Belleville, New Jersey
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Belleville is a Township in Essex County, New Jersey, United States. As of the United States 2000 Census, the township population was 35,928.
Belleville was originally incorporated as a township by an Act of the New Jersey Legislature on April 8, 1839, from portions of Bloomfield. Portions of the township were taken to create Woodside Township (March 24, 1869, now defunct) and Franklin Township (February 18, 1874, now known as Nutley). The independent municipality of Belleville city was created within the township on March 27, 1874, and was dissolved on February 22, 1876. On November 16, 1910, Belleville was reincorporated as as town, based on the results of a referendum held eight days earlier.[1]
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[edit] Geography
Belleville is located at (40.793500, -74.161448)GR1.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the township has a total area of 8.8 km² (3.4 mi²). 8.7 km² (3.3 mi²) of it is land and 0.2 km² (0.1 mi²) of it (2.05%) is water.
[edit] Demographics
| Historical populations | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Census | Pop. | %± | |
| 1930 | 26,974 |
|
|
| 1940 | 28,167 | 4.4% | |
| 1950 | 32,019 | 13.7% | |
| 1960 | 35,005 | 9.3% | |
| 1970 | 37,629 | 7.5% | |
| 1980 | 35,367 | -6.0% | |
| 1990 | 34,213 | -3.3% | |
| 2000 | 35,928 | 5.0% | |
| Est. 2005 | 34,901 | [2] | -2.9% |
| Population 1930 - 1990.[3] | |||
As of the censusGR2 of 2000, there were 35,928 people, 13,731 households, and 9,089 families residing in the township. The population density was 4,153.3/km² (10,744.3/mi²). There were 14,144 housing units at an average density of 1,635.0/km² (4,229.8/mi²). The racial makeup of the township was 69.44% White, 5.36% African American, 0.17% Native American, 11.31% Asian, 0.07% Pacific Islander, 9.83% from other races, and 3.82% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 23.68% of the population.
There were 13,731 households out of which 29.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 47.0% were married couples living together, 13.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 33.8% were non-families. 27.9% of all households were made up of individuals and 9.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.60 and the average family size was 3.23.
In the township the population was spread out with 21.8% under the age of 18, 8.7% from 18 to 24, 33.9% from 25 to 44, 22.2% from 45 to 64, and 13.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females there were 93.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 89.8 males.
The median income for a household in the township was $48,576, and the median income for a family was $55,212. Males had a median income of $38,074 versus $31,729 for females. The per capita income for the township was $22,093. About 6.3% of families and 8.2% of the population were below the poverty line, including 10.9% of those under age 18 and 7.8% of those age 65 or over.
[edit] Government
[edit] Local government
The members of the Belleville Township Council are:[4]
- Mayor Ray Kimble
- Deputy Mayor John Notari
- Marie Strumolo Burke
- Kevin G. Kennedy
- Michael Nicosia
- George Ritacco
- Steven Rovell
[edit] Federal, state and county representation
Belleville is in the Eighth Congressional District and is part of New Jersey's 28th Legislative District.[5]
New Jersey's Eighth Congressional District, covering the southern portion of Passaic County and northern sections of Essex County, is represented by Bill Pascrell Jr. (D, Paterson). New Jersey is represented in the Senate by Frank Lautenberg (D, Cliffside Park) and Bob Menendez (D, Hoboken).
The 28th legislative district of the New Jersey Legislature is represented in the State Senate by Ronald Rice (D, Newark) and in the Assembly by Craig A. Stanley (D, Irvington) and Oadline Truitt (D, Newark). The Governor of New Jersey is Jon Corzine (D, Hoboken).
Essex County's County Executive is Joseph N. DiVincenzo, Jr. The executive, along with the Board of Chosen Freeholders administer all county business. Essex County's Freeholders are Freeholder President Blonnie R. Watson, Freeholder Vice President Ralph R. Caputo, Freeholders-At-Large Johnny Jones, Donald M. Payne, Jr., and Patricia Sebold, Freeholder District 1 Samuel Gonzalez, Freeholder District 2 D. Bilal Beasley, Freeholder District 3 Carol Y. Clark, Freeholder District 4 Linda Lordi Cavanaugh and Freeholder District 5 Ralph R. Caputo.
[edit] Politics
On the national level, Belleville leans toward the Democratic Party. In 2004, Democrat John Kerry received 52% of the vote here, defeating Republican George W. Bush, who received around 47%.
