Colonia, NJ
Roofing in Colonia, NJ: Northwest Woodbridge, Mostly Built by 1969
Colonia is one of the ten recognized sections of Woodbridge Township, in its northwest corner, not a town with a hall of its own. Clark sits to the north, Rahway to the northeast, Avenel to the east, Iselin to the south and Edison to the west. In the Census Bureau's 2020-2024 ACS figures, the middle Colonia house went up in 1959, give or take 2 years. Roof questions go to the Woodbridge Township offices, listed under Papers to ask for.
Inman Avenue and the five neighbors
The business address, 498 Inman Ave, is on the avenue that also holds St. John Vianney Grammar School at number 420 and the Henry Inman Branch library at 607. Clark, in Union County, lies to the north, Rahway to the northeast, Avenel to the east, Iselin to the south and Edison to the west. The Garden State Parkway crosses the western side of Colonia, without an interchange there.
The houses
Census Bureau ACS figures for 2020-2024 count about 6,289 homes in Colonia, give or take 347.
The biggest decade is the 1950s, with about 2,500 homes (the Census table leaves that cell blank, so the figure here is the total minus the other decades). Another 1,202 date from the 1960s, 592 from the 1940s and 186 from 1939 or earlier. That makes about 4,500 homes, 71 percent, older than 1970. Only 23 homes date from 2020 or later. Of 6,262 occupied homes, 5,567 are lived in by their owners and 695, about 11 percent, are rented. A renter with a roof problem calls the landlord or property manager first.
Merrill Park, two public schools and a library branch
- Merrill Park is a Middlesex County park on the South Branch of the Rahway River, off Fairview Avenue, with ballfields, courts, picnic groves and the Progressive Playground; the county's listing gives 732-745-3900. Colonia High School is on East Street and Colonia Middle School on Delaware Avenue, both in the Woodbridge Township school district. The Henry Inman Branch library at 607 Inman Avenue answers at 732-726-7072.
Colonia in figures
- Area
4.03 square miles, nearly all of it land.
- Elevation
69 feet at the center.
- Population
18,609 at the 2020 count, up from 17,795 in 2010, in 6,403 households.
- Age
A median of 42.7 years, with 17.8 percent of residents 65 or older.
- Houses
Median build year 1959, give or take 2.
The South Branch, Pumpkin Patch Brook and the Inman Avenue crossing
The South Branch of the Rahway River drains Colonia toward the northeast. Woodbridge's floodplain description puts river flooding in the township's northwest, along the South Branch and Pumpkin Patch Brook, and names Colonia as the example. Pumpkin Patch Brook flows north toward Clark, and the document says suburban development added runoff and long-standing overbank flooding.
Near Jordan Road, just upstream of the Inman Avenue crossing, the ground is about 66.5 feet while FEMA's 100-year flood elevation is 66 feet; some homes with basements face increased flood-damage risk, the document says. Roof water joins this system, and gutter and downspout work decides where it lands.
Notes from the sources
- U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25035 (median year built), Colonia CDP
- U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25034 (year structure built), Colonia CDP
- U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25003 (tenure), Colonia CDP
- Wikipedia, Colonia, New Jersey
- Wikipedia, List of neighborhoods in Woodbridge Township, New Jersey
- Middlesex County, Merrill Park facility listing
- Woodbridge Township, Henry Inman Branch Library directory page
- Woodbridge Township, Detailed Descriptions of Woodbridge Township's Floodplains (library copy)
- Woodbridge Township, Floodplain Management
- NJ Department of Community Affairs, Strategic Recovery Planning Report to Woodbridge Township (May 2014)
- National Weather Service Mount Holly, event review of 16-17 January 2022
- NOAA NCEI, 1991-2020 monthly normals, Newark Liberty International Airport (USW00014734)
Checked 1 Nov 2026
Calling in
Jot down the address, how old you think the roof is and what you can see from the lawn. Then call (732) 568-2812. In a rental, the landlord or the property manager is who you phone first. Calls cover Colonia, Iselin and Edison.
