Mountainside, NJ

Mountainside is a small Union County borough tucked between larger North Jersey communities such as Summit, Springfield, and Westfield. It is mostly residential, served by its own pre-K through eighth-grade school district, and close to the parks and roads that shape daily life along the Watchung Mountains. One unexpected bit of Cold War history sits in the background: part of a Nike missile battery was installed here in the late 1950s.