[edit] Education
The Belleville School District serves students in kindergarten through twelfth grade. The district is comprised of seven K-6 elementary schools — School 3, School 4, School 5, School 7, School 8, School 9 and School 10 — Belleville Middle School for grades 7&8, and Belleville High School for grades 9-12.
[edit] Transportation
Route 7 and New Jersey Route 21 as well as County Route 506 all pass through Belleville.
[edit] Places of Interest
- Clara Maass Medical Center
[edit] Belleville locations in The Sopranos
- Episode 3 (Denial, Anger, Acceptance): Christopher Moltisanti's "mock execution" is on the pier in the Passaic River used by Belleville High School's crew team (technically, perhaps, in Kearny).
- Episode 28 (Proshai, Livushka): Livia Soprano's funeral is held at the Irvine-Cozzarelli Memorial Home, across the street from Belleville Middle School on Washington Avenue. Also take a Cab from the Belleville Taxi Service
[edit] 1996 Torch Relay
On June 18, 1996, the Olympic Torch Relay came through the township of Belleville. The relay entered Belleville from Rutgers, made a left onto Washington Avenue, passing the Belleville Town Hall, a right onto Belleville Avenue and stayed on Belleville into the township of Bloomfield. The torch relay ended at Atlanta, GA for the 1996 Summer Games.
[edit] Trivia
- Originally known as "Second River," the inhabitants renamed the settlement "Belleville" in 1797. Today, the Second River forms much of the border between Belleville and Newark as it runs through Branch Brook Park, home to an annual Cherry Blossom Festival.
- The township of Belleville has given itself the nickname the Cherry Blossom Capital of America.
- Belleville is mentioned several times in the Tony Award-winning musical Jersey Boys.
[edit] Notable residents
- Russell Baker (Pulitzer Prize-winning writer "Growing Up")
- Moe Berg, Major League Baseball catcher who also served briefly as a spy for the United States.
- Dennis Diken (former Smithereens drummer)
- Tommy DeVito
- Connie Francis
- Scott Graham, former Philadelphia Phillies broadcaster
- David Grant (former NFL player)
- Frank Iero (American guitarist for the band My Chemical Romance)
- Tony Meola, soccer goalie.[6]
- Joe Pesci
- Diane Ruggiero (That's Life series creator and Veronica Mars writer)
- Frankie Valli
- Sarah Vaughan
- Gerard Way (Lead vocalist for the band My Chemical Romance).
- Mikey Way, bassist for the band My Chemical Romance) and younger brother of lead vocalist Gerard Way)
[edit] Belleville characters in The Sopranos
[edit] References
- ^ "The Story of New Jersey's Civil Boundaries: 1606-1968", John P. Snyder, Bureau of Geology and Topography; Trenton, New Jersey; 1969. p. 125.
- ^ Census data for Belleville township, United States Census Bureau, accessed March 1, 2007
- ^ Jersey Resident Population by Municipality: 1930 - 1990, accessed March 1, 2007
- ^ Belleville Elected Officials, accessed March 13, 2007
- ^ League of Women Voters: 2006 New Jersey Citizen's Guide to Government, p. 55, accessed August 30, 2006
- ^ Jersey-kid Meola ready for KC, Kansas City Star, February 6, 1999, "Born and raised in Belleville, N.J...."
[edit] External links
- Township of Belleville
- Belleville School District
- Belleville School District's 2005-06 School Report Card from the New Jersey Department of Education
- National Center for Education Statistics data for the Belleville School District
- Belleville Historical Website History of Belleville, including famous residents
- Belleville, NJ History
- Belleville, NJ Historical Photos
- Maps and aerial photos
- Street map from Google Maps, or Yahoo! Maps, or Windows Live Local
- Satellite image from Google Maps, Windows Live Local, WikiMapia
- Topographic map from TopoZone
- Aerial image or topographic map from TerraServer-USA
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(County seat: Newark) |
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| Boroughs | Caldwell | Essex Fells | Glen Ridge | North Caldwell | Roseland |  |
| Cities | East Orange | Newark | |
| Towns | ||
| Townships | Belleville | Bloomfield | Cedar Grove | City of Orange | Fairfield | Irvington | Livingston | Maplewood | Millburn | Montclair | Nutley | South Orange Village | Verona | West Caldwell | West Orange | |
| Neighborhoods | Broadway | Downtown Newark | Fairmount | Forest Hill | Ironbound | Llewellyn Park | Roseville | Seventh Avenue | Springfield/Belmont | University Heights | Vailsburg | Weequahic | |
