Bloomfield was founded by Dutch farmers in 1691. The town grew in the 1700s, as the children of Connecticut Puritans, who had settled Newark, moved west to gain their own farmlands and build homes. The original township, formed in 1812, was 20.5 square miles and included Montclair, Nutley, Belleville, Glen Ridge, and the Woodside section of Newark. Aided by its location, excellent transportation facilities, and the availability of a large, skilled workforce, the town mushroomed from an agrarian community to a population of 47,000 with modern industries and attitudes.