List of municipalities in Sussex County, New Jersey

There are twenty-four municipalities within the boundaries of Sussex County in the state of New Jersey. These include one municipality incorporated as a town, eight incorporated as boroughs, and fifteen incorporated as townships, organized in accordance with state law. In 2010 Federal decennial census, 149,265 persons resided in Sussex County, a gain of 3.5% from the 144,166 persons counted in the 2000 Federal decennial census.[1] Populations, as of 2010, range from the county's largest municipality, Vernon Township, with 23,943 residents, to Walpack Township, with 16 residents.[1] In size, municipalities range from Branchville borough, the smallest at 0.6 square miles (1.6 km2) to the largest, Vernon, at 70.59 square miles (182.8 km2).

Index map of Sussex County municipalities (click to see index key)

When Sussex County was created on June 8, 1753 from the northern and western regions of Morris County it consisted of the land area of present-day Sussex County and Warren County (created in 1824) in northwestern New Jersey. That county, from 1753 to 1824, comprised roughly 898.60 square miles (2,327.4 km2),[lower-alpha 1] was bounded by the Delaware River, Musconetcong River, New York-New Jersey border, and a line drawn northeast from Lake Hopatcong to the colony's northern border with New York.[2] In 1753, Sussex County consisted of four large "precincts": Walpack (created c. 1731), Greenwich (created c. 1738), Hardwick (created 1750), and Newtown (created 1751, dissolved 1864).[3] These four precincts would be divided to create the 24 municipalities presently extant in Sussex County and 22 municipalities presently extant in Warren County.[3]

By a legislative act on November 20, 1824, Warren County was created of the southern half of Sussex County divided on by partition line "beginning on the river Delaware, at the mouth of Flat brook, in the township of Walpack, and running from thence, a straight course to the corner of the Hardwick church [now in Yellow Frame], situated on the south side of the main road leading from Johnsonsburg to Newton and from thence in the same course to the middle of Muskonetcong creek".[4] This line divided Hardwick Township with its lands north of the line being ceded to create the townships of Green and Stillwater. The line also divided Walpack Township with the lands south of the line being ceded to create Pahaquarry Township in Warren County.[3]

Another line of partition, the Lawrence Line of 1743, is still extant in the boundaries of four Sussex County municipalities. This line was drawn by surveyor John Lawrence to provide final resolution after 67 years of disputes to the division of New Jersey into the two proprietary colonies of the Province of West Jersey and Province of East Jersey in accordance with the Quintipartite Deed (1676), divided the state in a straight line from "the Northernmost Branch of said Bay or River of De la Ware which is in forty-one Degrees and forty minutes of latitude...unto the most southwardly poynt of the East syde of Little Egge Harbour".[3][5][6] This line divides Walpack Township from Sandyston Township, and Stillwater Township from Hampton Township.[3]

