Montgomery Township, New Jersey
Encyclopedia
Montgomery Township is a Township
in Somerset County
, New Jersey
, United States
. As of the United States 2010 Census, the township population was 22,254, which represents growth of 27% since 2000 and more than 130% since the 1990 Census population figure of 9,612.
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).
The first European 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 (2 km²) 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 (6 km) apart in order that no child would have to go more than two miles (3 km) 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 the local 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 rapid growth throughout the Princeton region has spread suburban sprawl across the Township, the push to limit runaway development and to acquire open space has become an urgent concern of the community. In the last decade of the twentieth century, Montgomery's population nearly doubled; currently, it is the fastest growing township in the county.
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 per square mile (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 (these figures had risen to $153,000 and $173,891 respectively as of a 2007 estimate). 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.
, the township has a total area of 32.6 square miles (84.4 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.
form of government with a five-member Township Committee. The Township Committee is elected directly by the voters in partisan elections to serve three-year terms of office on a staggered basis, with one or two seats coming up for election each year. At an annual reorganization meeting, the Township Committee selects which of its members will serve as Mayor and Deputy Mayor for that year.
, members of the Montgomery Township Committee are
Mayor
Mark Caliguire (2012),
Deputy Mayor
Kacey Dyer (2011),
Thom Carter (2012),
Patricia Graham (2013) and
Ed Trzaska (2013).
Mark Caliguire is now serving his second term as Mayor and Kacey Dyer is the Deputy Mayor (both Republicans).
On November 2, 2010, Republicans Ed Trzaska and Patricia Graham defeated long-time Democratic incumbent Louise Wilson as well as her running mate, Neena Singh (Brad Fay did not run for re-election). Trzaska and Graham ran an aggressive campaign which included door-to-door campaigning to almost 2,000 houses. Running on the need to hold the line on taxes and protect Montgomery's rural character, the Republican candidates won by close, but comfortable margins. The sale of Skillman Village to Somerset County as a park was also a deciding factor of the election - with the local Republicans advocating for the sale. Trzaska and Graham began serving on the Township Committee on January 3, 2011.
Montgomery Township is in the
(with CR 533
overlapping it for a brief stretch) is the main road that goes through Montgomery. The other main county road that goes through is CR 518
.
Limited access roads are accessible outside the municipality, such as Interstate 287
in bordering Franklin Township and Interstate 95
in bordering Hopewell Township.
Princeton Airport
is also in the township.
is a comprehensive public school district
that serves students in Kindergarten through 12th grade. Schools in the district (with 2008-09 enrollment data from the National Center for Education Statistics
) are
Orchard Hill Elementary School (Kindergarten through grade two, 1,041 students),
Village Elementary School (Grades three and four, 791 students),
Lower Middle School (grades five and six, 909 students),
Montgomery Upper Middle School
(grades seven and eight, 870 students) and
Montgomery High School (grades nine through twelve, 1,697 students).
With the addition of the Montgomery High School in 2005, students were transferred from the old high school, now the upper middle school, to the current one located on Route 601. Onlookers describe the school as colossal and much like a college campus. In late 2008 the high school added a solar panel field to save on rising energy bills.
Montgomery Township was 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. However, since the 2005-06 school year, enrollment has been flat due to a dramatic slowing of residential development in town (2010/2011 Budget Brochure).
Montgomery Township is one of the top performing school districts in the state. Montgomery High School was recently ranked the 10th Top High School in NJ, which makes it the top performing school in the area (West Windsor-Plainsboro South is next at 16th, Princeton High School is 44th).
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
.
from the State of New Jersey, located in Montgomery adjoining Skillman Road and Burnt Hill Road. In addition, the Township acquired from the State the adjacent wastewater treatment facility on 7 acres (28,328 m²), 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 remaining handful of buildings have been boarded up in anticipation of possible reuse as part of redevelopment. Efforts are ongoing 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 original plan for the land was development, as advocated by then mayor Louise Wilson. The Township prepared a redevelopment plan and solicited redevelopment proposals for a "Town Square" concept which would have created hundreds of new residential and commercial units. However, due to the restrictions placed on the plan by Lousie Wilson and her team and the economic downturn of 2008, no developers submitted bids.
Throughout the rest of 2008 and all of the next few years, the debate over Skillman Village changed. The local Republican team led by Kacey Dyer and Mark Caliguire proposed selling all of the land to Somerset County to create a passive-use park. The public support of this idea was overwhelming, causing it to be one of the deciding factors of the 2008, 2009, and 2010 elections. Louise Wilson and her team were voted out of office (the Republicans took complete control of the Township Committee with the election of Ed Trzaska and Patricia Graham on November 2, 2010).
