Montville, New Jersey

Montville is a township in Morris County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the township's population was 22,450,

Montville was incorporated as a township by an act of the New Jersey Legislature on April 11, 1867, from portions of Pequannock Township. It includes the sections of Montville, Pine Brook and Towaco. NJ Transit rail service is available at the Towaco station along the Montclair-Boonton Line.

In Money magazine's 2013 Best Places to Live rankings, Montville was ranked 13th in the nation, the second-highest among the three places in New Jersey included in the top 50 list. The township was ranked 17th in the magazine's 2011 ranking of the "Best Places to Live", the highest-ranked place in New Jersey, after having been ranked 13th in 2007. In 2009, Money magazine named Montville the 21st best place to live in the United States; the 2nd highest ranked community in New Jersey.

History

thumb|right|250px|Entering Montville

Native settlement

Over 10,000 years ago, the area was part of the Lenapehoking. It was originally settled by the Lenape tribes of the Munsee dialect. The Lenape tribes maintained peace and no significant battles were recorded in the area.

On October 12, the Morris County Parks Commission holds Lenape Day at the Great Swamp to celebrate the culture and history of Ramapough Lenape people.

Dutch settlement

Dutch farmers from New Amsterdam (now part of New York City) entered the area in 1710.

English settlement

In 1712, William Penn bought a tract of land that included parts of modern-day Pequannock and Montville that included Pine Brook. The French troops under the leadership of General Rochambeau spent four days passing through Montville Township on their way to the War's final victory at Yorktown, Virginia, as part of a group of 5,000 soldiers, 2,000 horses, 500 oxen, possibly 900 cattle, artillery, boats and followers.

The Mandeville Inn was established circa 1770 and was pronounced "Mondeveil" by the Dutch, which in turn was corrupted to Montville. The Montville Inn was, up until July 2006, located at the site of the pre-Revolutionary War Mandeville Inn, which burned down in the early 20th century. Other sources attribute the township's name to its location in the mountains of Northern New Jersey.

In 1809, the first store in Montville was opened by Conrad Esler. In 1820, Montville contained 16 houses, two bark mills, a grist mill, a cider mill and distillery, a blacksmith shop, a carpenter shop, a wheelwright shop, and a small store; at the time, Montville was considered a business center compared to nearby towns. By 1880, it contained 40 houses, a bark mill, two grist mills, a tannery, a saw mill, a rubber factory, two blacksmith shops, two taverns and two stores.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the township had a total area of 19.12 square miles (49.51 km2), including 18.63 square miles (48.24 km2) of land and 0.49 square mile (1.27 km2) of water (2.57%).

The township borders the municipalities of Boonton, Boonton Township, East Hanover Township, Kinnelon, Lincoln Park and Parsippany–Troy Hills in Morris County; and Fairfield Township in Essex County.

Camp Dawson is a small camp area in Towaco that is home to a variety of recreational events such as hiking, sledding, soccer, lacrosse, rugby and football. In 2007, Camp Dawson was described by Money magazine as one of reasons for ranking Montville as the 13th best smaller population place to live in the United States. Many Montville sports teams use the fields at Camp Dawson, which include two turf fields mainly used for football, soccer and lacrosse. These fields have lighting available for these teams to play at night. There was a flurry of concern in 2008, when testing of Dawson's new artificial turf playing fields showed what turned out to be a false positive finding of dangerously high levels of toxic lead.

Climate

Montville has a humid continental climate. The lowest recorded temperature in Montville is −25 °F (−32 °C), set in February 1943, and the highest recorded temperature is 105 °F (41 °C), set in July 1936 and 2011.

|date=November 2011

As of 2026, the township is a member of Local Leaders for Responsible Planning in order to address the township's Mount Laurel doctrine-based housing obligations.

Demographics

2020 census

{| class="wikitable"

|+Montville township, Morris County, New Jersey – Racial and Ethnic Composition (NH = Non-Hispanic)

!Race / Ethnicity

!Pop 2010

!Pop 2020

!% 2010

!% 2020

|White alone (NH)

|16,134

|15,009

|74.94%

|66.86%

|Black or African American alone (NH)

|252

|319

|1.17%

|1.42%

|Native American or Alaska Native alone (NH)

|18

|0.03%

|0.08%

|Asian alone (NH)

|3,885

|4,811

|18.05%

|21.43%

|Pacific Islander alone (NH)

|0.01%

|0.03%

|Some Other Race alone (NH)

|37

|101

|0.17%

|0.45%

|Mixed Race/Multi-Racial (NH)

|312

|608

|1.45%

|2.71%

|Hispanic or Latino (any race)

|900

|1,578

|4.18%

|7.03%

|Total

|21,528

|22,450

|100.00%

2010 census

The 2010 United States census counted 21,528 people, 7,485 households, and 5,988 families in the township. The population density was . There were 7,823 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup was 78.04% (16,800) White, 1.28% (275) Black or African American, 0.10% (22) Native American, 18.07% (3,890) Asian, 0.01% (2) Pacific Islander, 0.86% (186) from other races, and 1.64% (353) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 4.18% (900) of the population.

