Bridgewater Township, New Jersey

Bridgewater Township is a township in Somerset County, New Jersey, United States. , the township population was 44,464.

Bridgewater Township was originally created by Royal Charter on April 4, 1749, from portions of the Northern precinct, and was incorporated as one of New Jersey's initial group of 104 townships by an Act of the New Jersey Legislature on February 21, 1798. During the nineteenth century, portions of the township were taken to form Warren Township (March 5, 1806), Branchburg Township (April 5, 1845), Somerville (March 25, 1863), Raritan (April 3, 1868) and Bound Brook (March 24, 1869).

History
Bridgewater is a relatively large, mostly affluent suburban township located in the center of Somerset County. The thirty-three square mile area which is now the Township of Bridgewater was originally purchased from a local Lenape Native American tribe. Bridgewater was chartered by George II of Great Britain in 1749, and incorporated as one of New Jersey's 104 original townships in 1798. It is named after the town of Bridgwater in the English county of Somerset.

Tradition holds that it was at the Middlebrook encampment that the first official flag of the United States was unfurled, after a law to adopt a national flag had been passed by Congress on June 14, 1777. By special order of Congress, a Thirteen Star Flag is flown 24 hours a day at the Washington Camp Ground, part of the former Middlebrook encampment, in Bridgewater. Since 1889, the first hoisting of the flag is commemorated annually each July 4 with a changing of the flag, a reading of the Declaration of Independence, and the delivery of an historical address.

Until recently, Bridgewater was known as a farming town. In the 1970s its population began to grow when residents of larger cities such as Plainfield and Newark started to migrate into Bridgewater as a result of the 1967 Plainfield Riots and 1967 Newark riots. Subsequently, Bridgewater started to receive an influx of residents who worked in the strong pharmaceutical, telecommunications and financial industries in Bridgewater and the Raritan Valley. More recently, there has also been growth as Bridgewater has become more popular with New York City commuters who use Bridgewater Station on New Jersey Transit's Raritan Valley Line or Interstate 78 East to commute to New York City. Bridgewater is now a fairly developed suburban community, with few traces of its rural past still evident in the town (particularly in its northwestern section). Bridgewater is now Somerset County's second-most populous municipality, after Franklin Township.

Geography
According to the United States Census Bureau, the township has a total area of 32.5 sqmi, of which 32.5 sqmi is land and 0.1 sqmi (0.28%) is water.

While much of Bridgewater has relatively flat terrain, the northeastern portion of the township is very hilly, with the First Ridge of the Watchung Mountains (sometimes known as the First Watchung Mountain) passing through the township. Additionally the Second Ridge (Second Mountain) passes just north of the township border.

The Raritan River and its branches and tributaries form much of Bridgewater's borders with other municipalities and a number of smaller rivers and streams run through Bridgewater. The Raritan itself runs along Bridgewater's southern border (except where Somerville and Raritan were carved out as separate boroughs) and the North Branch of the Raritan River forms the township's western border with Branchburg. The North Branch and South Branch of the Raritan River meet at the extreme southwestern corner of Bridgewater at the border with both Branchburg Township and Hillsborough Township, and this point known as the Raritan River Confluence was once intended to be a major reservoir.

Bridgewater borders 13 other municipalities. Its longest borders are with Branchburg Township, Bedminster, Bernards Towsnhip, Warren Township, Bound Brook, Somerville and Raritan. It also borders Green Brook (though connected only by Route 22), Middlesex (though connected only by one local street), South Bound Brook (a very short border in the middle of the Raritan River, Franklin Township (the only street connection is Interstate 287), Manville (the only street connection is Finderne Avenue, a county highway), and Hillsborough (no direct street connection.) Bridgewater Township's ZIP Code is 08807, with 08836 used in the community of Martinsville, and 08805 used in the Thomae Park section (mailing address of Bound Brook). Bridgewater's area codes are 908 and 732. Bridgewater is in Raritan Valley (a line of cities in Central New Jersey). Bridgewater lies in the western division of Raritan Valley along with Branchburg and Raritan.

