Lincoln Park, New Jersey

Lincoln Park is a borough in Morris County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the borough's population was 10,915,

Lincoln Park was incorporated as a borough by an act of the New Jersey Legislature on March 11, 1922, from portions of Pequannock Township. The borough was reincorporated on February 26, 1925. The borough was named for President Abraham Lincoln. The borough is situated in the easternmost part of Morris County bordering both Essex and Passaic counties along the Passaic and Pompton rivers.

New Jersey Monthly magazine ranked Lincoln Park as its 5th best place to live in its 2008 rankings of the "Best Places To Live" in the state.

Geography

Lincoln Park contains the easternmost point in Morris County, which is located along the Pompton River.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the borough had a total area of 6.91 square miles (17.91 km2), including 6.40 square miles (16.57 km2) of land and 0.52 square miles (1.34 km2) of water (7.47%).

Demographics

2020 census

As of the 2020 census, Lincoln Park had a population of 10,915. The median age was 45.8 years. 17.4% of residents were under the age of 18 and 21.5% of residents were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 93.7 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 90.5 males age 18 and over.

100.0% of residents lived in urban areas, while 0.0% lived in rural areas.

There were 4,063 households in Lincoln Park, of which 27.4% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 50.6% were married-couple households, 16.0% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 26.7% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 27.0% of all households were made up of individuals and 10.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.

2000 census

As of the 2000 United States census

There were 4,026 households, out of which 29.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 55.2% were married couples living together, 9.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 32.8% were non-families. 26.6% of all households were made up of individuals, and 6.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.54 and the average family size was 3.14. The borough is one of 71 municipalities (of the 564) statewide that use this form of government. The governing body is comprised of the mayor and the seven-member borough council, with three council seats elected at-large and four from wards, with all positions chosen in partisan elections held in even-numbered years as part of the November general election. Each council member is elected to a four-year term on a staggered basis, with the four ward seats up for vote simultaneously and the three at-large seats and the mayoral seat up for election together two years later.

, the Mayor of Lincoln Park is Republican David A. Runfeldt, whose term of office ends on December 31, 2026. Members of the Borough Council are Council President Andrew Seise (R; at-large, 2026), Patrick Antonetti (D; Ward 3, 2028), Gary Gemian (R; Ward 1, 2028), Joseph Gurkovich (R, Ward 4, 2028), Daniel W. Moeller (R; at-large, 2026), Ellen Ross (R; Ward 2, 2028) and Ann Thompson (R; at-large, 2026).

Federal, state and county representation

Lincoln Park is located in the 11th Congressional District and is part of New Jersey's 26th state legislative district.

Politics

As of March 2011, there were a total of 6,421 registered voters in Lincoln Park, of which 1,371 (21.4%) were registered as Democrats, 2,088 (32.5%) were registered as Republicans and 2,955 (46.0%) were registered as Unaffiliated. There were 7 voters registered as Libertarians or Greens.

In the 2012 presidential election, Republican Mitt Romney received 53.4% of the vote (2,301 cast), ahead of Democrat Barack Obama with 45.7% (1,967 votes), and other candidates with 0.9% (39 votes), among the 4,340 ballots cast by the borough's 6,735 registered voters (33 ballots were spoiled), for a turnout of 64.4%. In the 2008 presidential election, Republican John McCain received 53.2% of the vote (2,745 cast), ahead of Democrat Barack Obama with 44.8% (2,311 votes) and other candidates with 1.3% (69 votes), among the 5,162 ballots cast by the borough's 6,711 registered voters, for a turnout of 76.9%. In the 2004 presidential election, Republican George W. Bush received 56.9% of the vote (2,767 ballots cast), outpolling Democrat John Kerry with 42.1% (2,047 votes) and other candidates with 0.6% (40 votes), among the 4,864 ballots cast by the borough's 6,635 registered voters, for a turnout percentage of 73.3.

