There are twenty-four municipalities within the boundaries of Sussex County in the state of New Jersey. These include one municipality incorporated as a town, eight incorporated as boroughs, and fifteen incorporated as townships, organized in accordance with state law. In 2010 Federal decennial census, 149,265 persons resided in Sussex County, a gain of 3.5% from the 144,166 persons counted in the 2000 Federal decennial census.United States Census Bureau, "Table 6. Rank of Counties by Percent Change in Population: 2000 to 2010" (page 8), "Table 8. Population and Housing Units: 1990 to 2010; and Area Measurements and Density: 2010" (page 20-21) CPH-2-32. New Jersey: 2010 - Population and Housing Unit Counts; 2010 Census of Population and Housing (April 2012) (backed up by the Internet Archive as of July 31, 2013). Retrieved October 2, 2015. Populations, as of 2010, range from the county's largest municipality, Vernon Township, with 23,943 residents, to Walpack Township, with 16 residents. In size, municipalities range from Branchville borough, the smallest at to the largest, Vernon, at .
When Sussex County was created on June 8, 1753 from the northern and western regions of Morris County it consisted of the land area of present-day Sussex County and Warren County (created in 1824) in northwestern New Jersey. That county, from 1753 to 1824, comprised roughly , was bounded by the Delaware River, Musconetcong River, New York-New Jersey border, and a line drawn northeast from Lake Hopatcong to the colony's northern border with New York.William Paterson (compiler), Laws of the State of New Jersey (Newark: Matthias Day, 1800), 15 (creating Sussex County), 118 (creating Vernon Township), 240 (creating Frankford Township), 264 (creating Byram Township). In 1753, Sussex County consisted of four large "precincts": Walpack (created c. 1731), Greenwich (created c. 1738), Hardwick (created 1750), and Newtown (created 1751, dissolved 1864).John Parr Snyder, The Story of New Jersey's Civil Boundaries: 1606–1968: Bulletin 67, (Trenton: Bureau of Geology and Topography, 1969; reprint, New Jersey Geological Survey, 2004), 34, 36, 229–235, 245–249. These four precincts would be divided to create the 24 municipalities presently extant in Sussex County and 22 municipalities presently extant in Warren County.
By a legislative act on November 20, 1824, Warren County was created of the southern half of Sussex County divided on by partition line "beginning on the river Delaware, at the mouth of Flat brook, in the township of Walpack, and running from thence, a straight course to the corner of the Hardwick church [now in Yellow Frame], situated on the south side of the main road leading from Johnsonsburg to Newton and from thence in the same course to the middle of Muskonetcong creek".P.L. 1824, page 146–147, State of New Jersey, "Session Laws", Acts of the Legislature of the State of New Jersey. This line divided Hardwick Township with its lands north of the line being ceded to create the townships of Green and Stillwater. The line also divided Walpack Township with the lands south of the line being ceded to create Pahaquarry Township in Warren County.
Another line of partition, the Lawrence Line of 1743, is still extant in the boundaries of four Sussex County municipalities. This line was drawn by surveyor John Lawrence to provide final resolution after 67 years of disputes to the division of New Jersey into the two proprietary colonies of the Province of West Jersey and Province of East Jersey in accordance with the Quintipartite Deed (1676), divided the state in a straight line from "the Northernmost Branch of said Bay or River of De la Ware which is in forty-one Degrees and forty minutes of latitude...unto the most southwardly poynt of the East syde of Little Egge Harbour".Aaron Leaming and Jacob Spicer, The Grants, Concessions and Original Constitutions of the Province of New-Jersey(Philadelphia: W. Bradford, 1758), 10.John E. Pomfret, The Province of East New Jersey, 1609-1702 (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1962), 277, 297-298; William Whitehead, Documents Relating to the Colonial History of the State of New Jersey. Volume 2 (Newark, NJ: Daily Journal Establishment, 1880), 135-136. This line divides Walpack Township from Sandyston Township, and Stillwater Township from Hampton Township.
