Rahway is a city in Union County, New Jersey. Rahway was settled in 1664 and named for the Lenape chief Rahwack, and it was also known as Spanktown during the colonial era due to an early settler publicly slapping his spouse on the knee and chastising her. During the Forage War campaign of the American Revolutionary War, a battle was fought at "Spanktown". The town grew due to its location along the major stagecoach and railroad lines between New York City and Philadelphia, also aiding the city's commercial growth. Immigrants from Britain, Ireland, and Germany streamed into the city in the 1850s, and it became home to several major manufacturers. The national decline in industry after World War II negatively affected Rahway, as many of the manufacturing centers closed down. Starting in the 1990s, the city underwent revitalization. In 2016, Rahway had a population of 29,451.
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