Bethlehem Township is a

township A township is a form of human settlement or administrative subdivision. Its exact definition varies among countries. Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, this tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, Canad ...

Hunterdon County Hunterdon County is a County (United States), county located in the western section of the U.S. state of New Jersey. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the county was the state's List of counties in New Jersey, 4th-least populous ...

, in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its so ...

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

. It is part of the

New York metropolitan area The New York metropolitan area, also called the Tri-State area and sometimes referred to as Greater New York, is the List of cities by GDP, largest metropolitan economy in the world, with a List of U.S. metropolitan areas by GDP, gross metropo ...

.New Jersey: 2020 Core Based Statistical Areas and Counties

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...

. Accessed December 1, 2022. As of the 2020 United States census, the township's population was 3,745, a decrease of 234 (−5.9%) from the 2010 census count of 3,979, which in turn reflected an increase of 159 (+4.2%) from the 3,820 counted in the 2000 census.

History

Before European settlement, the land was settled by the

Lenape The Lenape (, , ; ), also called the Lenni Lenape and Delaware people, are an Indigenous peoples of the Northeastern Woodlands, Indigenous people of the Northeastern Woodlands, who live in the United States and Canada. The Lenape's historica ...

Native Americans, whose presence remains in the names of places and bodies of water in the township. Bethlehem was first mentioned in official records dating back to 1730, though details of its formation are uncertain.Snyder, John P
''The Story of New Jersey's Civil Boundaries: 1606-1968''
Bureau of Geology and Topography; Trenton, New Jersey; 1969. p. 153. Accessed October 25, 2012. Bethlehem was incorporated as one of New Jersey's initial 104 townships by an act of 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 ...

on February 21, 1798. Portions of the township were taken to form Kingwood Township (1749, date uncertain), Alexandria Township (March 5, 1765), Union Township (February 17, 1853), Junction borough (February 20, 1895, now known as Hampton borough),

Bloomsbury Bloomsbury is a district in the West End of London, part of the London Borough of Camden in England. It is considered a fashionable residential area, and is the location of numerous cultural institution, cultural, intellectual, and educational ...

(March 30, 1905) and Glen Gardner (March 26, 1919). The township was named for the city of

Bethlehem Bethlehem is a city in the West Bank, Palestine, located about south of Jerusalem, and the capital of the Bethlehem Governorate. It had a population of people, as of . The city's economy is strongly linked to Tourism in the State of Palesti ...

Geography

According to the

, the township had a total area of 20.80 square miles (53.87 km²), including 20.68 square miles (53.57 km²) of land and 0.12 square miles (0.30 km²) of water (0.56%). The township is an

exurb An exurb (or alternately: exurban area) is an area outside the typically denser inner suburbs, suburban area, at the edge of a metropolitan area, which has some economic and commuting connection to the metro area, low housing-density, and rela ...

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, lying on the western fringe of the

, as part of the Newark-Union, NJ-PA Metropolitan Division, which is in turn a part of the New York City Metropolitan Area. The

Musconetcong River The Musconetcong River is a tributary of the Delaware River in northwestern New Jersey in the United States.U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed April 1, 2011 It flows throug ...

forms the township's northern border with Warren County. The northern half of the Township consists of the Musconetcong Valley while the southern half is covered by the

Musconetcong Mountain Musconetcong Mountain is a ridge in the Highlands region of New Jersey running south of and parallel to the Musconetcong River. The ridge travels through Alexandria, Holland, Bethlehem and Lebanon Township. Prominent Features *Point Mountain, 9 ...

s. The southwest corner of the township lies on what is known as the Hunterdon Plateau. The landscape is mainly rural in nature, featuring farms and forests, scattered with newer housing developments and older farm homes. Unincorporated communities, localities and place names located partially or completely within the township include Charlestown, Jugtown, Ludlow, Polktown, Swinesburg, Valley and West Portal. The township borders the municipalities of Alexandria Township,

, Glen Gardner, Hampton, Holland Township, Lebanon Township, Union Township in Hunterdon County; and Franklin Township, Pohatcong Township and Washington Township in Warren County.

