Tewksbury Township, New Jersey

Tewksbury Township is a township located in Hunterdon County, New Jersey and is located within the New York Metropolitan Area. As of the 2010 United States Census, the township's population was 5,993,  reflecting an increase of 452 (+8.2%) from the 5,541 counted in the 2000 Census, which had in turn increased by 738 (+15.4%) from the 4,803 counted in the 1990 Census.

The township was first mentioned as holding a township meeting on March 11, 1755, as having been formed partly from Lebanon Township, though the exact circumstances of its formation by charter are unknown. Tewksbury was incorporated as one of New Jersey's initial 104 townships by an act of the New Jersey Legislature on February 21, 1798. Portions of the township were taken to form Califon borough (April 2, 1898). Portions of the township were acquired from Readington Township in 1832 and 1861, and portions were transferred to Clinton Township in 1871 and 1891. The township's name is thought to be from Tewkesbury, England, and the two established a sister city relationship in 2003.

The original settlers were of English extraction. However, a large German contingent settled in the area around 1749 and theirs became the strongest influence when Tewksbury became a township. The enclave of Oldwick, with a mixture of Victorian, Federal, New England and Georgian style homes is protected by historic legislation. Zion Lutheran Church in Oldwick (formerly New Germantown) is the oldest German Lutheran parish in New Jersey.

Oldwick is home to Mane Stream, a Professional Association of Therapeutic Horsemanship (PATH) Premier Accredited Center for therapeutic horseback riding.

Geography
According to the United States Census Bureau, the township had a total area of 31.699 square miles (82.101 km2), including 31.526 square miles (81.653 km2) of land and 0.173 square miles (0.448 km2) of water (0.55%).

Tewksbury Township borders Califon, Clinton Township, Lebanon Township and Readington Township in Hunterdon County; Chester Township and Washington Township in Morris County; and Bedminster Township in Somerset County.

Unincorporated communities, localities and place names located partially or completely within the township include Apgars Corner, Bissell, Cokesbury, Fairmount, Farmersville, Fox Hill, Laurel Farms, Lower Fairmount, Mountainville, New Germantown, Oldwick, Pottersville, Sutton and Vernoy.

Census 2010
The Census Bureau's 2006-2010 American Community Survey showed that (in 2010 inflation-adjusted dollars) median household income was $160,224 (with a margin of error of +/- $13,609) and the median family income was $189,833 (+/- $21,901). Males had a median income of $128,177 (+/- $22,406) versus $90,833 (+/- $32,868) for females. The per capita income for the borough was $91,644 (+/- $13,544). About 0.9% of families and 1.2% of the population were below the poverty line, including 1.3% of those under age 18 and 1.9% of those age 65 or over.

Census 2000
As of the 2000 United States Census there were 5,541 people, 1,986 households, and 1,662 families residing in the township. The population density was 175.2 people per square mile (67.6/km2). There were 2,052 housing units at an average density of 64.9 per square mile (25.0/km2). The racial makeup of the township was 96.82% White, 0.52% African American, 1.88% Asian, 0.27% from other races, and 0.51% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.53% of the population.

There were 1,996 households out of which 36.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 77.2% were married couples living together, 5.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 16.3% were non-families. 12.5% of all households were made up of individuals and 4.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.79 and the average family size was 3.05.

In the township the population was spread out with 26.2% under the age of 18, 3.6% from 18 to 24, 25.2% from 25 to 44, 33.7% from 45 to 64, and 11.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 43 years. For every 100 females, there were 97.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 96.7 males.

The median income for a household in the township was $135,649, and the median income for a family was $150,189. Males had a median income of $100,000 versus $57,500 for females. The per capita income for the township was $65,470. About 1.6% of families and 2.7% of the population were below the poverty line, including 3.9% of those under age 18 and 1.5% of those age 65 or over.

Local government
Tewksbury Township is governed under the Township form of government. The five-member Township Committee is 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 and another as Deputy Mayor.

, members of the Tewksbury Township Committee are Mayor Peter Melick (R, term on committee ends December 31, 2018; term as mayor ends 2016), Deputy Mayor Dana Desiderio (R, term on committee ends 2018; term as deputy mayor ends 2016), Louis DiMare (R, 2016) and Shaun C. Van Doren (R, 2017) and William Voyce (R, 2016).

Federal, state and county representation
Tewksbury Township is located in the 7th Congressional District and is part of New Jersey's 23rd state legislative district. Prior to the 2011 reapportionment following the 2010 Census, Tewksbury Township had been in the 24th state legislative district.

Politics
As of March 23, 2011, there were a total of 4,425 registered voters in Tewksbury Township, of which 699 (15.8%) were registered as Democrats, 2,310 (52.2%) were registered as Republicans and 1,412 (31.9%) were registered as Unaffiliated. There were 4 voters registered to other parties.

