Hillsborough Township is a

township A township is a kind of human settlement or administrative subdivision, with its meaning varying in different countries. Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, that tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, ...

in Somerset County,

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delawa ...

, United States. The township is centrally located in the Raritan Valley region within the much larger

New York Metropolitan Area The New York metropolitan area, also commonly referred to as the Tri-State area, is the largest metropolitan area in the world by urban area, urban landmass, at , and one of the list of most populous metropolitan areas, most populous urban agg ...

. As of the

2010 United States Census The United States census of 2010 was the twenty-third United States national census. National Census Day, the reference day used for the census, was April 1, 2010. The census was taken via mail-in citizen self-reporting, with enumerators serving ...

, the township's population was 38,303, reflecting an increase of 1,669 (+4.6%) from the 36,634 counted in the 2000 Census, which had in turn increased by 7,826 (+27.2%) from the 28,808 counted in the 1990 Census. Hillsborough Township was originally created by

Royal charter A royal charter is a formal grant issued by a monarch under royal prerogative as letters patent. Historically, they have been used to promulgate public laws, the most famous example being the English Magna Carta (great charter) of 1215, b ...

issued May 31, 1771, which was revoked and revised on September 12, 1771. It was incorporated on February 21, 1798 by the

New Jersey Legislature The New Jersey Legislature is the legislative branch of the government of the U.S. state of New Jersey. In its current form, as defined by the New Jersey Constitution of 1947, the Legislature consists of two houses: the General Assembly and the ...

Township Act of 1798 as one of New Jersey's original group of 104 townships. Portions of the township were taken to form the boroughs of

Millstone Millstones or mill stones are stones used in gristmills, for grinding wheat or other grains. They are sometimes referred to as grindstones or grinding stones. Millstones come in pairs: a wikt:convex, convex stationary base known as the ''be ...

(May 14, 1894) and Manville (April 1, 1929).Snyder, John P
''The Story of New Jersey's Civil Boundaries: 1606-1968''
Bureau of Geology and Topography; Trenton, New Jersey; 1969. p. 223. Accessed August 26, 2012. The township's name may have come from an earlier name of "Hillsbury", though it may have been named for Wills Hill, 1st Marquess of Downshire who was the Earl of Hillsborough.

History

On May 31, 1771, Hillsborough was officially granted a Charter incorporating it as a Township. A revised charter was issued on September 12, 1771. The records of Hillsborough Township are complete from their inception in 1746 and there are ten volumes, each some several hundred pages, kept in the Special Collections Department of the

Rutgers University Rutgers University (; RU), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a public land-grant research university consisting of four campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's College, and was ...

Library along with the Charter. Hillsborough Township quickly took its place in history as the path General

George Washington George Washington (February 22, 1732, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Continental Congress as commander of ...

and his troops traveled from the

Battle of Princeton The Battle of Princeton was a battle of the American Revolutionary War, fought near Princeton, New Jersey on January 3, 1777, and ending in a small victory for the Colonials. General Lord Cornwallis had left 1,400 British troops under the comman ...

to winter quarters in Morristown. While the British were encamped in the valley below awaiting an opportunity to attack, it is said that Washington drilled his troops on the

Sourland Mountain Sourland Mountain is a long ridge in central New Jersey, extending from the Delaware River at Lambertville to the western end of Hillsborough Township near the community of Neshanic, through Montgomery Township and into Hopewell Township in ...

around a spring near the top using different formations and corn stalks for guns. As the sun caught the stalks, the British thought Washington had received reinforcements and fresh supplies. The British troops, thinking that they were outnumbered, slipped off to

New Brunswick New Brunswick (french: Nouveau-Brunswick, , locally ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. It is the only province with both English and ...

leaving Washington to continue to Morristown. The township was formally incorporated on February 21, 1798. Hillsborough is the home of the Belle Mead GSA depot, or Belle Mead General Depot, which was a storage site for materials during World War II, along with housing Italian and German prisoners of war. It continued storing materials until the 1980s, and various contaminants have leaked into the ground and surrounding area during that time. Efforts are under way to convert the site into a mixed recreation and R&D complex. Duke_Farms_Manor

Hillsborough is home to Duke Gardens and Duke Farms, a estate in the north-eastern quadrant of the town that was originally owned by tobacco and electric energy tycoon James "Buck" Duke and then passed down to daughter

Doris Duke Doris Duke (November 22, 1912 – October 28, 1993) was an American billionaire tobacco heiress, philanthropist, art collector, horticulturalist, and socialite. She was often called "the richest girl in the world". Her great wealth, luxurious l ...