Mailing addresses

Residents and businesses in Bethlehem Township have mailing addresses to nearby towns including

, Clinton, Glen Gardner, Hampton, and even Asbury (which is located in neighboring Warren County), as "Bethlehem Township" itself is not a mailing address.

Climate

Bethlehem Township falls under the "Northern

" climate zone. According to the Office of the New Jersey State Climatologist at

Rutgers University Rutgers University ( ), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a Public university, public land-grant research university consisting of three campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's C ...

, the Northern climate zone covers about one-quarter of New Jersey and consists mainly of elevated highlands and valleys which are part of the Appalachian Uplands. Surrounded by land, this region can be characterized as having a

continental climate Continental climates often have a significant annual variation in temperature (warm to hot summers and cold winters). They tend to occur in central and eastern parts of the three northern-tier continents (North America, Europe, and Asia), typi ...

with minimal influence from the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the ...

, except when the winds contain an easterly component. Prevailing winds are from the southwest in summer and from the northwest in winter. Being in the northernmost portion of the state, and with small mountains up to in elevation, the Northern Zone normally exhibits a colder temperature regime than other climate regions of the State of New Jersey. This difference is most dramatic in winter when average temperatures in the Northern Zone can be more than ten degrees Fahrenheit cooler than in the Coastal Zone. Annual snowfall averages in the northern zone as compared with an average of in the extreme south. Bethlehem Township falls under the

USDA The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is an United States federal executive departments, executive department of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government that aims to meet the needs of commerc ...

6a Plant

Hardiness zone A hardiness zone is a geographic area defined as having a certain average annual minimum temperature, a factor relevant to the survival of many plants. In some systems other statistics are included in the calculations. The original and most widely ...

Wildlife and ecosystem

Various animals are native to central-western New Jersey, including

red fox The red fox (''Vulpes vulpes'') is the largest of the true foxes and one of the most widely distributed members of the order Carnivora, being present across the entire Northern Hemisphere including most of North America, Europe and Asia, plus ...

(vulpes vulpes), black bear,

groundhog The groundhog (''Marmota monax''), also known as the woodchuck, is a rodent of the family Sciuridae, belonging to the group of large ground squirrels known as marmots. A lowland creature of North America, it is found through much of the Easte ...

wild turkey The wild turkey (''Meleagris gallopavo'') is an upland game bird native to North America, one of two extant species of Turkey (bird), turkey and the heaviest member of the order Galliformes. It is the ancestor to the domestic turkey (''M. g. dom ...

deer A deer (: deer) or true deer is a hoofed ruminant ungulate of the family Cervidae (informally the deer family). Cervidae is divided into subfamilies Cervinae (which includes, among others, muntjac, elk (wapiti), red deer, and fallow deer) ...

squirrel Squirrels are members of the family Sciuridae (), a family that includes small or medium-sized rodents. The squirrel family includes tree squirrels, ground squirrels (including chipmunks and prairie dogs, among others), and flying squirrel ...

chipmunk Chipmunks are small, striped rodents of subtribe Tamiina. Chipmunks are found in North America, with the exception of the Siberian chipmunk which is found primarily in Asia. Taxonomy and systematics Chipmunks are classified as four genera: '' ...

s, a variety of birds, and a wide variety of insects and vegetation. There are also some fish in the streams of the county. Trees include

deciduous In the fields of horticulture and botany, the term deciduous () means "falling off at maturity" and "tending to fall off", in reference to trees and shrubs that seasonally shed Leaf, leaves, usually in the autumn; to the shedding of petals, aft ...

varieties and

evergreen In botany, an evergreen is a plant which has Leaf, foliage that remains green and functional throughout the year. This contrasts with deciduous plants, which lose their foliage completely during the winter or dry season. Consisting of many diffe ...

varieties. Black bears are the largest land mammals in New Jersey and are known to be most abundant in the northern-western regions of the state, including Bethlehem Township.

