Montgomery Township, New Jersey
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| Montgomery, New Jersey | |
 |
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| Coordinates: | |
|---|---|
| Country | United States |
| State | New Jersey |
| County | Somerset |
| Government | |
| - Mayor | Cecilia Xie Birge |
| Area | |
| - Total | 32.6 sq mi (84.5 km²) |
| - Land | 32.6 sq mi (84.5 km²) |
| - Water | 0.0 sq mi (0.0 km²) |
| Elevation | 121 ft (37 m) |
| Population (2000) | |
| - Total | 17,481 |
| - Density | 535.9/sq mi (206.9/km²) |
| Time zone | Eastern (EST) (UTC-5) |
| - Summer (DST) | EDT (UTC-4) |
| ZIP code | 08558 |
| Area code(s) | 609 |
| FIPS code | 34-47580[1] |
| GNIS feature ID | 0882168[2] |
Montgomery Township is a Township in Somerset County, New Jersey, United States. As of the United States 2000 Census, the township population was 17,481. The Census Bureau's 2006 population estimate for Montgomery Township is 23,243, which represents growth of over 140% since the 1990 Census population figure of 9,612.[3]
Montgomery Township was incorporated as a one of New Jersey's initial 104 townships by an Act of the New Jersey Legislature on February 21, 1798, from what remained of Western precinct. Portions of the township were taken to form Princeton borough (February 11, 1813, in Mercer County) and Rocky Hill (December 18, 1889).[4]
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[edit] Geography
According to the United States Census Bureau, the township has a total area of 32.6 square miles (84.5 km²), all of it land.
There are several hamlets within the Township: Belle Mead, Blawenburg, Bridgepoint, Dutchtown, Fairview, Harlingen, Plainville, Rocky Hill, Skillman, Stoutsburg and Zion.[5]
[edit] Demographics
| Historical populations | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Census | Pop. | %± | |
| 1930 | 2,648 |
|
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| 1940 | 3,360 | 26.9% | |
| 1950 | 3,819 | 13.7% | |
| 1960 | 3,851 | 0.8% | |
| 1970 | 6,353 | 65.0% | |
| 1980 | 7,360 | 15.9% | |
| 1990 | 9,612 | 30.6% | |
| 2000 | 17,481 | 81.9% | |
| Est. 2006 | 23,243 | [3] | 33.0% |
| Population 1930 - 1990.[6] | |||
As of the census[1] of 2000, there were 17,481 people, 5,803 households, and 4,781 families residing in the township. The population density was 535.9 people per square mile (206.9/km²). There were 6,130 housing units at an average density of 187.9/sq mi (72.6/km²). The racial makeup of the township was 84.55% White, 2.07% African-American, 0.09% Native American, and 11.52% Asian American. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2.21% of the population.
There were 5,803 households out of which 51.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 75.5% were married couples living together, 5.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 17.6% were non-families. 14.2% of all households were made up of individuals and 3.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.99 and the average family size was 3.33.
In the township the population was spread out with 32.9% under the age of 18, 3.9% from 18 to 24, 31.9% from 25 to 44, 24.4% from 45 to 64, and 6.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females there were 97.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 93.8 males.
The median income for a household in the township was $118,850, and the median income for a family was $129,150. 70.20% of the residents have a college education or better, and 89.8% are white collar. Males had a median income of $86,687 versus $55,441 for females. The per capita income for the township was $48,699. About 1.4% of families and 1.5% of the population were below the poverty line, including 1.2% of those under age 18 and 1.3% of those age 65 or over.
Township residents are serviced by three post offices located wholly within the Township's borders, Belle Mead with zip code 08502, Skillman with zip code 08558 and Blawenburg with zip code 08504. In addition, a portion of the southern section of the Township is serviced by the post office located Princeton, NJ, with zip code 08540.
[edit] Government
[edit] Local government
Members of the Montgomery Township Committee are Mayor Cecilia Xie Birge, Deputy Mayor Louise Wilson, Mark Caliguire, Brad Fay and John Warms.[7]
In 2006, Cecilia Birge, a Democrat, and Mark Caliguire, a Republican, both won re-election.
On January 4, 2007, Cecilia Xie Birge was selected as Mayor by the Montgomery Township Committee, becoming what may be "the first Chinese-American female mayor in the history of New Jersey". After five consecutive terms a s Mayor, Louise Wilson was selected to serve as the township's Deputy Mayor.[8]
[edit] Federal, state and county representation
Montgomery Township is in the Seventh Congressional District and is part of New Jersey's 16th Legislative District.[9]
New Jersey's Seventh Congressional District, covering portions of Hunterdon County, Middlesex County, Somerset County and Union County, is represented by Mike Ferguson (R). New Jersey is represented in the Senate by Frank Lautenberg (D, Cliffside Park) and Bob Menendez (D, Hoboken).