In the 2012 presidential election, Republican Mitt Romney received 66.6% of the vote (2,291 cast), ahead of Democrat Barack Obama with 32.0% (1,100 votes), and other candidates with 1.5% (51 votes), among the 3,478 ballots cast by the township's 4,628 registered voters (36 ballots were spoiled), for a turnout of 75.2%. In the 2008 presidential election, Republican John McCain received 60.7% of the vote (2,280 cast), ahead of Democrat Barack Obama with 37.4% (1,403 votes) and other candidates with 1.0% (39 votes), among the 3,754 ballots cast by the township's 4,502 registered voters, for a turnout of 83.4%. In the 2004 presidential election, Republican George W. Bush received 66.7% of the vote (2,321 ballots cast), outpolling Democrat John Kerry with 33.2% (1,156 votes) and other candidates with 0.6% (25 votes), among the 3,480 ballots cast by the township's 4,171 registered voters, for a turnout percentage of 83.4.

In the 2013 gubernatorial election, Republican Chris Christie received 77.8% of the vote (1,706 cast), ahead of Democrat Barbara Buono with 20.3% (445 votes), and other candidates with 1.9% (41 votes), among the 2,238 ballots cast by the township's 4,551 registered voters (46 ballots were spoiled), for a turnout of 49.2%. In the 2009 gubernatorial election, Republican Chris Christie received 66.7% of the vote (1,982 ballots cast), ahead of Democrat Jon Corzine with 21.5% (638 votes), Independent Chris Daggett with 10.4% (310 votes) and other candidates with 0.2% (5 votes), among the 2,971 ballots cast by the township's 4,434 registered voters, yielding a 67.0% turnout.

Education
The Tewksbury Township Schools is a public school district, which serves students in kindergarten through eighth grade. As of the 2014-15 school year, the district and its two schools had an enrollment of 941 students and 65.3 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 14.4:1. Schools in the district (with 2014-15 enrollment data from the National Center for Education Statistics ) are Tewksbury Elementary School for grades K - 4 (310 students) and Old Turnpike School for pre-Kindergarten and grades 5 - 8 (346 students). Tewksbury Elementary School was recognized in 2011 as a Blue Ribbon School by the United States Department of Education.

The original elementary school, Sawmill, opened in 1951 and was sold in 2003 for $1 million to the Hunterdon County Educational Services Commission.

Public school students in ninth through twelfth grades attend Voorhees High School in Lebanon Township (although the mailing address is Glen Gardner), which also serves students from Califon Borough, Glen Gardner Borough, Hampton Borough, High Bridge Borough and Lebanon Township. As of the 2014-15 school year, the high school had an enrollment of 1,067 students and 88.4 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 12.1:1. The school is part of the North Hunterdon-Voorhees Regional High School District, which also includes students from Bethlehem Township, Clinton Town, Clinton Township, Franklin Township, Lebanon Borough and Union Township who attend North Hunterdon High School in Annandale.

Roads and highways
, the township had a total of 99.22 mi of roadways, of which 82.81 mi were maintained by the municipality, 15.39 mi by Hunterdon County and 1.02 mi by the New Jersey Department of Transportation.

Interstate 78 passes through the Township, and is accessible via Oldwick Road (County Route 523) at Exit 24. County Route 517 also passes through the Township.

Notable people
People who were born in, residents of, or otherwise closely associated with Tewksbury Township include:
 * Harriet Adams (1892-1982), juvenile mystery novelist and publisher who authored some 200 books over her literary career, including many books in the Nancy Drew series (under the pseudonym Carolyn Keene) and a few in the Hardy Boys series (under the pseudonym Franklin W. Dixon).
 * Joseph Alexander Adams (1803–1880), engraver.
 * John Amos (born 1939), actor.
 * Pat Calpin, bassist of the ska band Catch 22.
 * Nic Chatfield (born 1981), actor and 2nd-place winner of 2009 the Doritos "Power of the Crunch" commercial contest chosen to air on Super Bowl XLIII.
 * Dan Cocoziello (born 1985), professional lacrosse player.
 * Everett Fagan (1918-1983), professional baseball player during the 1940s.
 * Eileen Ford (1922-2014), co-founder of Ford Modeling Agency, now called Ford Models.
 * Gerard W. Ford (1924–2008), co-founder of Ford Modeling Agency, now called Ford Models.
 * James Gandolfini (1961–2013), actor best known for his lead role in the HBO series The Sopranos.
 * Alison Haislip (born 1981), actress and correspondent for G4tv's Attack of the Show!.
 * Andrew Horowitz (born 1983), musician/singer in Tally Hall.
 * Brett Jungblut (born 1979), poker player, won an event in 2004 at the World Series of Poker.
 * Kamine family, owners of Olympic horse Royal Kaliber.
 * Charlie Murphy (1959–2017), actor and comedian.
 * Pat Pacillo (born 1963), former Major League Baseball pitcher for the Cincinnati Reds.
 * Joe Piscopo (born 1951), actor and comedian.
 * Webster B. Todd (1899–1989), businessman, Republican leader, and father of Christine Todd Whitman.
 * George David Weiss (1921–2010), songwriter and former President of the Songwriters Guild of America.
 * Christine Todd Whitman (born 1946), 50th Governor of New Jersey.
 * John Whitman (1944-2015), businessman, investment banker and husband of Christine Todd Whitman, who served as First Gentleman of New Jersey.
 * Paul Acocella (born 1965) Actor, Writer, Comedian