Netcong, New Jersey facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Netcong, New Jersey
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Borough
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Stanhope United Methodist Church
The Church in the Glen |
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| Motto(s):
All Roads Lead To Netcong
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Location in Morris County and the state of New Jersey.
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Census Bureau map of Netcong, New Jersey
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 Netcong, New Jersey
Location in Morris County, New Jersey
Netcong, New Jersey
Location in New Jersey
Netcong, New Jersey
Location in the United States
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| Country |  United States |
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| State |  New Jersey |
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| County |  Morris |
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| Incorporated | October 23, 1894 | |
| Named for | Musconetcong River | |
| Government | ||
| • Type | Borough | |
| • Body | Borough Council | |
| Area | ||
| • Total | 0.96 sq mi (2.48 km2) | |
| • Land | 0.83 sq mi (2.15 km2) | |
| • Water | 0.12 sq mi (0.32 km2) 13.33% | |
| Area rank | 509th of 565 in state 38th of 39 in county |
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| Elevation | 906 ft (276 m) | |
| Population
(2020)
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| • Total | 3,375 | |
| • Estimate
(2023)
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3,665 | |
| • Rank | 432nd of 565 in state 37th of 39 in county |
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| • Density | 4,053.1/sq mi (1,564.9/km2) | |
| • Density rank | 156th of 565 in state 4th of 39 in county |
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| Time zone | UTC−05:00 (Eastern (EST)) | |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC−04:00 (Eastern (EDT)) | |
| ZIP Code |
07857
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| Area code(s) | 973 | |
| FIPS code | 3402750130 | |
| GNIS feature ID | 0885316 | |
Netcong is a borough in southwestern Morris County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the borough's population was 3,375, an increase of 143 (+4.4%) from the 2010 census count of 3,232, which in turn reflected an increase of 652 (+25.3%) from the 2,580 counted in the 2000 census. Netcong lies on the shores of Lake Musconetcong.
Established as South Stanhope by workers employed as miners in Stanhope, the name "Netcong" was adopted for the community in 1889 when a post office used the name. Netcong was incorporated as a borough by an act of the New Jersey Legislature on October 23, 1894, from portions of both Mount Olive Township and Roxbury Township, based on the results of a referendum held the previous day.
Contents
History
Netcong received its name from the Musconetcong River, named by the Lenape Native Americans and meaning "grass creek", "swamp stream", "rapid stream" or "clear stream place". Along with the river, the proximity of the old Morris and Sussex Turnpike, which passed through the region shortly after 1801, and the coming of the Morris Canal, in 1831, made the site a favorable one for development.
After becoming a borough, the residents had to elect the first governing body. The first mayor was Abraham J. Drake, elected November 14, 1894. A census of Netcong taken July 1895 showed a population of 877 people.
Netcong derived much of its business from the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad, which had its last stop in Morris County in the heart of the borough. The DL&W's Sussex Branch to Branchville also stopped at Netcong Station, with the Sussex Branch coming into the opposite side of the station from where NJ Transit's line is today. The big railroad roundhouse in Port Morris also supplied many jobs for the town residents.
In 1968, AT&T announced that the company would be building a two-story building in the borough at the bottom of a hole 47 feet (14 m) underground. The facility, designed to connect a cable running between Boston and Miami, was designed to withstand a nuclear attack and continue 24-hour operations for as long as three weeks using supplies and generating capacity on the site.
Geography
According to the United States Census Bureau, the borough had a total area of 0.96 square miles (2.49 km2), including 0.83 square miles (2.16 km2) of land and 0.13 square miles (0.33 km2) of water (13.33%).
Netcong borders the municipalities of Mount Olive Township and Roxbury Township in Morris County; and Stanhope in Sussex County.
Demographics
| Historical population | |||
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| Census | Pop. | %± | |
| 1900 | 941 | — | |
| 1910 | 1,532 | 62.8% | |
| 1920 | 1,800 | 17.5% | |
| 1930 | 2,097 | 16.5% | |
| 1940 | 2,157 | 2.9% | |
| 1950 | 2,284 | 5.9% | |
| 1960 | 2,765 | 21.1% | |
| 1970 | 2,858 | 3.4% | |
| 1980 | 3,557 | 24.5% | |
| 1990 | 3,311 | −6.9% | |
| 2000 | 2,580 | −22.1% | |
| 2010 | 3,232 | 25.3% | |
| 2020 | 3,375 | 4.4% | |
| 2023 (est.) | 3,665 | 13.4% | |
| Population sources: 1900–1920 1900–1910 1910–1930 1940–2000 2000 2010 2020 |
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2010 census
The 2010 United States census counted 3,232 people, 1,381 households, and 811 families in the borough. The population density was 3,828.4 per square mile (1,478.2/km2). There were 1,449 housing units at an average density of 1,716.4 per square mile (662.7/km2). The racial makeup was 84.22% (2,722) White, 3.90% (126) Black or African American, 0.34% (11) Native American, 2.78% (90) Asian, 0.00% (0) Pacific Islander, 6.71% (217) from other races, and 2.04% (66) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 17.70% (572) of the population.
Of the 1,381 households, 23.5% had children under the age of 18; 41.7% were married couples living together; 11.9% had a female householder with no husband present and 41.3% were non-families. Of all households, 32.7% were made up of individuals and 9.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.34 and the average family size was 2.99.
18.8% of the population were under the age of 18, 8.8% from 18 to 24, 29.9% from 25 to 44, 29.0% from 45 to 64, and 13.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40.1 years. For every 100 females, the population had 97.1 males. For every 100 females ages 18 and older there were 95.5 males.
