Clinton, New Jersey facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Clinton, New Jersey
Town
Town of Clinton
Vista of Clinton, New Jersey, with the Red Mill in the foreground, and the downtown district across the Raritan River in the background
Map of Clinton in Hunterdon County. Inset: Location of Hunterdon County highlighted in the State of New Jersey.
Census Bureau map of Clinton, New Jersey. Spruce Run State Park is in the Northwest corner of the map.
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Country	United States
State	New Jersey
County	Hunterdon
Incorporated	April 5, 1865
Named for	DeWitt Clinton
Government
• Type	Town
• Body	Town Council
Area
• Total	1.44 sq mi (3.72 km2)
• Land	1.35 sq mi (3.49 km2)
• Water	0.09 sq mi (0.24 km2)  6.39%
Area rank	458th of 565 in state 18th of 26 in county
Elevation	194 ft (59 m)
Population  (2010 Census)
• Total	2,719
• Estimate  (2019)	2,687
• Rank	459th of 566 in state 18th of 26 in county
• Density	2,032.6/sq mi (784.8/km2)
• Density rank	290th of 566 in state 3rd of 26 in county
Time zone	UTC−05:00 (Eastern (EST))
• Summer (DST)	UTC−04:00 (Eastern (EDT))
ZIP Code	08809
Area code(s)	908 exchanges: 238, 328, 713, 730, 735
FIPS code	3401913720
GNIS feature ID	0885189

Clinton is a town in Hunterdon County, New Jersey, United States, located on the South Branch of the Raritan River in the Raritan Valley region. As of the 2010 United States Census, the town's population was 2,719, reflecting an increase of 87 (+3.3%) from the 2,632 counted in the 2000 Census, which had in turn increased by 578 (+28.1%) from the 2,054 counted in the 1990 Census. Despite its relatively small population, Clinton is the predominant control city for Interstate 78 traveling westbound from Newark.

History

When the Clinton post office was established in 1829, it was named for DeWitt Clinton, Governor of New York and the primary impetus behind the then-newly completed Erie Canal.

Clinton was incorporated as a town by an act of the New Jersey Legislature on April 5, 1865, within portions of Clinton, Franklin and Union Townships. Clinton gained full independence from its three parent townships in 1895.

The town is perhaps best known for its two mills which sit on opposite banks of the South Branch Raritan River. The Red Mill, with its historic village, dates back to 1810 with the development of a mill for wool processing. Across the river sits the Stone Mill, home of the Hunterdon Art Museum for Contemporary Craft and Design, located in a former gristmill that had been reconstructed in 1836 and operated continuously until 1936. In 1952, a group of local residents conceived of a plan to convert the historic building into an art museum, which is still in operation today.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town had a total area of 1.417 square miles (3.670 km²), including 1.338 square miles (3.465 km²) of land and 0.079 square miles (0.205 km²) of water (5.59%).

The town borders Clinton Township, Franklin Township, and Union Township.

Clinton is considered an exurb of New York City, as Hunterdon County lies on the western fringe of the New York City Metropolitan Area, which is mainly rural with scattered housing developments and old farm homes. Clinton is part of the Primary Metropolitan Statistical Area of Middlesex, Somerset and Hunterdon counties in New Jersey. It serves as a "bedroom community" for many commuters working in and around Northern New Jersey and New York City, often younger residents who have supplanted long-time residents of Clinton.

Climate

Easter 2014 Photo by John Bohnel

Clinton falls under the 'Northern New Jersey' climate zone. According to the Office of the New Jersey State Climatologist at Rutgers University, the Northern climate zone covers about one-quarter of New Jersey and consists mainly of elevated highlands and valleys which are part of the Appalachian Uplands. Surrounded by land, this region can be characterized as having a continental climate with minimal influence from the Atlantic Ocean, except when the winds contain an easterly component. Prevailing winds are from the southwest in summer and from the northwest in winter. Being in the northernmost portion of the state, and with small mountains up to 1,800 feet (550 m) in elevation, the Northern Zone normally exhibits a colder temperature regime than other climate regions of the State of New Jersey. This difference is most dramatic in winter when average temperatures in the Northern Zone can be more than ten degrees Fahrenheit cooler than in the Coastal Zone. Annual snowfall averages 40 to 50 inches (1,300 mm) in the northern zone as compared with an average of 10-15 inches in the extreme south.

