BERNARDSVILLE, NEW JERSEY

'Bernardsville' is a Borough in Somerset County, New Jersey, United States. As of the United States 2000 Census, the borough population was 7,345.
Bernardsville was incorporated as a borough by an Act of the New Jersey Legislature on March 6, 1924, from portions of Bernards Township, based on the results of a referendum held on April 29, 1924."The Story of New Jersey's Civil Boundaries: 1606-1968", John P. Snyder, Bureau of Geology and Topography; Trenton, New Jersey; 1969. p. 222.
It has been said that the horse head scene from ''The Godfather'' took place originally on Hardscrabble Road.

Contents

Geography

Demographics

Government

Local government

Federal, state and county representation

Education

History

Notable residents

References

See also

External links

Geography

Bernardsville is located at (40.718800, -74.577675).
According to the United States Census Bureau, the borough has a total area of 33.5 km² (12.9 mi²). 33.5 km² (12.9 mi²) of it is land and 0.08% is water.

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 7,345 people, 2,723 households, and 2,050 families residing in the borough. The population density was 219.3/km² (568.1/mi²). There were 2,807 housing units at an average density of 83.8/km² (217.1/mi²). The racial makeup of the borough was 93.94% White, 0.25% African American, 0.15% Native American, 2.64% Asian, 1.55% from other races, and 1.47% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 5.98% of the population.
There were 2,723 households out of which 35.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 67.2% were married couples living together, 6.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 24.7% were non-families. 21.0% of all households were made up of individuals and 8.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.69 and the average family size was 3.12.
In the borough the population was spread out with 26.1% under the age of 18, 4.5% from 18 to 24, 28.7% from 25 to 44, 28.0% from 45 to 64, and 12.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females there were 96.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 92.3 males.
The median income for a household in the borough was $104,162, and the median income for a family was $126,601. Males had a median income of $91,842 versus $50,732 for females. The per capita income for the borough was $69,854. About 1.6% of families and 2.8% of the population were below the poverty line, including 2.3% of those under age 18 and 2.5% of those age 65 or over.

Government

Local government

Bernardsville is governed by a Mayor and a six-member Borough Council. The Mayor of Bernardsville is Lee C. Honecker. Members of the Borough Council are Council President Denis J. Dooley, II, Charlotte Foster, Michael Landau, John McCrossan, Joseph Rossi, Jr. and Mikael Salovaara.^[1]

Federal, state and county representation

Bernardsville is in the Seventh Congressional District and is part of New Jersey's 16th Legislative District.^[2]

Education

Students in grades K - 12 attend the schools of the Somerset Hills Regional School District, a regional school district serving students from Bernardsville, Far Hills and Peapack-Gladstone. For grades 9 through 12, students from Bedminster are sent to the district's high school as part of a sending/receiving relationship. The three schools in the district, all located in Bernardsville, are Bedwell Elementary School (K - 4), Bernardsville Middle School (5 - 8) and Bernards High School (9 - 12).

History

Bernardsville was originally a section of Bernards Township known as Vealtown. In 1840, Vealtown became Bernardsville, named after Sir Francis Bernard, Colonial governor of New Jersey from 1758 to 1760. Nestled in the northern most part of Somerset County, just 12 miles south of Morristown, this rustic community sits in some of the last vestiges of the Great Eastern Forest.
After the Civil War, many wealthy and prominent New Yorkers moved into the area, first as summer visitors, then as permanent residents of the Bernardsville Mountain.
The railroad line was built through Bernardsville in 1872 and played an important role in the borough's development. Bernardsville did not become an independent municipality until 1924, when it split from Bernards Township.

Notable residents

★ Millicent Fenwick, U.S. Congresswoman, United States representative to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization.^[3]

★ Henry Janeway Hardenbergh, architect.^[4]

★ Andrew McCarthy, actor.^[5]

★ Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, former first lady.^[6]

★ Donald Roebling, inventor of the amphtrack.

★ John A. Roebling II, financier.Roan, Richard W. "Roebling's Amphibian: The Origin Of The Assault Amphibian", accessed April 12, 2007. "By the end of World War I, John A. Roebling II had concentrated his efforts on banking and the management of the Roebling family fortune, leaving the leadership of the John A. Roebling's Sons plants to other family members. John and his wife, Margaret, built a sprawling estate called the Boulderwood Mansion in Bernardsville, New Jersey, only thirty miles west of John's office complex in New York City.... Donald Roebling was born in New York City on 15 November 1908. Young Roebling, strong-willed, temperamental, and overweight, spent his childhood in the luxury of his parents' Bernardsville, New Jersey, mansion."

★ Meryl Streep, actress.^[7]

★ Mike Tyson and Robin Givens.^[8]

References

1. Bernardsville Borough Mayor and Council, accessed February 18, 2007
2. League of Women Voters: 2006 New Jersey Citizen's Guide to Government, p. 54, accessed August 30, 2006
3. Millicent Hammond Fenwick Congressional biography, accessed April 8, 2007. "was a resident of Bernardsville, N.J., until her death there on September 16, 1992."
4. Streetscapes/Henry Janeway Hardenbergh; An Architect Who Left an Indelible Imprint, ''The New York Times'' by Christopher Gray, May 7, 2000. "He alternated living in New York and New Jersey, at first at 121 West 73rd Street, in Jersey City and Bernardsville, and in a big town house of his own design at 12 East 56th Street."
5. Andrew McCarthy bio, TV.com, accessed [{April 12]], 2007. "At 16, he moved to Bernardsville, where he attended a prep school called the Pingry School."
6. If You're Thinking of Living In/Peapack and Gladstone; Fox-Hunting and High-Priced Homes, ''The New York Times'', August 7, 1994. "She does have a story about Aristotle Onassis, who rented a home in neighboring Bernardsville with his wife, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis."
7. AFI Award: Meryl Streep, ''The Hollywood Reporter'' by Wolf Schneider, June 10, 2004. "A New Jersey girl made good, Streep grew up middle-class and mousy-haired in Summit and Bernardsville, suburbs in which those around her would remember Streep as a bossy child."
8. Mike Tyson Chronology, ''USA Today'', June 12, 2005. "Oct. 2, 1988 — Police go to Tyson's Bernardsville, N.J., home after he hurls furniture out the window and forces Givens and her mother to flee the house."

See also

★ Bernards High School

★ Marion T. Bedwell School

★ Somerset County, New Jersey

External links

★ Bernardsville official web site

★ Somerset Hills School District

★

★ National Center for Education Statistics data for the Somerset Hills School District

★ The Historical Society of the Somerset Hills

★ Brief History of Bernardsville