Branchville, New Jersey facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Branchville, New Jersey
Borough
Seal
Map of Branchville in Sussex County. Inset: Location of Sussex County in New Jersey.
Census Bureau map of Branchville, New Jersey
Branchville, New Jersey Location in Sussex County, New Jersey Show map of Sussex County, New Jersey Branchville, New Jersey Location in New Jersey Show map of New Jersey Branchville, New Jersey Location in the United States Show map of the United States
Country	United States
State	New Jersey
County	Sussex
Incorporated	March 9, 1898
Named for	Branch of Paulins Kill
Government
• Type	Borough
• Body	Borough Council
Area
• Total	0.60 sq mi (1.55 km2)
• Land	0.59 sq mi (1.54 km2)
• Water	0.01 sq mi (0.02 km2)  1.17%
Area rank	541st of 565 in state 24th of 24 in county
Elevation	554 ft (169 m)
Population  (2020)
• Total	791
• Estimate  (2023)	808
• Rank	543rd of 565 in state 22nd of 24 in county
• Density	1,334.3/sq mi (515.2/km2)
• Density rank	352nd of 565 in state 5th of 24 in county
Time zone	UTC−05:00 (Eastern (EST))
• Summer (DST)	UTC−04:00 (Eastern (EDT))
ZIP Codes	07826, 07827, 07890
Area code(s)	973
FIPS code	3403707300
GNIS feature ID	885168

Branchville is a borough in Sussex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the borough's population was 791, a decrease of 50 (−5.9%) from the 2010 census count of 841, which in turn reflected a decline of 4 (−0.5%) from the 845 counted in the 2000 census. The borough is located in the northernmost region of Sussex County.

Branchville was incorporated as a borough by an act of the New Jersey Legislature on March 9, 1898, from portions of Frankford Township. An additional portion of Frankford Township was annexed as of March 1, 1951. The borough was named for its site at a branch of the Paulins Kill.

History

Branchville Station of the Sussex Railroad in 1917

Branchville was established by settlers from Connecticut in the 18th century. It grew quickly and in the 1820s the town was divided into building lots. By the year 1844, it was a well-established community with 32 dwellings, mills, blacksmiths, an academy, a church and a variety of other factories and businesses.

The addition of two water-powered mills and a dam in 1855 furthered the community's prosperity. Energy would later be harnessed from this dam and a second one that was built to supply Branchville with electricity and its own power company.

Extension of rail service to Branchville in 1869 brought an even greater boon to the community's economic growth. From 1869 to 1871, forty new homes were built. The railroad had made it possible to ship products from the local mills and creameries to larger urban areas to the east. With lake communities nearby, tourism was also spurred by the railroad. As many as six trains a day would bring people from the larger cities to enjoy a country vacation.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the borough had a total area of 0.60 square miles (1.6 km²), including 0.59 square miles (1.5 km²) of land and 0.01 square miles (0.026 km²) of water (1.17%).

Branchville is an independent municipality completely surrounded by Frankford Township, making it part of 21 pairs of "doughnut towns" in the state, where one municipality entirely surrounds another.

Climate

This climatic region is typified by large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers and cold (sometimes severely cold) winters. According to the Köppen Climate Classification system, Branchville has a humid continental climate, abbreviated "Dfb" on climate maps.

Geology

Branchville is on the Ordovician Martinsburg Formation. This is a shale, slate, and limestone formation created 450 million years ago when a chain of volcanic islands collided with proto North America. The islands went over the North American Plate, creating the Highlands of Sussex County and the Kittatinny Valley. Millions of years of erosion occurred and there was a second event. About 400 million years ago a small continent that was long and thin, collided with proto North America creating folding and faulting. The Silurian Shawangunk conglomerate that was under a shallow sea, lifted due to pressure. The pressure created heat which melted the silica and bonded the quartz and conglomerate together, creating Kittatinny Mountain.

The Wisconsin Glacier covered all of Branchville from 21,000 BCE to 13,000 BCE, covering the top of Kittatinny Mountain. End moraines exist in Stokes State Forest, another just off Route 565 north of the Skylands Park and one about a mile south of Ross's Corner. An esker was created when the glacier retreated due to climate warming. Many ponds and lakes created. Culver Lake was created at this time, as the drainage became blocked. Branchville is drained by Culver's Lake Creek and Dry brook. Dry Creek starts at the Branchville Reservoir, travels south, enters into Culver's Creek in Branchville and eventually empties into the Paulinskill. There is a chain of hills between Dry Creek and Papakatin Creek. These hills are what separate the Paulinskill River drainage system from that of the Wallkill. The drainage divide is just north of Route 206 and the goes northwest toward Branchville Reservoir. Water near Route 206 or south of Route 206 drains into the Paulinskill. Water north of Route 206 drains into the Wallkill River.

Demographics

2010 census

The 2010 United States census counted 841 people, 364 households, and 221 families in the borough. The population density was 1,419.2 people per square mile (548.0 people/km²). There were 386 housing units at an average density of 651.4 units per square mile (251.5 units/km²). The racial makeup was 96.43% (811) White, 0.36% (3) Black or African American, 0.36% (3) Native American, 1.07% (9) Asian, 0.00% (0) Pacific Islander, 0.48% (4) from other races, and 1.31% (11) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 3.92% (33) of the population.

Of the 364 households, 28.8% had children under the age of 18; 46.2% were married couples living together; 10.7% had a female householder with no husband present and 39.3% were non-families. Of all households, 34.1% were made up of individuals and 17.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.30 and the average family size was 2.98.

22.8% of the population were under the age of 18, 7.3% from 18 to 24, 23.3% from 25 to 44, 29.8% from 45 to 64, and 16.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 42.8 years. For every 100 females, the population had 95.1 males. For every 100 females ages 18 and older there were 91.4 males.

The Census Bureau's 2006–2010 American Community Survey showed that (in 2010 inflation-adjusted dollars) median household income was $56,875 (with a margin of error of +/− $29,887) and the median family income was $84,643 (+/− $16,892). Males had a median income of $61,042 (+/− $20,432) versus $37,955 (+/− $6,402) for females. The per capita income for the borough was $30,851 (+/− $4,509). About 2.6% of families and 2.6% of the population were below the poverty line, including 4.8% of those under age 18 and 2.5% of those age 65 or over.

Economy

Selective Insurance, a regional insurance holding company that provides property and casualty insurance products and insurance services, has its headquarters in Branchville.

Education

Students in public school for pre-kindergarten through eighth grade attend the Frankford Township School District, located in Branchville, as part of a sending/receiving relationship. As of the 2021–22 school year, the district, comprised of one school, had an enrollment of 505 students and 54.5 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 9.3:1.

For ninth through twelfth grades, public school students from Branchville attend High Point Regional High School. Also attending the school are students from Frankford Township, Lafayette Township, Montague Township, Sussex Borough and Wantage Township (where the school is located). As of the 2021–22 school year, the high school had an enrollment of 812 students and 72.8 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 11.2:1.

Transportation

U.S. Route 206 southbound in Branchville

As of November 2014^[update], the borough had a total of 6.30 miles (10.14 km) of roadways, of which 2.79 miles (4.49 km) were maintained by the municipality, 2.36 miles (3.80 km) by Sussex County and 1.15 miles (1.85 km) by the New Jersey Department of Transportation.

U.S. Route 206 is the main highway serving Branchville. County Route 519 also traverses the borough.

Notable people

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

• David Zabriskie (born 1986), retired amateur wrestler and current wrestling coach

See also

In Spanish: Branchville (Nueva Jersey) para niños