Clifton

With much fanfare, Clifton became New Jersey's twelfth-largest city on an April night in 1917. On that day, the people voted 1,276 to 948 to change their form of government and to leave behind the name of Acquackanonk Township. With 500 people in tow, Muscatti's band made its way to the city's crossroads, at Main Street and Clifton Avenue, and played the Star-Spangled Banner. Red-and-green fireworks lit the sky as townspeople climbed into automobiles and formed an impromptu parade. From the...