Manville

Manville, New Jersey
—  Borough  —
Map of Manville in Somerset County. Inset: Location of Somerset County highlighted in the State of New Jersey.
Census Bureau map of Manville, New Jersey
Coordinates: 40°32′20″N 74°35′36″W / 40.53889°N 74.59333°W / 40.53889; -74.59333Coordinates: 40°32′20″N 74°35′36″W / 40.53889°N 74.59333°W / 40.53889; -74.59333
Country	United States
State	New Jersey
County	Somerset
Incorporated	April 18, 1929
Government [1]
- Type	Borough (New Jersey)
- Mayor	Lillian Zuza
Area
- Total	2.5 sq mi (6.4 km2)
- Land	2.5 sq mi (6.4 km2)
- Water	0.0 sq mi (0.0 km2)
Elevation [2]	59 ft (18 m)
Population (2008)[3]
- Total	10,800
- Density	4,167.5/sq mi (1,609.1/km2)
Time zone	Eastern (EST) (UTC-5)
- Summer (DST)	EDT (UTC-4)
ZIP code	08835
Area code(s)	908
FIPS code	34-43620[4][5]
GNIS feature ID	0885291[6]
Website	http://www.manvillenj.org

Manville is a Borough in Somerset County, New Jersey, United States. As of the United States 2000 Census, the borough population was 10,343. Manville was named after the Johns-Manville Corporation, which maintained a large manufacturing facility in the borough for decades.

Historically, many of Manville's residents are of Slavic — mostly eastern Polish (23.1% of the borough's population^[7]) and western Ukrainian) descent — with many businesses and restaurants geared towards the Polish-American community. (CR 533).

Manville was formed by an act of the New Jersey Legislature on April 1, 1929, with a referendum held on April 18, 1929.^[8]

Geography

Main Street in Manville, New Jersey, with the Watchung Mountains in background

Manville is located at 40°32′20″N 74°35′36″W / 40.539003°N 74.593450°W / 40.539003; -74.593450 (40.539003, -74.593450).^[9]

According to the United States Census Bureau, the borough has a total area of 2.5 square miles (6.4 km²), all of it land.

Much of Manville is in a low-lying flood plain and is surrounded by rivers and streams on all but the western side which borders neighboring Hillsborough Township by land. The Raritan River winds through the northern section of the borough and is met by the Millstone River which forms the eastern boundary of the borough, where a dam exists at the confluence of the rivers which is used for water intake purposes by New Jersey American Water.

Demographics

As of the census^[4] of 2000, there were 10,343 people, 4,115 households, and 2,757 families residing in the borough. The population density was 4,167.5 people per square mile (1,610.3/km²). There were 4,296 housing units at an average density of 1,731.0/sq mi (668.8/km²). The racial makeup of the borough was 95.99% White, 0.45% African American, 0.07% Native American, 1.31% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 1.14% from other races, and 1.01% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 5.40% of the population.

23.1% of Manville's residents identified themselves as being of Polish ancestry, the second-highest in New Jersey (behind Wallington's 45.5%), for all places with 1,000 people listing their ancestry.^[7]

There were 4,115 households out of which 26.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 50.3% were married couples living together, 11.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 33.0% were non-families. 26.7% of all households were made up of individuals and 12.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.51 and the average family size was 3.05.

In the borough the population was spread out with 20.7% under the age of 18, 7.2% from 18 to 24, 31.9% from 25 to 44, 22.5% from 45 to 64, and 17.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females there were 96.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 94.0 males.

The median income for a household in the borough was $51,258, and the median income for a family was $61,151. Males had a median income of $40,902 versus $32,030 for females. The per capita income for the borough was $23,293. About 2.1% of families and 3.8% of the population were below the poverty line, including 3.8% of those under age 18 and 4.8% of those age 65 or over.