, and is now one of the few remaining "preserved" natural areas in Hillsborough Township. In ''

Money Money is any item or verifiable record that is generally accepted as payment for goods and services and repayment of debts, such as taxes, in a particular country or socio-economic context. The primary functions which distinguish money ar ...

'' magazine's 2013 Best Places to Live rankings, Hillsborough was ranked 16th in the nation, the third-highest among the three places in New Jersey included in the top 50 list. In the magazine's 2007 rankings, the township was ranked as the 23rd best place to live in the nation.

Geography

According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The Census Bureau is part of th ...

, the township had a total area of 55.10 square miles (142.71 km²), including 54.61 square miles (141.45 km²) of land and 0.49 square miles (1.26 km²) of water (0.88%). Unincorporated communities, localities and place names located partially or completely within the township include Amwell, Belle Mead, Blackwells Mills, Champlain, Cloverhill, Clover Mill, Flagtown, Frankfort, Hamilton, Higgins Mills, Montgomery, Neshanic, Pleasant View, Royce Field, Royce Valley, South Branch, Woods Tavern and

Zion Zion ( he, צִיּוֹן ''Ṣīyyōn'', LXX , also variously Romanization of Hebrew, transliterated ''Sion'', ''Tzion'', ''Tsion'', ''Tsiyyon'') is a placename in the Hebrew Bible used as a synonym for Jerusalem as well as for the Land of Isra ...

The township borders Branchburg Township, Bridgewater Township, Franklin Township, Manville,

, Montgomery Township, Raritan and Somerville in Somerset County; and East Amwell Township, Raritan Township and Readington Township in

Hunterdon County Hunterdon County is a county located in the western section of the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the county's population was 128,947, making it the state's 18th-most populous county,A. W. Kuchler August William Kuchler (born ''August Wilhelm Küchler''; 1907–1999) was a German-born American geographer and naturalist who is noted for developing a plant association system in widespread use in the United States. Some of this database has bec ...

U.S.

potential natural vegetation In ecology, potential natural vegetation (PNV), also known as Kuchler potential vegetation, is the vegetation that would be expected given environmental constraints (climate, geomorphology, geology) without human intervention or a hazard event ...

types, Hillsborough Township, New Jersey would have an Appalachian Oak (''104'') vegetation type with an Eastern

Hardwood Hardwood is wood from dicot trees. These are usually found in broad-leaved temperate and tropical forests. In temperate and boreal latitudes they are mostly deciduous, but in tropics and subtropics mostly evergreen. Hardwood (which comes from ...

Forest (''25'') vegetation form.U.S. Potential Natural Vegetation, Original Kuchler Types, v2.0 (Spatially Adjusted to Correct Geometric Distortions)
Data Basin. Accessed November 5, 2020.

Climate

The township has a

humid subtropical climate A humid subtropical climate is a zone of climate characterized by hot and humid summers, and cool to mild winters. These climates normally lie on the southeast side of all continents (except Antarctica), generally between latitudes 25° and 40° ...

(Cfa) if the -3 isotherm is used, consistent with most of Somerset County. The low in January, the coldest month on average, is 18 °F (−8 °C), while the high in July, the warmest month on average, is 85 °F (29 °C).

Demographics

Census 2010

The Census Bureau's 2006–2010

American Community Survey The American Community Survey (ACS) is a demographics survey program conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau. It regularly gathers information previously contained only in the long form of the decennial census, such as ancestry, citizenship, educati ...

showed that (in 2010 inflation-adjusted dollars)

median household income The median income is the income amount that divides a population into two equal groups, half having an income above that amount, and half having an income below that amount. It may differ from the mean (or average) income. Both of these are ways ...

was $105,429 (with a margin of error of +/− $2,892) and the median family income was $119,750 (+/− $2,852). Males had a median income of $81,807 (+/− $5,320) versus $52,366 (+/− $1,804) for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or total income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. It is calculated by dividing the area's total income by its total population. Per capita i ...

for the borough was $43,029 (+/− $1,701). About 0.8% of families and 1.6% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...

, including 1.1% of those under age 18 and 4.0% of those age 65 or over.

Census 2000

As of the

2000 United States census The United States census of 2000, conducted by the Census Bureau, determined the resident population of the United States on April 1, 2000, to be 281,421,906, an increase of 13.2 percent over the 248,709,873 people enumerated during the 1990 c ...

there were 36,634 people, 12,649 households, and 9,802 families residing in the township. The population density was 669.9 people per square mile (258.6/km²). There were 12,854 housing units at an average density of 235.0 per square mile (90.7/km²). The racial makeup of the township was 85.96%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White ...