Demographics

2010 census

The 2010 United States census counted 3,979 people, 1,344 households, and 1,148 families in the township. The

population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geog ...

was 192.1 per square mile (74.2/km²). There were 1,386 housing units at an average density of 66.9 per square mile (25.8/km²). The racial makeup was 95.65% (3,806)

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

, 0.98% (39) Black or African American, 0.10% (4) Native American, 1.88% (75) Asian, 0.00% (0)

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe th ...

, 0.50% (20) from other races, and 0.88% (35) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 4.02% (160) of the population. Of the 1,344 households, 41.1% had children under the age of 18; 77.0% were married couples living together; 4.8% had a female householder with no husband present and 14.6% were non-families. Of all households, 11.9% were made up of individuals and 5.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.96 and the average family size was 3.22. 27.6% of the population were under the age of 18, 6.2% from 18 to 24, 18.1% from 25 to 44, 38.4% from 45 to 64, and 9.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 44.2 years. For every 100 females, the population had 100.8 males. For every 100 females ages 18 and older there were 100.6 males. The Census Bureau's 2006–2010

American Community Survey The American Community Survey (ACS) is an annual demographics survey program conducted by the United States Census Bureau. It regularly gathers information previously contained only in the long form of the United States census, decennial census ...

showed that (in 2010 inflation-adjusted dollars)

median household income The median income is the income amount that divides a population into two 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 of und ...

was $127,540 (with a margin of error of +/− $12,090) and the median family income was $130,580 (+/− $16,200). Males had a median income of $95,694 (+/− $16,468) versus $70,069 (+/− $27,112) for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...

for the borough was $44,477 (+/− $4,087). About 0.6% of families and 1.0% 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 none of those age 65 or over.

2000 census

As of the 2000 United States census there were 3,820 people, 1,266 households, and 1,092 families residing in the township. The population density was . There were 1,303 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the township was 97.51%

, 0.86%

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

, 0.10% Native American, 1.02% Asian, 0.05%

, 0.03% from other races, and 0.42% from two or more races.

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

or Latino of any race were 1.62% of the population.Census 2000 Profiles of Demographic / Social / Economic / Housing Characteristics for Bethlehem township, Hunterdon County, New Jersey
,

. Accessed November 13, 2012.DP-1: Profile of General Demographic Characteristics: 2000 - Census 2000 Summary File 1 (SF 1) 100-Percent Data for Bethlehem township, Hunterdon County, New Jersey

. Accessed November 13, 2012. There were 1,266 households, out of which 43.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 80.3% were

married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...

living together, 3.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 13.7% were non-families. 10.3% of all households were made up of individuals, and 3.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.02 and the average family size was 3.26. In the township the population was spread out, with 29.5% under the age of 18, 5.0% from 18 to 24, 29.6% from 25 to 44, 29.4% from 45 to 64, and 6.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females, there were 101.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 99.9 males. The median income for a household in the township was $88,048, and the median income for a family was $92,768. Males had a median income of $69,063 versus $41,806 for females. The

for the township was $35,298. None of the families and 1.0% of the population were living below the

, including no under eighteens and 10.0% of those over 64. Most common first ancestries reported in Bethlehem Township were German (25.2%), Italian (14.7%), Irish (14.4%), Polish (9.2%), English (7.6%), United States or American (6.1%), French (except Basque) (3.3%).Bethlehem township, Hunterdon County, New Jersey

City-Data City-Data is an Illinois-based social networking and information website that presents data and information pertaining to United States cities, and offers public online forums for discussion. Data on site US cities, counties, zip codes, and n ...

. Accessed November 14, 2012. The most common places of birth for the foreign-born residents were India (22%), Germany (18%), United Kingdom (12%), Austria (9%), Russia (7%), Poland (5%), Netherlands (4%).

