Skillman is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a region that is not governed by a local municipal corporation. Widespread unincorporated communities and areas are a distinguishing feature of the United States and Canada. Most other countries of the world either have ...

and

census-designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only. CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the counterparts of incorporated places, such ...

(CDP) located within Montgomery Township, 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 Delaware ...

, United States.GCT-PH1 - Population, Housing Units, Area, and Density: 2010 - County -- County Subdivision and Place from the 2010 Census Summary File 1 for Somerset County, New Jersey
,

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 the ...

. Accessed February 13, 2013.New Jersey: 2010 - Population and Housing Unit Counts - 2010 Census of Population and Housing (CPH-2-32)

, August 2012. Accessed February 13, 2013. 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 servin ...

, the CDP's population was 242.DP-1 - Profile of General Population and Housing Characteristics: 2010 Demographic Profile Data for Skillman CDP, New Jersey
,

. Accessed February 13, 2013. The area is served as

United States Postal Service The United States Postal Service (USPS), also known as the Post Office, U.S. Mail, or Postal Service, is an independent agency of the executive branch of the United States federal government responsible for providing postal service in the U ...

ZIP Code 08558. However, the Skillman postal address covers an area significantly larger than the Skillman CDP. The Skillman postal address services approximately half of the 32 square miles and approximately 23,000 residents comprising Montgomery Township. The small CDP designated as Skillman and the much larger area known as Skillman based on the post office delivery area (which encompasses the Skillman CDP), should not be confused. The Skillman postal area is home to

Johnson & Johnson Johnson & Johnson (J&J) is an American multinational corporation founded in 1886 that develops medical devices, pharmaceuticals, and consumer packaged goods. Its common stock is a component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the company i ...

's Consumer Products division and

Bloomberg L.P. Bloomberg L.P. is a privately held financial, software, data, and media company headquartered in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. It was co-founded by Michael Bloomberg in 1981, with Thomas Secunda, Duncan MacMillan (Bloomberg), Duncan MacMi ...

Financial's offices. All of the public school buildings (elementary, middle and high schools) for Montgomery Township are located in the Skillman postal area.

History

Skillman is named after the Skillman family. The first Skillmans were Dutch, but lived in England before moving to

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

in 1664, according to family accounts. In 1729, Thomas Skillman ventured westward, buying some of farmland on the Millstone River, near the village of Rocky Hill, for his sons, Jan and Isaac. That purchase was the Skillman family's entry into Montgomery. The Skillman area got its name when the railroads arrived in the 1870s, according to the Skillman family. Joseph A. Skillman, was a teamster who owned "wild Missouri mules," according to family accounts. When railroad workers were trying to lay tracks, their horses got bogged down in thick, clay mud, and Joseph A. Skillman came to the rescue with his mules. Railroad officials also socialized at the home of another Skillman nearby, and the new train station was named for the family. A post office opened in the station and a small village, with a hay press, feed store and hardware store, sprouted around it. It took the Skillman name, too. (While the train station is gone, remnants of the village still exist at the spot where Camp Meeting Avenue and Skillman Road meet. A clay and sculpting supply business occupies some of the buildings.) Also in Skillman was the sprawling

New Jersey State Village for Epileptics The North Princeton Developmental Center, formerly known as the New Jersey State Village for Epileptics, was a medical facility within Montgomery Township, Somerset County, New Jersey. The facility was home to a variety of mental health instituti ...

, a complex opened around 1900 that had its own dairy, laundry, and movie theater. Visitors would arrive by train. Skillman was a busy little country place. There were 1,637 residents in Montgomery in 1910, compared with more than 23,000 now, according to Census data. The community now has more traffic, fewer farms and more houses (specifically developments). In 2011, Montgomery Township sold what remained of the

North Princeton Developmental Center The North Princeton Developmental Center, formerly known as the New Jersey State Village for Epileptics, was a medical facility within Montgomery Township, New Jersey, Montgomery Township, Somerset County, New Jersey. The facility was home to a var ...

(also known as Skillman Village) to Somerset County in order for the village to be demolished.

Geography

According to the

, the CDP had a total area of 1.476 square miles (3.824 km²), including 1.466 square miles (3.798 km²) of land and 0.010 square miles (0.026 km²) of water (0.69%).

Demographics

Census 2010

Notable people

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

Sara Josephine Baker Sara Josephine Baker (November 15, 1873 – February 22, 1945) was an American physician notable for making contributions to public health, especially in the immigrant communities of New York City. Her fight against the damage that widespread ur ...

(1873–1945), pioneering physician; resident of Trevenna Farm with Wylie. *

Yvonne Brill Yvonne Madelaine Brill (née Claeys; December 30, 1924 – March 27, 2013) was a Canadian American rocket and jet propulsion engineer. She is responsible for inventing the Electrothermal Hydrazine Thruster (EHT/Resistojet), a fuel-efficient rock ...

(1924–2013), rocket scientist. *

Ira Black Ira Barrie Black (March 18, 1941 – January 10, 2006) was an American physician and neuroscientist who was an advocate of stem cell research and was the first director of the Stem Cell Institute of New Jersey at Robert Wood Johnson Medical ...

(1941–2006),

neuroscientist A neuroscientist (or neurobiologist) is a scientist who has specialised knowledge in neuroscience, a branch of biology that deals with the physiology, biochemistry, psychology, anatomy and molecular biology of neurons, Biological neural network, n ...

and

stem cell In multicellular organisms, stem cells are undifferentiated or partially differentiated cells that can differentiate into various types of cells and proliferate indefinitely to produce more of the same stem cell. They are the earliest type o ...

researcher who served as the first director of the Stem Cell Institute of New Jersey.Pearce, Jeremy
"Dr. Ira B. Black, 64, Leader in New Jersey Stem Cell Effort, Dies"
''

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 ...

'', January 12, 2006. Accessed August 13, 2009. * John Sheridan (1942–2014), Former New Jersey Transportation Commissioner and head of Cooper Health System; lived in Skillman along with his wife at the time of their controversial deaths. * I. A. R. Wylie (1885–1959), popular writer; resident of Trevenna Farm with Baker.''My Life with George: An Unconventional Autobiography'' by I. A. R. Wylie
The Neglected Books Page, May 27, 2012. Accessed February 13, 2013. "When Baker retired in the mid-1930s, she, Wylie, and another pioneering female physician, Dr. Louise Pearce, bought Trevenna Farm, outside Skillman, New Jersey, and lived there together."

References

{{Authority control Census-designated places in Somerset County, New Jersey Montgomery Township, New Jersey 1729 establishments in New Jersey