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Branchburg, New Jersey
Township
Township of Branchburg
Raritan Valley Community College
Raritan Valley Community College
Official seal of Branchburg, New Jersey
Seal
Map of Branchburg Township in Somerset County. Inset: Location of Somerset County highlighted in the State of New Jersey.
Map of Branchburg Township in Somerset County. Inset: Location of Somerset County highlighted in the State of New Jersey.
Census Bureau map of Branchburg Township, New Jersey
Census Bureau map of Branchburg Township, New Jersey
Country  United States
State  New Jersey
County Somerset
Incorporated April 5, 1845
Named for Raritan River juncture
Government
 • Type Township
 • Body Township Committee
Area
 • Total 20.30 sq mi (52.58 km2)
 • Land 20.07 sq mi (51.98 km2)
 • Water 0.23 sq mi (0.60 km2)  1.14%
Area rank 141st of 565 in state
7th of 21 in county
Elevation
161 ft (49 m)
Population
 • Total 14,459
 • Estimate 
(2019)
14,499
 • Rank 174th of 566 in state
8th of 21 in county
 • Density 721.4/sq mi (278.5/km2)
 • Density rank 412th of 566 in state
14th of 21 in county
Time zone UTC−05:00 (Eastern (EST))
 • Summer (DST) UTC−04:00 (Eastern (EDT))
ZIP Code
Area code(s) 908
FIPS code 3403507180
GNIS feature ID 0882175

Branchburg is a township in Somerset County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the township's population was 14,459, reflecting a decline of 107 (−0.7%) from the 14,566 counted in the 2000 Census, which had in turn increased by 3,678 (+33.8%) from the 10,888 counted in the 1990 Census.

While the area of today's Branchburg has a history antedating the American Revolutionary War, the township itself was incorporated by an act of the New Jersey Legislature on April 5, 1845, from portions of Bridgewater Township. The township is named for its location at a point where branches of the Raritan River merge.

History

The land that is now known as Branchburg Township was originally inhabited by the Raritans, a tribe of the Lenni Lenape Native Americans. By 1686 most of the land was purchased from the Lenape by the Lords Proprietors of East Jersey, who sold the land in small parcels to numerous settlers, mostly of Dutch or English extraction. With the 1688 redrawing of the boundary between East and West Jersey, the Branchburg region was split between Essex County to the north and the newly formed Somerset County to the south. With Somerset's acquisition of territory from Essex and Middlesex Counties in 1741, Branchburg lay entirely within Somerset County.

Bridgewater Township was chartered in 1749. The residents of the part of Bridgewater west of the Raritan River petitioned the New Jersey Legislature for incorporation as a separate township, which was granted by an act dated April 5, 1845. The first town meeting was held April 14, 1845, in White Oak Tavern, a stagecoach stop and local meeting place along the Old York Road.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the township had a total area of 20.279 square miles (52.521 km2), including 20.044 square miles (51.912 km2) of land and 0.235 square miles (0.609 km2) of water (1.16%).

The township is 11 miles (18 km) long and approximately 2 miles (3.2 km) across at its widest point. Unincorporated communities, localities and place names located partially or completely within the township include Burnt Mill, Centerville, Fox Hollow, Neshanic, Neshanic Station (ZIP code 08853) and North Branch (ZIP code 08876), North Branch Depot and Woodfern.

The township is bordered on the west by Readington Township in Hunterdon County; on the north by Bedminster Township and on the south by Bridgewater Township and Hillsborough Township.

The main watercourses are the Lamington River on the north, the North Branch of the Raritan River on the east and the South Branch of the Raritan River on the east and south. These rivers along with small streams and brooks are excellent for fishermen who enjoy trout stocked streams and rivers. Branchburg is in the Raritan Valley, a line of cities in Central New Jersey. Branchburg lies in the western division of the Raritan Valley along with Bridgewater and Raritan.