, 7.31% Asian, 3.76%

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

, 0.09% American Indian, 0.06%

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the Pacific Islands. As an ethnic/ racial term, it is used to describe the original peoples—inhabitants and diasporas—of any of the three major subregions of O ...

, 1.28% from other races, and 1.53% from two or more races.

Hispanics The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad. The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to viceroyalties for ...

Latinos Hispanic and Latino Americans ( es, Estadounidenses hispanos y latinos; pt, Estadunidenses hispânicos e latinos) are Americans of Spaniards, Spanish and/or Latin Americans, Latin American ancestry. More broadly, these demographics include a ...

of any race were 4.75% of the population.Census 2000 Profiles of Demographic / Social / Economic / Housing Characteristics for Hillsborough township, New Jersey
,

. Accessed August 26, 2012.DP-1: Profile of General Demographic Characteristics: 2000 - Census 2000 Summary File 1 (SF 1) 100-Percent Data for Hillsborough township, Somerset County, New Jersey
,

. Accessed August 26, 2012. Bridgewatermall08

There were 12,649 households, out of which 44.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them . said– 67.6% were married couples living together, 7.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 22.5% were non-families. 17.8% of all households were made up of individuals, and 4.0% 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 3.31. In the township, the population was spread out, with 29.1% under the age of 18, 6.0% from 18 to 24, 34.7% from 25 to 44, 23.3% from 45 to 64, and 6.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females, there were 97.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 93.1 males. The

median income The median income is the income amount that divides a population into two equal groups, half having an income above that amount, and half having an income below that amount. It may differ from the mean (or average) income. Both of these are ways o ...

for a household in the township was $83,290, and the median income for a family was $93,933. Males had a median income of $62,273 versus $42,052 for females. The per capita income for the township was $33,091. About 2.1% of families and 3.1% of the population were below the poverty line, including 3.6% of those under age 18 and 3.5% of those age 65 or over.

Parks and recreation

Hillsborough is home to numerous parks and nature trails, operated by both the township and the Somerset County Park Commission, including; Ann Van Middlesworth Park, Mountain View Park, Woodfield Park, Sunnymeade Run Playground, Doyle Park - Mike Merdinger Memorial Trail, Sourland Mountain Preserve, and Sourland Mountain Hiking Trail.

Duke Farms

Duke Farms is an estate that was established by James Buchanan Duke, an American entrepreneur who founded

Duke Power Duke Energy Corporation is an American electric power and natural gas holding company headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina. Overview Based in Charlotte, North Carolina, Duke Energy owns 58,200 megawatts of base-load and peak generation in ...

and the

American Tobacco Company The American Tobacco Company was a tobacco company founded in 1890 by J. B. Duke through a merger between a number of U.S. tobacco manufacturers including Allen and Ginter and Goodwin & Company. The company was one of the original 12 members ...

. The property is managed by the Doris Duke Foundation after the death of Doris Duke, the second owner. After extensive reorganization and an investment of $45 million, "Duke Farms" was opened to the public on May 19, 2012.Zernike, Kate
"An Oasis, Once Gilded, Now Greened"
''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', May 3, 2012. Accessed July 1, 2022. "Duke Farms, a 2,740-acre estate in Hillsborough, N.J., has had a $45 million face-lift and will open as a public park on May 19." Duke Farms is owned by the Duke Farms Foundation (DFF) that was established in 1998 to manage the estate. The Foundation, in turn, is part of the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, and the two entities share a common board and leadership team.

Duke Gardens

Despite some controversy for when the commission made the decision to permanently close Duke Gardens, demolishing the indoor display gardens that had been created by Doris Duke,Brown, Amanda
"Gardens at Duke Farms to close, then reopen a shade greener"
''

The Star-Ledger ''The Star-Ledger'' is the largest circulated newspaper in the U.S. state of New Jersey and is based in Newark. It is a sister paper to '' The Jersey Journal'' of Jersey City, ''The Times'' of Trenton and the '' Staten Island Advance'', all of ...

'', April 2, 2008. July 1, 2022. the commission has made strides in contributing to renovating the property for the 21st century. The DFF over the years have created new indoor and outdoor display gardens that are eco-friendly, use native plants, and are wheelchair accessible. In the process of rehabilitation numerous invasive foreign plants were removed including Norwegian maple and Asian Ailanthus and replaced by native species. On May 19, 2012, Duke Farms opened to the public. After a $45-million renovation, Duke Farms now include 30 endangered species and 230 varieties of birds, among which are the great blue heron and the bald eagle. As part of the rehabilitation, the conservatory and greenhouses known as the Orchid Range were renovated to became more energy-efficient.

