West Caldwell is a suburban township in the northwestern corner of Essex County, New Jersey, part of the collection of communities known as the West Essex area or, locally, the Caldwells. It sits about sixteen miles west of Midtown Manhattan and roughly six miles northwest of Newark, on the rolling terrain between the Watchung Mountains and the Passaic River valley. The township shares its name and much of its history with neighboring Caldwell, after which the area was named in honor of the Reverend James Caldwell, a Presbyterian minister and Revolutionary War Patriot whose wartime support earned him a place in New Jersey lore. The Caldwells are also the birthplace of Stephen Grover Cleveland, the 22nd and 24th President of the United States, who was born in Caldwell on March 18, 1837. West Caldwell split from Caldwell as its own municipality, developing in the twentieth century from farmland into a residential suburb. Today West Caldwell is a largely residential township of roughly 11,000 people, with tree-lined streets, single-family neighborhoods, and a substantial commercial and office corridor along Bloomfield Avenue and Passaic Avenue. The Caldwell-West Caldwell Public Schools serve both towns, and James Caldwell High School is located within West Caldwell. The township offers a suburban, family-oriented lifestyle with relatively easy access to Manhattan. Express and local bus routes connect to New York, and the Montclair State University rail station and the Willowbrook Mall park-and-ride are nearby. Its West Essex location also puts residents near the Essex County park system and the shopping corridors of the Route 46 and Route 3 region. West Caldwell suits commuters and families seeking strong schools, quiet neighborhoods, and proximity to both the Essex County suburbs and New York City.