List of municipalities
Municipality Location Type Incorporated[3] Created from[3] Area[1] Population (2010)[1] Population (2000)[1] % change[1]
Andover Borough-BoroughMarch 25, 1904
by legislative act[7]		Andover Township1.47 square miles (3.8 km2)606658-7.9%
Andover TownshipTownshipApril 11, 1864
by legislative act[8]		Newton Township20.68 square miles (53.6 km2)6,3196,033+4.7%
Branchville BoroughBoroughMarch 9, 1898
by legislative act[9]		Frankford Township0.6 square miles (1.6 km2)841845-0.5%
Byram TownshipTownship
(council–manager)		April 9, 1798
by legislative act[2]		Newton Township22.26 square miles (57.7 km2)8,3508,254+1.2%
Frankford TownshipTownshipApril 10, 1797
by legislative act[2]		Newton Township35.44 square miles (91.8 km2)5,5655,420+2.7%
Franklin BoroughBoroughApril 23, 1913
by legislative act and referendum[10]		Hardyston Township4.57 square miles (11.8 km2)5,0455,160-2.2%
Fredon TownshipTownshipFebruary 24, 1904
by legislative act[11]		from Andover, Green, Hampton and Stillwater townships18.00 square miles (46.6 km2)3,4372,860+20.2%
Green TownshipTownshipDecember 27, 1824
by legislative act[12]		Hardwick and
Independence townships		16.26 square miles (42.1 km2)3,6013,220+11.8%
Hamburg BoroughBoroughApril 24, 1920
by legislative act and referendum[13]		Hardyston Township1.165 square miles (3.02 km2)3,2773,105+5.5%
Hampton TownshipTownshipApril 11, 1864
by legislative act[8]		Newton Township25.30 square miles (65.5 km2)5,1964,943+5.1%
Hardyston TownshipTownship
(Special Charter)		February 25, 1762
by royal charter[14]		Newton Township32.64 square miles (84.5 km2)8,2136,171+33.1%
Hopatcong BoroughBoroughMarch 24, 1898
by legislative act[lower-alpha 2][15]		Byram Township12.25 square miles (31.7 km2)15,14715,888-4.7%
Lafayette TownshipTownshipApril 14, 1845
by legislative act[16]		Frankford and Newton townships18.05 square miles (46.7 km2)2,5382,300+10.3%
Montague TownshipTownshipMarch 26, 1759
by colonial county courts[17]		Walpack Township45.38 square miles (117.5 km2)3,8473,412+12.7%
NewtonTown
(council–manager)		April 11, 1864
by legislative act[8]		Newton Township[lower-alpha 3]3.17 square miles (8.2 km2)7,9978,244-30%
Ogdensburg BoroughBoroughMarch 31, 1914
by legislative act and referendum[18]		Sparta Township2.33 square miles (6.0 km2)2,4102,638-8.6%
Sandyston TownshipTownshipFebruary 26, 1762
by royal charter[19]		Walpack Township43.26 square miles (112.0 km2)1,9981,825+9.5%
Sparta TownshipTownship
(council–manager)		April 14, 1845
by legislative act[20]		Byram, Frankford, Hardyston, and Newton townships38.97 square miles (100.9 km2)19,72218,080+9.1%
Stanhope BoroughBoroughMarch 24, 1904
by legislative act[21]		Byram Township2.19 square miles (5.7 km2)3,6103,584+0.7%
Stillwater TownshipTownshipDecember 27, 1824
by legislative act[12]		Hardwick Township28.39 square miles (73.5 km2)4,0994,267-3.9%
Sussex BoroughBoroughOctober 14, 1891
by referendum[lower-alpha 4]		Wantage Township0.62 square miles (1.6 km2)2,1302,145-0.7%
Vernon TownshipTownship
(council–manager)		April 8, 1793
by legislative act[2]		Hardyston Township70.59 square miles (182.8 km2)23,94324,686-3.0%
Walpack TownshipTownshipc. 1731[lower-alpha 5]unincorporated wilderness24.70 square miles (64.0 km2)1641-61.0%
Wantage TownshipTownshipMay 30, 1754
by colonial county courts[17]		Newton Township67.48 square miles (174.8 km2)11,35810.387+9.3%

Defunct municipalities
Municipality Location Incorporated[3] Dissolved[3] Area Notes
Newton Township-March 27, 1751
by colonial county courts		April 11, 1864
by division		approx. 360 square miles (930 km2)[lower-alpha 6]Created by the colonial courts in Morris County from New Jersey's last unorganized wilderness areas;[23] one of original four precincts ceded to create Sussex County in 1753.[3] From 1754 to 1864 was divided on six occasions to create 9 municipalities (direct and indirect parent of 18 of Sussex County's present-day 24 municipalities).[3] Dissolved after its final division in 1864 into the Town of Newton, Andover Township, and Hampton Township.[3][8]

See also

References

Notes
  1. This is figure is an addition of Sussex County's 535.74 square miles, and Warren County's 362.86 square miles, per United States Census Bureau data.[1]
  2. In 1898, Byram township ceded territory to create Brooklyn Borough which was renamed Hopatcong Borough on March 22, 1901.[3]
  3. Newton Township was dissolved after its final division into Newton (town), Andover Township, and Hampton Township in 1864.[3]
  4. Wantage Township ceded territory to create Deckertown borough after a public referendum on October 14, 1891. It was renamed Sussex Borough after a referendum on March 2, 1902.[3]
  5. Walpack Precinct's date of creation or instrument of creation is unknown. The earliest mention was as "Walpake" in colonial court and government records dated October 26, 1731. [22]
  6. Newton Township, at its creation in 1751, encompassed an area of all of present-day Sussex County excluding Montague, Sandyston, Walpack, Stillwater, Fredon and Green township--presently 176 square miles (460 km2). The calculation of the 360 square miles (930 km2) figure is approximate as, in 1904, a small tract of land of unknown size in Hampton and Andover township, previously part of old Newton Township, was ceded at the creation of Fredon Township. The actual figure might be slightly, but not substantially, larger when factoring in this unknown quantity.[3]

