Manville, New Jersey, United States

🇺🇸 Manville is a borough in Somerset County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. The borough is located in the heart of the Raritan Valley region and is a part of the New York metropolitan area. Manville was named after the Johns-Manville Corporation, which maintained a large manufacturing facility in the borough for decades.

Historically, many of Manville's residents are of Slavic—mostly eastern Polish (23.1% of the borough's population in 2000) and western Ukrainian descent—with many businesses and restaurants geared towards the Polish American community located along Main Street (County Route 533).

Manville was formed by an act of the New Jersey Legislature on April 1, 1929, subject to the results of a referendum held on April 18, 1929.

Geography According to the United States Census Bureau, the borough had a total area of 2.45 square miles (6.34 km²), including 2.36 square miles (6.11 km²) of land and 0.09 square miles (0.23 km²) of water (3.59%).

Unincorporated communities, localities and place names located partially or completely within the borough include Millsboro.

The borough borders Bridgewater Township, Franklin Township and Hillsborough Township.

Ecology According to the A. W. Kuchler U.S. potential natural vegetation types, Manville would have an Appalachian Oak (104) vegetation type with an Eastern Hardwood Forest (25) vegetation form.

Demographics The 2010 United States census counted 10,344 people, 4,016 households, and 2,663 families in the borough. The population density was 4,382.0 per square mile (1,691.9/km²). There were 4,277 housing units at an average density of 1,811.9 per square mile (699.6/km²). The racial makeup was 86.35% (8,932) White, 2.72% (281) Black or African American, 0.10% (10) Native American, 1.99% (206) Asian, 0.00% (0) Pacific Islander, 6.50% (672) from other races, and 2.35% (243) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 18.98% (1,963) of the population.

Of the 4,016 households, 26.8% had children under the age of 18; 47.2% were married couples living together; 12.6% had a female householder with no husband present and 33.7% were non-families. Of all households, 27.0% were made up of individuals and 11.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.58 and the average family size was 3.12.

20.2% of the population were under the age of 18, 9.0% from 18 to 24, 28.6% from 25 to 44, 28.0% from 45 to 64, and 14.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39.6 years. For every 100 females, the population had 100.5 males. For every 100 females ages 18 and older there were 99.3 males.

The Census Bureau's 2006–2010 American Community Survey showed that (in 2010 inflation-adjusted dollars) median household income was $55,601 (with a margin of error of +/− $4,325) and the median family income was $63,864 (+/− $11,426). Males had a median income of $48,356 (+/− $4,062) versus $40,954 (+/− $5,868) for females. The per capita income for the borough was $26,636 (+/− $1,894). About 1.9% of families and 4.6% of the population were below the poverty line, including 8.4% of those under age 18 and 3.2% of those age 65 or over.

Local government Manville 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 a mayor and a borough council, with all positions elected at-large on a partisan basis as part of the November general election. A 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 Manville 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.

Education The Manville School District serves public school students in pre-kindergarten through twelfth grade. As of the 2019–20 school year, the district, comprised of four schools, had an enrollment of 1,601 students and 132.5 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 12.1:1. Schools in the district (with 2019–20 enrollment data from the National Center for Education Statistics) are Weston Elementary School with 349 students in grades Pre-K–2, Roosevelt Elementary School with 234 students in grades 3–4, Alexander Batcho Intermediate School with 485 students in grades 5–8 and Manville High School with 450 students in grades 9–12.

Christ the King School, which opened in 1968 and served students in grades Pre-K–8, was closed by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Metuchen at the end of the 2014–2015 school year in the wake of declining enrollment that had resulted in a $1 million deficit to the parish in the preceding five years.

Transport: Road As of May 2010, the borough had a total of 42.07 miles (67.71 km) of roadways, of which 39.19 miles (63.07 km) were maintained by the municipality and 2.88 miles (4.63 km) by Somerset County.

No Interstate, U.S. or state highways directly serve Manville. The most prominent roadway in the borough is County Route 533. Also, the borough includes County Route 608.

Transport: Public Somerset County provides SCOOT bus service in the borough on its R1, R2 and Peak routes.

Transport: Rail The Norfolk Southern Railway Lehigh Line, the Conrail Shared Assets Operations Lehigh Line, and the CSX Transportation Trenton Subdivision freight lines all connect at Port Reading Junction in Manville.