Parks and recreation

Covering more than , Spruce Run State Park and Reservoir, part of the New Jersey State Park system, is located near Bethlehem Township in close by Clinton Township. It is possible to walk or bike to Spruce Run from Bethlehem Township.

Government

Local government

Bethlehem Township is governed under the

Township A township is a form of human settlement or administrative subdivision. Its exact definition varies among countries. Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, this tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, Canad ...

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 tha ...

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. 103. At an annual reorganization meeting, the Township Committee selects one of its members to serve as Mayor and another as Deputy Mayor. , members of the Bethlehem Township Committee are

Mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...

Paul J. Muir ( R, term on committee ends December 31, 2026; term as mayor ends 2024),

Deputy Mayor The deputy mayor (also known as vice mayor and assistant mayor) is an elective or appointive office of the second-ranking official that is present in many local governments. Duties and functions Many elected deputy mayors are members of the loca ...

Judy Nelson (R, term on committee ends 2026; term as deputy mayor ends 2024), Steve Keefe (R, 2024), Robert G. Kenny (R, 2025) and Paul Lenzi Jr. (R, 2024).Township Committee
Township of Bethlehem. Accessed October 10, 2024.Township of Bethlehem

Hunterdon County, New Jersey Hunterdon County is a county located in the western section of the U.S. state of New Jersey. At the 2020 census, the county was the state's 4th-least populous county,''2023 County and Municipal Directory''

New Jersey Redistricting Commission The New Jersey Redistricting Commission is a constitutional body of the government of New Jersey tasked with redrawing the state's Congressional election districts after each decade's census. Like Arizona, Idaho, Hawaii, Montana, and Washington ...

, December 23, 2011. Accessed February 1, 2020. and is part of New Jersey's 23rd 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 New Jersey State Council on the Arts, artistic, cultural, and New Jersey Historical Com ...

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

League of Women Voters The League of Women Voters (LWV) is a nonpartisan American nonprofit political organization. Founded in 1920, its ongoing major activities include Voter registration, registering voters, providing voter information, boosting voter turnout and adv ...

. Accessed October 30, 2019.

Politics

As of March 2011, there were a total of 2,814 registered voters in Bethlehem Township, of which 514 (18.3%) were registered as Democrats, 1,113 (39.6%) were registered as Republicans and 1,186 (42.1%) were registered as Unaffiliated. There was one voter registered to another party. In the 2012 presidential election, Republican

Mitt Romney Willard Mitt Romney (born March 12, 1947) is an American businessman and retired politician. He served as a United States Senate, United States senator from Utah from 2019 to 2025 and as the 70th governor of Massachusetts from 2003 to 2007 ...

received 61.2% of the vote (1,323 cast), ahead of Democrat

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...

with 37.0% (800 votes), and other candidates with 1.8% (38 votes), among the 2,172 ballots cast by the township's 2,954 registered voters (11 ballots were spoiled), for a turnout of 73.5%. In the 2008 presidential election, Republican

John McCain John Sidney McCain III (August 29, 1936 – August 25, 2018) was an American statesman and United States Navy, naval officer who represented the Arizona, state of Arizona in United States Congress, Congress for over 35 years, first as ...

received 58.9% of the vote here (1,380 cast), ahead of Democrat Barack Obama with 38.2% (896 votes) and other candidates with 2.2% (51 votes), among the 2,343 ballots cast by the township's 2,927 registered voters, for a turnout of 80.0%. In the 2004 presidential election, Republican

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician and businessman who was the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Bush family and the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he i ...

received 61.6% of the vote here (1,380 ballots cast), outpolling Democrat

John Kerry John Forbes Kerry (born December 11, 1943) is an American attorney, politician, and diplomat who served as the 68th United States secretary of state from 2013 to 2017 in the Presidency of Barack Obama#Administration, administration of Barac ...

with 37.1% (830 votes) and other candidates with 1.3% (36 votes), among the 2,239 ballots cast by the township's 2,692 registered voters, for a turnout percentage of 83.2. In the 2013 gubernatorial election, Republican