Citations
  1. United States Census Bureau, "Table 6. Rank of Counties by Percent Change in Population: 2000 to 2010" (page 8), "Table 8. Population and Housing Units: 1990 to 2010; and Area Measurements and Density: 2010" (page 20-21) CPH-2-32. New Jersey: 2010 - Population and Housing Unit Counts; 2010 Census of Population and Housing (April 2012) (backed up by the Internet Archive as of July 31, 2013). Retrieved October 2, 2015.
  2. William Paterson (compiler), Laws of the State of New Jersey (Newark: Matthias Day, 1800), 15 (creating Sussex County), 118 (creating Vernon Township), 240 (creating Frankford Township), 264 (creating Byram Township).
  3. John Parr Snyder, The Story of New Jersey's Civil Boundaries: 1606–1968: Bulletin 67, (Trenton: Bureau of Geology and Topography, 1969; reprint, New Jersey Geological Survey, 2004), 34, 36, 229–235, 245–249.
  4. P.L. 1824, page 146–147, State of New Jersey, "Session Laws", Acts of the Legislature of the State of New Jersey.
  5. Aaron Leaming and Jacob Spicer, The Grants, Concessions and Original Constitutions of the Province of New-Jersey(Philadelphia: W. Bradford, 1758), 10.
  6. John E. Pomfret, The Province of East New Jersey, 1609-1702 (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1962), 277, 297-298; William Whitehead, Documents Relating to the Colonial History of the State of New Jersey. Volume 2 (Newark, NJ: Daily Journal Establishment, 1880), 135-136.
  7. P.L. 1904, page 95, State of New Jersey, "Session Laws", Acts of the Legislature of the State of New Jersey.
  8. P.L. 1864, page 196, State of New Jersey, "Session Laws", Acts of the Legislature of the State of New Jersey.
  9. P.L. 1898, page 60, State of New Jersey, "Session Laws", Acts of the Legislature of the State of New Jersey.
  10. P.L. 1913, page 128, State of New Jersey, "Session Laws", Acts of the Legislature of the State of New Jersey. NOTE: Bill enacted March 18, 1913; referendum held April 23, 1913.
  11. P.L. 1904, page 17, State of New Jersey, "Session Laws", Acts of the Legislature of the State of New Jersey.
  12. P.L. 1824, page 126, State of New Jersey, "Session Laws", Acts of the Legislature of the State of New Jersey.
  13. P.L. 1920, page 36, State of New Jersey, "Session Laws", Acts of the Legislature of the State of New Jersey; NOTE: Bill enacted March 19, 1920; referendum held April 24, 1920.
  14. "Royal Charter creating Hardyston Township", Commissions, Liber C-2, page 257, Bureau of Archives and History, New Jersey State Archives, Trenton, New Jersey.
  15. P.L. 1898, page 208; P.L. 1901, page 400, State of New Jersey, "Session Laws", Acts of the Legislature of the State of New Jersey.
  16. P.L. 1845, page 137, State of New Jersey, "Session Laws", Acts of the Legislature of the State of New Jersey.
  17. Court records creating Montague Township (page 421) and Wantage Township (page 420). Sussex County Clerk's Office (Newton, New Jersey), Sussex County Records, Division B, page 420-421
  18. P.L. 1914, page 16, State of New Jersey, "Session Laws", Acts of the Legislature of the State of New Jersey. NOTE: Bill enacted February 26, 1914; referendum held March 31, 1914.
  19. "Royal Charter creating Sandyston Township", Commissions, Liber C-2, page 258, Bureau of Archives and History, New Jersey State Archives, Trenton, New Jersey.
  20. P.L. 1845, page 42, State of New Jersey, "Session Laws", Acts of the Legislature of the State of New Jersey.
  21. P.L. 1904, page 93, State of New Jersey, "Session Laws", Acts of the Legislature of the State of New Jersey.
  22. Hunterdon County Clerk's Office (Flemington, New Jersey), Hunterdon County Court Records (October 26, 1731), page 97.
  23. Morris County Clerk’s Office (Morristown, New Jersey). General Sessions of the Peace Court of Common Pleas, 1740–1754, 377.
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