• Area: 32.36 mi²
• Elevation: 138′
• Population: 44,646 (2018)
• Area rank: 76th of 565 in state; 4th of 21 in county
• Area codes: Area code 732, Area code 908

People who were born in, residents of, or otherwise closely associated with Bridgewater Township include:

• Hank Beenders (1916–2003), early professional basketball player^[155]
• Matthew Boxer, politician who served from 2008 to 2013 as New Jersey State Comptroller.^[156]
• Rob Bunker (born 1988), racecar driver in the ARCA Menards Series in 2007.^[157]
• Tunis Campbell (1812–1891), delegate to the Georgia State Constitutional Convention and Georgia state senator during the Reconstruction era.^[158]
• Catherine Caro (born 1995), field hockey player on the United States women’s national field hockey team.^[159]
• Herman Carr (1924–2008), physicist who was an inventor and early pioneer of magnetic resonance imaging ^[160]
• Barbara Cohen (1932–1992), author of children’s literature who wrote more than thirty books in a range of genres, from picture books (The Carp in the Bathtub, 1972) to retellings of Biblical stories (e.g., The Binding of Isaac, 1978; David, 1995) to classical literature (Four Canterbury Tales, 1987) to young adult dystopias (Unicorns in the Rain, 1980).^[161]
• Frank DiPascali (born 1956), CFO of Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities, LLC and key lieutenant of Bernard Madoff^[162]
• Paul Heck (born 1967), music producer and artist liaison for the Red Hot Organization and an independent sound manager.^[163]
• Elena Kampouris (born 1997), film and television actress, best known for her appearances in the films My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2 and Men, Women & Children, and the TV series American Odyssey^[164]
• Andrea Kane, author of romance novels^[165]
• Matt Kassel (born 1989), soccer player for the Philadelphia Union in Major League Soccer^[166]
• Andy Kessler (born 1958), businessman, investor, and author.^[167]
• Paul Laird (born 1958), musicologist at the University of Kansas who has published several books, on Leonard Bernstein, American musicals, and other classical music topics.^{[citation needed]}
• Geraldine Laybourne (born 1947), former TV executive and entrepreneur in media and technology who led the team that created Nickelodeon in the 1980s and co-founded Oxygen Media.^[168]
• Derek Luke (born 1993), professional soccer who plays for FC Cincinnati in the United Soccer League^[169]
• Saul Marantz (1911–1997), musician, inventor and engineer who founded audio manufacturer Marantz in 1948^[170]
• Richard P. McCormick (1916-2006), historian and professor emeritus at Rutgers University, who served as president of the New Jersey Historical Society.^[171]
• Eric Murdock (born 1968), former professional basketball player who played nine seasons in the NBA^[172]
• Casey Murphy (born 1996), professional soccer player who plays goalkeeper for Reign FC of the National Women’s Soccer League.^[173]
• William O’Brien (born 1959), racing driver who has competed in the TCR International Series.^[174]
• Varun Sandesh (born 1989), actor in Telugu cinema^[175]
• Anne Sayre (1923-1998), writer best known for her biography of Rosalind Franklin, one of the discoverers of the structure of DNA.^[176]
• Scott Schwartz (born 1968), former child actor who appeared in 1980s films The Toy and A Christmas Story, the latter as Flick, the boy who gets his tongue stuck to a telephone pole.^[177]
• Adam Small (born 1975), composer, producer, and instrumentalist with film and television credits^[178]
• Jack Terricloth (born 1970), pseudonym of Pete Ventantonio, frontman of the band The World/Inferno Friendship Society^[179]
• Jeffrey Vanderbeek (born 1957, class of 1975), former owner of the New Jersey Devils.^[180]
• David Wiesner (born 1956), author and illustrator of children’s books and publications, whose work has won several honors, including three Caldecott Medals.^[181]
• Tom Wilson (born 1967), politician who served as chairman of the New Jersey Republican State Committee from 2004 to 2009.^[182]