Chris Christie Christopher James Christie (born September 6, 1962) is an American politician and former United States Attorney, federal prosecutor who served as the 55th governor of New Jersey from 2010 to 2018. A member of the Republican Party (United States) ...

received 73.8% of the vote (985 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 23.1% (309 votes), and other candidates with 3.1% (41 votes), among the 1,349 ballots cast by the township's 2,934 registered voters (14 ballots were spoiled), for a turnout of 46.0%. In the 2009 gubernatorial election, Republican Chris Christie received 66.4% of the vote here (1,130 ballots cast), 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 f ...

with 21.9% (373 votes), Independent Chris Daggett with 8.9% (151 votes) and other candidates with 1.2% (20 votes), among the 1,703 ballots cast by the township's 2,855 registered voters, yielding a 59.6% turnout.

Education

Students in public school for

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 eighth grade attend the schools of the Bethlehem Township School District. As of the 2022–23 school year, the district, comprised of two schools, had an enrollment of 357 students and 32.8 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a

student–teacher ratio The student–teacher ratio or student–faculty ratio refers to the number of students who attend a school or university divided by the number of teachers or staff in the institution. For example, a student–teacher ratio of 10:1 indicates that ...

of 10.9:1.District information for Bethlehem Township School District

National Center for Education Statistics The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) is the principal federal agency responsible for collecting, analyzing, and reporting data on education in the United States. Established under , it operates within the Institute of Education S ...

. Accessed February 1, 2024. Schools in the district (with 2022–23 enrollment data from the

) are Thomas B. Conley Elementary School with 225 students in grades PreK–5 and Ethel Hoppock Middle School with 130 students in grades 6–8.''2023-2024 Public School Directory''

Department of Education. Accessed March 1, 2024. Public school students in

ninth In music, a ninth is a compound interval consisting of an octave plus a second. Like the second, the interval of a ninth is classified as a dissonance in common practice tonality. Since a ninth is an octave larger than a second, its ...

through

twelfth grade Twelfth Grade (also known as Grade 12, Senior Year, Standard 12, 12th Standard, 12th Class, or Class 12th or Class 12) is the twelfth and final Educational stage, year of Formal education, formal or compulsory education. It is typically the final ...

s attend North Hunterdon High School in Annandale, which also serves students from Clinton Town, Clinton Township, Franklin Township, Lebanon Borough and Union Township. As of the 2022–23 school year, the high school had an enrollment of 1,237 students and 118.7 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a

of 10.4:1. The school is part of the North Hunterdon-Voorhees Regional High School District, which also includes students from Califon, Glen Gardner, Hampton, High Bridge, Lebanon Township and Tewksbury Township, who attend Voorhees High School. Eighth grade students from all of Hunterdon County are eligible to apply to attend the high school programs offered by the Hunterdon County Vocational School District, a county-wide vocational school district that offers career and technical education at its campuses in Raritan Township and at programs sited at local high schools, with no tuition charged to students for attendance.

Transportation

Roads and highways

, the township had a total of of roadways, of which were maintained by the municipality, by Hunterdon 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 transport ...

. Bethlehem Township is well-connected to major metropolitan areas and cities (such as the

Lehigh Valley The Lehigh Valley () is a geography, geographic and urban area, metropolitan region formed by the Lehigh River in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, Lehigh and Northampton County, Pennsylvania, Northampton counties in eastern Pennsylvania. It is a co ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

and

) via

Interstate 78 Interstate 78 (I-78) is an east–west Interstate Highway in the Northeastern United States that runs from I-81 northeast of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, through Allentown to western and North Jersey, terminating at the Holland Tunnel entra ...

/ U.S. Route 22 and Route 173. While I-78/US 22 pass through without any interchanges, the nearest exit is just outside the township in bordering

(Exit 7) and Union Township (Exit 11). Anderson Road, located within Bethlehem Township, begins in neighboring Union Township and ends in Bethlehem Township as a dead-end, or

cul-de-sac A dead end, also known as a ''cul-de-sac'' (; , ), a no-through road or a no-exit road, is a street with only one combined inlet and outlet. Dead ends are added to roads in urban planning designs to limit traffic in residential areas. Some d ...