Communities
Bridgewater contains a number of communities and sections, many of which do not have officially defined boundaries. They include:


 * Bradley Gardens: Located in southwestern Bridgewater, bordered on the east by Raritan and Branchburg to the west. This is one of Bridgewater's older residential areas but also includes some newer developments as well as a commercial area along Old York Road.
 * Eastern North Branch: Most of North Branch is in Branchburg, but a portion lies to the east of the North Branch of the Raritan River, in Bridgewater Township.
 * Finderne: Located in southeastern Bridgewater between Bound Brook and Somerville. This is a diverse area with older neighborhoods bordering Foothill Road, newer developments, multi-unit housing near the Raritan River/Manville border, as well as commercial and industrial areas. The Middlebrook Crossing industrial park, the Promenade shopping center and TD Bank Ballpark, home to the Somerset Patriots, are located here.
 * Thomae Park: In the extreme eastern portion of Bridgewater, bordering Bound Brook and Middlesex. Residents there have a Bound Brook ZIP code. One of their main attractions is Thomae Park, which has a playground, basketball court, baseball field, and hiking trail.
 * Green Knoll: Located in central Bridgewater, this is a residential area with many major commercial developments and government facilities, including the Bridgewater Commons Mall at the intersection of U.S. Route 22 and U.S. Route 202-206, a large office park just west of the Commons across 202-206, the municipal building and police station, and Bridgewater-Raritan High School.
 * Country Club/Meadow Road Area: This area is referred to by some as the "Country Club-Meadow Road area" or similar names, after the major north-south streets there. Some also refer to "the Van Holten area" after the elementary school located there. It borders Bedminster and Branchburg. It is Bridgewater's most "rural" section, although it is comprised almost exclusively of residential communities.
 * Milltown/Vanderveer Road Area: This area is known to some as the "Milltown-Vanderveer" area. The area is northeast of Bradley Gardens bordering Raritan and Branchburg. It is mainly a residential community with many new homes built in recent years.
 * Martinsville: Located in northeastern Bridgewater near Warren Township and Bernards Township. This is a predominantly residential area, though it does have its own commercial center along Washington Valley Road, and its own post office and ZIP code. This also is a very hilly area as it is the portion of Bridgewater through which the Watchung Mountains pass.
 * Sunset Lake: Built around a man-made lake in the extreme northern part of Bridgewater, near the interchange of Interstate 287 and Interstate 78. Some of the residents there have the Basking Ridge ZIP code 07920.

Demographics
At the 2000 United States Census, there were 42,940 people, 15,561 households and 11,888 families residing in the township. The population density was 1,323.4 per square mile (510.9/km²). There were 15,879 housing units at an average density of 489.4 per square mile (188.9/km²). The racial makeup of the township was 83.07% White, 2.17% African American, 0.08% Native American, 11.54% Asian, 0.01% Pacific Islander, 0.89% from other races, and 1.25% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 4.79% of the population. 19.7% were of Italian, 11.9% Irish, 10.4% German, 8.8% Polish and 5.2% English ancestry.

There were 15,561 households of which 38.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 66.6% were married couples living together, 7.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 23.6% were non-families. 19.8% of all households were made up of individuals and 7.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.71 and the average family size was 3.14.

25.7% of the population were under the age of 18, 4.9% from 18 to 24, 32.6% from 25 to 44, 24.2% from 45 to 64, and 12.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females there were 92.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 88.4 males.

The median household income was $88,308 and the median family income was $99,832 (these figures had risen to $99,973 and $117,580 respectively in a 2007 estimate ). Males had a median income of $67,089 versus $49,096 for females. The per capita income for the township was $39,555. About 1.6% of families and 2.1% of the population were below the poverty line, including 1.7% of those under age 18 and 3.7% of those age 65 or over.

According to National Geographic magazine, Bridgewater has an unusually high number of twins and triplets.

Local government
Bridgewater Township is governed under the Faulkner Act (Mayor-Council) system of municipal government, and is governed by a Mayor and a five-member Township Council. Councilmembers are elected at-large in partisan elections to serve four-terms of office on a staggered basis, with two or three seats coming up for election every other year.