List of municipalities MunicipalityLocationTypeIncorporatedCreated fromAreaPopulation (2010)Population (2000)% change Andover Borough - Borough March 25, 1904by legislative actP.L. 1904, page 95, State of New Jersey, "Session Laws", Acts of the Legislature of the State of New Jersey. Andover Township 606 658 -7.9% Andover Township Township April 11, 1864by legislative actP.L. 1864, page 196, State of New Jersey, "Session Laws", Acts of the Legislature of the State of New Jersey. Newton Township 6,319 6,033 +4.7% Branchville Borough Borough March 9, 1898by legislative actP.L. 1898, page 60, State of New Jersey, "Session Laws", Acts of the Legislature of the State of New Jersey. Frankford Township 841 845 -0.5% Byram Township Township(council–manager) April 9, 1798by legislative act Newton Township 8,350 8,254 +1.2% Frankford Township Township April 10, 1797by legislative act Newton Township 5,565 5,420 +2.7% Franklin Borough Borough April 23, 1913by legislative act and referendumP.L. 1913, page 128, State of New Jersey, "Session Laws", Acts of the Legislature of the State of New Jersey. NOTE: Bill enacted March 18, 1913; referendum held April 23, 1913. Hardyston Township 5,045 5,160 -2.2% Fredon Township Township February 24, 1904by legislative actP.L. 1904, page 17, State of New Jersey, "Session Laws", Acts of the Legislature of the State of New Jersey. from Andover, Green, Hampton and Stillwater townships 3,437 2,860 +20.2% Green Township Township December 27, 1824by legislative actP.L. 1824, page 126, State of New Jersey, "Session Laws", Acts of the Legislature of the State of New Jersey. Hardwick andIndependence townships 3,601 3,220 +11.8% Hamburg Borough Borough April 24, 1920by legislative act and referendumP.L. 1920, page 36, State of New Jersey, "Session Laws", Acts of the Legislature of the State of New Jersey; NOTE: Bill enacted March 19, 1920; referendum held April 24, 1920. Hardyston Township 3,277 3,105 +5.5% Hampton Township Township April 11, 1864by legislative act Newton Township 5,196 4,943 +5.1% Hardyston Township Township(Special Charter) February 25, 1762by royal charter"Royal Charter creating Hardyston Township", Commissions, Liber C-2, page 257, Bureau of Archives and History, New Jersey State Archives, Trenton, New Jersey. Newton Township 8,213 6,171 +33.1% Hopatcong Borough Borough March 24, 1898by legislative actP.L. 1898, page 208; P.L. 1901, page 400, State of New Jersey, "Session Laws", Acts of the Legislature of the State of New Jersey. Byram Township 15,147 15,888 -4.7% Lafayette Township Township April 14, 1845by legislative actP.L. 1845, page 137, State of New Jersey, "Session Laws", Acts of the Legislature of the State of New Jersey. Frankford and Newton townships 2,538 2,300 +10.3% Montague Township Township March 26, 1759by colonial county courtsCourt records creating Montague Township (page 421) and Wantage Township (page 420). Sussex County Clerk's Office (Newton, New Jersey), Sussex County Records, Division B, page 420-421 Walpack Township 3,847 3,412 +12.7% Newton Town(council–manager) April 11, 1864by legislative act Newton Township 7,997 8,244 -30% Ogdensburg Borough Borough March 31, 1914by legislative act and referendumP.L. 1914, page 16, State of New Jersey, "Session Laws", Acts of the Legislature of the State of New Jersey. NOTE: Bill enacted February 26, 1914; referendum held March 31, 1914. Sparta Township 2,410 2,638 -8.6% Sandyston Township Township February 26, 1762by royal charter"Royal Charter creating Sandyston Township", Commissions, Liber C-2, page 258, Bureau of Archives and History, New Jersey State Archives, Trenton, New Jersey. Walpack Township 1,998 1,825 +9.5% Sparta Township Township(council–manager) April 14, 1845by legislative actP.L. 1845, page 42, State of New Jersey, "Session Laws", Acts of the Legislature of the State of New Jersey. Byram, Frankford, Hardyston, and Newton townships 19,722 18,080 +9.1% Stanhope Borough Borough March 24, 1904by legislative actP.L. 1904, page 93, State of New Jersey, "Session Laws", Acts of the Legislature of the State of New Jersey. Byram Township 3,610 3,584 +0.7% Stillwater Township Township December 27, 1824by legislative act Hardwick Township 4,099 4,267 -3.9% Sussex Borough Borough October 14, 1891by referendum Wantage Township 2,130 2,145 -0.7% Vernon Township Township(council–manager) April 8, 1793by legislative act Hardyston Township 23,943 24,686 -3.0% Walpack Township Township c. 1731 unincorporated wilderness 16 41 -61.0% Wantage Township Township May 30, 1754by colonial county courts Newton Township 11,358 10.387 +9.3%
Defunct municipalities MunicipalityLocationIncorporatedDissolvedAreaNotes Newton Township - March 27, 1751by colonial county courts April 11, 1864by division approx. Created by the colonial courts in Morris County from New Jersey's last unorganized wilderness areas;Morris County Clerk’s Office (Morristown, New Jersey). General Sessions of the Peace Court of Common Pleas, 1740–1754, 377. one of original four precincts ceded to create Sussex County in 1753. From 1754 to 1864 was divided on six occasions to create 9 municipalities (direct and indirect parent of 18 of Sussex County's present-day 24 municipalities). Dissolved after its final division in 1864 into the Town of Newton, Andover Township, and Hampton Township.
See also List of census-designated places in New Jersey List of municipalities in New Jersey
References Notes
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External links County of Sussex (official website)