Sparta Township, New Jersey

Sparta Township is a Township in Sussex County, New Jersey, United States. As of the United States 2000 Census, the township population was 18,080. The township includes the communities of Ackerson, Edison, Hopewell, Houses Corner, Monroe, Sparta, Sparta Junction, Sussex Mills, Upper Mohawk, and Woodruffs Gap.

Lake Mohawk is a census-designated place and unincorporated area located in parts of both Byram Township and Sparta Township.

Sparta was organized as a township by an act of the New Jersey Legislature on February 13, 1845, and the township was named after the existing community of Sparta, which had been settled and named years before,Snell, James P. (1881) History of Sussex and Warren Counties, New Jersey, With Illustrations and Biographical Sketches of its Prominent Men and Pioneers. (Centennial ed., Harmony, NJ: Harmony Press, 1981, p. 407) the name likely coming from Sparta, Greece. Ogdensburg Borough was incorporated in 1914 when it separated from Sparta Township.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the township has a total area of 101.6 km² (39.2 mi²). 96.8 km² (37.4 mi²) of it is land and 4.7 km² (1.8 mi²) of it (4.67%) is water.

Demographics

As of the census ² of 2000, there were 18,080 people, 6,225 households, and 5,029 families residing in the township. The population density was 186.7/km² (483.5/mi²). There were 6,590 housing units at an average density of 68.1/km² (176.2/mi²). The racial makeup of the township was 96.69% White, 0.29% African American, 0.07% Native American, 1.39% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 0.45% from other races, and 1.09% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2.54% of the population.

There were 6,225 households out of which 44.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 72.9% were married couples living together, 5.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 19.2% were non-families. 16.1% of all households were made up of individuals and 7.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.90 and the average family size was 3.28.

In the township the population was spread out with 30.6% under the age of 18, 4.5% from 18 to 24, 30.0% from 25 to 44, 26.6% from 45 to 64, and 8.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females there were 97.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 94.4 males.

The median income for a household in the township was $89,835, and the median income for a family was $100,658. Males had a median income of $74,293 versus $39,349 for females. The per capita income for the township was $36,910. About 1.0% of families and 1.5% of the population were below the poverty line, including 1.3% of those under age 18 and 2.1% of those age 65 or over.

Government

Local government

Sparta Township is governed by a non-partisan form of government known as Council-Manager Plan B of the Faulkner Act. The five-member Council is elected at large for four-year terms and they choose a Mayor and Deputy Mayor from among themselves to serve one-year terms of office. The Township Council has the responsibility for all legislative matters. Municipal Elections are held on the second Tuesday in May on even numbered years.

The Council’s responsibilities include enacting ordinances and resolutions, establishing policies, preparing the annual budget with the assistance of the Township Manager and the Treasurer, and levying taxes. Additionally, the Council makes appointments to both the policy and decision-making boards and various advisory committees in accordance with general law and Township ordinances and resolutions.

Members of the Sparta Township Council are Mayor Ailish C. Hambel, Deputy Mayor Wayne A. Ring, James L. Henderson, Jerry J. Murphy and Scott K. Seelagy.

Federal, state and county representation

Sparta Township is in the Eleventh Congressional District and is part of New Jersey's 24th Legislative District.

Education

Sparta is home to both a highly regarded public school system as well as a parochial Catholic school system.

The Sparta Township Public School District operates a K-12 educational program for over 4,100 students. It is organized into two elementary schools (grades K-4), Alpine School with 667 students and Helen Morgan School with 905 students; one elementary school (grade 5), Mohawk Avenue School with 357 students; one middle school (grades 6-8), Sparta Middle School with 1,005 students; and one senior high school (grades 9-12), Sparta High School with 1,060 students. The Board of Education Offices are located in the Mohawk Avenue School Building.

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Paterson is responsible for Rev. George A. Brown Elementary and Pope John XXIII High School.

Sparta is also home to Sussex County Technical School, as well as Hilltop Country Day School, a private school for grades K-8.

History

Overview

The Lenni Lenape Native Americans occupied the land at the time of its discovery by European colonists. Early Dutch explorers and traders discovered red ores in the area and attempted to mine them as early as 1750, but were unsuccessful in their mistaken attempts to extract copper from the ores. No permanent settlers arrived until 1778, when Robert Ogden built his home and constructed an iron forge on lands he had acquired. 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

Iron

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 iron operations on 2500 acres of Sparta Mountain. At its peak Edison's operation employed 400 people, but he was forced to abandon the project within 10 years when more economical ores in Minnesota's Mesabi Iron Range were found and developed. 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 managanese contamination, but zinc was recoverable and the ores at Sterling Hill were rich with it.

In 1856 the Passaic Zinc Company started operations at Sterling Hill 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 1500 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 lime quarry near Sparta in 1919. The quarry fed Edison's Portland cement operations, and was in continuous operation under various owners for nearly 100 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. The inactive limestone quarry was purchased by real estate developer Gene Mulvihill, who in 2005 made public his intentions to build a housing community around the lake created by the water-filled pit.

Tourism

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 constructed a 600-foot dam across the Wallkill River to form 300-acre 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 1940's and the current membership of 2,600 families are largely year-round residents.

Sources

Pierson, Duane, Images of Sparta, Minisink Press, Inc., 1981
Snell, James P., History of Sussex & Warren Counties, NJ with Illustrations and Biographical Sketches of its Prominent Men and Pioneers, Everts & Peck, Philadelphia, 1881
Truran, William R., Sparta, NJ: Head of the Wallkill, Trupower Press, Sparta, NJ, 2005

References

External links

Faulkner Act | Sussex County, New Jersey | Townships in New Jersey

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