| Bernards Township, New Jersey | |
|---|---|
| — Township — | |
| Map of Bernards Township in Somerset County. Inset: Location of Somerset County highlighted in the State of New Jersey. | |
| Census Bureau map of Bernards Township, New Jersey | |
| Coordinates: | |
| Country | United States |
| State | New Jersey |
| County | Somerset |
| Incorporated | February 21, 1798 |
| Royal charter | 1760 |
| Government[1] | |
| • Type | Township (New Jersey) |
| • Mayor | John Malay |
| • Administrator | Bruce McArthur[2] |
| Area | |
| • Total | 24.0 sq mi (62.2 km2) |
| • Land | 24.0 sq mi (62.2 km2) |
| • Water | 0.0 sq mi (0.0 km2) |
| Elevation[3] | 308 ft (94 m) |
| Population (2010 Census)[4] | |
| • Total | 26,652 |
| • Density | 1,110.5/sq mi (428.5/km2) |
| Time zone | Eastern (EST) (UTC-5) |
| • Summer (DST) | EDT (UTC-4) |
| ZIP code | 07920 (Basking Ridge) 07938 (Liberty Corner) 07939 (Lyons) 07931 (Far Hills) |
| Area code(s) | 908 |
| FIPS code | 34-05560[5][6] |
| GNIS feature ID | 0882174[7] |
| Website | http://www.bernards.org |
Bernards Township ( /ˈbɜrnərdz/) is a township in Somerset County, New Jersey, United States. At the 2010 United States Census, the township population was 26,652.[4]
Basking Ridge, Liberty Corner, Lyons and West Millington are ZIP codes and unincorporated areas located within Bernards Township. Martinsville is an unincorporated area split between Bernards Township and Bridgewater Township.
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According to the United States Census Bureau, the township has a total area of 24.0 square miles (62 km2), of which, 24.0 square miles (62 km2) of it is land and 0.04% is water.
It is roughly bounded by the Second Watchung Mountain in the southwest, the Dead River swamp on the south, the Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge, Passaic River, and Millington Gorge in the East.
| Bernardsville | Harding Twp | |||
| Far Hills and Bedminster Twp |
Long Hill Twp | |||
| Bernards Twp | ||||
| Bridgewater Township | Warren Township |
Bernards Township was originally formed by Royal Charter in 1760 as Bernardston Township from remaining portions of Northern precinct.[8] It was incorporated as Bernards Township as one of New Jersey's initial group of 104 townships by an Act of the New Jersey Legislature on February 21, 1798. Portions of the township were taken to form Warren Township (March 5, 1806), Far Hills (April 7, 1921) and Bernardsville (March 6, 1924).[9] Bernards Township now comprises Basking Ridge, Liberty Corner, Lyons, and West Millington and celebrated its 250th charter anniversary on May 24, 2010.[8]
| Historical populations | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Census | Pop. | %± | |
| 1930 | 2,293 |
|
|
| 1940 | 4,512 | 96.8% | |
| 1950 | 7,487 | 65.9% | |
| 1960 | 9,018 | 20.4% | |
| 1970 | 13,305 | 47.5% | |
| 1980 | 12,920 | −2.9% | |
| 1990 | 17,199 | 33.1% | |
| 2000 | 24,575 | 42.9% | |
| 2010 | 26,652 | 8.5% | |
| Population 1930 - 1990.[4][10] | |||
At the 2000 census[5], there were 24,575 people, 9,242 households and 6,487 families residing in the township. The population density was 1,023.8 per square mile (395.4/km²). There were 9,485 housing units at an average density of 395.1 per square mile (152.6/km²). The racial makeup of the township was 89.20% White, 1.44% African American, 0.05% Native American, 7.85% Asian, 0.01% Pacific Islander, 0.40% from other races, and 1.05% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2.63% of the population.
There were 9,242 households of which 37.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 63.0% were married couples living together, 5.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 29.8% were non-families. 26.4% of all households were made up of individuals and 9.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.58 and the average family size was 3.17.
Age distribution was 27.7% under the age of 18, 3.2% from 18 to 24, 31.2% from 25 to 44, 25.5% from 45 to 64, and 12.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females there were 94.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 90.0 males.
Bernards Township operates under the Township form of New Jersey municipal government. The Township Committee consists of five members, elected by the public in partisan elections for three-year terms of office on a staggered basis, with one or two seats coming up for election each year.[1] In the Township Committee form of government, all legislative and executive powers of the Township are the responsibility of the Township Committee, except in matters of health. The Mayor is elected by the committee from among its members at the annual Reorganization meeting held in January. In the Township Committee form of government, all members have equal power and may vote on all issues.
