The land on which Briarwood East sits was once owned by bridge engineer
Gustav Lindenthal. After his death in 1935, the land was donated to
Raritan Township. Tufaro completed his purchase of 145 acres in mid-August 1952, On October 31, 1953, Tufaro sold the 145 acres of land between Plainfield Road, Grove Avenue and Oak Tree Road to the Absig Corporation, one of the many subsidiaries of the Sommer Brothers Construction Company of
Iselin, New Jersey. In November 1954, Raritan Township was renamed Edison Township. After several failed attempts to develop the land as a residential community named
Oakview Heights in 1958 and 1959, the Absig Corporation sold off parcels of land to various developers, each of which established and built separate residential developments under various names. Joseph Deutsch and Jack W. Denholtz of Westover Realty acquired 37 acres of land in 1960 and hoped to build 62 houses but were denied by the Edison Township Planning Board due to lack of sewer connections. Briarwood East was announced in May 1963, as a new community developed by Jack J. Handshuh and Albert Handshuh through their firm Hand-Sum Homes. Briarwood East was named after Briarwood, a similar community which the Handshuh brothers had developed in
Berkeley Heights, New Jersey. In May 1964, Briarwood East residents formed the Oak-Grove Civic Association and successfully protested against the construction of a
Socony-Mobil Oil Company gasoline service station at the corner of Oak Tree Road and Grove Avenue. The Oak-Grove Civic Association also successfully protested against the enlargement of Stephenville Parkway for the purpose of turning it into a highway, which proposed to connect it to
Route 27 and Talmadge Road. == See also ==