For the 2008-2009 Legislative Session, the 16th District of the New Jersey Legislature is represented in the State Senate by Christopher "Kip" Bateman (R, Neshanic Station) and in the Assembly by Peter J. Biondi (R, Hillsborough Township) and Denise Coyle (R, Basking Ridge).[10] The Governor of New Jersey is Jon Corzine (D, Hoboken).[11]
Somerset County is governed by a five-member Board of Chosen Freeholders, whose members are elected at-large to three-year terms on a staggered basis, with one or two elected each year. As of 2008, Somerset County's Freeholders are Freeholder Director Peter S. Palmer (Bernardsville, term ends December 31, 2008), Freeholder Deputy Director Rick Fontana (Bridgewater Township, 2009), Jack Ciattarelli (Hillsborough Township, 2009), Patricia Walsh (Green Brook Township, 2010) and Robert Zaborowski (Franklin Township, 2008).[12]
[edit] Education
The Montgomery Township School District is a comprehensive public school district that serves students in Kindergarten through 12th grade. With the opening of the new high school building in 2005, the new school grade configuration is Orchard Hill Elementary School (Kindergarten through grade two), Village Elementary School (grades three and four), Montgomery Lower Middle School (grades five and six), Montgomery Upper Middle School (grades seven and eight) and Montgomery High School (grades nine through twelve).
Montgomery Township is one of the fastest growing school districts in New Jersey. In September 1992, the K-12 enrollment was 1,590 compared to 4,924 in September 2005. This represents a tripling of enrollment in eleven years. Continued enrollment growth is projected, with the district expected to reach 6,000 students in 2008.
Rocky Hill, which was the first village in the Township, is now a separately incorporated borough whose children attend Montgomery Township schools as part of a sending/receiving relationship.[13]
[edit] History
The first landowners in what was to become Montgomery Township, such as Johannas Van Home and Peter Sonmans, were speculators: that is, they themselves did not live on the land, but sold large parts of what they owned to companies that subdivided it into farm-sized plots for those who did intend to settle. Many speculators and early settlers were of Dutch descent from the New Amsterdam area (especially Long Island), which, after the British ousted the Dutch (1664), was renamed New York in honor of the Duke of York (the future James II). The Township was originally known as the Western Precinct of Somerset County (i.e. west of the Millstone River). Before the creation of Mercer County in 1838, the southern border extended to Nassau Street in Princeton. In 1798 the Western Precinct was organized as Montgomery Township, named for Colonel Richard Montgomery, who fell fighting for the patriot cause in the Battle of Quebec at the start of the Revolution (1775).
Most of the land is flat and fertile, running westward from the Millstone River to Province Line, which divides Somerset from Hunterdon County and once marked the division between East and West Jersey. Farms of 300 to 500 acres were common, some owners keeping a few slaves to work the land and serve in the household. The aim of the early settlers was to produce as many of the necessities of life as they could: subsistence farming, in other words. Each farm had a vegetable garden, orchard, pasturage and fields for grain, as well as a stand of timber to be selectively cut for fuel. What became known as the Harlingen Tract (1710) included part of Sourland Mountain. Each farm on the flatland was assigned a separate strip of woodland that ran up to the Hunterdon border, all crossing Rock Brook. At points along the stream mills were built either to saw lumber or to grind grain. Other early mill sites were at Rocky Hill on the Millstone River, Bridgepoint on Pike Brook and on Bedens Brook near Blawenburg.
Settlement began in the first quarter of the eighteenth century. When churches, schools, general stores, blacksmith shops and hotel/taverns were built, they tended to cluster at intersections or other important points. For example, the intersection where the Carrier Clinic now stands used to be called Plainville or Posttown, having in the nineteenth century a post office, store, school house, blacksmith and wheelwright shops, as well as a hotel/tavern where the circuit judge presided. Most people walked to where they wanted to go. Schools were generally spaced no further than four miles apart in order that no child would have to go more than two miles to get to one. Churches marked the most important centers. The Dutch Church's earliest congregations first gathered in farm houses. The first church building at Harlingen dates to around 1750 and was called the Church at Sourland. The church at Neshanic in Hillsborough Township was established in 1752. In the early years these two churches shared a single pastor, and up to about 1800 they conducted their services in the Dutch language. One such pastor was Martinus Van Harlingen, who gave his name to the village, to the church that now bears his name, and to our Historical Society. The Blawenburg church, an offshoot of the one at Harlingen, dates to 1830 and was erected in three days. During the Revolution, the Township was the scene of marches by both British and patriot forces and of clashes between them. In the century that followed the movement of goods and people was accelerated by increasingly swifter forms of transportation. First was the building of the Georgetown and Franklin Turnpike between Lambertville and New Brunswick (1820-22: Rt. 518). Next came the digging of the Delaware and Raritan Canal along the east side of the Millstone River (1834). Railroad construction followed with the Delaware and Boundbrook Railroad (later the Reading), which established depots at Skillman, Harlingen and Belle Mead (1875). In the early years of the twentieth century, the arrival of the automobile, of electricity and of the telephone brought further growth and change. In consequence, and over time, the one or two room schoolhouse was supplanted by the central school, post offices were consolidated and most of the hotels/taverns disappeared. The crossroad hamlets that once offered basic services of general store, blacksmith shops and the like disappeared also, many leaving only their names to mark a road or an area: Skillman, Bridgepoint and Dutchtown are examples.