Clinton falls under the USDA 6b Plant Hardiness zone.

Demographics

Census 2010

As of the census of 2010, there were 2,719 people, 1,057 households, and 727 families residing in the town. The population density was 2,032.6 per square mile (784.8/km²). There were 1,098 housing units at an average density of 820.8 per square mile (316.9/km²)^*. The racial makeup of the town was 89.52% (2,434) White, 1.32% (36) Black or African American, 0.22% (6) Native American, 6.66% (181) Asian, 0.00% (0) Pacific Islander, 0.63% (17) from other races, and 1.66% (45) from two or more races. [[Hispanic (U.S. Census)|Hispanic or Latino of any race were 6.22% (169) of the population.

There were 1,057 households out of which 37.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 55.2% were married couples living together, 9.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 31.2% were non-families. 25.4% of all households were made up of individuals, and 8.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.57 and the average family size was 3.14.

In the town, the population was spread out with 26.0% under the age of 18, 6.1% from 18 to 24, 27.6% from 25 to 44, 28.8% from 45 to 64, and 11.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39.6 years. For every 100 females there were 94.8 males. For every 100 females ages 18 and old there were 92.8 males.

The Census Bureau's 2006-2010 American Community Survey showed that (in 2010 inflation-adjusted dollars) median household income was $83,850 (with a margin of error of +/- $12,019) and the median family income was $109,375 (+/- $19,698). Males had a median income of $62,697 (+/- $9,258) versus $67,014 (+/- $13,316) for females. The per capita income for the borough was $43,354 (+/- $4,395). About 2.6% of families and 3.2% of the population were below the poverty line, including 2.0% of those under age 18 and 11.9% of those age 65 or over.

Arts and culture

• The Red Mill Museum Village is located on the South Branch of the Raritan River in the town center of Clinton. Built in 1810, the Red Mill originally served as a woolen mill. Over the next 100 years, the Mill was used at different times to process grains, plaster, talc and graphite. The Mill was also used to produce peach baskets, as well as to generate electricity and pump water for the town. Every October, The mill is transformed into a haunted house given the title, the Red Mill Haunted Village. The Haunted Village tends to attract visitors from all over the east coast to the small town. The Red Mill Museum Village was featured on an episode of Ghost Hunters in 2008.
• The Hunterdon Art Museum (7 Lower Center Street) is located in a mill established in 1836, and offers exhibitions of contemporary art, craft and design, docent tours and over 200 education programs for adults and children.

Parks and recreation

• Landsdown Trail, a spur line constructed for the Lehigh Valley Railroad in 1881 that is now a graded rail trail starting about 2 miles (3.2 km) south of Clinton on Landsdown Road that enters Clinton town center near the lumber yard.
• Spruce Run Recreation Area (Van Syckel's Road, Clinton, NJ): 1,961 acres (7.94 km²), picnicking, boating, fishing and seasonal camping. Open year-round.
• Round Valley Recreation Area (Lebanon-Stanton Road, Lebanon, NJ) offers wilderness camping, beaches, trails, fishing and boating.

Transportation

Roads and highways

I-78/US 22 westbound at the Route 173 exit in Clinton

As of July 2015^[update], the town had a total of 12.21 miles (19.65 km) of roadways, of which 8.72 miles (14.03 km) were maintained by the municipality and 3.49 miles (5.62 km) by the New Jersey Department of Transportation.

The most major road passing through Clinton is Interstate 78/U.S. Route 22, which run concurrently through the area. Direct access is provided by New Jersey Route 31 at Exit 17 and Route 173/County Road 513 at Exit 15. Route 173 and CR 513 run through the center of town, while Route 31 skims the northeast edge. Access to Interstate 78 provides Clinton with a route to and from New York City and the Lehigh Valley in Pennsylvania. Philadelphia can also be accessed from Clinton via New Jersey Route 31 to Interstate 295 south.

