EDISON

township (town), northern Middlesex county, New Jersey, U.S., just northeast of New Brunswick. It is the site of Menlo Park, where the inventor Thomas A. Edison established his research laboratory in 1876. Part of Woodbridge and Piscataway townships before 1870, it was known as Raritan township until 1954, when it was renamed for Edison. Edison's manufactures are diversified and include electrical appliances, industrial machinery, and automobile parts. The Raritan Center, occupying most of the former Raritan Arsenal, is a planned industrial, commercial, and research complex. Middlesex County College (1966) is in Edison. Pop. (1990) 88,680; (1996 est.) 93,993.