In October 2010, Somerset County agreed to purchase the land for a passive-use park for $14.1 million.
For more information see http://twp.montgomery.nj.us/about/npdchome.asp.
Township (New Jersey)
A township, in the context of New Jersey local government, refers to one of five types and one of eleven forms of municipal government. As a political entity, a township is a full-fledged municipality, on par with any town, city, borough, or village, collecting property taxes and providing...
in Somerset County
Somerset County, New Jersey
Somerset County is a county located in the U.S. state of New Jersey. In 2010, the population was 323,444. It is part of the New York Metropolitan Area. Its county seat is Somerville....
, New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. As of the United States 2010 Census, the township population was 22,254, which represents growth of 27% since 2000 and more than 130% since the 1990 Census population figure of 9,612.
Montgomery Township was incorporated as a one of New Jersey's initial 104 townships by an Act of the New Jersey Legislature
New Jersey Legislature
The New Jersey Legislature is the legislative branch of the government of the U.S. state of New Jersey. In its current form, as defined by the New Jersey Constitution of 1947, the Legislature consists of two houses: the General Assembly and the Senate...
on February 21, 1798, from what remained of Western precinct. Portions of the township were taken to form Princeton borough
Borough of Princeton, New Jersey
The Borough of Princeton is a borough and is one of the two municipalities making up Princeton, New Jersey. It lies in Mercer County, New Jersey, and is completely surrounded by Princeton Township, from which it was formed in 1894...
(February 11, 1813, in Mercer County
Mercer County, New Jersey
As of the census of 2000, there were 350,761 people, 125,807 households, and 86,303 families residing in the county. The population density was 1,552 people per square mile . There were 133,280 housing units at an average density of 590 per square mile...
) and Rocky Hill
Rocky Hill, New Jersey
Rocky Hill is a Borough in Somerset County, New Jersey, United States, named for the Rocky Hill Ridge. It was earlier known as the Devil's Featherbed because it was difficult to travel the rocky terrain by horse and wagon...
(December 18, 1889).
History
The area now known as Montgomery Township was inhabited for approximately 20,000 years by the Lenni Lenape. The current Lenni Lenape population of Montgomery Township is just under 1% (.09%).The first European 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
New Amsterdam
New Amsterdam was a 17th-century Dutch colonial settlement that served as the capital of New Netherland. It later became New York City....
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
Millstone River
The Millstone River is a tributary of the Raritan River in central New Jersey in the United States.The Millstone River begins in western Monmouth County and flows northward through southern Somerset County into the Raritan River at Manville. Almost three quarters of its length is paralleled by...
). 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
Richard Montgomery
Richard Montgomery was an Irish-born soldier who first served in the British Army. He later became a brigadier-general in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War and he is most famous for leading the failed 1775 invasion of Canada.Montgomery was born and raised in Ireland...
, who fell fighting for the patriot cause in the Battle of Quebec
Battle of Quebec (1775)
The Battle of Quebec was fought on December 31, 1775 between American Continental Army forces and the British defenders of the city of Quebec, early in the American Revolutionary War. The battle was the first major defeat of the war for the Americans, and it came at a high price...
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 (2 km²) 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
Sourland Mountain
Sourland Mountain is a long ridge in central New Jersey, extending from the Delaware River at Lambertville to the western end of Hillsborough Township near the community of Neshanic , through Montgomery Township and into Hopewell Township in Mercer County. It comprises the largest contiguous...
. 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 (6 km) apart in order that no child would have to go more than two miles (3 km) 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 the local 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
Lambertville, New Jersey
Lambertville is a city in Hunterdon County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city population was 3,906.Lambertville was originally incorporated as a town by an Act of the New Jersey Legislature on March 1, 1849, from portions of West Amwell Township...
and New Brunswick
New Brunswick, New Jersey
New Brunswick is a city in Middlesex County, New Jersey, USA. It is the county seat and the home of Rutgers University. The city is located on the Northeast Corridor rail line, southwest of Manhattan, on the southern bank of the Raritan River. At the 2010 United States Census, the population of...
(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 rapid growth throughout the Princeton region has spread suburban sprawl across the Township, the push to limit runaway development and to acquire open space has become an urgent concern of the community. In the last decade of the twentieth century, Montgomery's population nearly doubled; currently, it is the fastest growing township in the county.
