| Long Hill Township, New Jersey | |
|---|---|
| — Township — | |
| Long Hill Township highlighted in Morris County. Inset map: Morris County highlighted in the State of New Jersey. | |
| Census Bureau map of Long Hill Township, New Jersey | |
| Coordinates: | |
| Country | United States |
| State | New Jersey |
| County | Morris |
| Incorporated | March 23, 1866 as Passaic Twp. |
| Renamed | November 3, 1992 as Long Hill Twp. |
| Government[1] | |
| • Type | Township |
| • Mayor | Nanette Harrington (R, 2011) |
| • Administrator | Richard Sheola[2] |
| Area | |
| • Total | 12.1 sq mi (31.3 km2) |
| • Land | 12.1 sq mi (31.3 km2) |
| • Water | 0.0 sq mi (0.0 km2) |
| Elevation[3] | 233 ft (71 m) |
| Population (2007)[4] | |
| • Total | 8,652 |
| • Density | 726.8/sq mi (280.6/km2) |
| Time zone | Eastern (EST) (UTC-5) |
| • Summer (DST) | EDT (UTC-4) |
| ZIP codes | 07933 - Gillette 07946 - Millington 07980 - Stirling |
| Area code(s) | 908 |
| FIPS code | 34-41362[5][6] |
| GNIS feature ID | 0882196[7] |
| Website | http://www.longhillnj.org/ |
Long Hill Township is a township in Morris County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2000 United States Census, the township population was 8,777.
Long Hill Township was incorporated as Passaic Township on March 23, 1866. On September 1, 1922, part of what was then Passaic Township was taken to form Harding Township.[8] On November 3, 1992, by a 1,901-1,821 margin, the voters elected to change the name of the municipality to Long Hill Township, a change largely driven by the desire to avoid confusion with the City of Passaic, some 22 miles (35 km) away.[9][10]
The township consists of four communities: the enclaves of Gillette, Millington, and Stirling, and the hamlet of Meyersville. Homestead Park is the name of the first subdivision in the township, developed in the 1920s.
Contents |
According to the United States Census Bureau, the township has a total area of 12.1 square miles (31 km2), all of it land.
Long Hill Township is located in the most southern part of Morris County. It is bounded by the Passaic River on the south and west and by the Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge on the north. It borders both Union and Somerset counties.
A Government-access television (GATV) cable TV channel is available for citizens of Long Hill Township that has important news updates, local activities, local weather, storm warnings, etc. It is on Comcast channel 29 (all programming) and Verizon FiOS channels 37 (public meetings and programs) and 38 (community bulletin board). Program information and the bulletin board can be found on the town website at www.longhillnj.us
| Historical populations | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Census | Pop. | %± | |
| 1930 | 2,149 |
|
|
| 1940 | 2,664 | 24.0% | |
| 1950 | 3,429 | 28.7% | |
| 1960 | 5,537 | 61.5% | |
| 1970 | 7,393 | 33.5% | |
| 1980 | 7,275 | −1.6% | |
| 1990 | 7,826 | 7.6% | |
| 2000 | 8,777 | 12.2% | |
| Est. 2007 | 8,652 | [4] | −1.4% |
| Population 1930 - 1990.[11] | |||
As of the census[5] of 2000, there were 8,777 people, 3,139 households, and 2,457 families residing in the township. The population density was 726.8 people per square mile (280.5/km²). There were 3,206 housing units at an average density of 265.5 per square mile (102.5/km²). The racial makeup of the township was 92.75% White, 0.39% African American, 0.17% Native American, 4.79% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 0.56% from other races, and 1.31% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 3.45% of the population.
There were 3,139 households out of which 36.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 69.6% were married couples living together, 6.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 21.7% were non-families. 18.2% of all households were made up of individuals and 7.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.79 and the average family size was 3.19.
In the township the population was spread out with 26.3% under the age of 18, 4.4% from 18 to 24, 31.2% from 25 to 44, 25.4% from 45 to 64, and 12.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females there were 94.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 93.1 males.
The median income for a household in the township was $84,532, and the median income for a family was $103,037. Males had a median income of $71,827 versus $46,100 for females. The per capita income for the township was $42,613. About 2.3% of families and 3.3% of the population were below the poverty line, including 1.7% of those under age 18 and 3.2% of those age 65 or over.
| Harding Twp | Chatham Twp | |||
| Bernards Twp | ||||
| Long Hill Twp | ||||
| Warren Township | Berkeley Heights Twp |
Long Hill Township is governed under the Township 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.[1] At an annual reorganization meeting, the Township Committee selects one of its members to serve as Mayor.
