Branchburg, New Jersey

Branchburg 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 14,940,

History

While the area of today's Branchburg has a history antedating the American Revolutionary War, the township itself was incorporated by an act of the New Jersey Legislature on April 5, 1845, from portions of Bridgewater Township. The township is named for its location at a point where branches of the Raritan River merge.

The land that is now known as Branchburg Township was originally inhabited by the Raritans, a tribe of the Lenni Lenape Native Americans. By 1686 most of the land was purchased from the Lenape by the Lords Proprietors of East Jersey, who sold the land in small parcels to numerous settlers, mostly of Dutch or English extraction. With the 1688 redrawing of the boundary between East and West Jersey, the Branchburg region was split between Essex County to the north and the newly formed Somerset County to the south. With Somerset's acquisition of territory from Essex and Middlesex Counties in 1741, Branchburg lay entirely within Somerset County.

Bridgewater Township was chartered in 1749. The residents of the part of Bridgewater west of the Raritan River petitioned the New Jersey Legislature for incorporation as a separate township, which was granted by an act dated April 5, 1845.

The township is bordered on the west by Readington Township in Hunterdon County; on the north by Bedminster Township and on the south by Bridgewater Township and Hillsborough Township.

The main watercourses are the Lamington River on the north, the North Branch of the Raritan River on the east and the South Branch of the Raritan River on the east and south. These rivers along with small streams and brooks are excellent for fishermen who enjoy trout stocked streams and rivers. Branchburg is in the Raritan Valley, a line of cities in Central New Jersey. Branchburg lies in the western division of the Raritan Valley along with Bridgewater and Raritan.

Demographics

2010 census

The 2010 United States census counted 14,459 people, 5,271 households, and 4,032 families in the township. The population density was 721.4 per square mile (278.5/km<sup>2</sup>). There were 5,419 housing units at an average density of 270.4 per square mile (104.4/km<sup>2</sup>). The racial makeup was 86.80% (12,550) White, 2.25% (326) Black or African American, 0.15% (22) Native American, 8.40% (1,215) Asian, 0.03% (5) Pacific Islander, 0.59% (86) from other races, and 1.76% (255) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 4.45% (643) of the population.

2000 census

As of the 2000 United States census

There were 5,272 households, out of which 39.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 69.6% were married couples living together, 5.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 22.9% were non-families. 18.8% of all households were made up of individuals, and 5.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.76 and the average family size was 3.19.

Sports

Branchburg is home to the 2012 14U Babe Ruth World Series Championship baseball team, the first from the state since 1989. The underdog Bulldogs, consisting of players drawn from a tryout pool totaling 16 players, competed and won against teams drawn from tryout pools as large as 500 players.

Government

Local government

Branchburg Township operates under the Township form of New Jersey municipal government, one of 141 municipalities (of the 564) statewide that use this form, the second-most commonly used form of government in the state. The Township Committee is comprised of five members, who are elected directly by the voters at-large in partisan elections to serve three-year terms of office on a staggered basis, with either one or two seats coming up for election each year as part of the November general election in a three-year cycle. The township has been governed by a five-member Township Council since the 1971 elections, when the population surpassed 4,000 in the 1970 United States census, mandating an expansion from the three-member committee that had been in place until then. A mayor and deputy mayor are selected from among the council from among its members at an annual reorganization meeting.

, members of the Township Committee are Mayor Thomas L. Young (Republican Party, term on committee and as mayor ends December 31, 2025), Deputy Mayor Brendon Beatrice (R, term on committee ends 2027; term as deputy mayor ends 2025), Anna P. Columbus (R, 2027), David Owens (R, 2025) and James G. Schworn (R, 2026).

In January 2020, the Township Committee chose David Owens from a list of three candidates nominated by the Republican municipal committee to fill the vacant seat expiring in December 2022 that had been held by Robert Petrelli until he resigned immediately after his new three-year term started.

In July 2015, Patricia Rees resigned from office, citing her employment by the nonpartisan New Jersey School Board Association.

Federal, state and county representation

Branchburg Township is located in the 7th Congressional District and is part of New Jersey's 16th state legislative district.

Politics

As of March 2011, there were a total of 9,970 registered voters in Branchburg Township, of which 1,832 (18.4% vs. 26.0% countywide) were registered as Democrats, 3,650 (36.6% vs. 25.7%) were registered as Republicans and 4,484 (45.0% vs. 48.2%) were registered as Unaffiliated. There were 4 voters registered as Libertarians or Greens. Among the township's 2010 Census population, 69.0% (vs. 60.4% in Somerset County) were registered to vote, including 93.2% of those ages 18 and over (vs. 80.4% countywide).

In the 2012 presidential election, Republican Mitt Romney received 60.2% of the vote (4,537 cast), ahead of Democrat Barack Obama with 38.5% (2,902 votes), and other candidates with 1.2% (92 votes), among the 7,568 ballots cast by the township's 10,499 registered voters (37 ballots were spoiled), for a turnout of 72.1%. In the 2008 presidential election, Republican John McCain received 4,651 votes (58.5% vs. 46.1% countywide), ahead of Democrat Barack Obama with 3,172 votes (39.9% vs. 52.1%) and other candidates with 92 votes (1.2% vs. 1.1%), among the 7,956 ballots cast by the township's 9,643 registered voters, for a turnout of 82.5% (vs. 78.7% in Somerset County). In the 2004 presidential election, Republican George W. Bush received 4,706 votes (61.6% vs. 51.5% countywide), ahead of Democrat John Kerry with 2,835 votes (37.1% vs. 47.2%) and other candidates with 79 votes (1.0% vs. 0.9%), among the 7,639 ballots cast by the township's 9,087 registered voters, for a turnout of 84.1% (vs. 81.7% in the whole county).