Government

Local government

Manville is governed under the Borough form of New Jersey municipal government. The government consists of a Mayor and a Borough Council comprising six council members, with all positions elected at large. A Mayor is elected directly by the voters to a four-year term of office. The Borough Council consists of six members elected to serve three-year terms on a staggered basis, with two seats coming up for election each year.^[1]

The Mayor of Manville is Lillian Zuza (term ends December 31, 2011), elected to replace Angelo Corradino. Corradino was the only four-term Mayor in Manville's history. He was the first Manville Mayor to be elected as the President of the New Jersey Conference of Mayors, and the first Manville Mayor to be elected into the New Jersey Mayors Hall of Fame.

As of 2009^[update], members of the Manville Borough Council are Council President Susan Asher (2010), Lou Fischer (2011), Ed Komoroski (2010), Kenneth Otrimski (2009), Theodore Petrock, III (2009) and Stephen Szabo (2010).^[11][12]

Federal, state and county representation

Manville is in the Seventh Congressional District and is part of New Jersey's 16th Legislative District.^[13]

New Jersey's Seventh Congressional District, covering portions of Hunterdon County, Middlesex County, Somerset County and Union County, is represented by Leonard Lance (R, Clinton Township). New Jersey is represented in the Senate by Frank Lautenberg (D, Cliffside Park) and Bob Menendez (D, Hoboken).

For the 2008-2009 Legislative Session, the 16th District of the New Jersey Legislature is represented in the State Senate by Christopher "Kip" Bateman (R, Neshanic Station) and in the Assembly by Peter J. Biondi (R, Hillsborough Township) and Denise Coyle (R, Basking Ridge).^[14] The Governor of New Jersey is Jon Corzine (D, Hoboken).^[15]

Somerset County is governed by a five-member Board of Chosen Freeholders, whose members are elected at-large to three-year terms on a staggered basis, with one or two elected each year. As of 2009^[update], Somerset County's Freeholders are Freeholder Director Rick Fontana (Bridgewater Township, 2009), Freeholder Deputy Director Jack Ciattarelli (Hillsborough Township, 2009), Peter S. Palmer (Bernardsville, term ends December 31, 2011),Patricia Walsh (Green Brook Township, 2010) and Robert Zaborowski (Franklin Township, 2011).^[16]

Education

The Manville School District serves public school students in kindergarten through twelfth grade. Schools in the district (with 2006-07 enrollment data from the National Center for Education Statistics^[17]) are Weston Elementary School (K-3, 394 students), Roosevelt Elementary School (4&5, 194 students), Alexander Batcho Intermediate School (6-8, 315 students) and Manville High School (9-12, 433 students).

Christ the King, a Catholic school, serves Pre-K - 8th grade. The School is currently run by Rev. Stanislaw Slaby CSsR and Rev. Lukasz Drozack CSsR. The former pastors included Rev.Boguslaw Agustyn CSsR and before him Fr.Dan Sloan.

Redevelopment

While known for decades as the host community for a large manufacturing facility (Johns-Manville Corporation) that utilized asbestos in its manufacturing processes, Manville has begun to leave behind its industrial past and the lingering asbestos pollution that was a legacy of the manufacturing that took place in the borough. The asbestos dumps have been removed or capped in compliance with environmental laws, and the former manufacturing land has been redeveloped into a large movie theater complex known as Reading Cinemas, a medium-sized retail outlet with a Wal-Mart anchor store and a used car wholesale auction company called ADESA New Jersey. Main Street in Manville is once again lively and a place people from all around come for entertainment, dining and shopping.

Other areas of the borough are also undergoing redevelopment. The Federal Superfund project called The Federal Creosote Site was cleaned up by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) with $250 Million of public funds. The Superfund cleanup project was performed in a 35-acre residential section of town called Claremont Development and in a 15-acre commercial area called the Rustic Mall, and was officially declared complete by the EPA on March 7, 2008.^[18] The borough plans to redevelop the former Superfund site into a town center with shops and housing as soon as EPA approval of the redevelopment plans is received.