Demographics

Historical population
Census Pop.
1850 1,143
1860 1,174 2.7%
1870 1,251 6.6%
1880 1,316 5.2%
1890 1,152 −12.5%
1900 1,012 −12.2%
1910 970 −4.2%
1920 931 −4.0%
1930 1,084 16.4%
1940 1,231 13.6%
1950 1,958 59.1%
1960 3,741 91.1%
1970 5,742 53.5%
1980 7,846 36.6%
1990 10,888 38.8%
2000 14,566 33.8%
2010 14,459 −0.7%
2019 (est.) 14,499 0.3%
Population sources:
1850-1920 1850-1870
1850 1870 1880-1890
1890-1910 1910-1930
1930-1990 2000 2010

Census 2010

As of the census of 2010, there were 14,459 people, 5,271 households, and 4,032 families residing in the township. The population density was 721.4 per square mile (278.5/km2). There were 5,419 housing units at an average density of 270.4 per square mile (104.4/km2)*. The racial makeup of the township was 86.80% (12,550) White, 2.25% (326) Black or African American, 0.15% (22) Native American, 8.40% (1,215) Asian, 0.03% (5) Pacific Islander, 0.59% (86) from other races, and 1.76% (255) from two or more races. [[Hispanic (U.S. Census)|Hispanic or Latino of any race were 4.45% (643) of the population.

There were 5,271 households out of which 38.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 67.6% were married couples living together, 6.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 23.5% were non-families. 18.8% of all households were made up of individuals, and 6.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.74 and the average family size was 3.17.

In the township, the population was spread out with 26.1% under the age of 18, 5.3% from 18 to 24, 23.8% from 25 to 44, 33.9% from 45 to 64, and 11.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 42.3 years. For every 100 females there were 95.6 males. For every 100 females ages 18 and old there were 92.4 males.

The Census Bureau's 2006–2010 American Community Survey showed that (in 2010 inflation-adjusted dollars) median household income was $119,092 (with a margin of error of +/- $7,934) and the median family income was $136,310 (+/- $12,919). Males had a median income of $97,359 (+/- $7,041) versus $61,192 (+/- $8,826) for females. The per capita income for the borough was $51,387 (+/- $2,945). About 1.5% of families and 1.3% of the population were below the poverty line, including 0.5% of those under age 18 and 5.3% of those age 65 or over.

Transportation

2018-05-29 16 36 42 View east along U.S. Route 22 just east of County Line Road in Branchburg Township, Somerset County, New Jersey
US 22 in Branchburg

Roads and highways

As of May 2010, the township had a total of 113.08 miles (181.98 km) of roadways, of which 87.96 miles (141.56 km) were maintained by the municipality, 18.74 miles (30.16 km) by Somerset County and 6.38 miles (10.27 km) by the New Jersey Department of Transportation.

Branchburg Township is centrally located with access to major roadways and highways. U.S. Route 202 and U.S. Route 22 travel through the township with easy passage to Interstate 78, Interstate 287 and Route 206, enabling residents to travel to New York City and Philadelphia within one hour.

Rail and Public transportation

NJ Transit train service between Branchburg and New York City is available on the Raritan Valley Line at the North Branch station (located on Station Road), which offers limited daily service and no weekend trains. The Raritan Valley Line has weekly service from North Branch Station to Newark Penn Station, where connections can be made to Pennsylvania Station in Midtown Manhattan.

The Norfolk Southern Railway's Lehigh Line (formerly the mainline of the Lehigh Valley Railroad), runs through Branchburg.

NJ Transit offers bus service to and from Newark on the 65 line with local service on the 884 route.

Trans-Bridge Lines offers bus service between New Hope, Pennsylvania and New York City, with a stop at the Municipal Park-and-Ride facility on Route 202 North on a daily basis, with westbound service on the Doylestown route to Bethlehem, Pennsylvania and eastbound to Newark Liberty International Airport and the Port Authority Bus Terminal in Midtown Manhattan.

