Sparta, New Jersey, United States

🇺🇸 Sparta Township is a township in Sussex County, New Jersey, United States. Sparta was organized as a township in 1845, from portions of Byram Township, Frankford Township, Hardyston Township and (the now-defunct) Newton Township. The township was named after the existing community of Sparta, which had been settled and named years before, the name likely coming from Sparta, Greece. Ogdensburg borough was incorporated in 1914, from portions of Sparta Township.

The township was listed as the safest place in New Jersey as well as the seventh safest municipality in the nation according to a 2022 crime statistic compilation from Safewise.com.

History Pre-colonial Sparta was inhabited by the Lenape Native Americans. In the 1750s, Dutch explorers discovered red ores in the area and attempted to mine copper. No permanent settlers arrived until 1778, when Robert Ogden and his wife built their home and constructed an iron forge on lands he had acquired and "called their house and farm Sparta". The first public building in Sparta was the Presbyterian Church which was incorporated in 1786. Schools were established in Ogdensburg by 1806 and in Sparta by 1812.

Iron, zinc, and limestone supported a mining industry for over 100 years, but today the mining operations have ceased and the township is now a residential community served by retail, professional, and service small businesses. According to the 2000 census, 65% of Sparta Township workers commute to jobs outside of the county.

Mining industry Robert Ogden settled in 1778 near the present town of Ogdensburg and built an iron forge, utilizing local ore from his Ogden Mine on Sparta Mountain. The Horseshoe mine was opened in 1772 by the Englishmen Spargo and Harvey who shipped ore by horse and mule to the forges at Sparta and Hopewell. It wasn't until 1868 that the Ogden Mine Railroad began operations and made it economical to ship zinc and iron ore to Nolan's Point on Lake Hopatcong where the Morris Canal had a marine terminal that could ship ore to Newark. In 1872, the New Jersey Midland Railroad (later known as the New York, Susquehanna & Western) extended to Ogdensburg and captured the zinc ore traffic.

In 1836, Henry Decker, along with Nelson Hunt and Lewis Sherman, began the manufacture of anchors at their forges in Sparta. Their success led to a small industry of forging anchors in Sparta, but by the end of the Civil War the forge industry in Sparta had come to an end.

In 1889, Thomas Edison invested $3.5 million in his Edison Ore-Milling Company to build iron operations on 2,500 acres (10 km²) of Sparta Mountain. Edison hoped to concentrate the mountain's vast quantities of low-grade ore and supply East Coast mills with raw material. At its peak Edison's operation employed 500 people, but after a 10 year effort he abandoned his attempt to compete with more economical ores from Minnesota's Mesabi Iron Range. The availability of the cheap Minnesota ores put an end to iron mining in Sparta.

Zinc In 1848 the New Jersey Zinc Company began operations at Sterling Hill. Earlier attempts to obtain iron from the mineral rich ore of the Sterling Hill failed because of manganese contamination, but zinc was recoverable and the ores at Sterling Hill were rich with it.

In 1856 the Passaic Zinc Company started operations at the Sterling Hill Mine and constructed large ore crushers, shipping the ores to the company's plant in Jersey City.

By 1868, both iron and zinc operations were in progress at Sterling Hill, but the numerous companies and claims were embroiled in continuous legal battles, the largest of which was a 12-year dispute between the New Jersey Zinc Company and the Franklin Iron Company over rights to mixed ores, each company having purchased the right to mine zinc and iron, respectively. In 1880 the Franklin Iron Company acquired the New Jersey Zinc Company's operations at Sterling Hill mine, ending the dispute. Large scale operations began in 1897 when the claims were consolidated under the New Jersey Zinc Company and by 1900 its mill was processing 1,500 tons of ore daily.

Zinc operations continued until 1986 when the Sterling Hill mine ceased operation. The Sterling Hill mine site is currently occupied by the Sterling Hill Mining Museum and is open to the public for tours.

Limestone After closing his iron operations, Thomas Edison recouped his losses by opening a quarry called Limecrest near Sparta in 1919. The lime quarry fed Edison's Portland cement operations, and was in continuous operation under various owners for more than 80 years until closed in 2003. During the years of its operation the limestone quarry was an important source of employment and tax revenue for Sparta. Limestone is no longer mined, but a limited amount of granite continues to be quarried by a handful of employees.

Tourist Industry The New Jersey Midland Railroad opened to Ogdensburg in 1872 for zinc ore traffic, but in 1882 the line was extended to Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania and a station was built at Sparta, giving tourists easy access to the many boarding houses that served summer residents from the cities. Passenger service ended in 1935, but by then Sparta was well established as a summer destination. In 1926, the Arthur D. Crane Company along with developer and designer Herbert L. Closs constructed a 600-foot (180 m) dam across the Wallkill River to form 300-acre (1.2 km²) Lake Mohawk in 1928. The private resort community created by the Crane Company consisted primarily of summer homes, but the homes began to be winterized in the 1940s and the current membership of 2,600 families are largely year-round residents.

Geography The township borders the municipalities of Andover Township, Byram Township, Franklin borough, Hardyston Township, Hopatcong borough Lafayette Township and Ogdensburg, New Jersey Ogdensburg Borough in Sussex County; and Jefferson Township in Morris County.

Lake Mohawk is an unincorporated community split between Byram Township and Sparta Township.

Other unincorporated communities, localities and place names located partially or completely within the township include Ackerson, Edison, Hopewell, Houses Corner, Monroe, Sparta Junction, Sussex Mills, Upper Mohawk and Woodruffs Gap.

Lake Mohawk Lake Mohawk is an unincorporated community and place (CDP) split between Byram Township and Sparta Township.

Sparta Junction Sparta Junction was where the tracks of the New York, Susquehanna and Western Railroad and the Lehigh and Hudson River Railway crossed, near the western boundary of Sparta. A railroad telegraph office and a train order station, that controlled train signalling semaphores, was located there. It is located at 41.06426°N 74.67127°W.

Geology

Sparta is in the Highlands which is composed of igneous and metamorphic rock. Folding and faulting occurred when a continent struck the North American Plate. This is what created the mountains through Sparta and northwards. The Wisconsin Glacier created all the lakes and streams. The Franklin Marble goes through the township from Lime Crest Quarry to the New York line.

Economy Sparta is home to many small businesses. Lake Mohawk houses many boutiques and gift shops that cater to a wide variety of shoppers. As well as these smaller businesses, Sparta home to multiple family-owned pizzerias and delis.

Rockaway Townsquare is located about 15 minutes away from Sparta and allows residents to find a wider variety of shops.

Roads and highways As of May 2010, the township had a total of 132.81 miles (213.74 km) of roadways, of which 97.07 miles (156.22 km) were maintained by the municipality, 20.05 miles (32.27 km) by Sussex County and 15.69 miles (25.25 km) by the New Jersey Department of Transportation.

Route 15 is the primary highway serving Sparta Township. Much of the original stretch of this highway within Sparta has been bypassed by a freeway, with the old route now designated Route 181. Route 94 and County Route 517 also pass through the township.

Public transportation Sparta is served by the Skylands Connect bus, which provides service to Newton, Hamburg and Sussex. Lakeland Bus Lines provides commuter service to the Port Authority Bus Terminal in Midtown Manhattan from the Sparta police station and Blue Heron Road park and rides on the Route 80 route.