Merchantville, New Jersey facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Merchantville, New Jersey
Borough
Cattell Tract Historic District
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Merchantville highlighted in Camden County. Inset: Location of Camden County in the State of New Jersey
Census Bureau map of Merchantville, New Jersey
Merchantville, New Jersey Location in Camden County, New Jersey Show map of Camden County, New Jersey Merchantville, New Jersey Location in New Jersey Show map of New Jersey Merchantville, New Jersey Location in the United States Show map of the United States
Country	United States
State	New Jersey
County	Camden
Incorporated	March 3, 1874
Government
• Type	Borough
• Body	Borough Council
Area
• Total	0.59 sq mi (1.54 km2)
• Land	0.59 sq mi (1.54 km2)
• Water	0.00 sq mi (0.00 km2)  0.00%
Area rank	542nd of 565 in state 31st of 37 in county
Elevation	82 ft (25 m)
Population  (2020)
• Total	3,820
• Estimate  (2023)	3,823
• Rank	419th of 565 in state 27th of 37 in county
• Density	6,437.0/sq mi (2,485.3/km2)
• Density rank	83rd of 565 in state 5th of 37 in county
Time zone	UTC−05:00 (Eastern (EST))
• Summer (DST)	UTC−04:00 (Eastern (EDT))
ZIP Code	08109
Area code	856
FIPS code	3400745510
GNIS feature ID	0885297
Website

Merchantville is a borough in Camden County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the borough's population was 3,820, a decrease of one person from the 2010 census count of 3,821, which in turn reflected an increase of 20 (+0.5%) from the 3,801 counted in the 2000 census.

The borough had the 22nd-highest property tax rate in New Jersey in 2020, with an equalized rate of 4.367% in 2020, compared to 3.470% in the county as a whole and a statewide average of 2.279%.

History

Merchantville was incorporated as a borough by an act of the New Jersey Legislature on March 3, 1874, from portions of Delaware Township (now Cherry Hill) and the now-defunct Stockton Township.

While one source attributes the borough's name to a family named Merchant, Francis F. Eastlack, in his History of Merchantville, tells the story of the four developers of Merchantville—Matthias Homer, John Louty, Samuel McFadden and Frederick Gerker—meeting and discussing names, when it was suggested "Gentlemen, as you are all merchants, why not call it Merchantville?"

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, Merchantville borough had a total area of 0.59 square miles (1.54 km²), all of which was land.

The borough borders the Camden County municipalities of Cherry Hill and Pennsauken Township.

Demographics

2010 census

The 2010 United States census counted 3,821 people, 1,574 households, and 966 families in the borough. The population density was 6,371.3 per square mile (2,460.0/km²). There were 1,688 housing units at an average density of 2,814.6 per square mile (1,086.7/km²). The racial makeup was 76.58% (2,926) White, 13.01% (497) Black or African American, 0.37% (14) Native American, 2.28% (87) Asian, 0.05% (2) Pacific Islander, 4.42% (169) from other races, and 3.30% (126) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 11.62% (444) of the population.

Of the 1,574 households, 28.5% had children under the age of 18; 41.7% were married couples living together; 15.1% had a female householder with no husband present and 38.6% were non-families. Of all households, 32.0% were made up of individuals and 12.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.41 and the average family size was 3.09.

22.5% of the population were under the age of 18, 8.3% from 18 to 24, 28.6% from 25 to 44, 27.7% from 45 to 64, and 12.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38.6 years. For every 100 females, the population had 91.1 males. For every 100 females ages 18 and older there were 88.5 males.

The Census Bureau's 2006–2010 American Community Survey showed that (in 2010 inflation-adjusted dollars) median household income was $62,358 (with a margin of error of +/− $9,850) and the median family income was $85,909 (+/− $16,985). Males had a median income of $49,926 (+/− $36,924) versus $41,369 (+/− $15,495) for females. The per capita income for the borough was $34,308 (+/− $4,408). About 11.7% of families and 11.1% of the population were below the poverty line, including 23.7% of those under age 18 and 6.0% of those age 65 or over.

Education

Students in public school for pre-kindergarten through eighth grade attend the Merchantville School District at Merchantville Elementary School. As of the 2018–19 school year, the district, comprised of one school, had an enrollment of 433 students and 33.5 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 12.9:1. Students from Merchantville attend Haddon Heights Junior/Senior High School (for the high school level only) as part of a sending/receiving relationship. As of the 2018–19 school year, the high school had an enrollment of 906 students and 77.5 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 11.7:1.

Merchantville had its own high school, Merchantville High School, until 1972, when it was shut down. At that point high school students attended Pennsauken High School in Pennsauken Township. In 1992 the borough of Merchantville made plans to switch its high school students to Haddon Heights High, but the New Jersey Commissioner of Education did not allow these plans to go forward. In 2012 the board of the Merchantville School District decided to send its students to Haddon Heights High. the commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Education approved the proposal and beginning in September 2015 Merchantville began sending students to Haddon Heights, joining students from Barrington and Lawnside, who already attended the Haddon Heights school. Students who had already been attending Pennsauken High before the 2015 transition continued to attend the school until their graduation.

St. Peter School is a K–8 elementary school that opened in 1927 and operates under the auspices of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Camden.

Transportation

County Route 537 eastbound in Merchantville

Roads and highways

As of May 2010^[update], the borough had a total of 12.84 miles (20.66 km) of roadways, of which 8.32 miles (13.39 km) were maintained by the municipality and 4.52 miles (7.27 km) by Camden County.

No Interstate, U.S. or state highways directly serve Merchantville, though U.S. Route 130 comes closest, passing by about two blocks from the borough's west end. The most significant road passing through the borough is County Route 537.

Public transportation

NJ Transit offers bus service in the borough on the 404, and 405 and 407 routes to Camden with connecting bus and rail services into Philadelphia. Passenger rail service to Merchantville ended in the late 1960s.

Notable people

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

See also

In Spanish: Merchantville para niños