Branchville, New Jersey, United States

🇺🇸 Branchville is a borough in Sussex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. The borough is located in the northernmost region of Sussex County.

Branchville was incorporated as a borough by an act of the New Jersey Legislature on March 9, 1898, from portions of Frankford Township. An additional portion of Frankford Township was annexed as of March 1, 1951. The borough was named for its site at a branch of the Paulins Kill.

History Branchville was established by settlers from Connecticut in the 18th century. It grew quickly and in the 1820s the town was divided into building lots. By the year 1844, it was a well-established community with 32 dwellings, mills, blacksmiths, an academy, a church and a variety of other factories and businesses.

The addition of two water-powered mills and a dam in 1855 furthered the town's prosperity. Energy would later be harnessed from this dam and a second one that was built to supply Branchville with electricity and its own power company.

Extension of rail service to Branchville in 1869 brought an even greater boon to the village's economic market growth. From 1869 to 1871 forty new homes were built. The railroad had made it possible to ship products from the local mills and creameries to larger urban areas to the east. With lake communities nearby the tourism was also spurred by the railroad. Up to six trains a day would bring people from the larger cities to enjoy a country vacation.

Geography According to the United States Census Bureau, the borough had a total area of 0.60 square miles (1.6 km²), including 0.59 square miles (1.5 km²) of land and 0.01 square miles (0.026 km²) of water (1.17%).

Branchville is an independent municipality completely surrounded by Frankford Township, making it part of 21 pairs of "doughnut towns" in the state, where one municipality entirely surrounds another.

Geology Branchville is on the Ordovician Martinsburg Formation. This is a shale, slate, and limestone formation created 450 million years ago when a chain of volcanic islands collided with proto North America. The islands went over the North American Plate, creating the Highlands of Sussex County and the Kittatinny Valley. Millions of years of erosion occurred and there was a second event. About 400 million years ago a small continent that was long and thin, collided with proto North America creating folding and faulting. The Silurian Shawangunk conglomerate that was under a shallow sea, lifted due to pressure. The pressure created heat which melted the silica and bonded the quartz and conglomerate together, creating Kittatinny Mountain.

The Wisconsin Glacier covered all of Branchville from 21,000 BCE to 13,000 BCE, covering the top of Kittatinny Mountain. End moraines exist in Stokes State Forest, another just off Route 565 north of the Skylands Park and one about a mile south of Ross's Corner. An esker was created when the glacier retreated due to climate warming. Many ponds and lakes created. Culver Lake was created at this time, as the drainage became blocked. Branchville is drained by Culver's Lake Creek and Dry brook. Dry Creek starts at the Branchville Reservoir, travels south, enters into Culver's Creek in Branchville and eventually empties into the Paulinskill. There is a chain of hills between Dry Creek and Papakatin Creek. These hills are what separate the Paulinskill River drainage system from that of the Wallkill. The drainage divide is just north of Route 206 and the goes north-west toward Branchville Reservoir. Water near Route 206 or south of Route 206 drains into the Paulinskill. Water north of Route 206 drains into the Wallkill River.

Demographics The 2010 United States census counted 841 people, 364 households, and 221 families in the borough. The population density was 1,419.2 people per square mile (548.0 people/km²). There were 386 housing units at an average density of 651.4 units per square mile (251.5 units/km²). The racial makeup was 96.43% (811) White, 0.36% (3) Black or African American, 0.36% (3) Native American, 1.07% (9) Asian, 0.00% (0) Pacific Islander, 0.48% (4) from other races, and 1.31% (11) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 3.92% (33) of the population.

Of the 364 households, 28.8% had children under the age of 18; 46.2% were married couples living together; 10.7% had a female householder with no husband present and 39.3% were non-families. Of all households, 34.1% were made up of individuals and 17.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.30 and the average family size was 2.98.

22.8% of the population were under the age of 18, 7.3% from 18 to 24, 23.3% from 25 to 44, 29.8% from 45 to 64, and 16.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 42.8 years. For every 100 females, the population had 95.1 males. For every 100 females ages 18 and older there were 91.4 males.

The Census Bureau's 2006–2010 American Community Survey showed that (in 2010 inflation-adjusted dollars) median household income was $56,875 (with a margin of error of +/− $29,887) and the median family income was $84,643 (+/− $16,892). Males had a median income of $61,042 (+/− $20,432) versus $37,955 (+/− $6,402) for females. The per capita income for the borough was $30,851 (+/− $4,509). About 2.6% of families and 2.6% of the population were below the poverty line, including 4.8% of those under age 18 and 2.5% of those age 65 or over.

Economy Selective Insurance, a regional insurance holding company that provides property and casualty insurance products and insurance services, has its headquarters in Branchville.

Local government Branchville is governed under the borough form of New Jersey municipal government, which is used in 218 municipalities (of the 564) statewide, making it the most common form of government in New Jersey. The governing body is comprised of the mayor and the borough council, with all positions elected at-large on a partisan basis as part of the November general election. The mayor is elected directly by the voters to a four-year term of office. The borough council is comprised of six members elected to serve three-year terms on a staggered basis, with two seats coming up for election each year in a three-year cycle. The borough form of government used by Branchville is a "weak mayor / strong council" government in which council members act as the legislative body with the mayor presiding at meetings and voting only in the event of a tie. The mayor can veto ordinances subject to an override by a two-thirds majority vote of the council. The mayor makes committee and liaison assignments for council members, and most appointments are made by the mayor with the advice and consent of the council.

As of 2022, the mayor of Branchville Borough is Democrat Anthony Frato Sr., whose term of office ends December 31, 2023. Members of the Branchville Borough Council are Council President Richard N. VanStone (R, 2022), Beverley Bathgate (R, 2023), Russell Bellis Jr. (R, 2024), H. Lee Doremus (R, 2022), Troy C. Orr (R, 2024) and Mary C. Whitesell (D, 2023).

In January 2015, the borough council appointed Steven Schechner to serve the term expiring in December 2018 that had been held by Frank J. San Phillip, who was elected but did not take office due to personal reasons; Schechner will serve on an interim basis until the November 2016 general election, when voters will select a candidate to serve the two years remaining in the term of office.

Federal, state and county representation Branchville is located in the 5th Congressional District and is part of New Jersey's 24th state legislative district.

Sussex County is governed by a Board of County Commissioners whose five members are elected at-large in partisan elections on a staggered basis, with either one or two seats coming up for election each year. At an annual reorganization meeting held in the beginning of January, the board selects a Commissioner Director and Deputy Director from among its members, with day-to-day supervision of the operation of the county delegated to a County Administrator.

Education Students in public school for pre-kindergarten through eighth grade attend the Frankford Township School District, located in Branchville, as part of a sending/receiving relationship. As of the 2021–22 school year, the district, comprised of one school, had an enrollment of 505 students and 54.5 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 9.3:1.

For ninth through twelfth grades, public school students from Branchville attend High Point Regional High School. Also attending the school are students from Frankford Township, Lafayette Township, Montague Township, Sussex Borough and Wantage Township (where the school is located). As of the 2021–22 school year, the high school had an enrollment of 812 students and 72.8 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 11.2:1.

Transport As of November 2014, the borough had a total of 6.30 miles (10.14 km) of roadways, of which 2.79 miles (4.49 km) were maintained by the municipality, 2.36 miles (3.80 km) by Sussex County and 1.15 miles (1.85 km) by the New Jersey Department of Transportation.

U.S. Route 206 is the main highway serving Branchville. County Route 519 also traverses the borough.