Government

Local government

Hillsborough Township is governed under the

Township A township is a kind of human settlement or administrative subdivision, with its meaning varying in different countries. Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, that tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, ...

form of New Jersey municipal government, one of 141 municipalities (of the 564) statewide that use this form, the second-most commonly used form of government in the state. The Township Committee is comprised of five members, who are elected directly by the voters

at-large At large (''before a noun'': at-large) is a description for members of a governing body who are elected or appointed to represent a whole membership or population (notably a city, county, state, province, nation, club or association), rather than ...

in partisan elections to serve three-year terms of office on a staggered basis, with either one or two seats coming up for election each year as part of the November general election in a three-year cycle.''2012 New Jersey Legislative District Data Book'',

Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy, March 2013, p. 77. The mayor and deputy mayor are chosen by the Township Committee from among its members at an annual reorganization meeting, each serving a one-year term. , members of the Hillsborough Township Committee are Mayor Shawn Lipani ( R, term on committee ends December 31, 2024; term as mayor ends 2022), Deputy Mayor Frank DelCore (R, term on committee and term as deputy mayor ends 2022), Robert Britting (R, 2024; appointed to serve an unexpired term), James Ruh (R, 2023; appointed to serve an unexpired term) and Douglas Tomson (R, 2023).Township Committee
Hillsborough Township. Accessed April 11, 2022.2021 General Election Winning Candidates

Somerset County, New Jersey Somerset County is a county located in the north-central part of the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States Census, the county's population was 345,361, an increase of 21,917 (6.8%) from the 323,444 counted at the 2010 U.S Ce ...

. Accessed January 1, 2022.Somerset County General Election November 3, 2020 Final Certified Results

, dated December 3, 2020. Accessed January 19, 2021.General Election November 5, 2019 Final Results

, updated November 15, 2019. Accessed January 1, 2020. James Ruh was appointed in December 2022 to fill the seat expiring in December 2023 that became vacant following the resignation of Janine Erickson a month earlier. In March 2022, the Township Committee selected Robert Britting from three names nominated by the Republican municipal committee to fill the seat expiring in December 2024 that had been held by Steven Cohen until he stepped down from office due to

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quick ...

-related health issues. Britting will serve on an interim basis until the November 2022 general election, when voters will choose a candidate to serve the balance of the term of office. In March 2021, the Township Committee chose Democrat Jeffrey Wright from three candidates listed by the local Democratic committee to fill the seat expiring in December 2021 that had been held by Olivia Holmes, who had resigned the previous month due to COVID related issues. Based on the results of a Charter Study Commission, a recommendation was listed on the November 2007 general election ballot proposing that the township adopt a Mayor-Council form of government under the

Faulkner Act The Optional Municipal Charter Law or Faulkner Act (, et seq.) provides New Jersey municipalities with a variety of models of local government. This legislation is called the Faulkner Act in honor of the late Bayard H. Faulkner, former mayor ...

. At the election, 58% of those voting rejected the proposed change, leaving Hillsborough's traditional township form of government unchanged.

Federal, state, and county representation

Hillsborough Township is located in the 7th and 12th Congressional Districts2022 Redistricting Plan
New Jersey Redistricting Commission, December 8, 2022. and is part of New Jersey's 16th state legislative district.Municipalities Sorted by 2011-2020 Legislative District

New Jersey Department of State The secretary of state of New Jersey oversees the Department of State, which is one of the original state offices. The Secretary is responsible for overseeing artistic, cultural, and historical programs within the U.S. state of New Jersey, as ...

. Accessed February 1, 2020.''2019 New Jersey Citizen's Guide to Government''
New Jersey

League of Women Voters The League of Women Voters (LWV or the League) is a nonprofit, nonpartisan political organization in the United States. Founded in 1920, its ongoing major activities include registering voters, providing voter information, and advocating for vot ...

. Accessed October 30, 2019. Somerset County is governed by a five-member

Board of County Commissioners A county commission (or a board of county commissioners) is a group of elected officials (county commissioners) collectively charged with administering the county government in some states of the United States; such commissions usually comprise ...