Demographics
As of the censusCensus
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common...
of 2000, there were 17,481 people, 5,803 households, and 4,781 families residing in the township. The population density
Population density
Population density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume. It is frequently applied to living organisms, and particularly to humans...
was 535.9 people per square mile (206.9/km²). There were 6,130 housing units at an average density of 187.9 per square mile (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
Marriage
Marriage is a social union or legal contract between people that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged in a variety of ways, depending on the culture or subculture in which it is found...
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 (these figures had risen to $153,000 and $173,891 respectively as of a 2007 estimate). 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
Per capita income
Per capita income or income per person is a measure of mean income within an economic aggregate, such as a country or city. It is calculated by taking a measure of all sources of income in the aggregate and dividing it by the total population...
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
Belle Mead, New Jersey
Belle Mead is a census-designated place which straddles Montgomery Township and Hillsborough Township in the U.S. state of New Jersey.Up until about 1875, Belle Mead, then named Plainville, was part of Harlingen. It was a quiet farming region when about that time a New York City contractor named...
with zip code 08502, Skillman
Skillman, New Jersey
Skillman is an unincorporated area within Montgomery Township in Somerset County, New Jersey, United States. The area is served as United States Postal Service ZIP Code 08558. It is also home to Johnson and Johnson's consumer division.- History :...
with zip code 08558 and Blawenburg
Blawenburg, New Jersey
Blawenburg is a census-designated place and historic district in Montgomery Township, New Jersey. It is located at the juncture of two large roads, CR 518 and CR 601...
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.
Geography
According to the United States Census BureauUnited States Census Bureau
The United States Census Bureau is the government agency that is responsible for the United States Census. It also gathers other national demographic and economic data...
, the township has a total area of 32.6 square miles (84.4 km²), all of it land.
There are several hamlets within the Township: Belle Mead
Belle Mead, New Jersey
Belle Mead is a census-designated place which straddles Montgomery Township and Hillsborough Township in the U.S. state of New Jersey.Up until about 1875, Belle Mead, then named Plainville, was part of Harlingen. It was a quiet farming region when about that time a New York City contractor named...
, Blawenburg
Blawenburg, New Jersey
Blawenburg is a census-designated place and historic district in Montgomery Township, New Jersey. It is located at the juncture of two large roads, CR 518 and CR 601...
, Bridgepoint, Dutchtown, Fairview, Harlingen
Harlingen, New Jersey
Harlingen is an unincorporated area within the Belle Mead section of Montgomery Township, New Jersey. It is adjacent to the historical areas of Dutchtown, New Jersey and Bridgepoint, New Jersey. Harlingen Road and U.S. Route 206, are in Harlingen. The Harlingen Dutch Reformed Church on Route 206 is...
, Plainville, Rocky Hill, Skillman
Skillman, New Jersey
Skillman is an unincorporated area within Montgomery Township in Somerset County, New Jersey, United States. The area is served as United States Postal Service ZIP Code 08558. It is also home to Johnson and Johnson's consumer division.- History :...
, Stoutsburg and Zion.
Local government
Montgomery Township is governed under the TownshipTownship (New Jersey)
A township, in the context of New Jersey local government, refers to one of five types and one of eleven forms of municipal government. As a political entity, a township is a full-fledged municipality, on par with any town, city, borough, or village, collecting property taxes and providing...
form of government with a five-member Township Committee. The Township Committee is elected directly by the voters in partisan elections to serve three-year terms of office on a staggered basis, with one or two seats coming up for election each year. At an annual reorganization meeting, the Township Committee selects which of its members will serve as Mayor and Deputy Mayor for that year.
, members of the Montgomery Township Committee are
Mayor
Mayor
In many countries, a Mayor is the highest ranking officer in the municipal government of a town or a large urban city....
Mark Caliguire (2012),
Deputy Mayor
Deputy Mayor
Deputy mayor is an elective or appointive office of the second-ranking official in many local governments. Many elected deputy mayors are members of the city council who are given the title and serve as acting mayor in the mayor's absence...
Kacey Dyer (2011),
Thom Carter (2012),
Patricia Graham (2013) and
Ed Trzaska (2013).
Mark Caliguire is now serving his second term as Mayor and Kacey Dyer is the Deputy Mayor (both Republicans).
On November 2, 2010, Republicans Ed Trzaska and Patricia Graham defeated long-time Democratic incumbent Louise Wilson as well as her running mate, Neena Singh (Brad Fay did not run for re-election). Trzaska and Graham ran an aggressive campaign which included door-to-door campaigning to almost 2,000 houses. Running on the need to hold the line on taxes and protect Montgomery's rural character, the Republican candidates won by close, but comfortable margins. The sale of Skillman Village to Somerset County as a park was also a deciding factor of the election - with the local Republicans advocating for the sale. Trzaska and Graham began serving on the Township Committee on January 3, 2011.