Popular culture

• Bridgewater is the setting for a concept album by the band The World/Inferno Friendship Society. Titled The True Story of the Bridgewater Astral League, the album talks about a gang of young people who like to get together and create all sorts of mischief.^[147]
• It was one of the filming locations for the Columbia Pictures 1994 comedy film North, which used the Bridgewater Commons Mall as the setting for a discussion between characters.^[148]

Superfund cleanup site

In August 2011, Hurricane Irene submerged the former American Cyanamid Superfund site, causing chemicals to leak into the nearby Raritan River. It could cost Pfizer up to $205 million and take a decade to clean up nearly all of the contaminated American Cyanamid site in Bridgewater—of which 560 acres (230 ha) are in the township and 10 acres (4.0 ha) are in Bound Brook—according to a company study awaiting federal approval.^[149][150]

Mosque settlement

In early 2011, the application was made to turn the former inn/reception center, the Redwood Inn, into a mosque, the town’s first.^[151] The township council passed an ordinance that required houses of worship, country clubs, and other such businesses only be built on locations with access to major roads, which would directly impact the application by the mosque.^[152] The planning board immediately dismissed the application, averting state statute that would become effective on May 5 that would have made rejection much more difficult. The applicant, Al Falah Center, then filed a lawsuit against the township.^[153]

In December 2014, the case was settled out of court, with the township agreeing to purchase a 15-acre (6.1 ha) lot between Routes 202-206 and Route 287 for $2.75 million and give it to the organization to build a mosque, as well as provide $5 million paid by its insurer for reimbursement for legal fees and alleged damages. In return, the case was dropped and the township was given ownership of the original Mountaintop Road property, with the zoning ordinance law left intact.^[154]

Communities

• Bradley Gardens: Located in southwestern Bridgewater, bordered on the east by Raritan and Branchburg to the west. This is one of Bridgewater’s older residential areas but also includes some newer developments as well as a commercial area along Old York Road.
• North Branch (eastern portion): Most of North Branch is in Branchburg, but a portion lies to the east of the North Branch of the Raritan River, in Bridgewater Township.
• Finderne: Located in southeastern Bridgewater between Bound Brook and Somerville. This is a diverse area with older neighborhoods bordering Foothill Road, newer developments, multi-unit housing near the Raritan River/Manville border, as well as commercial and industrial areas. The Middlebrook Crossing industrial park, the Promenade shopping center, and TD Bank Ballpark, home to the Somerset Patriots, are located here.
• Thomae Park: In the extreme eastern portion of Bridgewater, bordering Bound Brook and Middlesex. Residents there have a Bound Brook ZIP Code. One of their main attractions is Thomae Park, which has a playground, basketball court, baseball field, and hiking trail.
• Green Knoll: Located in central Bridgewater, this is a residential area with many major commercial developments and government facilities, including the Bridgewater Commons Mall at the intersection of U.S. Route 22 and U.S. Route 202–206, a large office park west of the Commons across 202–206, the municipal building and police station, and Bridgewater-Raritan High School.
• Country Club/Meadow Road Area: This area is referred to by some as the “Country Club-Meadow Road area” or similar names, after the major north–south streets there. Some also refer to it as “the Van Holten area” after the elementary school located there. It borders Bedminster and Branchburg.
• Milltown/Vanderveer Road Area: This area is known to some as the “Milltown-Vanderveer” area. The area is northeast of Bradley Gardens bordering Raritan and Branchburg. It is mainly a residential community with many new homes. Due to the large Asian American community living in the Vanderveer Road area, this area is sometimes known as “Chindia.”^[35]
• Martinsville: Located in northeastern Bridgewater near Warren Township and Bernards Township. This is an affluent, predominantly residential area, though it does have its own commercial center along Washington Valley Road, and its own post office and ZIP Code. This also is a very hilly area; it is the portion of Bridgewater through which the Watchung Mountains pass.
• Sunset Lake: Built around a man-made lake in the extreme northern part of Bridgewater, near the interchange of Interstate 287 and Interstate 78. Some of its residents have the Basking Ridge ZIP Code 07920.