Once called the " Venice of New Jersey", the Union County Township of Cranford follows the meandering Rahway River. In 1720, John Crane of nearby Elizabetown (now Elizabeth) built a grist mill on the north side of a ford in the river and a sawmill on the south side. The mill at Crane's Ford provided grain for Washington's troops during the Revolution.  In 1838, the Elizabethtown and Somerville Railroad made the connection between Cranford, New Jersey and New York City and the rest is history.  A thriving family oriented community, Cranford's economic success is based on an easy daily commute.

Incorporated in 1871, Cranford's  Rahway suffered frequent flooding until the late 1970's, when detention basins were built and the river was dredged.

The 1740 Williams Droescher Mill, now used as an office building, is the oldest continuously operated commercial building in New Jersey and still has its cast-iron water turbine.  Cranford has an active Historical Society, which is responsible for the outstanding work on the Crane-Phillips House Living Museum.  (Dr. Charles H. Phillips, was the inventor of Phillips Milk of Magnesia and the Crane-Phillips House was named an "American Treasure" by the White House Millennium Council and the National Trust for Historic Preservation in 1999.)