Flemington, New Jersey

Flemington is a Borough in Hunterdon County, New Jersey, United States. As of the United States 2000 Census, the borough population was 4,201. It is the county seat of Hunterdon County.

On February 13, 1935 a jury in Flemington found Bruno Richard Hauptmann guilty of the kidnapping and murder of Charles Lindbergh's baby boy.

Flemington is an independent municipality located entirely within (and completely surrounded by) Raritan Township and is located near the geographic center of the Township. In 1756, Samuel Fleming purchased part of this land, and built his home which still stands on Bonnell Street, and "Fleming's Town" was born.

Geography

Flemington is located at (40.508653, -74.858077).

According to the United States Census Bureau, the borough has a total area of 2.8 km² (1.1 mi²), all land.

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 4,202 people, 1,804 households, and 997 families residing in the borough. The population density was 1,515.5/km² (3,927.4/mi²). There were 1,876 housing units at an average density of 676.9/km² (1,754.2/mi²). The racial makeup of the borough was 87.71% White, 3.19% African American, 0.31% Native American, 3.12% Asian, 0.17% Pacific Islander, 3.14% from other races, and 2.36% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 10.98% of the population. Flemington is the home of the Mediatech Foundation, a community technology center.

There were 1,804 households out of which 26.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 38.7% were married couples living together, 11.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 44.7% were non-families. 37.7% of all households were made up of individuals and 12.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.26 and the average family size was 3.00.

In the borough the population was spread out with 22.2% under the age of 18, 8.6% from 18 to 24, 36.9% from 25 to 44, 20.2% from 45 to 64, and 12.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35 years. For every 100 females there were 94.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 92.7 males.

The median income for a household in the borough was $39,886, and the median income for a family was $51,582. Males had a median income of $38,594 versus $31,250 for females. The per capita income for the borough was $23,769. About 5.0% of families and 6.9% of the population were below the poverty line, including 7.5% of those under age 18 and 3.0% of those age 65 or over.

Flemington Circle

Flemington Circle is the largest of three traffic circles in the environs of Flemington and sits just to the southeast of Flemington's historic downtown. U.S. Route 202 and Route 31 approach the circle separately from the north and continue south concurrent, and the circle is the eastern terminus of Route 12. It is one of only a handful of New Jersey's once-widespread traffic circles still extant according to its original design. The circle sees significant congestion on weekends because of the new developments and big-box retailers. Unlike most circles, traffic on US 202 does not yield on entry; US 202, being a main four-lane divided highway, gets the right-of-way.

Two other traffic circles exist on Route 12 just west of the Flemington Circle. Both are unnamed and handle a much smaller volume of traffic; the first one, at South Main Street (old Route 31), is also in Flemington, and the other, at Flemington Road / Route 523 (old Route 12), is in Raritan Township.

Government

Local government

The Mayor of Flemington Borough is William Martin, Jr. Members of the Flemington Borough Council are Sandra Borucki, Donna Cocco, John Gorman, Robert Hauck, Mary Melfi and Joey Novick.

Federal, state and county representation

Flemington Borough is in the Seventh Congressional District and is part of New Jersey's 23rd Legislative District.

Education

Children grades K through 8 attend the Flemington-Raritan Regional School District, which also serves children from the neighboring community of Raritan Township. The district consists of four K - 4 elementary schools — Barley Sheaf School (491 students) - Flemington; Copper Hill School (801 students) - Ringoes; Francis A. Desmares School (540 students) - Flemington; Robert Hunter School (499 students) - Flemington — Reading-Fleming Intermediate School in Flemington for grades 5 - 6 and J. P. Case Middle School (1,199 students) - Flemington for grades 7 and 8.

Students in grade 9 - 12 attend the Hunterdon Central Regional High School, part of the Hunterdon Central Regional High School District, which serves almost 2,800 students in central Hunterdon County. Students from Delaware Township, East Amwell Township, Flemington Borough, Raritan Township and Readington Township attend Hunterdon Central Regional High School.

History

The land that comprises Flemington was originally the territory of the Lenni Lenape Native Americans, as was all of Hunterdon County. In 1712, as part of a land parcel of 9,170 acres, the Flemington acreage was acquired by William Penn and Daniel Coxe.

The surrounding fertile farmland dictated that the beginnings of Flemington should be essentially agricultural. Early German and English settlers engaged in industries dependent on farm products. As time passed poultry and dairy farms superseded crops in agricultural importance.

In 1785, Flemington was chosen as the County Seat of Hunterdon. Fire destroyed the old courthouse in 1826 and the City of Lambertville made an attempt to have the Seat moved, to no avail. Flemington remained the County Seat and the Courthouse which stands today on Main Street was built.

In 1856, the Hunterdon County Agricultural society purchased 40 acres of land that would accommodate the people, exhibits and livestock for the County (Flemington) Fair. The purpose of this Fair was to promote competition between farmers, stock raisers and machinery manufacturers. The fair was held every year at the Flemington Fair Grounds which also was the site of Flemington Speedway. For a number of years the speedway hosted a NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Race. In 2003, the County Fair found a new home in Raritan Township.

By 1980, sixty-five percent of Flemington borough had been included on the New Jersey State Register of Historic Places and is now on the National Register of Historic Places.

External links

Boroughs in New Jersey | Hunterdon County, New Jersey | New Jersey District Factor Group GH