, whose members are elected

to three-year terms of office on a staggered basis, with one or two seats coming up for election each year. At an annual reorganization meeting held on the first Friday of January, the board selects a Director and Deputy Director from among its members. , Somerset County's County Commissioners are Director Shanel Robinson ( D, Franklin Township, term as commissioner ends December 31, 2024; term as director ends 2022), Deputy Director Melonie Marano (D, Green Brook Township, term as commissioner and as deputy director ends 2022), Paul Drake (D, Hillsborough Township, 2023), Douglas Singleterry (D, North Plainfield, 2023) and Sara Sooy (D, Basking Ridge in Bernards Township, 2024).''2021 Directory of County & Municipal Offices''

. Accessed May 1, 2022.2021 General Election Winning Candidates

. Accessed January 1, 2022.Somerset County General Election November 3, 2020 Final Certified Results

, dated December 3, 2020. Accessed January 1, 2021.General Election November 5, 2019 Final Results

, updated November 15, 2019. Accessed January 1, 2020. Pursuant to Article VII Section II of the

New Jersey State Constitution The Constitution of the State of New Jersey is the basic governing document of the State of New Jersey. In addition to three British Royal Charters issued for East Jersey, West Jersey and united New Jersey while they were still colonies, the sta ...

, each county in New Jersey is required to have three elected administrative officials known as constitutional officers. These officers are the

County Clerk A clerk is a white-collar worker who conducts general office tasks, or a worker who performs similar sales-related tasks in a retail environment. The responsibilities of clerical workers commonly include record keeping, filing, staffing service ...

and County Surrogate (both elected for five-year terms of office) and the County Sheriff (elected for a three-year term). Constitutional officers, elected on a countywide basis are County Clerk Steve Peter ( D, Somerville, 2022), Sheriff Darrin Russo (D, Franklin Township, 2022) and Surrogate Bernice "Tina" Jalloh (D, Franklin Township, 2025)

Politics

As of March 23, 2011, there were a total of 24,841 registered voters in Hillsborough Township, of which 5,575 (22.4% vs. 26.0% countywide) were registered as Democrats, 5,507 (22.2% vs. 25.7%) were registered as Republicans and 13,745 (55.3% vs. 48.2%) were registered as Unaffiliated. There were 14 voters registered as Libertarians or Greens.Voter Registration Summary - Somerset

Division of Elections, March 23, 2011. Accessed February 13, 2013. Among the township's 2010 Census population, 64.9% (vs. 60.4% in Somerset County) were registered to vote, including 88.1% of those ages 18 and over (vs. 80.4% countywide). In the 2012 presidential election, Democrat

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, Obama was the first Af ...

received 49.8% of the vote (9,071 cast), ahead of Republican

Mitt Romney Willard Mitt Romney (born March 12, 1947) is an American politician, businessman, and lawyer serving as the junior United States senator from Utah since January 2019, succeeding Orrin Hatch. He served as the 70th governor of Massachusetts ...

with 48.5% (8,842 votes), and other candidates with 1.7% (301 votes), among the 18,319 ballots cast by the township's 26,570 registered voters (105 ballots were spoiled), for a turnout of 68.9%. In the 2008 presidential election, Democrat Barack Obama received 9,507 votes (49.8% vs. 52.1% countywide), ahead of Republican

John McCain John Sidney McCain III (August 29, 1936 – August 25, 2018) was an American politician and United States Navy officer who served as a United States senator from Arizona from 1987 until his death in 2018. He previously served two te ...

with 9,218 votes (48.2% vs. 46.1%) and other candidates with 250 votes (1.3% vs. 1.1%), among the 19,107 ballots cast by the township's 23,926 registered voters, for a turnout of 79.9% (vs. 78.7% in Somerset County). In the 2004 presidential election, Republican George W. Bush received 9,246 votes (53.0% vs. 51.5% countywide), ahead of Democrat

John Kerry John Forbes Kerry (born December 11, 1943) is an American attorney, politician and diplomat who currently serves as the first United States special presidential envoy for climate. A member of the Forbes family and the Democratic Party, he ...

with 7,965 votes (45.7% vs. 47.2%) and other candidates with 176 votes (1.0% vs. 0.9%), among the 17,433 ballots cast by the township's 21,152 registered voters, for a turnout of 82.4% (vs. 81.7% in the whole county). In the 2013 gubernatorial election, Republican

Chris Christie Christopher James Christie (born September 6, 1962) is an American politician, lawyer, political commentator, lobbyist, and former federal prosecutor who served as the 55th governor of New Jersey from 2010 to 2018. Christie, who was born in N ...

received 69.2% of the vote (7,855 cast), ahead of Democrat

Barbara Buono Barbara A. Buono (born July 28, 1953) is an American politician who served in the New Jersey Senate from 2002 to 2014, where she represented the 18th Legislative District. She served from 2010 to 2012 as the Majority Leader in the Senate, succ ...

with 29.1% (3,298 votes), and other candidates with 1.7% (190 votes), among the 11,493 ballots cast by the township's 26,883 registered voters (150 ballots were spoiled), for a turnout of 42.8%. In the 2009 gubernatorial election, Republican Chris Christie received 7,436 votes (59.9% vs. 55.8% countywide), ahead of Democrat

Jon Corzine Jon Stevens Corzine ( ; born January 1, 1947) is an American financial executive and retired politician who served as a United States Senator from New Jersey from 2001 to 2006 and the 54th governor of New Jersey from 2006 to 2010. Corzine ran fo ...

with 3,765 votes (30.3% vs. 34.1%), Independent Chris Daggett with 1,046 votes (8.4% vs. 8.7%) and other candidates with 96 votes (0.8% vs. 0.7%), among the 12,416 ballots cast by the township's 24,456 registered voters, yielding a 50.8% turnout (vs. 52.5% in the county).