Flooding problems

Photo of a gauge inspector and the Manville, New Jersey gage house built into the North Main Street/CR-533 bridge abutment during the Raritan River flood of December 31, 1948.

Manville suffers from occasional flooding events that occur after prolonged heavy rainfall events, when the Raritan River and Millstone River overflow their banks into the northern section (Raritan) and the Lost Valley section (Millstone) of the borough. The southern parts of Main Street also suffered from the flooding, due to the presence of the stream that backs up with water from the nearby Millstone River in which it empties.

There are studies being undertaken to address the flooding problems in the Millstone River basin and Manville; however, none of the flood control ideas in the Millstone River basin have gotten beyond the initial study stages as of late 2006.

See Flood Control Feasibility Study for Manville, NJ by the United States Army Corps of Engineers for more information on flood control proposals for the borough.

Hurricane Floyd Flood of 1999

Manville was severely hit by a flood in the wake of Hurricane Floyd in September 1999, which dropped ten to twelve inches (305 mm) of rain in the areas surrounding the borough. The floods devastated the Lost Valley section, some of the South side area along Main Street and a large portion of the North side. Water levels reached between 12 feet (3.7 m) and 17 feet (5.2 m) in parts of the borough on September 17, 1999. The only way residents could get help was by boat or helicopter. There was also a large amount of fuel oil floating on the flood water which further damaged homes, many of which came off their foundations.

The North side was hit by a wall of water coming from the Raritan at Dukes Parkway that inundated the streets with floodwaters from Main Street to 4th Street, where there is a rise in the land. The water reached the freight tracks that run through the center of the borough, and spilled over, flooding some on the South Street side, but leaving tons of water dammed in on the North Street side, where people had to be rescued from rooftops, or second floor windows and landings, by boat.

The problem was doubled in the Lost Valley section, as floodwaters backed up where the Raritan and Millstone rivers meet near the dam. All trapped and injured people had to be taken out by helicopter, as there was no way to get in or out of the Lost Valley section. The September 1999 flood disaster was the worst ever to hit Manville, although it had been flooded in 1971. Where many of the lost valley houses were destroyed and their foundations lost. (Hurrican Doria). And previously before that in the 1950s. Because of the railroad tracks being so much higher than the Lost valley land, (which the houses stand). Manville's Lost valley will always be a number one target for flooding. Through Research of Manville's History, Lost Valley was never to be built for this reason.

Lost Valley flooding

Manville has the distinction of being the location where the slow moving Raritan River (which passes to the north) and the tributary Millstone River (which passes to the east) join together, in the far northeastern corner of the borough. The Lost Valley section in eastern Manville is situated on the natural flood plain between the Raritan and Millstone Rivers, and bears the brunt of occasional flooding events which affect the river basins. Hurricane Floyd in September 1999 produced a particularly severe flood (a record for the river basins) in Manville, especially in the Lost Valley section of the borough, which experienced flooding all the way to the railroad tracks, with twelve feet or more water on many properties, which inundated houses with damaging flood waters. Another severe and devastating flood event occurred in Lost Valley during the April 2007 Nor'easter. It also left many homes and businesses underwater and was the worst flood since Hurricane Floyd.

Flood Gauge on Raritan River

NOAA Flood gauge in Manville, NJ on Raritan River - Realtime river level data. Flooding occurs at a 14-foot (4.3 m) stage, and severe flooding occurs when the water reaches 18 feet.

Notable residents

Notable current and former residents of Manville include:

• Cheryl Chase, voice actress.^[19]
• Edward Rogalski (born 1942), 12th president of St. Ambrose University in Davenport, Iowa, named in 1987.^[20]

References

External links

• Manville official web site
• Manville School District
• Manville School District's 2007–08 School Report Card from the New Jersey Department of Education
• Data for the Manville School District, National Center for Education Statistics
• Manville Police Department
• Manville Business and Professional Association
• Manville's web portal*
• Manville History

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