Federal, state and county representation
Montgomery Township is in the 7th Congressional district.Montgomery Township is in the
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.Emergency services
Montgomery Township is served by two all-volunteer fire companies, and an all volunteer rescue squad which provide the township with round the clock protection.- Station 45 Fire - Company #1 covering Belle Mead and northern half of town.
- Station 46 Fire - Company #2 covering Blawenburg and the southern half of town.
- Station 47 Rescue - Montgomery EMS
Transportation
U.S. Route 206U.S. Route 206
U.S. Route 206 is a long north–south United States highway in New Jersey and Pennsylvania, United States. Only about a half a mile of its length is in Pennsylvania; the Milford-Montague Toll Bridge carries it over the Delaware River into New Jersey, where it is the remainder of the route...
(with CR 533
County Route 533 (New Jersey)
County Route 533 is a county highway in the U.S. state of New Jersey. The highway extends from the White Horse Circle, in Hamilton Township to County Route 527 in Bound Brook. Route 533 shares a major concurrency with U.S...
overlapping it for a brief stretch) is the main road that goes through Montgomery. The other main county road that goes through is CR 518
County Route 518 (New Jersey)
County Route 518 is a county highway in the U.S. state of New Jersey. The highway extends from Route 165 in Lambertville to Lincoln Highway in Franklin Township...
.
Limited access roads are accessible outside the municipality, such as Interstate 287
Interstate 287
Interstate 287 is an auxiliary Interstate Highway in the U.S. states of New Jersey and New York. It is a partial beltway around New York City, serving the northern half of New Jersey and the counties of Rockland and Westchester in New York...
in bordering Franklin Township and Interstate 95
Interstate 95 in New Jersey
Interstate 95 is a major Interstate Highway that traverses the full extent of the East Coast of the United States, from Florida to Maine...
in bordering Hopewell Township.
Princeton Airport
Princeton Airport (New Jersey)
Princeton Airport is a public-use airport located in Montgomery Township, Somerset County, New Jersey, United States, three miles north of the central business district of Princeton and just west of Rocky Hill. The airport is privately owned by Princeton Aero Corp...
is also in the township.
Education
The Montgomery Township School DistrictMontgomery Township School District
The Montgomery Township School District is a comprehensive public school district that serves students in Kindergarten through 12th grade from Montgomery Township, in Somerset County, New Jersey...
is a comprehensive public school district
School district
School districts are a form of special-purpose district which serves to operate the local public primary and secondary schools.-United States:...
that serves students in Kindergarten through 12th grade. Schools in the district (with 2008-09 enrollment data from the National Center for Education Statistics
National Center for Education Statistics
The National Center for Education Statistics is the part of the United States Department of Education's Institute of Education Sciences that collects, analyzes, and publishes statistics on education and public school district finance information in the United States...
) are
Orchard Hill Elementary School (Kindergarten through grade two, 1,041 students),
Village Elementary School (Grades three and four, 791 students),
Lower Middle School (grades five and six, 909 students),
Montgomery Upper Middle School
Montgomery Upper Middle School
Montgomery Upper Middle School is one of two middle schools in Montgomery Township, in Somerset County, New Jersey, United States, serving students in 7th and 8th grade, college, preschool, and kindergarten....
(grades seven and eight, 870 students) and
Montgomery High School (grades nine through twelve, 1,697 students).
With the addition of the Montgomery High School in 2005, students were transferred from the old high school, now the upper middle school, to the current one located on Route 601. Onlookers describe the school as colossal and much like a college campus. In late 2008 the high school added a solar panel field to save on rising energy bills.
Montgomery Township was 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. However, since the 2005-06 school year, enrollment has been flat due to a dramatic slowing of residential development in town (2010/2011 Budget Brochure).
Montgomery Township is one of the top performing school districts in the state. Montgomery High School was recently ranked the 10th Top High School in NJ, which makes it the top performing school in the area (West Windsor-Plainsboro South is next at 16th, Princeton High School is 44th).
Rocky Hill
Rocky Hill, New Jersey
Rocky Hill is a Borough in Somerset County, New Jersey, United States, named for the Rocky Hill Ridge. It was earlier known as the Devil's Featherbed because it was difficult to travel the rocky terrain by horse and wagon...