Education

The

Hillsborough Township School District The Hillsborough Township School District is a comprehensive community public school district that serves students in pre-kindergarten through twelfth grade from Hillsborough Township in Somerset County, New Jersey, United States. Student ...

serves students in

pre-kindergarten Pre-kindergarten (also called Pre-K or PK) is a voluntary classroom-based preschool program for children below the age of five in the United States, Canada, Turkey and Greece (when kindergarten starts). It may be delivered through a preschool ...

through

twelfth grade Twelfth grade, 12th grade, senior year, or grade 12 is the final year of secondary school in most of North America. In other regions, it may also be referred to as class 12 or Year 13. In most countries, students are usually between the ages of 17 ...

. Students from

attend the district's schools, originally as part of a

sending/receiving relationship A sending/receiving relationship is one in which a public school district sends some or all of its students to attend the schools of another district. This is often done to achieve costs savings in smaller districts or continues after districts hav ...

; the New Jersey Commissioner of Education merged Millstone's non-operating school district with the Hillsborough Township School District effective July 1, 2009. As of the 2020–21 school year, the district, comprised of nine schools, had an enrollment of 7,288 students and 596.6 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a

student–teacher ratio Student–teacher ratio or student–faculty ratio is the number of students who attend a school or university divided by the number of teachers in the institution. For example, a student–teacher ratio of 10:1 indicates that there are 10 students ...

of 12.2:1.District information for Hillsborough Township Public School District

National Center for Education Statistics The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) is the part of the United States Department of Education's Institute of Education Sciences (IES) that collects, analyzes, and publishes statistics on education and public school district financ ...

. Accessed February 15, 2022. Schools in the district (with 2020–21 enrollment data from the

) are Amsterdam Elementary School (456 students; in grades K–4), Hillsborough Elementary School (488; K–4), Sunnymead Elementary School (495; K–4), Triangle Elementary School (354; K–4), Woodfern Elementary School (354; K–4), Woods Road Elementary School (421; Pre-K–4), Auten Road Intermediate School (1,143; 5–6), Hillsborough Middle School (1,218; 7–8) and Hillsborough High School (2,318; 9–12).

Transportation

Roads and highways

, the township had a total of of roadways, of which were maintained by the municipality, by Somerset County and by the

New Jersey Department of Transportation The New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT) is the agency responsible for transportation issues and policy in New Jersey, including maintaining and operating the state's highway and public road system, planning and developing transportat ...

U.S. Route 206 U.S. Route 206 (US 206) is a north–south United States highway in New Jersey and Pennsylvania, United States. Only about a half a mile (800 m) of its length is in Pennsylvania; the Milford–Montague Toll Bridge carries it over the D ...

is the main road that passes through the township. Construction of a new alignment of US 206, the US 206 Bypass began in 2010 to bypass the congested stretch of the road. Built in two phases, the first phase, between Hillsborough and Amwell Roads, was opened in October 2013. The second phase was originally expected to be completed by 2015, but was delayed multiple times due to a lack of state funding. Construction finally resumed in 2017 and the roadway was completed in 2021. The road is named for

Peter J. Biondi Peter J. "Pete" Biondi (June 23, 1942 – November 10, 2011) was an American Republican Party politician who served in the New Jersey General Assembly from 1998 until his death in 2011, where he represented the 16th Legislative District. Biond ...

, a former Hillsborough mayor and member of the General Assembly. Now that construction of the Bypass is completed, the intention is for the existing US-206 to become a downtown "main street" for the township and be zoned for commercial and residential use. Main county roads that pass through are CR 514 which runs for through the township, and CR 533. Interstate 287 is outside the municipality in bordering Bridgewater and Franklin Townships. Part of the proposed routing of

Interstate 95 Interstate 95 (I-95) is the main north–south Interstate Highway on the East Coast of the United States, running from US Route 1 (US 1) in Miami, Florida, to the Houlton–Woodstock Border Crossing between Maine and the Canadia ...

through central New Jersey included Hillsborough; this project was ultimately canceled in the 1980s.

