BLOOMFIELD

township (town), Essex county, northern New Jersey, U.S. It is a northwestern suburb of Newark. Settled in 1660 by Puritans, it was known as Wardsesson (then a ward of Newark) until 1796, when it was renamed for the American Revolutionary general Joseph Bloomfield. During the revolution it served as a supply point for both sides. Large quantities of cloth for Union Army uniforms were produced there during the American Civil War. The town of Monclair to the west was part of Bloomfield until 1812, when it became a separate community. The town's diversified modern industries include automobile assembly and the manufacture of textiles, drugs, chemicals, aluminum, plastics, and electrical products. Bloomfield College (Presbyterian) was founded in 1868. Inc. 1812. Pop. (1990) 45,061; (1996 est.) 43,330. town (township), Hartford county, north-central Connecticut, U.S., just northwest of Hartford. The site, drained by Wash Brook and the Farmington River, was settled about 1660, and the parish of Wintonbury was organized in 1736 from parts of Windsor, Farmington, and Simsbury. In 1835 Wintonbury was renamed Bloomfield, possibly for a Hartford family, and was incorporated as a town. Until industries developed in the late 1940s, the town was essentially a residential and farming community. Manufactures now include tools, aerospace products, and electronics. The Bloomfield Farm Implement Museum is housed in a former tobacco barn. Area 26 square miles (67 square km). Pop. (1990) 19,483; (1996 est.) 19,155.