The Census Bureau's 2006–2010 American Community Survey showed that (in 2010 inflation-adjusted dollars) median household income was $59,167 (with a margin of error of +/− $9,354) and the median family income was $72,222 (+/− $9,501). Males had a median income of $64,569 (+/− $6,401) versus $46,094 (+/− $3,857) for females. The per capita income for the borough was $32,135 (+/− $3,825). About 7.8% of families and 7.7% of the population were below the poverty line, including 7.3% of those under age 18 and 4.6% of those age 65 or over.
Education
Netcong is home to the Netcong School District, which serves public school students in pre-kindergarten through eighth grade at Netcong Elementary School. As of the 2018–19 school year, the district, comprised of one school, had an enrollment of 289 students and 26.0 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 11.1:1.
For ninth through twelfth grades, public school students attend Lenape Valley Regional High School, which serves students from Netcong and from the Sussex County communities of Byram Township and Stanhope. As of the 2018–19 school year, the high school had an enrollment of 691 students and 58.0 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 11.9:1. Seats on the high school district's nine-member board of education are allocated based on the populations of the constituent municipalities, with two seats assigned to Netcong. Netcong residents previously attended Netcong High School. The school closed in 1974 and the building became Netcong Elementary School.
St. Michael School is a Catholic school operated under the auspices of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Paterson, that was founded in 1923, and staffed by the Sisters of Christian Charity of Mendham starting in 1945. The school closed at the end of the school year in June 2016 and was merged with four other elementary schools and relocated to the campus at Pope John XXIII Regional High School in Sparta, New Jersey.
Patron saint
The patron saint of the borough is St. Cesario deacon and martyr of Terracina. In 1893 some Italian immigrants left their hometown of Cesa, a province of Caserta (Italy), to come to the United States. They settled in Netcong, attracted by job opportunities at the Singer Steel Foundry, and in the construction of the railroad which was replacing the Morris Canal as a means of transportation. They established the "St. Cesario Society" in 1902 in honor of their hometown's patron saint, Cesario deacon and martyr. Saint Cesario is venerated in St. Michael Church of Netcong; a bone fragment with the Latin cartouche "ex ossibus S. Caesarii diac. m." is preserved in this church, set in a silver reliquary, solemnly exposed on the high altar for the feast, celebrated on the penultimate Saturday of July. In Saint Michael's Church also includes a wooden statue of St. Cesario, a stained glass window and an icon (in the Sacristy) depicting the martyr.
On June 6, 2019, the mayor of Netcong, Joe Nametko, signed the Pact of Sister Cities with Cesa, in honor of St. Cesario.
Transportation
Roads and highways
As of May 2010[update], the borough had a total of 10.36 miles (16.67 km) of roadways, of which 7.90 miles (12.71 km) were maintained by the municipality, 0.67 miles (1.08 km) by Morris County and 1.79 miles (2.88 km) by the New Jersey Department of Transportation.
Several major highways pass through Netcong, leading to the borough's motto of "All Roads Lead to Netcong". Major roadways in Netcong include Interstate 80 (the Bergen-Passaic Expressway), U.S. Route 46 and Route 183, the latter two highways meeting at the Netcong Circle. The New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT) uses Netcong as a control city on directional signage on its highways throughout northern New Jersey, and as far away as the George Washington Bridge, even though less than one-tenth of a mile of Interstate 80 is in the borough (from mile markers 26.33 to 26.42). Interstate 80 and U.S. Route 206 intersect with U.S. Route 46 in the southwest corner of the borough at Exit 26.
In 2007, the New Jersey Department of Transportation proposed the elimination of the Netcong Traffic Circle, located at the intersections of U.S. Route 46 and Route 183 just north of the interchange with Interstate 80, and its replacement with a signalized intersection. The circle itself dated back to construction in 1938 and was unable to handle the 17,000 vehicles a year that used the large roadway daily. The circle was the frequent site of vehicular accidents, including a total of 81 in 2007 and 2008. The project had issues dealing with the vertical clearance of the overpass for U.S. Route 46 westbound. The removal of the circle would eliminate this bridge, and the land would go to use as the new signalized intersection, with pedestrian and bicycle fittings. The entire project cost about $13.3 million of state and local funds to construct. A temporary interchange was implemented in January 2013, with the permanent intersection configuration completed that August.
Public transportation
NJ Transit operates weekday rail service at the Netcong station to Hoboken Terminal, with service to Penn Station in New York City via Midtown Direct on the Montclair-Boonton Line and the Morris & Essex Lines.
NJ Transit used to provide local service on the MCM5 route. The Morris County Department of Transportation provides bus service along Route 46 to Dover and Mount Olive Township.
Lakeland Bus Lines provides service along Route 80 between Newton and the Port Authority Bus Terminal in Midtown Manhattan.
In view of Netcong's rich railroad history, the borough has been named as a site for the New Jersey State Railroad and Transportation Museum (jointly with Phillipsburg). Given that the site envisioned for this museum in Phillipsburg has been sold for development as a townhouse complex and college campus annex, it is unclear what role Phillipsburg will play in this museum. Funding will need to be secured in order to build and operate this museum.
Notable people
People who were born in, residents of, or otherwise closely associated with Netcong include:
- John Giannantonio (born c. 1934), former football player whose 594.5 rushing yards per game average, 4,756 season rushing yards total, and single-game rushing 754 yards against Mountain Lakes High School, all set in 1950 as a sophomore at Netcong High School, remain national high school records as of 2016
- Hugh Meade (1907–1949), congressman who represented Maryland's 2nd congressional district from 1947 to 1949
- Reince Priebus (born 1972), chairman of the Republican National Committee
See also
In Spanish: Netcong para niños