Redevelopment The Federal Superfund project called The Federal Creosote Site was cleaned up by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) with $250 million of public funds. The Superfund cleanup project was performed in a 35-acre (140,000 m²) residential section of town called Claremont Development and in a 15-acre (61,000 m²) commercial area called the Rustic Mall, and was officially declared complete by the EPA on March 7, 2008.

Flooding problems Manville suffers from occasional flooding events that occur after prolonged heavy rainfall events, when the Raritan River and Millstone River overflow their banks into the northern section (Raritan) and the Lost Valley section (Millstone) of the borough. The southern parts of Main Street also suffer from the flooding, due to the presence of Royce Brook which backs up with water from the nearby Millstone River in which it empties.

There are studies being undertaken to address the flooding problems in the Millstone River basin and Manville; however, none of the flood control ideas in the Millstone River basin have gotten beyond the initial study stages as of late 2006.

Hurricane Floyd flood of 1999 Manville was severely hit by a flood in the wake of Hurricane Floyd in September 1999, which dropped 10 to 12 inches (250 to 300 mm) of rain in the areas surrounding the borough. The floods devastated the Lost Valley section, some of the South side area along Main Street and a large portion of the North side. Water levels reached between 12 feet (3.7 m) and 17 feet (5.2 m) in parts of the borough on September 17, 1999. The only way residents could get help was by boat or helicopter. There was also a large amount of fuel oil floating on the flood water which further damaged homes, many of which came off their foundations.

A portion of the north side received water coming from the Raritan at Dukes Parkway. Much of the north side had no flooding, though the significant flooding of the northside was concentrated from Dukes Parkway to Louis Street and Main Street to 3rd Avenue. The water reached the freight tracks at Main Street, and spilled over, flooding some on the South Street side, but leaving tons of water dammed in on the North Street side, where people had to be rescued from rooftops, or second floor windows and landings, by boat.

The problem was doubled in the Lost Valley section, as flood waters backed up where the Raritan and Millstone rivers meet near the dam. All trapped and injured people had to be taken out by helicopter, as there was no way to get in or out of the Lost Valley section. The September 1999 flood disaster was the worst ever to hit Manville, although it had been flooded in 1971 during Tropical Storm Doria, when many of the Lost Valley houses were destroyed and their foundations lost, and previously before that in the 1950s. Because of the railroad tracks being so much higher than the Lost Valley land, Manville's Lost Valley will always be a number one target for flooding. Through research of Manville's history, Lost Valley was to remain open land due to the high risk of flood.

Lost Valley flooding Manville is where the Raritan River and the tributary Millstone River join together, in the far north-eastern corner of the borough. The Lost Valley section in eastern Manville is situated on the natural flood plain between the Raritan and Millstone Rivers and bears the brunt of occasional flooding events which affect the river basins. The Lost Valley section is named so because it is generally disconnected from the rest of the borough with only a tunnel at Kyle Street and a bridge at Bridge Street crossing the railroad tracks to the neighborhood. Hurricane Floyd in September 1999 produced a particularly severe flood (a record for the river basins) in Manville, especially in the Lost Valley section of the borough, which experienced flooding all the way to the railroad tracks, with twelve feet or more water on many properties, which inundated houses with damaging flood waters. Another severe and devastating flood event occurred in Lost Valley during the April 2007 Nor'easter. It also left many homes and businesses underwater and was the worst flood since Hurricane Floyd. Flooding problems once again occurred in Manville on March 14, 2010, with rivers running already high due to recent snow melt along with 3 to 4 inches (76 to 102 mm) of rain that fell on the area on March 13, flooding was inevitable. More extensive flooding affected Manville in August 2011 when Hurricane Irene passed through New Jersey. In the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy in late October 2012, Manville did not flood but the powerful winds left many homes without power for several days.

Hurricane Ida floods On September 1, 2021, the tropical remains of Hurricane Ida swept through Manville, causing floods in the majority of the town. The nearby Raritan river was flooded to a record 27.66 feet (8.43 m), shattering the previous 27.1 feet recorded by Hurricane Floyd. On September 2, 2021, a house on Boesel Avenue exploded after the residents of the home had already evacuated, and nearby on North Second Avenue, another exploded and engulfed a home next to it, burning down as firefighters were unable to access the home due to the heavy floodwaters. That night, a local banquet hall, The Saffron, exploded and burned to the ground early Friday morning.[00]

Flood gauge on Raritan River Flooding occurs at a 14-foot (4.3 m) stage, and severe flooding occurs when the water reaches 18 feet (5.5 m). The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration provides access to real time river level data.[01]