Montville has had a growing influx of Asian-Americans. In 2010, 7.1% of Montville's residents self-identified as Indian-American, while 6.4% identified as Chinese-American and 2.7% of residents were Korean-American.

There were 7,380 households, out of which 37.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 71.0% were married couples living together, 6.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 20.5% were non-families. 16.6% of all households were made up of individuals, and 5.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.80 and the average family size was 3.17. 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. At an annual reorganization meeting, the Township Committee selects one of its members to serve as Mayor. The Township Administrator serves as the chief administrative and executive officer for the organization and is responsible for the day-to-day operations of all municipal departments.

, Montville's Township Committee is comprised of Mayor Matthew S. Kayne (R, term on committee ends on December 31, 2026 and as mayor ends December 31, 2025), Deputy mayor June Witty (R, term on committee ends on December 31, 2026; term as deputy mayor ends on December 31, 2025), Richard D. Conklin (R, 2025), Richard A. Cook (R, 2025) and Frank W. Cooney (R, 2027).

A Charter Study Commission was approved by the voters on November 8, 2005, to investigate possible changes to Montville's form of government. The commission voted 4–1 against making any modifications.

The Montville Municipal Court is the judicial branch of government. The Court has original jurisdiction over Motor vehicle violations local ordinance offenses, petty disorderly person offenses, disorderly person offenses, fish and game violations, traffic and criminal offenses, weights and measure violations, and citizen complaints.

Federal, state and county representation

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

Politics

As of June 2021, there were a total of 17,735 registered voters in Montville Township, of which 4,446 (25%) were registered as Democrats, 6,490 (36.5%) were registered as Republicans, with the majority of the remaining 6,799 (38.3%) registered as Unaffiliated.

In the 2020 presidential election, Republican Donald Trump received 50.86% of the vote (7,199 cast), ahead of Democrat Joe Biden with 47.63% (6,742 votes), and other candidates with 1.5% (213 votes). In the 2016 presidential election, Republican Donald Trump received 55.1% of the vote (6,440 cast), ahead of Democrat Hillary Clinton with 42.5% (4,939 votes), and other candidates with 2.7% (311 votes), among the 11,690 ballots cast. In the 2012 presidential election, Republican Mitt Romney received 60.4% of the vote (6,460 cast), ahead of Democrat Barack Obama with 38.3% (4,101 votes), and other candidates with 1.3% (142 votes), among the 10,749 ballots cast by the township's 15,001 registered voters (46 ballots were spoiled), for a turnout of 71.7%. In the 2008 presidential election, Republican John McCain received 57.8% of the vote (6,720 cast), ahead of Democrat Barack Obama with 41.0% (4,761 votes) and other candidates with 0.7% (84 votes), among the 11,623 ballots cast by the township's 14,890 registered voters, for a turnout of 78.1%. In the 2004 presidential election, Republican George W. Bush received 59.0% of the vote (6,605 ballots cast), outpolling Democrat John Kerry with 40.0% (4,483 votes) and other candidates with 0.5% (77 votes), among the 11,203 ballots cast by the township's 14,582 registered voters, for a turnout percentage of 76.8.

In the 2013 gubernatorial election, Republican Chris Christie received 74.7% of the vote (4,703 cast), ahead of Democrat Barbara Buono with 24.1% (1,515 votes), and other candidates with 1.2% (74 votes), among the 6,389 ballots cast by the township's 14,958 registered voters (97 ballots were spoiled), for a turnout of 42.7%. In the 2009 gubernatorial election, Republican Chris Christie received 61.6% of the vote (4,679 ballots cast), ahead of Democrat Jon Corzine with 30.0% (2,278 votes), Independent Chris Daggett with 6.8% (513 votes) and other candidates with 0.9% (69 votes), among the 7,593 ballots cast by the township's 14,526 registered voters, yielding a 52.3% turnout.

Education

thumb|right|250px|Montville School House, 1910

The Montville Township School District serves public school students in pre-kindergarten through twelfth grade. As of the 2022–23 school year, the district, comprised of seven schools, had an enrollment of 3,469 students and 348.5 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 10.0:1. Schools in the district (with 2022–23 enrollment data from the National Center for Education Statistics) are

Cedar Hill Elementary School with 328 students in grades PreK-5,

Hilldale Elementary School with 320 students in grades K-5,

William H. Mason Jr. Elementary School with 277 students in grades K-5,

Valley View Elementary School with 365 students in grades PreK-5,

Woodmont Elementary School with 310 students in grades K-5,

Robert R. Lazar Middle School with 724 students in grades 6-8 and

Montville Township High School with 1,112 students in grades 9-12. InIn 2016, Cedar Hill Elementary School was one of ten schools in New Jersey recognized as a National Blue Ribbon School by the United States Department of Education. In 2024, Hilldale Elementary School was one of 11 statewide that was recognized as a Blue Ribbon School of Excellence.