In the 2013 gubernatorial election, Republican Chris Christie received 68.0% of the vote (1,857 cast), ahead of Democrat Barbara Buono with 29.9% (818 votes), and other candidates with 2.1% (57 votes), among the 2,783 ballots cast by the borough's 6,632 registered voters (51 ballots were spoiled), for a turnout of 42.0%. In the 2009 gubernatorial election, Republican Chris Christie received 56.7% of the vote (1,762 ballots cast), ahead of Democrat Jon Corzine with 34.8% (1,081 votes), Independent Chris Daggett with 7.3% (226 votes) and other candidates with 0.9% (28 votes), among the 3,108 ballots cast by the borough's 6,518 registered voters, yielding a 47.7% turnout.

Education

The Lincoln Park Public Schools serves students in pre-kindergarten through eighth grade. As of the 2023–24 school year, the district, comprised of two schools, had an enrollment of 900 students and 87.7 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 10.3:1. Schools in the district (with 2023–24 enrollment data from the National Center for Education Statistics) are

Lincoln Park Elementary School with 522 students in grades PreK–4 and

Lincoln Park Middle School with 366 students in grades 5–8.

For ninth through twelfth grades, Lincoln Park public school students attend Boonton High School in Boonton as part of a sending/receiving relationship with the Boonton Public Schools, with Lincoln Park students accounting for a majority of students at the high school. As of the 2023–24 school year, the high school had an enrollment of 656 students and 59.8 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 11.0:1. During the 2015–16 school year, there were about 70 students from the borough attending the academy programs of the Morris County Vocational School District, which are the Morris County School of Technology in Denville; The Academy for Mathematics, Science, and Engineering in Rockaway at Morris Hills High School; and the Academy for Law and Public Safety in Butler at Butler High School.

Transportation

thumb|right|[[U.S. Route 202 in New Jersey|U.S. Route 202 northbound in Lincoln Park]]

thumb|right|[[Lincoln Park station on the NJ Transit Montclair-Boonton Line]]

Roads and highways

, the borough had a total of of roadways, of which were maintained by the municipality and by Morris County.

The main highway providing service to Lincoln Park is U.S. Route 202. County Route 504 and County Route 511 Alternate also traverse the borough. New Jersey Route 23 and Interstate 80 are major highways accessible in neighboring Wayne Township.

Public transportation

NJ Transit provides commuter rail service at the Lincoln Park station. Trains are offered on the Montclair-Boonton Line to Newark Broad Street Station and New York Penn Station, with connecting service to Hoboken Terminal.

NJ Transit provides local bus service on the 871 route. NJ Transit had provided service on the MCM1 route until 2010, when subsidies to the local provider were eliminated as part of budget cuts.

Lakeland Bus Lines offers limited service on its Route 46 route between Dover and the Port Authority Bus Terminal in Midtown Manhattan.

Media

Lincoln Park is served by New York City television stations. It is served by the newspapers The Star-Ledger, Daily Record and The Record.

Notable people

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

Angelo Badalamenti (1937–2022), film composer/arranger, best known for his theme music for the TV series Twin Peaks
Walter Bobbie (born 1945), theatre director, choreographer, and occasional actor and dancer, who has directed both musicals and plays on Broadway and Off-Broadway
Lauren English (born 1989), competitive swimmer who represented the United States at the Pan Pacific Championships (2006) and the World University Games (2007)
A. J. Khubani (born 1959), founder, president, and CEO of Telebrands Corp.
Jim Kiick (1946–2020), NFL halfback best known for his play with the Miami Dolphins, helped lead his team to 2 Super Bowl wins before passing in 2020
Eric Klenofsky (born 1994), soccer player who currently plays for Richmond Kickers of the United Soccer League on loan from D.C. United of Major League Soccer
Edgar Maass (1896–1964), German-American novelist of historical fiction
William A. Mitchell (1911–2004), inventor of Pop Rocks and Tang
James N. Post III, former United States Air Force officer who served as Director of the United States Air Forces Central Command's Air and Space Operations Center
Craig Slaff (born 1960), artist known for his depiction of themes in aviation
Amzi Emmons Zeliff (1831–1915), businessman and folk painter