, the Mayor of Bridgewater Township is Patricia Flannery. Members of the Bridgewater Township Committee are Council President Howard Norgalis, Dan Hayes, Allen Kurdyla, Matthew Moench and Christine Henderson Rose. All six office-holders are Republicans. After serving two terms as mayor, Flannery did not seek re-election in 2011. Hayes, who was elected to succeed her, will move to the mayoral seat in January 2012, and the council will select his replacement on the council among nominees of the local Republican committee, in accordance with state law.

Federal, state and county representation
Bridgewater Township is split between the 7th and 11th Congressional districts and is part of New Jersey's 16th state legislative district. The township was relocated to the 23rd state legislative district by the New Jersey Apportionment Commission based on the results of the 2010 Census. The new district is in effect for the June 2011 primary and the November 2011 general election, with the state senator and assembly members elected taking office in the new district as of January 2012. As a result of Congressional redistricting, Bridgewater will no longer be split between districts and will be entirely within the 7th district for the 2012 election.

Fontana is a Bridgewater Township resident and former councilman.

Politics
In recent years, on the national and state levels, Bridgewater Township leans toward the Republican Party. In the 2008 Presidential Election, Republican John McCain received 51% of the vote, defeating Democrat Barack Obama, who received around 47%. In the 2009 Gubernatorial Election, Republican Chris Christie received 62% of the vote, defeating Democrat Jon Corzine, who received around 29%.

Blocked mosque
In early 2011, application was made to turn a former inn/reception center into a mosque, the town's first. In contravention of standard procedure, the township council did a hurried review and rejected the application averting a 5 May effective state statute that would have made rejection much more difficult. A federal judge has allowed a lawsuit challenging the council's decision to go forward, and the U.S. Justice Department is conducting its own investigation.

Education
Bridgewater is part of the Bridgewater-Raritan Regional School District. All of the schools in the district are in Bridgewater except for Kennedy, which is in Raritan Borough. Schools in the district (with 2009-10 enrollment data from the National Center for Education Statistics ) are six K-4 elementary schools — Adamsville School (531 students), Bradley Gardens School (363), Crim School (444), Hamilton School (451), John F. Kennedy School (466), Milltown School (531) and Van Holten School (495) — both Eisenhower Intermediate School (846) and Hillside Intermediate School (576) for grades 5&6, Bridgewater-Raritan Middle School (1,521) for grades 7&8 and Bridgewater-Raritan High School (2,863) for grades 9-12.

During the 1999-2000 school year, Bridgewater-Raritan High School was recognized with the Blue Ribbon School Award of Excellence by the United States Department of Education, the highest award an American school can receive from the federal government.

Bridgewater is the home of the Somerset County Vocational and Technical High School, a four-year magnet school that provides occupational and academic training to students from all of Somerset County.

The headquarters of the Somerset County Library is also located in Bridgewater. The other branches of the Somerset County Library are located in Bound Brook, Hillsborough, North Plainfield, Peapack-Gladstone, Rocky Hill, Warren Township, and Watchung.

Transportation
Bridgewater is criss-crossed by several major highways, including Interstate 287, Interstate 78, U.S. 22, Route 202-206 and Route 28.

The Raritan Valley Line of NJ Transit also passes through Bridgewater. There are two stations in the Finderne area, the now-closed Finderne off Finderne Avenue and the Bridgewater station on the old American Cyanamid property.

NJ Transit bus service is provided on the 114 route to the Port Authority Bus Terminal in Midtown Manhattan, to Newark on the 65 line (Limited) and local Wheels service on the 884 and 989 bus routes.

Bridgewater Township is serviced by three local airports, Solberg-Hunterdon Airport to the west in Readington, Somerset Airport to the north in Bedminster Township, and Central Jersey Regional Airport to the south in Manville. These airports are open to the public and offer charter flight services as well as flight training and other aviation related services. They operate in all weather conditions and have instrument approaches available for use by pilots in bad weather.

Scheduled commercial passenger service is provided by Newark Liberty International Airport, located approximately 32 mi away in Newark / Elizabeth.

Police
Bridgewater is primarily protected by the Bridgewater Police Department. This large department boasts a detective unit, a traffic unit, a patrol unit, and many other divisions.

