety: Verify items and identities before payment, meet in a safe setting and avoid unusual payment requests, gift cards or money transfers.
Jobs & employment
Winfield itself has a limited employment base. The most relevant in-town employer areas are municipal government, Winfield School, Winfield Mutual Housing Corporation, T & J Gourmet, the James F. Buckle Center and local professional services.
Winfield Township
Municipal administration, public safety, public works and seasonal/community roles when openings are posted.
Winfield Township School District
Teaching, student support, administration, facilities and school-service roles when available.
Winfield Mutual Housing
Property management, maintenance and administrative work associated with the cooperative community.
Broader job search: Because Winfield is only about 0.18 square miles, many residents work in Clark, Linden, Cranford, Rahway and other nearby employment centers.
Winfield businesses and community organizations can reach local readers through NJTGO advertising and enhanced placements.
Advertising information →Current information checked in September 2026 against the Township of Winfield, Winfield Township School District, New Jersey school-choice information, Winfield Mutual Housing Corporation, T & J Gourmet, current local-business sources and Wikimedia Commons licensing information.
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