NEW PROVIDENCE, NEW JERSEY

'New Providence' is a borough on the northwestern edge of Union County, New Jersey, United States. It is located on the Passaic River, which forms the county boundary with Morris County. As of the United States 2000 Census, the population was 11,907.

Contents

Geography

History

Demographics

Government

Local government

Federal, state and county representation

Education

Landmarks

Transportation

Notable residents

Trivia

References

External links

Geography

New Providence is located at (40.700501, -74.403096).
New Providence is bordered to the north by Chatham Township and to the northwest by Long Hill Township, both of which are in Morris County and across the Passaic River. New Providence maintains its waste treatment plant on that river. Bordered to the southwest and south, lies Berkeley Heights, and to the east, lies Summit.
The Borough lies on the western slope of Second Watchung Mountain. There are several creekbeds carved into the landscape, most of which are forks and branches of Salt Brook. These creeks join together near the center of town then flow into the Passaic River. Over nine percent of New Providence's land area is permanently protected, publicly owned parkland. Most of this land is wooded floodplain adjacent to the Passaic. Union County owns much of the riverfront parkland and New Providence owns the remainder. There are several Borough-owned parks that bracket Salt Brook, including Veterans Memorial Park on South Street, Lyons Park on Livingston Avenue, and Clearwater Park near Grove Terrace.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the New Providence has a total area of 9.5 km² (3.7 mi²), all land.

History

The written history of New Providence begins in 1664 when James, Duke of York and brother to King Charles II, purchased the land from the Lenni Lenape Native Americans. This acquisition was known as the Elizabethtown Tract.
Its first European settlers were members of a Puritan colony established in 1720, which was the first permanent settlement of its type.^[1] The settlement was originally called '''Turkeytown''', due to the presence of wild turkeys in the area.
By 1737, the Presbyterian Church was formed and became the center of this growing community.
In 1759, the balcony of the Presbyterian Church in the town collapsed. The lack of serious injuries was declared by Divine Providence, and the town was renamed to '''New Providence'''.
According to local tradition, George Washington spent the night in a local home, which still stands to this day. Supposedly, the local stream, Salt Brook, is named for an incident when the salt supply of the colonial village was dumped into the brook to prevent passing British soldiers from taking it. Ironically, the British Army never crossed the Watchung Mountains into this region. Salt Brook winds through town, starting near the eponymous Salt Brook Elementary School.
On April 14, 1794, Springfield Township was formed, which included the present-day township, along with the towns of Summit, New Providence, and Berkeley Heights."The Story of New Jersey's Civil Boundaries: 1606-1968", John P. Snyder, Bureau of Geology and Topography; Trenton, New Jersey; 1969. p. 239 re New Providence, p. 241 re Springfield Township.
Growth continued in the area, and on November 8, 1809, New Providence Township was formed from within Springfield Township. It included only Summit, New Providence, and Berkeley Heights.
On March 23, 1869, Summit withdrew from the New Providence Township and reincorporated as a township without any other town. It remained under a township form of government until April 11, 1899, when Summit reincorporated as a city.
On March 14, 1899, New Providence also withdrew from the New Providence Township and was reincorporated as a borough. With ''Boroughitis'' sweeping across the state, many communities within townships were reverting to small, locally-governed communities (mostly reincorporating as boroughs) due to acts of the New Jersey Legislature that made it economically advantageous for communities so do so.
Only present day Berkeley Heights retained the name of New Providence Township, a name it kept until November 6, 1951.

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 11,907 people, 4,404 households, and 3,307 families residing in New Providence. The population density was 1,249.3/km² (3,236.9/mi²). There were 4,485 housing units at an average density of 470.6/km² (1,219.2/mi²). The racial makeup of the borough was 89.77% White, 0.88% African American, 0.03% Native American, 7.60% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 0.68% from other races, and 1.01% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 3.50% of the population.
There were 4,404 households out of which 37.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 66.3% were married couples living together, 6.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 24.9% were non-families. 21.4% of all households were made up of individuals and 9.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.67 and the average family size was 3.13.
In New Providence the population was spread out with 26.3% under the age of 18, 4.0% from 18 to 24, 31.0% from 25 to 44, 23.3% from 45 to 64, and 15.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females there were 94.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 90.3 males.
The median income for a household in the borough was $90,964, and the median income for a family was $105,013. Males had a median income of $72,926 versus $46,948 for females. The per capita income for the borough was $42,995. About 1.3% of families and 1.8% of the population were below the poverty line, including 1.0% of those under age 18 and 2.0% of those age 65 or over. Currently, based on per-capita income, New Providence is ranked 48th among municipalities in the state.