The paving and realignment of roads, and the building of new ones, came toward the end of the transportation revolution. A new major north-south highway, Route 206, was created in 1927. Before that time Montgomery and Mt. Lucas Roads were parts of the chief north-south route through the center of the Township. Farming continued despite many changes in the economy and in agricultural practices. In the late nineteenth century subsistence farming was giving way to specialized operations, such as dairying, poultry farming, and fruit orchards. As the twentieth century drew to a close even these ventures no longer offered the farmer an easy existence, given the rapidly appreciating value of the land, over against the low prices of products produced on it. As farms became less and less profitable, the land was converted to other uses. For example, in 1898 the facility for the treatment of epileptics was built on farmland between Blawenburg and Skillman. Since the Second World War, housing developments, shopping centers and business parks have sprung up, leaving as remnants of the long tradition of agriculture in Montgomery roadside stands, riding stables and the like.
As suburbanization closes its grip over the Township, the push to limit runaway development and to acquire open space has become an urgent concern. In the last decade of the twentieth century, Montgomery's population nearly doubled; Currently, it is the fastest growing township in the county.
[edit] Municipal Court
The Montgomery Township Municipal Court hears all motor vehicle, disorderly persons offenses, weights/measures complaints, fish & game violations, local ordinance violations and citizen complaints. (i.e. Simple Assault; Shoplifting; Criminal Mischief) The goal of the Court is to ensure that every person is treated with respect and given a fair trial or experience in Municipal Court. Usual Court sessions are the 1st, 2nd and 4th Tuesday of each month at 6:30 p.m., and the 3rd Tuesday of each month at 4:30 p.m.
[edit] Skillman Village
The Township of Montgomery has purchased 256 acre parcel of land once known as the North Princeton Developmental Center (“NPDC”) from the State of New Jersey, located in Montgomery adjoining Skillman Road and Burnt Hill Road. In addition, the Township has acquired from the State the adjacent wastewater treatment facility on 7 acres, behind the State-owned Skillman Dairy Farm. The NPDC property, originally established in 1898 as the “New Jersey Village for Epileptics,” operated as a self-contained “town” that consisted of hospitals, housing, maintenance areas, schools, a power plant, a wastewater treatment facility and an on-site landfill. Later, it became the New Jersey Neuropsychiatric Institute. Most recently, and until 1998, the property was the New Jersey Department of Human Services' psychiatric care facility "North Princeton Developmental Center".
For years there were over 100 buildings on the Property, mostly in substandard, unsafe, unsanitary, dilapidated and/or obsolescent condition. Ninety-two of these buildings were abated and demolished summer 2007. The remainding handful of buildings have been boarded up in anticipation of possible reuse as part of redevelopment. Efforts are on-going to remediate environmental conditions at the site and repair or demolish the dam and restore the lake.The property’s environmental contamination must be remediated and brought into compliance with applicable laws and regulations.
The Township is preparing a redevelopment plan and soliciting redevelopment proposals. It has been decided that the redevelopment area will be known as "Skillman Village".
For more information see [1].
[edit] References
- ^ a b American FactFinder. United States Census Bureau. Retrieved on 2008-01-31.
- ^ US Board on Geographic Names. United States Geological Survey (2007-10-25). Retrieved on 2008-01-31.
- ^ a b Census data for Montgomery township, United States Census Bureau. Accessed August 4, 2007.
- ^ "The Story of New Jersey's Civil Boundaries: 1606-1968", John P. Snyder, Bureau of Geology and Topography; Trenton, New Jersey; 1969. p. 224.
- ^ New Jersey Localities, accessed September 9, 2006.
- ^ Jersey Resident Population by Municipality: 1930 - 1990, Workforce New Jersey Public Information Network. Accessed March 1, 2007.
- ^ Montgomery Township Elected Officials, Montgomery Township. Accessed January 10, 2007.
- ^ Birge succeeds Wilson as Montgomery mayor, Princeton Packet by Jake Uitti, January 5, 2007.
- ^ 2006 New Jersey Citizen's Guide to Government, New Jersey League of Women Voters, p. 61, accessed August 30, 2006.
- ^ Legislative Roster: 2008-2009 Session, New Jersey Legislature. Accessed June 6, 2008.
- ^ About the Governor, New Jersey. Accessed June 6, 2008.
- ^ The Role of County Government: "What Is A Freeholder?", Somerset County, New Jersey. Accessed March 30, 2008.
- ^ Community Profile, Montgomery Township School District. Accessed February 28, 2008. "Rocky Hill, which was the first village in the Township, is now a separately incorporated borough, whose children attend Montgomery Township schools."
[edit] External links
- Montgomery Township website
- Montgomery Township School District
- Montgomery Township School District's 2006-07 School Report Card from the New Jersey Department of Education
- National Center for Education Statistics data for the Montgomery Township School District
- The Montgomery News website, the hometown newspaper
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