Fire
Bridgewater has six all-volunteer fire companies. They provide fire suppression and assist in vehicle extrication and rescue attempts.
 * Country Hills Fire Company (District 3)
 * Green Knoll Fire Company (District 3)
 * North Branch Fire Company (District 3)
 * Bradley Gardens Fire Company (District 2)
 * Finderne Fire Company (District 4)
 * Martinsville Fire Company (District 1)

EMS/Rescue
Bridgewater is served by five volunteer BLS rescue squads. They provide EMS coverage as well as vehicle extrication, water rescue, and other rescue services. ALS (paramedics) is dispatched from Somerset Medical Center.
 * Martinsville Rescue Squad
 * Green Knoll Rescue Squad
 * Finderne First Aid & Rescue Squad
 * Bradley Gardens First Aid & Rescue Squad
 * Bound Brook First Aid Squad

Points of interest
Bridgewater has also served as the location for some films, notably North (1994) which used the Bridgewater Commons Mall as the setting for a discussion between characters.
 * Places of worship in Bridgewater include churches for a number of Christian denominations, a Jewish synagogue, a Hindu temple and a Sikh temple.
 * Bridgewater Commons, a large regional shopping mall anchored by Bloomingdale's, Lord & Taylor, & Macy's.
 * TD Bank Ballpark, home of the Somerset Patriots (originally Commerce Bank Ballpark).
 * Washington Camp Ground (also known as Middlebrook encampment), just north of Bound Brook, a preserved portion of the land on which the army of George Washington encamped during the winter of 1778-79. (The general himself stayed in an actual house in Somerville.)
 * Somerset County library headquarters
 * The area also offers many parks and other recreational facilities., including Washington Valley Park.

Boy Scouts and Cub Scouts

 * Boy Scout Troop 46 sponsored by Blessed Sacrament Church, Martinsville
 * Boy Scout Troop 88 sponsored by Eisenhower Intermediate School
 * Boy Scout Troop 99 sponsored by American Legion Post 327
 * Boy Scout Troop 154 operating out of the Pluckemin Presbyterian Church
 * Cub Scout Pack 154 sponsored by Pluckemin Presbyterian Church, Pluckemin
 * Cub Scout Pack 64 sponsored by Adamsville Elementary School PTO, Bridgewater

Interesting facts

 * Bridgewater is the setting for a concept album by the band The World/Inferno Friendship Society. Titled The True Story of the Bridgewater Astral League, the album talks about a gang of young people who like to get together and create all sorts of mischief.
 * It was one the filming locations for the Columbia Pictures 1994 comedy film North.

Notable residents
Notable current and former residents of Bridgewater Township include:
 * Hank Beenders (1916–2003), early professional basketball player.
 * Frank DiPascali, CFO of Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities, LLC and key lieutenant of Bernard Madoff.
 * Paul Heck (born 1967), music producer and artist liaison for the Red Hot Organization, also an independent sound manager.
 * Andrea Kane, author of romance novels.
 * Matt Kassel (born 1989), soccer player for the New York Red Bulls in Major League Soccer.
 * Paul Laird (born 1958), musicologist at the University of Kansas who has published several books, on Leonard Bernstein, American musicals and other classical music topics.
 * Eric Murdock (born 1968), former professional basketball player. Star point guard at Bridgewater-Raritan High School West, and later Providence College. Played nine seasons in the NBA.
 * Joe Rogan (born 1967), host of Fear Factor and UFC/MMA announcer.
 * Scott Schwartz (born 1968), former child actor who appeared in 1980s films The Toy and A Christmas Story, the latter as Flick, the boy who gets his tongue stuck to a telephone pole.
 * Adam Small, composer, producer and instrumentalist with film and television credits.
 * Jack Terricloth (born 1970), pseudonym of Pete Ventantonio, frontman of the band The World/Inferno Friendship Society.
 * David Wiesner (born 1956), author and illustrator of children's books and publications. His work has won several honors, including three Caldecott Medals.
 * Robert Woodruff (born 1921), Federal Administrative Law Judge, Assistant United States Attorney District of New Jersey.