Government

Local government

New Providence is governed under the borough system of municipal government. The government consists of a mayor and a borough council comprised of six council members, with all positions elected at large. A mayor is elected directly by the voters to a four-year term of office. The borough council consists of six members elected to serve three-year terms on a staggered basis, with two seats coming up for election each year.
The mayor of New Providence is John Thoms, whose term of office ends on December 31, 2010. Members of the New Providence Borough Council are Council President Terri Keller (term of office ends in 2008), Michael Gennaro, J. Brooke Hern (2009), Julia MacDermott (2007), Dr. Bob Robinson (2008), and Stephen Vengrow (2009).^[2]

Federal, state and county representation

New Providence is in the Seventh Congressional District and is part of New Jersey's 21st Legislative District.^[3]

Education

Main articles: New Providence School District

The 'New Providence School District' serves students in pre-kindergarten through twelfth grade. Students from Murray Hill share the New Providence school facilities.
New Providence has four public schools:

★ Allen W. Roberts Elementary School

★ Salt Brook Elementary School

★ New Providence Middle School / New Providence High School: both schools share the same building and some of the same facilities (art rooms, auditorium, east wing, west wing, gyms, music rooms, TV production room, cafeteria). Recently a new gym was added to the building.
New Providence also is home to a private school, Our Lady of Peace Catholic School.

Landmarks

★ The Presbyterian Church is a large, white, historic church in the center of town. Every couple of weeks the church hosts an event called "The Fire Escape", which is an event aimed at increasing youth participation in the church by attracting high school aged students with a coffee lounge and G-rated dance party atmosphere. Every couple of weeks, the church also hosts an event called "The Zone" which is aimed at teen-aged residents and it is a gathering with a dance atmosphere. The event is very popular among its target audience.

★ The Village Shopping Center is a shopping center in the middle of downtown. The shopping center takes up the majority of space that comprises "downtown" New Providence.

★ Right outside of New Providence is Lucent Technologies, in Murray Hill. New Providence School District currently links together the computer networks of its buildings by using a wireless LAN which includes Yagi antennas at two towers by the large copper pyramid-shaped roof. The transistor and laser were invented in this Bell Laboratories when it was part of AT&T.

★ Our Lady of Peace is a Roman Catholic church and school located on South Street. Once every spring, for three days, the parking lot at OLP becomes the home of the town's OLP fair. Complete with rides, games, great food, and an indoor auction/junk fest.

Transportation

Service on the New Jersey Transit Gladstone Branch of the Morristown Line is available at the New Providence and Murray Hill stations, offering service to Hoboken Terminal and to Penn Station in Midtown Manhattan. Two Gladstone Branch trains each weekday morning offer one-seat rides to Manhattan, and two evening trains leave New York and stop at both of New Providence's stations on the way to Gladstone. All other rail service is to or from Hoboken. These trains connect at Summit or Newark Broad Street with Manhattan-bound trains.
The New Providence train station lies on the border between Summit and New Providence. The train station located on the outskirts of the actual town but more accessible from downtown is "Murray Hill"; it is named thus as it is fairly close to the New Providence/Murray Hill border.
Lakeland Bus Lines offers weekday rush hour service from stops along Springfield Avenue to New York's Port Authority Bus Terminal.
Newark Liberty International Airport is approximately sixteen miles east of New Providence.

Notable residents

Notable current and former residents of New Providence include:

★ Lloyd Burlew, World Jet Ski Champion, went to NPHS and is the son of the former proprietor of Lloyd's Sporting Goods in downtown New Providence.

★ Andrew Fastow, convicted CFO of Enron, went to NPHS and grew up in New Providence on the same street as the Allen W. Roberts Elementary School.^[4]

★ Jeff Grob, drummer of the 1970s rock band Looking Glass, was born and raised in New Providence and is a current resident.

★ Thomas McCarthy, NPHS graduate has been actor in several movies, including ''Meet the Parents'' and ''Good Night and Good Luck''; television shows, such as ''Boston Public'' and ''Law & Order''; and director of the indie film ''The Station Agent''.

★ Gerry Polci, drummer of The Four Seasons, is currently the middle school music teacher and band director.

★ David Stambaugh, an actor who was most notably, Toby, in ''The Bad News Bears'' original and sequels, attended Salt Brook Elementary and NPHS.

Trivia

★ The cultivation of roses played an important role in the local economy in the 1900s.^[5]

★ New Providence is a semi-dry town. There are no bars, and no restaurants are permitted to sell alcoholic beverages. Retail liquor sales are legal, however, and restaurant-goers may bring their own alcoholic beverages.

References

1. Union County history
2. Mayor & Council of New Providence, NJ
3. 2006 New Jersey Citizen's Guide to Government, New Jersey League of Women Voters, p. 61. Accessed August 30, 2006.
4. Murphy, Bill. "Andrew Fastow: A study in contrasts - Described as a charmer, Fastow's ferocious tirades revealed his dark side", ''Houston Chronicle'', October 2, 2002, accessed April 22, 2007. "Born the second of three sons in Washington, D.C., Fastow was raised in northern Virginia, Long Island and finally New Providence, N.J., an upper middle-class suburb about 25 miles southwest of New York City."
5. E-Podunk community profile

External links

★ New Providence website

★ New Providence School District

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★ Recent School Bond Referendum

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★ National Center for Education Statistics data for the New Providence School District

★ The Alternative Press

★ The New Providence Democratic Party