, 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
Sending/receiving relationship
A sending/receiving relationship is one in which a public school district sends some or all of its students to attend the schools of another district. This is often done to achieve costs savings in smaller districts or continues after districts have grown as part of a historical relationship...
.
Skillman Village
In 2007, the Township of Montgomery purchased a 256 acres (1 km²) parcel of land once known as the North Princeton Developmental CenterNorth Princeton Developmental Center
The North Princeton Developmental Center is an abandoned site located within the confines of Montgomery Township, New Jersey. The NPDC has been home to a variety of mental health institutions throughout the years. It is now condemned, as the buildings within the confine are unsafe to occupy...
from the State of New Jersey, located in Montgomery adjoining Skillman Road and Burnt Hill Road. In addition, the Township acquired from the State the adjacent wastewater treatment facility on 7 acres (28,328 m²), 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 remaining handful of buildings have been boarded up in anticipation of possible reuse as part of redevelopment. Efforts are ongoing 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 original plan for the land was development, as advocated by then mayor Louise Wilson. The Township prepared a redevelopment plan and solicited redevelopment proposals for a "Town Square" concept which would have created hundreds of new residential and commercial units. However, due to the restrictions placed on the plan by Lousie Wilson and her team and the economic downturn of 2008, no developers submitted bids.
Throughout the rest of 2008 and all of the next few years, the debate over Skillman Village changed. The local Republican team led by Kacey Dyer and Mark Caliguire proposed selling all of the land to Somerset County to create a passive-use park. The public support of this idea was overwhelming, causing it to be one of the deciding factors of the 2008, 2009, and 2010 elections. Louise Wilson and her team were voted out of office (the Republicans took complete control of the Township Committee with the election of Ed Trzaska and Patricia Graham on November 2, 2010).
In October 2010, Somerset County agreed to purchase the land for a passive-use park for $14.1 million.
For more information see http://twp.montgomery.nj.us/about/npdchome.asp.
Notable residents
Notable current and former residents of Montgomery Township include:- Ben BernankeBen BernankeBen Shalom Bernanke is an American economist, and the current Chairman of the Federal Reserve, the central bank of the United States. During his tenure as Chairman, Bernanke has overseen the response of the Federal Reserve to late-2000s financial crisis....
(born 1953), Chairman of the Federal Reserve, former resident and member of the Montgomery Township Board of Education. - Ira BlackIra BlackIra Barrie Black was an American physician and neuroscientist who was an advocate of stem cell research and was the first director of the Stem Cell Institute of New Jersey at Robert Wood Johnson Medical School which was created to advance research in the field.-Early life and education:Born in the...
(1941–2006), neuroscientistNeuroscientistA neuroscientist is an individual who studies the scientific field of neuroscience or any of its related sub-fields...
and stem cellStem cellThis article is about the cell type. For the medical therapy, see Stem Cell TreatmentsStem cells are biological cells found in all multicellular organisms, that can divide and differentiate into diverse specialized cell types and can self-renew to produce more stem cells...
researcher who served as the first director of the Stem Cell Institute of New Jersey. - Upton SinclairUpton SinclairUpton Beall Sinclair Jr. , was an American author who wrote close to one hundred books in many genres. He achieved popularity in the first half of the twentieth century, acquiring particular fame for his classic muckraking novel, The Jungle . It exposed conditions in the U.S...
(1878–1968), wrote The JungleThe JungleThe Jungle is a 1906 novel written by journalist Upton Sinclair. Sinclair wrote the novel with the intention of portraying the life of the immigrant in the United States, but readers were more concerned with the large portion of the book pertaining to the corruption of the American meatpacking...
1906, while living on Provinceline Road in Montgomery Township. Publication of that book resulted in the creation of the Food and Drug Administration. - Tom VerducciTom VerducciTom Verducci is an American sportswriter who is currently writing for Sports Illustrated and its online magazine SI.com. He writes primarily about baseball. He is also a field reporter for the MLB postseason on TBS...
, sportswriter for Sports IllustratedSports IllustratedSports Illustrated is an American sports media company owned by media conglomerate Time Warner. Its self titled magazine has over 3.5 million subscribers and is read by 23 million adults each week, including over 18 million men. It was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the...
.
External links
- Montgomery Township website
- Montgomery Township School District
- Data for the Montgomery Township School District, National Center for Education StatisticsNational Center for Education StatisticsThe National Center for Education Statistics is the part of the United States Department of Education's Institute of Education Sciences that collects, analyzes, and publishes statistics on education and public school district finance information in the United States...
- The Montgomery News website, the hometown newspaper