CARTERET, NEW JERSEY

'Carteret' is a borough in Middlesex County, New Jersey, United States. As of the United States 2000 Census, the borough population was 20,709.
What is now Carteret was originally created as the borough of 'Roosevelt' on April 11, 1906, from portions of Woodbridge Township, based on the results of a referendum approved on May 22, 1906.The name was changed to Carteret as of November 7, 1922. The borough was also called Carteret during the period from December 19, 1921, to January 16, 1922."The Story of New Jersey's Civil Boundaries: 1606-1968", John P. Snyder, Bureau of Geology and Topography; Trenton, New Jersey; 1969. p. 169.

Contents

History

Geography

Demographics

Government

Local government

Federal, state and county representation

Education

Transportation

Places of interest

Notable residents

References

External links

History

Named for Sir George Carteret, one of the first proprietors of New Jersey, and/or his son Philip Carteret, who served as the first Governor of New Jersey.

Geography

Carteret is located at (40.582504, -74.229976).
According to the United States Census Bureau, the borough has a total area of 12.9 km² (5.0 mi²). 11.3 km² (4.4 mi²) of it is land and 1.6 km² (0.6 mi²) of it (12.63%) is water.

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 20,709 people, 7,039 households, and 5,208 families residing in the borough. The population density was 1,833.9/km² (4,747.4/mi²). There were 7,320 housing units at an average density of 648.2/km² (1,678.1/mi²). The racial makeup of the borough was 68.76% White, 9.54% African American, 0.24% Native American, 8.32% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 9.26% from other races, and 3.86% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 23.37% of the population.
There were 7,039 households out of which 35.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 52.1% were married couples living together, 16.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 26.0% were non-families. 21.9% of all households were made up of individuals and 11.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.88 and the average family size was 3.38.
In the borough the population was spread out with 25.2% under the age of 18, 8.4% from 18 to 24, 30.0% from 25 to 44, 21.4% from 45 to 64, and 15.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females there were 94.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 90.0 males.
The median income for a household in the borough was $47,148, and the median income for a family was $54,609. Males had a median income of $40,172 versus $28,132 for females. The per capita income for the borough was $18,967. About 8.6% of families and 11.0% of the population were below the poverty line, including 15.8% of those under age 18 and 9.4% of those age 65 or over.

Government

Local government

Carteret operates under the Borough form of government. The Mayor serves a four-year term. Councilmembers serve three-year terms and are elected on a staggered basis with two seats coming up to vote each year.
The Current Mayor of Carteret is Democrat Daniel J. Reiman, whose first term began on January 1, 2002 after defeating Republican Jim Falice (who was running for a second term), and ended on December 31, 2006. Reiman was re-elected to office, defeating Republican Thomas X Sica, brother of former Carteret mayor Peter J. Sica, and his second term began on January 1, 2007 and will end on December 31, 2010. Members of the Borough Council are Council President Ronald Rios (December 31, 2009), Vincent Bellino (2007), Jorge Diaz (2007), Randy Krum (2008), Susan Naples (2008) and Joseph Sitarz (2009).^[1]

Federal, state and county representation

Carteret is in the Thirteenth Congressional District and is part of New Jersey's 19th Legislative District.^[2]

Education

The Carteret School District serves students in kindergarten through twelfth grade. Schools in the district are three K-5 elementary schools —
Columbus School,
Nathan Hale School and
Private Nicholas Minue School —
Carteret Middle School for grades 6-8 and
Carteret High School for grades 9-12.

Transportation

New Jersey Transit local bus service is provided on the 116 route to the Port Authority Bus Terminal in Midtown Manhattan and on the 62 route to Newark.^[3]

Places of interest

★ Carteret Waterfront

Notable residents

★ Jim Babjak, Dennis Diken and Mike Mesaros of the pop/rock group The Smithereens are all former Carteret residents. All three met while in school in Carteret.

★ Joe "Ducky" Medwick (November 24, 1911 – March 21, 1975), left fielder for the St. Louis Cardinals during the "Gashouse Gang" era of the 1930s, he also played for the Brooklyn Dodgers (1940-43, '46), New York Giants (1943-45), and Boston Braves (1945). He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1968, by the Veterans Committee.^[4] Ranked #7 on the ''Sports Illustrated'' list of ''The 50 Greatest New Jersey Sports Figures''.^[5]

References

1. Carteret Borough Governing Body, Borough of Carteret. Accessed February 21, 2007.
2. 2006 New Jersey Citizen's Guide to Government, New Jersey League of Women Voters, p. 55. Accessed August 30, 2006.
3. Middlesex County Bus/Rail Connections, New Jersey Transit. Accessed June 21, 2007.
4. Joe Medwick at Baseball Almanac, accessed December 7, 2006.
5. The 50 Greatest New Jersey Sports Figures, ''Sports Illustrated'', December 27, 1999.

External links

★ Borough of Carteret

★ Carteret Fire Department Website

★ Carteret School District

★ Carteret First Aid Squad Website

★

★ National Center for Education Statistics data for the Carteret School District

★ Carteret forum on topix

★ Carteret forum on new jersey website