Public transportation

Trans-Bridge Lines offers buses on a route that provides service from Allentown and Bethlehem, Pennsylvania to the Port Authority Bus Terminal in Midtown Manhattan and New York City-area airports at a stop at the park-and-ride on Route 31 in Clinton. Limited NJ Transit Rail is also accessible at the Annandale station on the Raritan Valley Line.

The LINK, which serves Hunterdon County is the primary traditional publicly funded mode of transportation. Fares range from about $2.00 to $10.00. Funding for operation of the Hunterdon County LINK System is provided by Hunterdon County, NJ Transit and the Federal Transit Administration. Additionally, Warren County operates a shuttle along Route 31 Monday-Friday to Oxford Township.

Gallery

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  Main Street Bridge in Clinton, NJ overlooking the Red Mill

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  South Branch Raritan river running through Clinton, New Jersey.

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  Main Street of Clinton, New Jersey. Much of the area was redeveloped after a fire devastated the area on October 30, 1891.

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  North Branch County Library at 65 Halstead Street in Clinton, NJ. It was built in 1999.

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  Alley in Clinton, NJ. Named Allie's Way after a local teacher at Clinton Public School.

• Clinton Public School's 2014–15 School Report Card from the New Jersey Department of Education

Education

Clinton-Glen Gardner School District is school district based in the Town of Clinton, that serves students from Clinton Town and Glen Gardner Borough in pre-kindergarten through eighth grade at Clinton Public School. Before Glen Gardner, a non-operating district, was consolidated into the district, students from the borough had attended the district's school as part of a sending/receiving relationship. Other students attend the school on a tuition basis. Formerly known as the Town of Clinton School District, the district's board of education voted in November 2009 to revise the name to Clinton-Glen Gardner School District to reflect the merger. As of the 2018–19 school year, the district, comprised of one school, had an enrollment of 431 students and 44.7 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 9.6:1.

Public school students in ninth through twelfth grades attend North Hunterdon High School in Annandale together with students from Bethlehem Township, Clinton Township, Franklin Township, Lebanon Borough and Union Township. As of the 2018–19 school year, the high school had an enrollment of 1,584 students and 123.2 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 12.9:1. The school is part of the North Hunterdon-Voorhees Regional High School District, which also includes students from Califon, Glen Gardner, Hampton, High Bridge, Lebanon Township and Tewksbury Township, who attend Voorhees High School in Lebanon Township.

Eighth grade students from all of Hunterdon County are eligible to apply to attend the high school programs offered by the Hunterdon County Vocational School District, a county-wide vocational school district that offers career and technical education at its campuses in Raritan Township and at programs sited at local high schools, with no tuition charged to students for attendance.

Notable people

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

• John T. Bird (1829–1911), represented New Jersey's 3rd congressional district from 1869 to 1873.
• William Bonnell (1804-1865), portrait painter whose works are generally placed in the folk art category.
• Gregg Cagno (born 1969), songwriter and touring performer in the singer/songwriter and folk genres.
• Anna Case (1888–1984), soprano who recorded with Thomas Edison.
• William J. Connell (born 1958), historian.
• Kyp Malone (born 1973), multi-instrumentalist and member of the band TV on the Radio.
• Barbara McClintock (born 1955), children's book illustrator and author.
• Terry R. McGuire, former professor and Vice Chair of the Department of Genetics at Rutgers University.
• Kyle Merber (born 1990) middle-distance runner specializing in the mile and the 1500 metres.
• James Valenti (born 1977), operatic tenor.
• Sharon Van Etten (born 1981), singer-songwriter.
• Foster McGowan Voorhees (1856–1927), Governor of New Jersey from 1899 to 1902.
• Jessica Vosk (born 1983), Broadway actress who has starred as Elphaba in the Second National Tour of Wicked.

Images for kids

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  Easter 2014 Photo by John Bohnel, depicting Main Street as seen from the cliff behind the Red Mill, which is visible in the bottom left corner. Many of the other visible buildings date back to the 1890s.

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  The Red Mill

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  Hunterdon Art Museum in Dunham's Mill

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  Main Street Bridge crossing the South Branch Raritan River

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  John Taylor Leigh Mansion, now the Municipal Building

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  Duckworth Building and Odd Fellows Hall on Main Street, redeveloped after the Great Fire of 1891.