Transport of New Jersey bus service between New York City and Allentown, Pennsylvania is available on a daily basis.

Newark Liberty International Airport is located approximately 35 miles (56 km) northeast of Branchburg. Also within driving distance are Lehigh Valley International Airport (ABE, formerly Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton International Airport) near Allentown, Pennsylvania, John F. Kennedy International Airport and La Guardia Airport in New York, as well as the Trenton-Mercer Airport near Trenton and Princeton in Mercer County.

Points of interest

The Little Red Schoolhouse, located on South Branch Road, is a one-room schoolhouse built in 1873, the last one-room school house in use in the county. Its purpose was to educate children in grades 1–8 from Branchburg and Hillsborough townships. It was closed in 1965. In 2007 the schoolhouse was renovated to add the bell tower back onto the top of the building. The Little Red Schoolhouse is now owned by the township of Branchburg. Notable students at the Little Red Schoolhouse include opera star and Edison protégé Anna Case and Marion Van Fleet, the mother of actor Lee Van Cleef.

Economy

Branchburg Township is the home to the 31 Tannery Project which serves as the corporate headquarters for Ferreira Construction, the Ferreira Group, and Noveda Technologies. The 42,000-square-foot (3,900 m2) office and shop building was constructed in 2006. It was the first building in the state of New Jersey to meet New Jersey's Executive Order 54 and the first net zero electric commercial building in the United States.

Sports

Branchburg is home to the 2012 14U Babe Ruth World Series Championship baseball team, the first from the state since 1989. The underdog Bulldogs, consisting of players drawn from a tryout pool totaling 16 players, competed and won against teams drawn from tryout pools as large as 500 players.

Education

The Branchburg Township School District serves public school students in pre-kindergarten through eighth grade. As of the 2017–18 school year, the district, comprised of three schools, had an enrollment of 1,463 students and 151.3 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 9.7:1. Schools in the district (with 2017-18 enrollment data from the National Center for Education Statistics) are Whiton Elementary School with 611 students in grades PreK-3 and Stony Brook School with 342 students in grades 4–5 and Branchburg Central Middle School with 501 students in grades 6–8.

The public secondary school serving Branchburg for ninth through twelfth grades is Somerville High School, which students attend as part of a sending/receiving relationship with the Somerville Public Schools. As of the 2017–18 school year, the high school had an enrollment of 1,165 students and 91.5 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 12.7:1.

Midland School is a non-profit special education school serving the individual social, emotional, academic and career needs of children with developmental disabilities. The school serves 245 students, ranging in age from 5 to 21 years old, from central and northern New Jersey.

Branchburg Township is the home of the main campus of Raritan Valley Community College.

Notable people

See also (related category): People from Branchburg, New Jersey

People who were born in, residents of, or otherwise closely associated with Branchburg include:

  • Christopher Bateman (born 1957), member of the New Jersey Senate representing the 16th Legislative District, who served as mayor of Branchburg in 1986.
  • Raymond Bateman (1927-2016), politician, who represented Somerset County in the New Jersey Senate in the 1960s and 1970s and was the Republican candidate for Governor of New Jersey in 1977.
  • Frank Chapot (1932–2016), Olympic silver medalist equestrian.
  • Jeffrey Chiesa (born 1965), New Jersey Attorney General who was named to the United States Senate to fill Frank Lautenberg's vacant seat on an interim basis from June 2013 until the October 2013 special election, when Cory Booker took office.
  • Robert Cox (1813–1890), politician who served in the Michigan House of Representatives.
  • Denise Coyle (born 1953), member of the New Jersey General Assembly from 2008 to 2012 who served as mayor of Branchburg in 1993.
  • Anthony Gargiulo (born 1984), defensive end who played in the Canadian Football League for the Calgary Stampeders.
  • Brendan O'Hare, comedian known for his absurdist humor and podcast, This Is Branchburg.

Images for kids

See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Municipio de Branchburg (Nueva Jersey) para niños

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