. Consequently, Anderson Road cannot be accessed internally through Bethlehem Township; it can only be accessed through Union Township.

Public transportation

Public transportation is limited to The LINK, a public bus service which serves Hunterdon County. Fares range from about $2.00 to $10.00. Funding for operation of the Hunterdon County LINK System is provided by Hunterdon County,

NJ Transit New Jersey Transit Corporation, branded as NJ Transit or NJTransit and often shortened to NJT, is a state-owned public transportation system that serves the U.S. state of New Jersey and portions of the states of New York and Pennsylvania. I ...

and the

Federal Transit Administration The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) is an agency within the United States Department of Transportation (DOT) that provides financial and technical assistance to local public transportation systems. The FTA is one of ten modal administration ...

Rail / Lehigh Line

The

Norfolk Southern Railway The Norfolk Southern Railway is a Class I freight railroad operating in the Eastern United States. Headquartered in Atlanta, the company was formed in 1982 with the merger of the Norfolk and Western Railway and Southern Railway. The comp ...

's Lehigh Line (formerly the mainline of the

Lehigh Valley Railroad The Lehigh Valley Railroad was a railroad in the Northeastern United States built predominantly to haul anthracite, anthracite coal from the Coal Region in Northeastern Pennsylvania to major consumer markets in Philadelphia, New York City, and ...

), runs through Bethlehem Township on its way to

Phillipsburg, New Jersey Phillipsburg is a town located along the Delaware River that is the most populous municipality in Warren County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is part of the Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton, PA-NJ metropolitan statistical area. As of the 202 ...

Notable people

People who were born in, residents of, or otherwise closely associated with Bethlehem Township include:Kreis, Anthony M
"By perseverance and fortitude: A Brief History of People and Events of the Township of Bethlehem"
Township of Bethlehem. Accessed November 13, 2013. * John T. Bird (1829–1911), member of the United States House of Representatives from 1869 to 1873 * Johnston Cornish (1858–1920), represented New Jersey's 4th congressional district in the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...

from 1893 to 1895 * Anne Marie Letko (born 1969), long-distance runner who competed in the Summer Olympics in 1996 and 2000 *

Daniel Morgan Daniel Morgan (c. 1736 – July 6, 1802) was an American pioneer, soldier, and politician from Virginia. One of the most respected battlefield tacticians of the American Revolutionary War of 1775–1783, he later commanded troops during the sup ...

(1736–1802), Revolutionary War general and a United States Representative from the State of Virginia * James Parker (1776–1868), member of the House of Representatives from New Jersey * Bennet Van Syckel (1830–1921), Associate Justice of the

New Jersey Supreme Court The Supreme Court of New Jersey is the supreme court, highest court in the U.S. state of New Jersey. In its current form, the Supreme Court of New Jersey is the final judicial authority on all cases in the state court system, including cases cha ...

from 1869 to 1904Sackett, William Edgar; and Scannell, John James
''Scannell's New Jersey First Citizens: Biographies and Portraits of the Notable Living Men and Women of New Jersey with Informing Glimpses Into the State's History and Affairs, Volume 1''
p. 511. J. J. Scannell, 1917. Accessed July 13, 2016. "Bennet Van Syckel— Trenton.— Jurist. Born in Bethlehem, Hunterdon Co., April 17, 1830."

References

External links

Official Municipal WebsiteHunterdon County page for Bethlehem TownshipBethlehem Township School District
*
School Data for the Bethlehem Township School District

North Hunterdon-Voorhees Regional High School DistrictHunterdon Land Trust Alliance
{{Raritan River 1798 establishments in New Jersey Populated places established in 1798 Township form of New Jersey government Townships in New Jersey Townships in Hunterdon County, New Jersey