Private schools include Trinity Christian School, a Christian day school founded in 1986 that serves students in Kindergarten through 12th grade. St. Pius X School was a K–8 Catholic school that operated under the auspices of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Paterson until it closed after the 2017–2018 school year after enrollment numbers for the 2018–2019 school year were just more than half of the 250 students needed to remain financially viable.

Community

Montville Day is celebrated every year in the fall. It brings members of the community together to enjoy food and entertainment.

Transportation

Roads and highways

, the township had a total of of roadways, of which were maintained by the municipality, by Morris County and by the New Jersey Department of Transportation.

Major routes that pass through include Interstate 287 and U.S. Route 202 in the north, and both Interstate 80 and U.S. Route 46 in the south. Both interstates house interchanges in the township.

Public transportation

As part of its Midtown Direct expansion program, NJ Transit, with supplemental funding from the Township of Montville, renovated the Towaco train station using a design hearkening back to the early 1900s. Service is provided on the Montclair-Boonton Line from Towaco to Penn Station in Midtown Manhattan via a transfer in Montclair through Newark to Manhattan.

NJ Transit offers bus service to and from Newark on the 29 route, with local service available on the 871 and 874 routes, replacing service that had been offered on the MCM1 route until 2010, when subsidies to the local provider were eliminated as part of budget cuts.

Lakeland Bus Lines offers service along Route 46 between Dover and the Port Authority Bus Terminal in Midtown Manhattan and along Route 80 between Newton and New York City.

Notable people

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

Omar Amanat (born ), entrepreneur, investor and chairman of the Aman Resorts Group
Lester Archambeau (born 1967), former professional football player
Stacey Bradford, financial journalist, author and commentator; author of The Wall Street Journal Financial Guidebook for New Parents
Chris Brauchle (born 1967), coach and former professional soccer player who played for the MetroStars in Major League Soccer
Hector A. Cafferata Jr. (1929–2016), United States Marine awarded the Medal of Honor for his heroic service at the Battle of Chosin Reservoir during the Korean War
John H. Capstick (1856–1918), represented 5th congressional district from 1918 to 1919
Albert Stanburrough Cook (1853–1927), professor of English
Bruce Driver (born 1962), former professional hockey player for the New Jersey Devils and New York Rangers
Dilly Duka (born 1989), soccer player who currently plays for Columbus Crew in Major League Soccer
Ulric Ellerhusen (1879–1957), sculptor best known for his works of architectural sculpture
Lauren English (born 1989), swimmer who set the United States Open Record in the 50m backstroke
Ashley Lauren Fisher (born 1975), actress, model and spinal cord injury activist
Ron Galella (1931–2022), photographer called "the Godfather of the U.S. paparazzi culture", known for his photos of (and battles with) Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis and Marlon Brando
Teresa Giudice (born 1972), featured on The Real Housewives of New Jersey
Hank Lyon (born 1988), member of the Morris County Board of Chosen Freeholders, who became the state's youngest freeholder when he took office in 2012
Frank Mattiace (born 1961), former professional football nose tackle and coach
Joseph McKenna (born 1995), American freestyle and graduated folkstyle wrestler
Kristen McNabb (born 1994), soccer defender who plays for Seattle Reign FC of the National Women's Soccer League
Carol J. Murphy (1932–2011), member of the New Jersey General Assembly from 1992 to 2000
Dan O'Dowd (born 1959), former general manager of the Colorado Rockies
Joseph Pennacchio (born 1955), member of the New Jersey Senate
Jim Price (born 1966), former professional football player with the Dallas Cowboys
Alan Sepinwall (born 1973), television reviewer
Olivia Blois Sharpe, cast member of reality show Jerseylicious
Dena Tauriello, drummer for the rock band Antigone Rising
Buddy Valastro (born 1977), celebrity chef, entrepreneur, and reality television personality who is the owner of Carlo's Bakery and star of the TV series Cake Boss
Walter D. Van Riper (1895–1973), Attorney General of New Jersey from 1944 to 1948
James P. Vreeland (1910–2001), former mayor of Montville who served for 10 years in the New Jersey Senate
Travis Warech (born 1991), professional basketball player for Israeli team Hapoel Be'er Sheva
John Wurts (1792–1861), member of the United States House of Representatives from Pennsylvania
Pete Yorn (born 1974), singer-songwriter
Michael Zheng (born 2004), professional tennis player

References

External links

Montville Chamber of Commerce
Montville Township School District