As of 2011[update], members of the Township Committee are Mayor John Malay, Deputy Mayor Mary Pavlini, John Carpenter, Carolyn Gaziano and Scott Spitzer.[11]
Bernards Township is in the 11th Congressional district and is part of New Jersey's 16th state legislative district.[12] The township was relocated to the 21st state legislative district by the New Jersey Apportionment Commission based on the results of the 2010 Census.[4] The new district will be in effect for the June 2011 primary and the November 2011 general election, with the state senator and assembly members elected taking office in the new district as of January 2012.[12]
New Jersey's Eleventh Congressional District is represented by Rodney Frelinghuysen (R, Harding Township). New Jersey is represented in the United States Senate by Frank Lautenberg (D, Cliffside Park) and Bob Menendez (D, Hoboken).
16th Legislative District of the New Jersey Legislature, which is represented in the New Jersey Senate by Christopher "Kip" Bateman (R, Neshanic Station) and in the New Jersey General Assembly by Peter J. Biondi (R, Hillsborough Township) and Denise Coyle (R, Basking Ridge).[13] The Governor of New Jersey is Chris Christie (R, Mendham).[14] The Lieutenant Governor of New Jersey is Kim Guadagno (R, Monmouth Beach).[15]
Somerset County is governed by a five-member Board of Chosen Freeholders, whose members are elected at-large to three-year terms of office on a staggered basis, with one or two seats coming up for election each year.[16] As of 2011, Somerset County's Freeholders are Freeholder Director Robert Zaborowski (Franklin Township, term ends December 31, 2011)[17], Freeholder Deputy Director Patricia L. Walsh (Green Brook Township, 2013)[18], Jack Ciattarelli (Hillsborough Township, 2012)[19], Peter S. Palmer (Bernardsville, 2011)[20] and Patrick Scaglione (Bridgewater Township, 2012).[21][22]
In recent years, Bernards Township has leaned toward the Republican Party on the national and state levels.[23] In the 2008 Presidential Election, Republican candidate John McCain received 56% of the vote, over the Democrat candidate Barack Obama, who received around 43%.[24] In the 2009 Gubernatorial Election, Republican Chris Christie received 59.5% of the vote, over Democrat Jon Corzine, who received around 26%.[23]
In 2005, after Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Rita, which had a devastating effect on the area, locals from the Bernards Township sent supplies to Houma, Louisiana.
In 2007, the Parish returned the favor by sending The Terrebonne High School Marching band on a 26-hour bus ride to the Bernards Township to march in their Christmas parade, and perform a Christmas concert for the public at a local church.
The median household income was $107,204, and the median family income was $135,806 (these figures had risen to $115,582 and $149,900 respectively in a 2007 estimate[25]). Males had a median income of $95,758 versus $60,865 for females. The per capita income for the township was $56,521. About 0.6% of families and 1.3% of the population were below the poverty line, including 1.2% of those under age 18 and 2.9% of those age 65 or over.
The headquarters of Avaya, Barnes & Noble College Booksellers, Fedders, Hitachi Power Systems USA[26] and Verizon Wireless are located in town. Verizon Communications, which technically keeps its world headquarters in New York City, has located operations of its major business units in buildings that were formerly AT&T's world headquarters.[27]
Students in kindergarten through twelfth grade are educated by the Bernards Township School District. The schools in the district (with 2005-06 enrollment data from the National Center for Education Statistics[28]) include four K-5 elementary schools — Cedar Hill Elementary School with 606 students; Liberty Corner Elementary School with 607 students; Mount Prospect Elementary School with 756 students and Oak Street Elementary School with 604 students (including pre-K); William Annin Middle School with 1,347 students in grades 6 - 8; and Ridge High School, with 1,697 students in grades 9 - 12. Cedar Hill Elementary currently houses a state of the art public program for children on the autism spectrum, utilizing the principles of ABA.
Ridge High School was ranked 194th, the second-highest in New Jersey, in Newsweek magazine's 2010 rankings of America's Best High Schools.[29] The school was the 12th-ranked public high school in New Jersey out of 322 schools statewide, in New Jersey Monthly magazine's September 2010 cover story on the state's "Top Public High Schools", after being ranked 24th in 2008 out of 316 schools.[30]
Pingry School, a private coeducational college preparatory day school, has its upper campus, for grades 6 to 12, located in Martinsville.[31]
Notable current and former residents of Bernards Township include:
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