Rail

NJ Transit New Jersey Transit Corporation, branded as NJ Transit, and often shortened to NJT, is a state-owned public transportation system that serves the U.S. state of New Jersey, along with portions of New York State and Pennsylvania. It operates bu ...

has proposed a new West Trenton Line that would stretch for from the

West Trenton station West Trenton station is the northern terminus of the SEPTA West Trenton Line. It is located at Grand & Railroad Avenues in the West Trenton section of Ewing Township, New Jersey, United States, however this address only applies to the southbou ...

in Ewing Township to a connection with the

Raritan Valley Line The Raritan Valley Line is a commuter rail service operated by New Jersey Transit (NJT) which serves passengers in municipalities in Union, Somerset, and Hunterdon counties in the Raritan Valley region in central New Jersey, United States. ...

at Bridgewater Township, and from there to

Newark Penn Station Pennsylvania Station (also known as Newark Penn Station) is an intermodal passenger station in Newark, New Jersey. One of the New York metropolitan area's major transportation hubs, Newark Penn Station is served by multiple rail and bus carriers, ...

in Newark. The plan would include stations at both Belle Mead and Hillsborough. The plan was canceled due to lack of funding and NJ Transit has no plans to restore the project. The

Norfolk Southern Railway The Norfolk Southern Railway is a Class I freight railroad in the United States formed in 1982 with the merger of Norfolk and Western Railway and Southern Railway. With headquarters in Atlanta, the company operates 19,420 route miles (31 ...

's Lehigh Line (formerly the mainline of the

Lehigh Valley Railroad The Lehigh Valley Railroad was a railroad built in the Northeastern United States to haul anthracite coal from the Coal Region in Pennsylvania. The railroad was authorized on April 21, 1846 for freight and transportation of passengers, goods, ...

), runs through Hillsborough Township.

Bus

Hillsborough is served by SCOOT buses, providing service to Manville, Bridgewater Township and Somerville, with service continuing to Bedminster during rush hour.

Coach USA Coach USA, LLC is a holding company for various American transportation service providers providing scheduled intercity bus service, local and commuter bus transit, city sightseeing, tour, yellow school bus, and charter bus service across the ...

offers weekday express service across 42nd Street to the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoni ...

Midtown Manhattan Midtown Manhattan is the central portion of the New York City borough of Manhattan and serves as the city's primary central business district. Midtown is home to some of the city's most prominent buildings, including the Empire State Buildi ...

from Hillsborough operated by Suburban Transit. There are four morning buses Monday through Friday with a reduced schedule on some Holidays.

Notable people

People who were born in, residents of, or otherwise closely associated with Hillsborough Township include: * Lori Alhadeff (born 1975), member of the

Broward County School Board Broward County Public Schools is a public school district serving Broward County, Florida, is the sixth largest public school system in the nation. During the 2016–2017 school year, Broward County Public Schools served 271,517 students enrolle ...

who founded a

gun control Gun control, or firearms regulation, is the set of laws or policies that regulate the manufacture, sale, transfer, possession, modification, or use of firearms by civilians. Most countries have a restrictive firearm guiding policy, with onl ...

-promoting organization after her daughter Alyssa died in the

Stoneman Douglas High School shooting On February 14, 2018, 19-year-old Nikolas Cruz opened fire on students and staff at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in the Miami suburban town of Parkland, Florida, murdering 17 people and injuring 17 others. Cruz, a former student at ...

* John Bell, former radio DJ on Z100 WHTZ

Elvis Duran Elvis Duran (born Barry Brian Cope; August 5, 1964) is an American radio personality. He is the host of the daily morning radio program ''Elvis Duran and the Morning Show'' in New York on WHTZ, Z100 and in syndication on Premiere Networks. Bef ...

and the Z Morning Zoo * Brad Benson (born 1955), former

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divisio ...

offensive lineman from 1977 to 1987, owner of Rainbow Run Farm *

(1942–2011), politician who served in the

New Jersey General Assembly The New Jersey General Assembly is the lower house of the New Jersey Legislature. Since the election of 1967 (1968 Session), the Assembly has consisted of 80 members. Two members are elected from each of New Jersey's 40 legislative districts f ...

and was Mayor of Hillsborough from 1986 to 1993 * Michael Ian Black (born 1971), actor, comedian, member of ''

The State A state is a centralized political organization that imposes and enforces rules over a population within a territory. There is no undisputed definition of a state. One widely used definition comes from the German sociologist Max Weber: a "sta ...

