Bedminster, New Jersey facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Bedminster, New Jersey
Township
Jacobus Vanderveer House
Seal
Location of Bedminster in Somerset County highlighted in yellow (right). Inset map: Location of Somerset County in New Jersey highlighted in black (left).
Census Bureau map of Bedminster Township, New Jersey
Bedminster, New Jersey Location in Somerset County, New Jersey Show map of Somerset County, New Jersey Bedminster, New Jersey Location in New Jersey Show map of New Jersey Bedminster, New Jersey Location in the United States Show map of the United States
Country	United States
State	New Jersey
County	Somerset
Royal charter	April 4, 1749
Incorporated	February 21, 1798
Named for	Bedminster, Bristol
Government
• Type	Township
• Body	Township Committee
Area
• Total	26.38 sq mi (68.31 km2)
• Land	26.12 sq mi (67.66 km2)
• Water	0.25 sq mi (0.66 km2)  0.96%
Area rank	100th of 565 in state 5th of 21 in county
Elevation	141 ft (43 m)
Population  (2020)
• Total	8,272
• Estimate  (2023)	8,179
• Rank	286th of 565 in state 12th of 21 in county
• Density	316.7/sq mi (122.3/km2)
• Density rank	472nd of 565 in state 20th of 21 in county
Time zone	UTC−05:00 (Eastern (EST))
• Summer (DST)	UTC−04:00 (Eastern (EDT))
ZIP Code	07921 – Bedminster 07931 – Far Hills 07934 – Gladstone 07979 – Pottersville
Area code(s)	908
FIPS code	3403504450
GNIS feature ID	0882176
Website

Bedminster is a township in Somerset County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the township's population was 8,272, an increase of 107 (+1.3%) from the 2010 census count of 8,165, which in turn reflected a decline of 137 (−1.7%) from the 8,302 counted in the 2000 census. Located within the Raritan Valley region, Bedminster is part of the Somerset Hills of northern Somerset County, bordering both Hunterdon and Morris counties.

Bedminster was settled in 1710 by Dutch, Germans, and Scots-Irish immigrants. It was named after Bedminster, then in Somerset, England, and now a district of Bristol. Bedminster Township was created by Royal charter on April 4, 1749, from portions of the Northern precinct. It was incorporated formally by an act of the New Jersey Legislature on February 21, 1798. Portions of the township were taken on March 28, 1912, to form Peapack-Gladstone.

It is known for having one of the most historic Revolutionary War sites in the United States at what is known as the Pluckemin Continental Artillery Cantonment Site, which has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places. General Henry Knox, chief of the Continental Army artillery, was the leader responsible for building what was the country's first military artillery training academy, the forerunner to the United States Military Academy at West Point.

In 2012, Forbes.com listed Bedminster as 486th in its listing of "America's Most Expensive ZIP Codes", with a median home price of $555,243.

Geography and climate

According to the United States Census Bureau, the township has a total area of 26.38 square miles (68.31 km²), including 26.12 square miles (67.66 km²) of land and 0.25 square miles (0.66 km²) of water (0.96%).

Unincorporated communities, localities and place names located partially or completely within the township include Burnt Mills, Greater Cross Roads, Lamington, Pluckemin, Pottersville (split between Bedminster and Tewksbury Township in Hunterdon County), Union Grove, and Vliettown.

The township borders Peapack-Gladstone and Far Hills to the northeast, Bernards Township to the east, and Branchburg and Bridgewater Township to the south in Somerset County, Readington Township to the southeast and Tewksbury Township to the west in Hunterdon County, and Chester Township to the north in Morris County.

Demographics

2010 census

The 2010 United States census counted 8,165 people, 4,100 households, and 2,021 families in the township. The population density was 313.1 per square mile (120.9/km²). There were 4,349 housing units at an average density of 166.8 per square mile (64.4/km²). The racial makeup was 86.41% (7,055) White, 2.06% (168) Black or African American, 0.02% (2) Native American, 8.68% (709) Asian, 0.01% (1) Pacific Islander, 1.03% (84) from other races, and 1.79% (146) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 6.36% (519) of the population.

Of the 4,100 households, 19.7% had children under the age of 18; 39.0% were married couples living together; 7.9% had a female householder with no husband present and 50.7% were non-families. Of all households, 44.4% were made up of individuals and 10.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 1.97 and the average family size was 2.76.

17.7% of the population were under the age of 18, 4.6% from 18 to 24, 30.5% from 25 to 44, 33.2% from 45 to 64, and 14.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 43.3 years. For every 100 females, the population had 80.9 males. For every 100 females ages 18 and older there were 79.5 males.

The Census Bureau's 2006–2010 American Community Survey showed that (in 2010 inflation-adjusted dollars) median household income was $93,103 (with a margin of error of +/− $11,367) and the median family income was $124,057 (+/− $14,892). Males had a median income of $76,047 (+/− $23,293) versus $61,650 (+/− $7,236) for females. The per capita income for the borough was $66,422 (+/− $8,900). About 0.9% of families and 2.7% of the population were below the poverty line, including 3.4% of those under age 18 and 2.9% of those age 65 or over.

