Crim, the road and the school were named after John Crim, a New York attorney. He was also Deputy Attorney General of the United States during the middle twenties. Mr. Crim. was a native of Virginia, and it was there that he was buried in 1933.

In 1917, Mr. Crim purchased property, consisting of three tracts in Bridgewater, from the Plainfield Building Company for use as a gentleman's farm and country residence. the Crim property, called Oakland, ultimately was sold to the Bridgewater-Raritan Board of Education.

Crim School, located on about eleven acres of what was once farmland, made its debut in September, 1968.

Crim Elementary School housed kindergarten through sixth grade students until the start of the 1976-77 school year when sixth graders were transferred to the middle schools. In 1976, the Green Knoll School was closed with the majority of its students sent to Crim. During the 1982-83 school year, declining enrollments brought further redistricting. The Hamilton School was closed with the majority of its students sent to Crim. In addition, Crim students residing in the west attendance zones were transferred to Van Holten School.

In 1989, as a part of a re-districting plan adopted that year, students from Crim School were transferred to Hamilton. Other students were transferred from Van Holten and Adamsville Schools to Crim.

In 1995, increasing enrollments made all of the elementary schools in Bridgewater-Raritan School district large. Crim Elementary School contained nearly 600 students in the 1994-95 school year. A plan was developed to reconfigure the district and a four-step progression was adopted which created six K-3 schools; two intermediate school, grades 4-6; one middle school, grades 7-8, and a four year Bridgewater-Rariatan High School. This reconfiguration plan took place as the high school renovation project was completed and the Learning Centers were implemented at the primary schools. Thus, Crim Elementary School K-5 became Crim Primary School K-3 in the 1995-96 school year with a starting enrollment of approximately 425 students.

Due to building additions, the sixth grades in the district gradually joined the seventh and eighth grades. Additions were also added to three primary schools. In 1999 a new wing was added to Crim, providing six classrooms and three instruction/office rooms. In 2006 a new gym was added.