Stillwater Township, New Jersey

Stillwater Township, New Jersey
Casper and Abraham Shafer Grist Mill Complex
Official seal of Stillwater Township, New Jersey
Location of Stillwater Township in Sussex County highlighted in yellow (right). Inset map: Location of Sussex County in New Jersey highlighted in black (left).
Location of Stillwater Township in Sussex County highlighted in yellow (right). Inset map: Location of Sussex County in New Jersey highlighted in black (left).
Census Bureau map of Stillwater Township
Census Bureau map of Stillwater Township
Stillwater Township is located in Sussex County, New Jersey
Stillwater Township
Stillwater Township
Location in Sussex County
Stillwater Township is located in New Jersey
Stillwater Township
Stillwater Township
Location in New Jersey
Stillwater Township is located in the United States
Stillwater Township
Stillwater Township
Location in the United States
Coordinates: 41°04′27″N 74°52′08″W / 41.074125°N 74.868878°W / 41.074125; -74.868878[1][2]
Country United States
State New Jersey
County Sussex
IncorporatedDecember 27, 1824
Government
 • TypeTownship
 • BodyTownship Committee
 • MayorLisa Chammings (R, term ends December 31, 2023)[3][4]
 • Municipal clerkLynda Knott[5]
Area
 • Total28.25 sq mi (73.17 km2)
 • Land26.92 sq mi (69.73 km2)
 • Water1.33 sq mi (3.43 km2)  4.69%
 • Rank96th of 565 in state
8th of 24 in county[1]
Elevation718 ft (219 m)
Population
 • Total4,004
 • Estimate 
(2023)[9]
4,063
 • Rank413th of 565 in state
12th of 24 in county[10]
 • Density148.7/sq mi (57.4/km2)
  • Rank519th of 565 in state
20th of 24 in county[10]
Time zoneUTC−05:00 (Eastern (EST))
 • Summer (DST)UTC−04:00 (Eastern (EDT))
ZIP Code
Area code973[13]
FIPS code[1][14][15][16]34-70890
GNIS ID[7][16]882262
Websitewww.stillwatertownshipnj.com

Stillwater Township is a township located in Sussex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Situated in the Kittatinny Valley, Stillwater is a rural farming community with a long history of dairy farming. As of the 2020 United States census, the township's population was 4,004,[8] a decrease of 95 (−2.3%) from the 2010 census count of 4,099,[17][18] which in turn reflected a decrease of 168 (−3.9%) from the 4,267 counted in the 2000 census.[19]

Stillwater was settled in the eighteenth century by Palatine German immigrants who entered through the port of Philadelphia. In 1741, Casper Shafer, John George Wintermute (Windemuth), and their father-in-law Johan Peter Bernhardt settled along the Paulins Kill.[20] For the next 50 years, the village of Stillwater was essentially German, centered on a union church shared by Lutheran and German Reformed (Calvinist) congregations.[21] The German population assimilated by the early nineteenth century, but evidence of their settlement remains in the architecture of the grist mills, lime kilns, and stone houses located throughout the valley.[20] Stillwater was incorporated as a township by an act of the New Jersey Legislature on December 27, 1824, from portions of Hardwick Township[22][23] when Sussex County was divided in half by the legislature a few weeks earlier to create Warren County.[24][25] Portions of the township were taken to form Fredon Township on February 24, 1904.[22][26]

In 2008, New Jersey Monthly magazine ranked Stillwater Township as its 40th best place to live in its annual rankings of the "Best Places To Live" in New Jersey.[27]

  1. ^ a b c d 2019 Census Gazetteer Files: New Jersey Places, United States Census Bureau. Accessed July 1, 2020.
  2. ^ US Gazetteer files: 2010, 2000, and 1990, United States Census Bureau. Accessed September 4, 2014.
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference Committee was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ 2023 New Jersey Mayors Directory, New Jersey Department of Community Affairs, updated February 8, 2023. Accessed February 10, 2023.
  5. ^ Municipal Clerk, Stillwater Township. Accessed April 23, 2023.
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference DataBook was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ a b U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Township of Stillwater, Geographic Names Information System. Accessed March 14, 2013.
  8. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference LWD2020 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  9. ^ Cite error: The named reference PopEst was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  10. ^ a b Population Density by County and Municipality: New Jersey, 2020 and 2021, New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development. Accessed March 1, 2023.
  11. ^ Look Up a ZIP Code for Stillwater, NJ, United States Postal Service. Accessed February 25, 2013.
  12. ^ Zip Codes, State of New Jersey. Accessed November 5, 2013.
  13. ^ Area Code Lookup - NPA NXX for Stillwater, NJ, Area-Codes.com. Accessed November 6, 2013.
  14. ^ U.S. Census website, United States Census Bureau. Accessed September 4, 2014.
  15. ^ Geographic Codes Lookup for New Jersey, Missouri Census Data Center. Accessed April 1, 2022.
  16. ^ a b "FIPS55 Data: New Jersey". FIPS55 Data. United States Geological Survey. February 23, 2006. Archived from the original on June 18, 2006. {{cite web}}: External link in |work= (help)CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  17. ^ Cite error: The named reference Census2010 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  18. ^ Cite error: The named reference LWD2010 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  19. ^ Table 7. Population for the Counties and Municipalities in New Jersey: 1990, 2000 and 2010, New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development, February 2011. Accessed May 1, 2023.
  20. ^ a b Schaeffer, Casper and Johnson, William M. Memoirs and reminiscences: together with sketches of the early history of Sussex County, New Jersey. (Hackensack, N.J. : Privately printed, 1907), passim.
  21. ^ Chambers, Theodore Frelinghuysen. The Early Germans of New Jersey: Their History, Churches, and Genealogies. (Dover, New Jersey, Dover Printing Company, 1895), 631 ff.
  22. ^ a b Snyder, John P. The Story of New Jersey's Civil Boundaries: 1606-1968, Bureau of Geology and Topography; Trenton, New Jersey; 1969. p. 232. Accessed May 30, 2024.
  23. ^ Snell, James P. (complied). History of Sussex and Warren Counties, New Jersey, with Illustrations and Biographical Sketches of Prominent Men and Pioneers. (Philadelphia: Everts & Peck, 1881), 383.
  24. ^ Snell, James P. (complied). History of Sussex and Warren Counties, New Jersey, with Illustrations and Biographical Sketches of Prominent Men and Pioneers. (Philadelphia: Everts & Peck, 1881), 474.
  25. ^ The legislature's act of November 20, 1824 creating Warren County effectively divided Hardwick Township in half, see: State of New Jersey. Acts of the Legislature of the State of New Jersey. (1824), 146-147, subsequent acts would create Stillwater and Green Townships from parts of Hardwick, at 126.
  26. ^ Honeyman, Abraham Van Doren. Index-analysis of the Statutes of New Jersey, 1896-1909: Together with References to All Acts, and Parts of Acts, in the 'General Statutes' and Pamphlet Laws Expressly Repealed: and the Statutory Crimes of New Jersey During the Same Period, p. 270. New Jersey Law Journal Publishing Company, 1910. Accessed October 9, 2015.
  27. ^ "Best Places To Live - The Complete Top Towns List 1-100" Archived February 28, 2008, at the Wayback Machine, New Jersey Monthly, February 21, 2008. Accessed February 24, 2008.