Economy

Bedminster was the corporate headquarters of AT&T Corporation prior to its merger with SBC Communications; the combined company is now known as AT&T Inc. and is headquartered in Dallas. AT&T's Global Network Operations Center, which monitors traffic worldwide on AT&T's network, is currently located in Bedminster. It was also the corporate headquarters for Verizon Wireless before relocation to nearby Basking Ridge in 2006.

Sports

Trump National Golf Course: owned by Donald Trump, the course features 36 holes designed by Tom Fazio, with fees to join of over $150,000.

Education

The Bedminster Township School District serves students in pre-kindergarten through eighth grade at Bedminster Township Public School. As of the 2020–21 school year, the district, comprised of one school, had an enrollment of 486 students and 54.9 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 8.9:1. Public school students in ninth through twelfth grades attend Bernards High School, as part of a sending/receiving relationship with the Somerset Hills Regional School District, a K–12 district that also serves students from Bernardsville, Far Hills and Peapack-Gladstone. As of the 2020–21 school year, the high school had an enrollment of 819 students and 66.3 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 12.4:1.

Somerset Hills Learning Institute, founded in 1998, educates children on the autism spectrum by utilizing the principles of applied behavior analysis. In 2024, a local ShopRite store started selleing salads grown by and packed by students in the school's hydroponics career training program on a farm in the township owned by the school.

Transportation

Interstate 78 eastbound in Bedminster

Roads and highways

As of May 2010^[update], the township had a total of 68.04 miles (109.50 km) of roadways, of which 38.67 miles (62.23 km) were maintained by the municipality, 16.01 miles (25.77 km) by Somerset County and 13.36 miles (21.50 km) by the New Jersey Department of Transportation.

Bedminster is traversed by Interstate 287, which runs through the eastern section, while Interstate 78 runs mostly through the center of the township. U.S. Route 202 and U.S. Route 206 also pass through running parallel to I-287 from the Bridgewater area to Pluckemin.

Major county roads that pass through include CR 512 and CR 523.

Public transportation

The closest NJ Transit service offered is at the Far Hills station on the Morris & Essex Lines.

Somserset County operates bus service along Route 206, connecting to nearby areas including Bridgewater, Somerville, Raritan, and Hillsborough.

Lakeland Bus Lines provides Route 78 rush-hour service from Bedminster to the Port Authority Bus Terminal in Midtown Manhattan.

"The Summer White House"

Lamington Farm was purchased by Morgan Cowperthwaite, a New York insurance brokerage executive, in 1917. The Georgian Revival manor house was built in 1939. Cowperthwaite's heirs sold the property in 1981 to John Z. DeLorean and his wife Cristina Ferrare for $3.5 million. In 2000, National Fairways, a Connecticut-based golf course developer purchased the property at a bankruptcy auction for $15.25 million. National Fairways planned to develop the tract to include a golf club, but the plans did not come to fruition. In 2002, real estate businessman Donald Trump bought the Lamington Farm estate for an estimated $35 million.

In fall 2002, The Trump Organization broke ground on the Trump National Golf Club Bedminster on the property, into which Trump reportedly invested $45 million. The manor house became the golf clubhouse. The 535-acre tract has two 18-hole courses: the older is designed by Tom Fazio, the newer by his nephew Tommy Fazio. While president of the United States, Trump spent significant time on the property, which has been called "the summer White House" and "White House North" by Trump administration officials, though this is not an official government designation. Through the end of December 2019, Trump spent nearly a third of his time as president visiting Trump-branded properties; much of this time was spent at the Bedminster club, where he frequently golfs, and at Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida (the "winter White House").

In 2007, Trump announced plans to build a mausoleum for himself on the property, including a huge obelisk in the middle of the golf course. After encountering opposition from local residents over the out-of-scale nature of the proposal, Trump floated the idea of developing a "mausoleum/chapel" on the property, but did not pursue it. In 2014, The Trump Organization filed planning applications seeking authorization to construct a graveyard on the property, including 10 plots overlooking the first hole as a burial place for Trump himself (the filings with the state said that Trump "specifically chose this property for his final resting place as it is his favorite property") and 284 lots for sale to the public adjacent to the course. The state and township granted a cemetery license for the small plot; the 284-grave cemetery proposal received local approval, but not yet state approval. Trump later indicated he might prefer to be buried in Florida instead.

Points of interest

• Natirar: An estate spanning Peapack-Gladstone, Far Hills, and Bedminster that was sold by Hassan II of Morocco to Somerset County and is now administered by the Somerset County Park Commission, with 40 acres (16 ha) of the estate's 404 acres (163 ha) located in the township.
• Historic Vanderveer-Knox House & Museum: A refurbished home used by General Henry Knox during the Revolutionary War with its earliest portions dating to the 1770s, the house was purchased by the township in 1989, and listed on the New Jersey and National Register of Historic Places in 1995.
• Pluckemin Continental Artillery Cantonment Site, also known as the Continental Artillery Military Cantonment Historic Site or Pluckemin Artillery Park: Where General Henry Knox created America's first artillery training academy during the winter of 1778–1779, known as the "precursor to the United States Military Academy" at West Point.

Notable people

People who were born in, residents of, or otherwise closely associated with Bedminster Township include:

See also

In Spanish: Municipio de Bedminster (Nueva Jersey) para niños