A Neighborhood with Deep Roots
Greenwood is one of East Orange’s most distinctive neighborhoods, a place where broad streets, mature trees, close-knit blocks, and century-old homes tell the story of a city that grew from rural beginnings into a major suburban community. Located on the city’s east side, Greenwood is often associated with the “Teen Streets”—the numbered streets that run through the area—and with Greenwood Avenue, the roadway that gives the neighborhood its name.
Today, Greenwood is generally understood as the area extending between Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, formerly Main Street, on the south and Fourth Avenue on the north. Greenwood Avenue and North 19th Street mark much of its western edge, while Newark and the New Jersey Transit railroad corridor lie to the east. The neighborhood includes portions of the Fourth and Fifth Wards and is primarily residential, with one-, two-, and three-family houses, apartment buildings, and small commercial corridors.
From Newark Mountain to East Orange
Long before Greenwood’s streets were laid out, the land was part of the larger territory known as Newark Mountain. For roughly 140 years, the area that became East Orange remained connected to Newark. In 1780, local residents adopted the name Orange, and the region gradually developed from farmland and scattered homesteads into a collection of growing communities.
Orange was incorporated as a town in 1860. Within a few years, residents began creating separate municipalities. East Orange was set off from Orange on March 4, 1863, becoming its own township. The first township election was held in a wheelwright’s shop on Main Street, a reminder of how modest the community’s civic beginnings were compared with the city that would eventually rise around it.
During the nineteenth century, much of the land remained open or agricultural. Roads such as Main Street, Grove Street, and Park Avenue connected farms, homes, churches, and commercial centers. North Grove Street itself has an especially colorful local story: during the Revolutionary War era, the lane was reportedly known as “Whiskey Lane” after Hessian soldiers discovered hidden barrels of whiskey on a nearby farm.
How Greenwood Got Its Name
Greenwood was not originally a neighborhood in the modern sense. Around the turn of the twentieth century, the land was identified through property names and subdivisions, including “Kidders Property” and “Nevins Subdivision.” As East Orange expanded, these tracts were divided into building lots and steadily filled with houses.
The neighborhood’s present-day name comes from Greenwood Avenue, while the phrase “Teen Streets” reflects the numbered streets running through the section. This naming tradition is typical of East Orange, where residents often identify strongly with a particular avenue, ward, train station, or group of blocks. In Greenwood, the name suggests both a geographic center and a collection of smaller streets that together form a recognizable community.
The Building Boom of the Early 1900s
Greenwood’s defining chapter began around 1900. According to the city’s Greenwood Area Redevelopment Plan, more than 75 percent of the neighborhood’s homes were constructed within a four-year period beginning in 1900. Housing was in high demand, as East Orange was becoming an attractive suburban destination for people working in Newark and New York.
Many Greenwood houses were built as two- and three-family dwellings on narrow lots. This arrangement allowed builders to create more homes while giving working families access to a growing community. The result was a neighborhood of closely spaced residences, front porches, compact yards, and streets lined with trees.
Those homes were practical, but they were also carefully designed. Many feature architectural details associated with the period, including wood trim, bay windows, brick foundations, covered porches, gabled roofs, and decorative cornices. The city’s planning documents describe Greenwood’s early layout as a scenic residential setting with wide, tree-lined streets and distinctive houses.
For longtime residents, these details are more than decoration. A front staircase, an old porch column, or a row of mature shade trees may connect today’s household to the families who lived there generations ago.
Streets, Railroads, and Nearby Landmarks
Greenwood’s history has always been connected to transportation. Park Avenue and Fourth Avenue serve as important east-west routes, while Greenwood Avenue and the numbered streets create the neighborhood’s internal framework. The area’s proximity to the railroad helped make East Orange attractive to commuters and supported the city’s growth as a suburban community.
The former Grove Street station, located near Grove and Main streets, was once an important stop on the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad. The nearby Ampere section also developed around rail transportation and industry, particularly after the Crocker-Wheeler electrical works helped spur development. Although Greenwood and Ampere are sometimes treated as separate neighborhoods, their histories overlap, especially around Fourth Avenue, Grove Street, and the eastern side of the city.
Fourth Avenue remains important as both a transportation route and a neighborhood commercial corridor. Small storefronts, local services, and community businesses have helped Greenwood maintain a practical, walkable character. The city has also identified the Fourth Avenue corridor as an area where improved sidewalks, lighting, trees, signage, and building facades could strengthen the neighborhood’s identity.
Another small but meaningful public-space project has been planned at North 15th Street and Fourth Avenue. The proposed open space would provide seating and an informal gathering area—modest in size, but valuable in a neighborhood where public life often happens on front steps, sidewalks, and familiar corners.
Change After World War II
Like many older communities in northern New Jersey, Greenwood changed significantly after World War II. East Orange had reached a high point as an elegant bedroom suburb, known for fine stores, apartment buildings, and substantial single-family homes. But the postwar decades brought new pressures.
More families moved toward newer suburban communities, and the rise of automobile travel changed the relationship between homes, jobs, and shopping. Some Greenwood houses were converted into additional apartments or rooming houses. Narrow lots and limited off-street parking became increasingly difficult for households with multiple cars. At the same time, deferred maintenance and population changes affected many older properties.
The construction of major highways, including Interstate 280 and the Garden State Parkway, also reshaped East Orange. These roads improved regional access but disrupted some established connections between neighborhoods. Greenwood’s location near major transportation routes became both an advantage and a challenge.
Preserving Greenwood’s Character
Greenwood’s story today is not simply one of decline or nostalgia. It is a story of adaptation. The city’s redevelopment planning emphasizes rehabilitation, careful new construction, and the preservation of the neighborhood’s historic scale. New homes and renovations are encouraged to respect the proportions, materials, setbacks, and architectural character of the existing housing stock rather than introduce buildings that feel disconnected from their surroundings.
That approach recognizes something longtime residents already understand: Greenwood’s appeal comes from its accumulated character. It is found in the rhythm of the numbered streets, the shade of old trees, the variety of porch designs, and the way neighbors recognize one another across a block.
Greenwood has evolved from farmland to streetcar-era suburb, from a commuter neighborhood to a more diverse urban community. Through every transition, its strongest qualities have remained visible. The houses may need care, the commercial corridors may be changing, and new generations may use the neighborhood differently than those before them. But Greenwood still carries the imprint of the people who built it—and the people who continue to call it home.