Somerville, New Jersey
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Somerville is a borough in Somerset County, New Jersey, United States. As of the United States 2000 Census, the borough population was 12,423. It is the county seat of Somerset CountyGR6.
The Borough of Somerville was created by act of the New Jersey Legislature on April 16, 1909. The borough was made up of a portion of Bridgewater Township[1].
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[edit] Geography
Somerville is located at (40.570831, -74.605344)GR1.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the borough has a total area of 6.1 km² (2.4 mi²). The borough is comprised flat land. Somerville borders the Raritan River to the south.
[edit] History
Somerville was settled in colonial times primarily by the English, who gave it its English name. Somerville was originally a sparsely populated farming community, but rapidly grew after the completion of the railroad in the 1850s. Early industry included brick making from the plentiful red clay and shale on which Somerville is built. While much of the borough features distinctive Victorian architecture and row houses, historical structures include the white marble Somerville Court House and the wooden and stone colonial Wallace House (today a museum) where George Washington spent a winter during the American Revolutionary War. Near the Wallace House is the Old Dutch Parsonage, where Reverend Jacob Rutsen Hardenbergh, a founder of Rutgers University, lived.
Originally the center of local commerce, modern highways today bypass Somerville, while stores, housing, and businesses have followed those highway corridors as the development pushes ever west.
[edit] Downtown today
Main Street Somerville today maintains most of its historical buildings, although many are now boutique specialty shops. Somerville has quite a diverse and large selection of resturaunts that draw people from the surrounding area. Several of the factories in Somerville were abandoned and replaced with modern office buildings. Somerville today and historically has had an important African American community, a distinguished member of which was Paul Robeson. Another famous Somerville native was famed character actor Lee Van Cleef.
[edit] Future redevelopment
The shopping center on the west side of the downtown area will be demolished and a new shopping center, town homes and other amenities will be built on the shopping center land and on adjacent land in the former borough landfill to the south. Town planners envision a transit village style redevelopment centered around the Somerville train station.
[edit] Hurricane Floyd
Somerville was hit hard by Hurricane Floyd in September 1999, despite it having been downgraded to a tropical storm by the time it impacted the vicinity. The borough received a record 13.34 inches of rain during the slow moving storm, causing significant flooding and considerable damage. Despite this, before the storm, New Jersey (and the rest of the Mid Atlantic and New England states) had been dealing with a major drought throughout the summer of 1999, and the rains from Floyd put a quick and effective end to it.
[edit] Demographics
As of the censusGR2 of 2000, there were 12,423 people, 4,743 households, and 2,893 families residing in the borough. The population density was 2,032.4/km² (5,262.4/mi²). There were 4,882 housing units at an average density of 798.7/km² (2,068.0/mi²). The racial makeup of the borough was 71.21% White, 12.93% African American, 0.19% Native American, 7.35% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 5.10% from other races, and 3.20% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 17.00% of the population.
There were 4,743 households out of which 28.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 44.5% were married couples living together, 11.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 39.0% were non-families. 31.4% of all households were made up of individuals and 11.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.49 and the average family size was 3.15.
In the borough the population was spread out with 21.9% under the age of 18, 9.0% from 18 to 24, 35.8% from 25 to 44, 19.3% from 45 to 64, and 14.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females there were 101.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 99.1 males.
The median income for a household in the borough was $51,237, and the median income for a family was $60,422. Males had a median income of $40,585 versus $32,697 for females. The per capita income for the borough was $23,310. About 4.8% of families and 7.7% of the population were below the poverty line, including 10.7% of those under age 18 and 8.6% of those age 65 or over.
[edit] Government
[edit] Local government
The Borough of Somerville is organized under the Mayor-Council form of government within the Faulkner Act. The Mayor is elected to a four-year term and six council members are elected for staggered three-year terms. Two council members are elected each year.
The Borough Council elects a member to serve as Council President to act in the absence of the Mayor. Each council member is appointed by the Mayor to one of six standing committee’s during the Annual Reorganization Meeting held on January 1 of each year.