Members of the township committee are Mayor Nanette Harrington (R; term ends December 31, 2011), Deputy Mayor Mike Mazzucco (R; 2013), Jerry Aroneo (R; 2012), Guy Piserchia (R; 2012) and George Vitureira (R; 2011).[12]
Long Hill Township is in the 11th Congressional district. 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).
Long Hill is in the 21st Legislative District of the New Jersey Legislature, which is represented in the New Jersey Senate by Thomas Kean, Jr. (R, Westfield) and in the New Jersey General Assembly by Jon Bramnick (R, Westfield) and Nancy Munoz (R, Summit).[13]
Morris County is governed by a seven-member Board of Chosen Freeholders, who are elected at-large to three-year terms of office on a staggered basis, with two or three seats coming up for election each year.[14] As of 2011, Morris County's Freeholders are Freeholder Director William J. Chegwidden (Wharton),[15] Deputy Freeholder Director Douglas R. Cabana (Boonton Township),[16] Gene F. Feyl (Denville),[17] Ann F. Grassi (Parsippany-Troy Hills),[18] Thomas J. Mastrangelo (Montville),[19] John J. Murphy (Morris Township)[20] and Margaret Nordstrom (Washington Township).[21][22]
On the national and state levels, Long Hill Township leans strongly toward the Republican Party. In the 2008 Presidential Election, Republican John McCain received 57% of the vote, defeating Democrat Barack Obama, who received around 41%. In the 2009 Gubernatorial Election, Republican Chris Christie received 66% of the vote, defeating Democrat Jon Corzine, who received around 25%.
The Long Hill Township School System serves public school students in Pre-K through eighth grade. Schools in the district (with 2008-09 enrollment data from the National Center for Education Statistics[23]) are Gillette School (grades PreK-1, 195 students), Millington School (2-5, 461) and Central Middle School (6-8, 369).
Long Hill Township's high school students in public school attend Watchung Hills Regional High School in Warren Township. Students from Long Hill Township and from the neighboring communities of Green Brook Township, Warren Township, and Watchung (in Somerset County) attend the school.[24]
St. Vincent de Paul School is a Catholic school operated under the auspices of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Paterson. St. Vincent is a private school and also serves as a Roman Catholic church for the Long Hill community.[25]
The Long Hill Township Library began about 1880 in what was then known as Passaic Township. At the time a group of women in Millington formed a reading club purchasing a small number of books to trade amongst themselves. A similar group was established in Meyersville. In 1920 when the Morris County Library was built the groups joined the county system and books on loan from the county were housed in the homes of the associations’ members.
By the 1950s, the Millington Association’s Library had relocated to the Town Hall and the Meyersville group occupied one room in the town’s Central School. In 1956, however, the Township asked the Millington Association to find other quarters, and the Central School location had steadily become less than satisfactory due to increasing enrollment. A referendum in the amount of $25,000 for the construction of a new building was submitted to the community. The measure passed by two votes. The new library opened in 1958 on Central Avenue in Stirling as the Passaic Township Free Public Library with a paid director and several volunteers.
By 1968 the library’s collection had grown substantially and plans were made for a new addition to the building. Another $25,000 was raised and the addition was completed in 1972. A later addition followed in the nineteen eighties. The library remained on Central Avenue until 2005 when an entirely new building was dedicated in April of that year. In the meantime, in 1992, the township had formally changed its name to Long Hill Township and the Passaic Township Free Public Library duly became the Long Hill Township Free Public Library.
The Long Hill Township Library now occupies a site in Gillette, NJ, adjacent to Town Hall. The library contains 16,000 square feet (1,500 m2) of space and has a capacity for 72,000 books. The library is a member of the Morris Automated Information Network consortium. Through this consortium residents of Long Hill Township have access to library materials at 37 area libraries.
Long Hill is in the 908 Area Code. The legacy exchange is 908-647 (MIllington-7). It was one of the last exchanges in New Jersey to be converted from manual to dial operation. Current exchanges serving Long Hill Township (and adjacent areas of Bernards and Warren Townships in Somerset County) are 350, 360, 394, 484, 495, 504, 542, 563, 580, 604, 605, 607, 626, 647, 649, 660, 762, 860, 877, 903, and 991.
The current cable company servicing the area is Comcast which provides local TV, internet, and phone service. Most of Long Hill now also has access to Verizon's FiOS service. Patriot Media no longer serves in the area because it was sold to Comcast in early 2008.
Long Hill Township operates a public service television channel on Patriot (Ch 25) and Verizon (Ch 37).
Notable current and former residents of Long Hill Township include: