“I live in a mini-Victorian,” says Jane Rafferty of her sweet older home on Ridge Road in Rutherford. “William Carlos Williams lived in that blue house on the corner,” she adds, pointing in the other direction at a tall house with blue fishscale and maroon trim.

Williams was the renowned poet who was also a physician and lived and practiced in the town for most of his adult life. “He delivered a lot of babies in Rutherford,” Rafferty adds. “We didn’t know him, but we knew his son, who was also a doctor — a lovely man. His father was off in his own world.”

Rafferty is walking her little white dog, having just returned from a swim at the high school pool, now run by the YMCA. She has lived in Rutherford since 1950, when she accepted a job teaching first grade at the local elementary school. For many years, her husband commuted to New York to work for Texaco. In those days, Becton Dickinson, the pharmaceutical firm, was a major economic force in the borough, she says, but the factory is gone.

In recent years, the community has become decidedly multicultural, with Asian and Latino populations. “It’s a warm town,” Rafferty says. “Very friendly.”

We’re standing in front of the Presbyterian church, a striking stone building in the shape of a cross, one of many architectural gems in Rutherford. Another is the Elks Club, a blocky, columned structure with a statue of a massively antlered elk over the portico. A line of apartments features a Moorish-style façade.

These buildings are a block or two from the Park Avenue business district, urban in flavor and substantial for a suburban borough, with intricate vintage design elements above many storefronts. One relic of earlier commerce is a fading sign painted high on the side of a brick building, stating “Ira Benowitz/Keys Made.” A free minibus operates daily to bring residents to the downtown from stops throughout the borough.

Just off Park Avenue is the Williams Center, a former vaudeville theater, then movie theater, that burned in 1977. Now renovated, it presents films, concerts, ballet, opera, and theater for children. At a small park recently installed in front of the center, four teenagers are skateboarding. All four declare their affection for the local school system. Although they each have at least one parent who works in New York, they themselves visit Manhattan only once or twice a year.

Rutherford is eight miles from the city. Rail service began to attract wealthy New Yorkers in the 1800s, when several country homes were built in the area. One castle-like residence later became the original Fairleigh Dickinson Junior College, thanks to funding by the local businessman who gave the school its name. Now that the university is established in other New Jersey towns, the location has been taken over by Felician College.

The many splendid Victorians are the legacy of those turn-of-the-century New Yorkers. Between the World Wars, a housing boom resulted in the construction of colonials and smaller suburban homes. Today, affordable houses abound, with cottages starting at $250,000 and plenty of three- and four-bedrooms in the $300,000 to $500,000 range. High-end houses — both modern custom homes and graceful older structures — are currently listed up to $1.2 million.

Rutherford also has many condos available. One-bedrooms range from $85,000 to $200,000, and there are two-bedrooms on the market for $200,000 and up.

The borough website lists a variety of community organizations, including a rowing club on the Passaic River, which borders the town; a senior citizens center, highly praised by Rafferty; a Woman’s Club; the Rutherford Community Pantry; Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts; 17 houses of worship, including one mosque; and an active recreation department. One of several town parks is Tryon Field, which features baseball diamonds, soccer pitches, and a blue-surfaced track circling a football field. The sign at the entrance forbids such irritants as confetti, candy, gum, and sunflower seeds on the track.

Rutherford is 12 miles from Newark International Airport, two miles from the New Jersey Turnpike and four miles from the Garden State Parkway.