The Mayor of Somerville is Brian G. Gallagher. His term of office expires December 31, 2007.
Members of the Somerville Borough Council are:[2]
- Council President Rob Wilson - (2006), Fire Commissioner
- Councilman Sean Decker - (2005), Public Works Chairman
- Council Person Jane Kobuta - (2007), Police Commissioner
- Councilman Thompson Mitchell - (2006), Public Property Chairman
- Councilman Dennis Sullivan - (2007), Finance Chairman
- Council Person Patricia Webster - (2005), Personnel and Administration
[edit] Federal, state and county representation
Somerville is in the Eleventh Congressional District and is part of New Jersey's 16th Legislative District.[3]
New Jersey's Eleventh Congressional District, covering western portions of Essex County, all of Morris County, and sections of Passaic County, Somerset County and Sussex County, is represented by Rodney Frelinghuysen (R, Harding Township). New Jersey is represented in the Senate by Frank Lautenberg (D, Cliffside Park) and Robert Menendez (D, Hoboken).
The 16th legislative district of the New Jersey Legislature is represented in the State Senate by Walter Kavanaugh (R, Somerville) and in the Assembly by Christopher Bateman (R, Somerville) and Peter J. Biondi (R, Somerville). The Governor of New Jersey is Jon Corzine (D, Hoboken).
Somerset County is governed by a five-member Board of Chosen Freeholders. Somerset County's Freeholders are: Freeholder Director Rick Fontana, Freeholder Deputy Director Ken Scherer, Denise Coyle, Peter S. Palmer and Robert Zaborowski.
[edit] Education
The Somerville Public Schools serve students in prekindergarten through twelfth grade. Schools in the district are Van Derveer Elementary School (preK-5), Somerville Middle School (6-8) and Somerville High School for grades 9-12.
Immaculata High School is a private, coeducational, Roman Catholic high school, founded in 1962, and operated within the Roman Catholic Diocese of Metuchen. The school enrolls approximately 850 students. Immaculate Conception School is a Catholic private coeducational day school, founded in 1957, for students in grades Pre-K through 8.
[edit] Emergency medical and rescue services
The Borough of Somerville is served by a single EMS and rescue service, the Somerville Rescue Squad. The squad provides BLS emergency medical and rescue services such as vehicle extrication, water rescue, rope rescue, and trench/confined space rescue to the residents and businesses of Somerville as well as the Somerset County Government Complex.
Established in 1928, the Somerville Rescue Squad is one of the oldest EMS agencies in the United States. As a non-municipal, not-for-profit corporation, the Somerville Rescue Squad is 100% volunteer and answers over 1,700 calls for service annually.
[edit] Transportation
The Somerville is served by New Jersey Transit's Raritan Valley Line, with frequent service to Newark Penn Station, with connecting service to Penn Station New York in Midtown Manhattan.
U.S. Route 22 runs along the northern boundary of Somerville and offers connections to the state highway network.
U.S. Route 206 runs along the western boundary of Somerville, via the Somerville Circle, and provides north/south connections to nearby towns.
The closest airport with scheduled service is Newark Liberty International Airport.
[edit] Points of interest
- Duke Gardens - Estate of the late tobacco heiress Doris Duke.
[edit] References
- ^ Somerville History, accessed August 3, 2006
- ^ Mayor and Council, accessed August 3, 2006 - still shows 2005 Council as of the date accessed]
- ^ League of Women Voters: 2006 New Jersey Citizen's Guide to Government, p. 61, accessed August 30, 2006
[edit] External links
- Somerville official web site
- Somerville Public Schools
- Somerville Public Schools's 2004-2005 School Report Card from the New Jersey Department of Education
- National Center for Education Statistics data for the Somerville Public Schools
- Somerville Police Department
- Somerville Rescue Squad
- Maps and aerial photos
- Street map from Google Maps, or Yahoo! Maps, or Windows Live Local
- Satellite image from Google Maps, Windows Live Local, WikiMapia
- Topographic map from TopoZone
- Aerial image or topographic map from TerraServer-USA
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(County Seat: Somerville) |
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