Franklin, New Jersey facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Franklin, New Jersey
Borough
House in Franklin
Seal
Nickname(s):  Fluorescent Mineral Capital of the World
Location of Franklin in Sussex County highlighted in red (left). Inset map: Location of Sussex County in New Jersey highlighted in orange (right).
Census Bureau map of Franklin, New Jersey
Franklin, New Jersey Location in Sussex County, New Jersey Show map of Sussex County, New Jersey Franklin, New Jersey Location in New Jersey Show map of New Jersey Franklin, New Jersey Location in the United States Show map of the United States
Country	United States
State	New Jersey
County	Sussex
Incorporated	April 23, 1913
Named for	Benjamin Franklin
Government
• Type	Borough
• Body	Borough Council
Area
• Total	4.43 sq mi (11.47 km2)
• Land	4.36 sq mi (11.28 km2)
• Water	0.07 sq mi (0.19 km2)  1.60%
Area rank	284th of 565 in state 17th of 24 in county
Elevation	541 ft (165 m)
Population  (2020)
• Total	4,912
• Estimate  (2023)	5,008
• Rank	378th of 565 in state 10th of 24 in county
• Density	1,127.6/sq mi (435.4/km2)
• Density rank	369th of 565 in state 7th of 24 in county
Time zone	UTC−05:00 (Eastern (EST))
• Summer (DST)	UTC−04:00 (Eastern (EDT))
ZIP Code	07416
Area code(s)	973 exchanges: 209, 823, 827
FIPS code	3403724930
GNIS feature ID	0885224
Website

Franklin 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 4,912, a decrease of 133 (−2.6%) from the 2010 census count of 5,045, which in turn reflected a decline of 115 (−2.2%) from the 5,160 counted in the 2000 census.

Franklin, known as the "Fluorescent Mineral Capital of the World," is located over a rich ore body containing more than 150 minerals, many of them fluorescent and 25 of which are found nowhere else on earth. Settled in the 17th century, the village known as Franklin Furnace after Benjamin Franklin, developed near iron mines and iron smelting operations located along the Wallkill River. In the early 19th century, zinc deposits in the area began to be developed commercially. For most of the century many small companies mined zinc and iron in the Franklin area. In 1897 all zinc mining efforts merged into the New Jersey Zinc Company, which was a major controlling factor in the development of Franklin. Immigrants from Russia, Britain, Hungary and Poland joined the work force at the mine. The population, 500 in 1897, had swelled to 3,000 by 1913. On March 18, 1913, the Borough of Franklin was incorporated from portions of Hardyston Township, based on the results of a referendum held on April 23, 1913.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the borough had a total area of 4.43 square miles (11.47 km²), including 4.36 square miles (11.28 km²) of land and 0.07 square miles (0.19 km²) of water (1.60%).

The borough borders the boroughs of Hamburg and Ogdensburg, as well as Sparta and Hardyston townships.

Franklin Furnace provides many examples of the complex mineralogy of the area.

Demographics

2010 census

The 2010 United States census counted 5,045 people, 1,936 households, and 1,316 families in the borough. The population density was 1,121.6 per square mile (433.1/km²). There were 2,136 housing units at an average density of 474.9 per square mile (183.4/km²). The racial makeup was 92.15% (4,649) White, 2.18% (110) Black or African American, 0.30% (15) Native American, 1.74% (88) Asian, 0.00% (0) Pacific Islander, 1.23% (62) from other races, and 2.40% (121) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 7.83% (395) of the population.

Of the 1,936 households, 28.7% had children under the age of 18; 49.7% were married couples living together; 13.5% had a female householder with no husband present and 32.0% were non-families. Of all households, 26.7% were made up of individuals and 9.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.59 and the average family size was 3.15.

22.2% of the population were under the age of 18, 9.1% from 18 to 24, 24.2% from 25 to 44, 31.5% from 45 to 64, and 13.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 41.3 years. For every 100 females, the population had 94.0 males. For every 100 females ages 18 and older there were 93.1 males.

The Census Bureau's 2006–2010 American Community Survey showed that (in 2010 inflation-adjusted dollars) median household income was $62,813 (with a margin of error of +/− $7,585) and the median family income was $81,875 (+/− $11,964). Males had a median income of $49,413 (+/− $8,152) versus $45,385 (+/− $9,926) for females. The per capita income for the borough was $29,708 (+/− $2,344). About 5.1% of families and 6.5% of the population were below the poverty line, including 6.4% of those under age 18 and 6.7% of those age 65 or over.

Education

Students in public school for kindergarten through eighth grade attend the Franklin Borough School District. As of the 2022–23 school year, the district, comprised of one school, had an enrollment of 477 students and 49.5 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 9.6:1.

For ninth through twelfth grades, public school students attend Wallkill Valley Regional High School which also serves students from Hamburg Borough, Hardyston Township and Ogdensburg Borough, and is part of the Wallkill Valley Regional High School District. As of the 2022–23 school year, the high school had an enrollment of 615 students and 50.1 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 12.3:1. Seats on the high school district's nine-member board of education are allocated based on the populations of the constituent municipalities, with two seats assigned to Franklin.

Transportation

Route 23 and County Route 517 northbound in Franklin

Roads and highways

As of May 2010^[update], the borough had a total of 26.87 miles (43.24 km) of roadways, of which 21.00 miles (33.80 km) were maintained by the municipality, 2.93 miles (4.72 km) by Sussex County and 2.94 miles (4.73 km) by the New Jersey Department of Transportation.

The main highway providing service to Franklin is Route 23. County Route 517 also traverses the borough, mostly concurrent with Route 23.

Public transportation

The county provides Skylands Ride bus service operating between Sussex and Newton.

Media

• WSUS is a Class A radio station with an adult contemporary format serving the Sussex County area on 102.3 FM, owned by iHeartMedia and licensed to Franklin.

Notable people

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

• Gertrude M. Clarke (1932–2020), science educator who primarily taught high school physics and nucleonics and extensively engaged in nuclear physics research.
• Alexandra Tillson Filer (1916–2015), metallurgist, mineral collector and bookseller
• Charles Joseph Fletcher (1922–2011), inventor and the owner / CEO of Technology General Corporation who developed an early version of the hovercraft
• Samuel Fowler (1779–1844), doctor, state legislator, and member of the United States House of Representatives who was one of the developers of the mines in the area
• Alfred B. Littell (1893–1970), politician who was mayor of Franklin in the 1950s, who also served as a member of both houses of the New Jersey Legislature and as President of the New Jersey Senate in 1951
• Robert Littell (1936–2014), politician, who served as a member of the New Jersey State Senate from 1992 to 2008
• Charles Francis Lynch (1884–1942), United States Attorney and a United States district court judge in New Jersey
• Alison Littell McHose (born 1965), politician who served in the New Jersey General Assembly from 2003 to 2015 until she was appointed as borough administrator
• Steve Nagy (1919–2016), pitcher who played for two MLB seasons for the Pittsburgh Pirates and Washington Senators, as part of a career that included 14 minor league seasons
• Steve Oroho (born 1958), politician who represented the 24th Legislative District in the New Jersey Senate from 2008 to 2024

See also

In Spanish: Franklin (Nueva Jersey) para niños