'' and Stella * Jeannette Brown (born 1934), organic medicinal chemist, historian and author * Jack Ciattarelli (born 1961), politician who served in the

and as a Somerset County Freeholder, and was a 2017 gubernatorial candidate *

Jyotirmoy Datta Jyotirmoy Datta ( bn, জ্যোতির্ময় দত্ত, jotirmôe dôtto; born 1936) is a Bengali writer, journalist, poet, and an essayist. He worked for '' The Statesman'', Calcutta's oldest English-language daily, as feature wri ...

(born 1936), Bengali writer, journalist, poet and essayist *

(1912–1993), heiress and philanthropist * Roy Freiman (born 1959), politician who has represented the 16th Legislative District in the

since 2018 * Jessica Galli (born 1983), female

wheelchair racing Wheelchair racing is the racing of wheelchairs in track and road races. Wheelchair racing is open to athletes with any qualifying type of disability, amputees, spinal cord injuries, cerebral palsy and partially sighted (when combined with another ...

athlete * Eugene Harvey, '' Magic: The Gathering'' player * Daria Hazuda, biochemist and discoverer of HIV Integrase strand transfer inhibitors *

Abraham Hoagland Abraham Lucas Hoagland (March 24, 1797 – February 14, 1872) was an early Mormon leader, pioneer, and one of the founders of Royal Oak, Michigan, and Salt Lake City, Utah, USA. Early life Hoagland was born on March 24, 1797, in Hillsborough ...

(1797–1872), early

Mormon Mormons are a religious and cultural group related to Mormonism, the principal branch of the Latter Day Saint movement started by Joseph Smith in upstate New York during the 1820s. After Smith's death in 1844, the movement split into se ...

leader, pioneer, and one of the founders of

Royal Oak, Michigan Royal Oak is a city in Oakland County in the U.S. state of Michigan. An inner-ring suburb of Detroit, Royal Oak is about north of Detroit's city limits. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 57,236. Royal Oak is located along t ...

, and

Salt Lake City, Utah Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the capital and most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the seat of Salt Lake County, the most populous county in Utah. With a population of 200,133 in 2020, t ...

* Jaheim (born 1978), R&B singer *

Joe Lis Joseph Anthony Lis (August 15, 1946 – October 17, 2010), was an American professional baseball first baseman, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Philadelphia Phillies (–), Minnesota Twins (–), Cleveland Indians (–), and Sea ...

(1946–2010, class of 1964), Major League Baseball player * Adam Mamawala (born 1987), stand-up comic *

Shawn Mayer Shawn A. Mayer (born March 4, 1979 in Hillsborough Township, New Jersey) is a former professional American football defensive back, and currently a Player Development Coach at Rutgers University. Originally signed as an undrafted free agent by ...

(born 1979), NFL

safety Safety is the state of being "safe", the condition of being protected from harm or other danger. Safety can also refer to the control of recognized hazards in order to achieve an acceptable level of risk. Meanings There are two slightly di ...

who played for the

New England Patriots The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East divisio ...

and

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. Named after original coach and co-founder Paul Brown, they compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conferenc ...

* Shaun O'Hara (born 1977), NFL center who played for the

* Ricky Proehl (born 1968), NFL wide receiver who has played for the

Indianapolis Colts The Indianapolis Colts are a professional American football team based in Indianapolis. The Colts compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) South division. Since the 2008 ...

and is currently the wide receiver coach of the

Carolina Panthers The Carolina Panthers are a professional American football team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Panthers compete in the National Football League (NFL), as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. ...

* Dustin Sheppard (born 1980), MLS forward who played for the MetroStars * Elliott F. Smith (1931–1987), politician who served in the

from 1978 to 1984, where he represented the 16th Legislative District *

Yannick Smith Yannick Smith (born November 21, 1990) is an American former soccer player who played as a forward (association football), forward. Career Born in Hillsborough Township, New Jersey, Smith played soccer at Hillsborough High School (New Jersey), ...

(born 1990), professional soccer forward * Rich Vos (born 1957), comedian * Peter Dumont Vroom (1791–1873), 9th

Governor of New Jersey The governor of New Jersey is the head of government of New Jersey. The office of governor is an elected position with a four-year term. There is a two consecutive term term limit, with no limitation on non-consecutive terms. The official r ...

Peter D. Vroom

New Jersey Historical Society The New Jersey Historical Society is a historical society and museum located in Newark, Essex County, New Jersey, United States. The Historical Society is housed in the former headquarters of the Essex Club. It has two floors of exhibition spac ...

. Accessed December 16, 2006.

References

External links

Hillsborough Township official web site
{{Authority control 1771 establishments in New Jersey Populated places established in 1771 Township form of New Jersey government Townships in Somerset County, New Jersey