Alpha, New Jersey facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Alpha, New Jersey
Borough
Route 78 westbound in Alpha
Location of Alpha in Warren County highlighted in red (right). Inset map: Location of Warren County in New Jersey highlighted in orange (left).
Census Bureau map of Alpha, New Jersey
Alpha, New Jersey Location in Warren County, New Jersey Show map of Warren County, New Jersey Alpha, New Jersey Location in New Jersey Show map of New Jersey Alpha, New Jersey Location in the United States Show map of the United States
Country	United States
State	New Jersey
County	Warren
Incorporated	June 26, 1911
Named for	Alpha Cement Works
Government
• Type	Borough
• Body	Borough Council
Area
• Total	1.72 sq mi (4.44 km2)
• Land	1.68 sq mi (4.35 km2)
• Water	0.04 sq mi (0.09 km2)  2.03%
Area rank	431st of 565 in state 21st of 22 in county
Elevation	269 ft (82 m)
Population  (2020)
• Total	2,328
• Estimate  (2023)	2,348
• Rank	475th of 565 in state 19th of 22 in county
• Density	1,385.2/sq mi (534.8/km2)
• Density rank	347th of 565 in state 5th of 22 in county
Time zone	UTC−05:00 (Eastern (EST))
• Summer (DST)	UTC−04:00 (Eastern (EDT))
ZIP Code	08865
Area code(s)	908
FIPS code	3404101030
GNIS feature ID	885138
School district	Phillipsburg School District

Alpha is a borough in Warren County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the borough's population was 2,328, a decrease of 41 (−1.7%) from the 2010 census count of 2,369, which in turn reflected a decline of 113 (−4.6%) from the 2,482 counted in the 2000 census.

Alpha was incorporated as a borough from portions of Pohatcong Township by an act of the New Jersey Legislature passed on June 26, 1911, and signed by Governor Woodrow Wilson, based on the results of a referendum held on May 31, 1911. The borough was named for the Alpha Cement Works.

History

Formally known as Vulcanite, Alpha was incorporated on June 26, 1911, but its history can be traced back to a much earlier date. At the time of the Great Blizzard of 1888, there were only seven houses in what is now the corporate limits of Alpha. The exact date on which the first house in Alpha is uncertain. One of the first homes in the community was a two-room log cabin constructed by the Pursel family beside an old Indian Trail on the former property of the Vulcanite Portland Cement Company, now New Brunswick Avenue.

Less than two years after incorporating, the community obtained a continuation of the streetcar line from Phillipsburg and electric street lights were installed.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the borough had a total area of 1.72 square miles (4.44 km²), including 1.68 square miles (4.35 km²) of land and 0.04 square miles (0.09 km²) of water (2.03%).

Unincorporated communities, localities and place names located partially or completely within the borough include Vulcanite.

The borough is completely surrounded by Pohatcong Township, making it part of 21 pairs of "doughnut towns" in the state, where one municipality entirely surrounds another.

Demographics

2010 census

The 2010 United States census counted 2,369 people, 964 households, and 632 families in the borough. The population density was 1,417.2 per square mile (547.2/km²). There were 1,032 housing units at an average density of 617.4 per square mile (238.4/km²). The racial makeup was 93.12% (2,206) White, 2.41% (57) Black or African American, 0.00% (0) Native American, 1.52% (36) Asian, 0.00% (0) Pacific Islander, 1.18% (28) from other races, and 1.77% (42) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 5.28% (125) of the population.

Of the 964 households, 29.3% had children under the age of 18; 47.5% were married couples living together; 12.8% had a female householder with no husband present and 34.4% were non-families. Of all households, 29.1% 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 2.45 and the average family size was 3.03.

22.7% of the population were under the age of 18, 7.8% from 18 to 24, 26.0% from 25 to 44, 27.9% from 45 to 64, and 15.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40.6 years. For every 100 females, the population had 92.4 males. For every 100 females ages 18 and older there were 89.7 males.

The Census Bureau's 2006–2010 American Community Survey showed that (in 2010 inflation-adjusted dollars) median household income was $63,953 (with a margin of error of +/− $7,724) and the median family income was $73,929 (+/− $6,822). Males had a median income of $49,461 (+/− $3,100) versus $40,859 (+/− $5,262) for females. The per capita income for the borough was $28,567 (+/− $2,455). About 4.0% of families and 5.1% of the population were below the poverty line, including 9.8% of those under age 18 and 4.9% of those age 65 or over.

Education

Students in pre-kindergarten through eighth grade for public school attend the Alpha School District at Alpha School. As of the 2022–23 school year, the district, comprised of one school, had an enrollment of 179 students and 24.4 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 7.3:1. In the 2016–2017 school year, Alpha had the 42nd smallest enrollment of any school district in the state, with 194 students.

Public school students in ninth through twelfth grades attend Phillipsburg High School in Phillipsburg, which serves students from Alpha as part of a sending/receiving relationship with the Phillipsburg School District. The high school also serves students from four other sending communities: Bloomsbury (in Hunterdon County), Greenwich Township, Lopatcong Township and Pohatcong Township. As of the 2022–23 school year, the school had an enrollment of 264 students and 22.0 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 12.0:1.

Students from the borough and from all of Warren County are eligible to attend Ridge and Valley Charter School in Blairstown (for grades K–8) or Warren County Technical School in Washington borough (for 9–12), with special education services provided by local districts supplemented throughout the county by the Warren County Special Services School District in Oxford Township (for Pre-K–12).

Transportation

Interstate 78 westbound through Alpha

As of May 2010^[update], the borough had a total of 21.40 miles (34.44 km) of roadways, of which 17.38 miles (27.97 km) were maintained by the municipality, 2.78 miles (4.47 km) by Warren County and 1.24 miles (2.00 km) by the Delaware River Joint Toll Bridge Commission. The main road that goes through is CR 519. Route 122 runs through briefly in the north.

While Interstate 78 passes through the southern portion of the borough, the closest access point is at US 22 in neighboring Pohatcong.

The Norfolk Southern Railway's Lehigh Line (formerly the mainline of the Lehigh Valley Railroad), runs through Alpha on its way to Phillipsburg, New Jersey.

Notable people

People who were born in, residents of, or otherwise closely associated with Alpha include:

• Joe Buzas (1919–2003), Minor League Baseball executive who played one season with the New York Yankees
• Hector A. Cafferata Jr. (1929–2016), United States Marine who received the Medal of Honor for his actions at the Battle of Chosin Reservoir during the Korean War
• Jack Orchulli (born 1946), politician
• Jennie Somogyi (born 1977/78), ballet dancer who joined the New York City Ballet in 1993, at age 15, became a principal dancer in 2000, and retired in 2015

See also

In Spanish: Alpha (Nueva Jersey) para niños