Belleville, New Jersey


Belleville is a township in Essex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the township's population was 38,222. an increase of 2,296 from the 2010 census count of 35,926,
WWW bellevillenj.org

History

Originally known as "Second River" or "Washington", the inhabitants renamed the settlement "Belleville" in 1797. 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 and Franklin Township. 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 a town, based on the results of a referendum held eight days earlier.
In 1870, Belleville became the first city on the East Coast of the United States with a Chinatown. While much of the country had strong anti-Chinese sentiment, the town welcomed a group of Chinese workers from the West Coast who had been workers on building the Central Pacific Railroad. This group of people eventually formed the basis for Chinatowns in Newark and New York City.
In 1981, the town was one of seven Essex County municipalities to pass a referendum to become a township, joining four municipalities that had already made the change, of what would ultimately be more than a dozen Essex County municipalities to reclassify as townships in order take advantage of federal revenue sharing policies that allocated townships a greater share of government aid to municipalities on a per capita basis.
Frankie Valli and the band The Four Seasons formed in Belleville, as did The Delicates, the late-1950s and early-1960s girl group made up of Denise Ferri, Arleen Lanzotti and Peggy Santiglia.
In 1994, Congress passed a resolution recognizing Belleville as the birthplace of the Industrial Revolution in the United States.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the township had a total area of 3.37 square miles, including 3.30 square miles of land and 0.07 square miles of water.
Silver Lake is an unincorporated community and census-designated place defined by the United States Census Bureau as of the 2010 Census that is split between Belleville and Bloomfield.
Other unincorporated communities, localities and place names located partially or completely within the township include Belwood, Big Tree and Soho.
The Second River forms much of the border between Belleville and Newark as it runs through Branch Brook Park.
The township of Belleville has given itself the nickname the Cherry Blossom Capital of America, with an annual display that is larger than the famed Tidal Basin in Washington, D.C., site of the National Cherry Blossom Festival.
The township borders the municipalities of Bloomfield, Newark and Nutley in Essex County; Lyndhurst and North Arlington in Bergen County; and Kearny in Hudson County.

Demographics

2010 census

The 2010 United States census counted 35,926 people, 13,395 households, and 9,001 families in the township. The population density was. There were 14,327 housing units at an average density of. The racial makeup was 60.55% White, 9.12% Black or African American, 0.35% Native American, 12.00% Asian, 0.05% Pacific Islander, 13.97% from other races, and 3.96% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 39.34% of the population.
Of the 13,395 households, 30.5% had children under the age of 18; 44.3% were married couples living together; 16.7% had a female householder with no husband present and 32.8% were non-families. Of all households, 27.0% were made up of individuals and 8.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.68 and the average family size was 3.29.
21.7% of the population were under the age of 18, 9.2% from 18 to 24, 31.1% from 25 to 44, 26.3% from 45 to 64, and 11.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37.2 years. For every 100 females, the population had 93.1 males. For every 100 females ages 18 and older there were 89.0 males.
The Census Bureau's 2006–2010 American Community Survey showed that median household income was $60,127 and the median family income was $69,181. Males had a median income of $46,656 versus $42,237 for females. The per capita income for the township was $27,668. About 3.7% of families and 6.0% of the population were below the poverty line, including 7.0% of those under age 18 and 6.6% of those age 65 or over.

2000 census

As of the 2000 United States census there were 35,928 people, 13,731 households, and 9,089 families residing in the township. The population density was. There were 14,144 housing units at an average density of. 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.
As of the 2000 Census, the most common ancestries listed were Italian, Irish, German, Polish, United States and English.
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.

Government

Local government

Belleville is governed within the Faulkner Act, formally known as the Optional Municipal Charter Law, under the Council-Manager form of New Jersey municipal government. The township is one of 42 municipalities statewide that use this form of government. The governing body is comprised of a seven-member Township Council, of which the mayor and two members are elected at-large and one each is chosen from four wards, with elections held on a non-partisan basis as part of the May municipal election. Members are elected in even-numbered years to serve four-year terms of office on a staggered basis, with the four ward seats up for vote together and the two at-large seats and the mayoral seat up for vote two years later.
, the mayor of Belleville is Michael A. Melham, whose term of office ends June 30, 2026. Members of the Belleville Township Council are Deputy Mayor Naomy De Peña, Vincent Cozzarelli, Thomas Graziano, Diana Sorice Guardabasco, Tracy Juanita Muldrow and Frank Velez III.
The Township Manager is Brian Banda.

Federal, state, and county representation

Belleville is located in the 11th Congressional District and is part of New Jersey's 34th state legislative district.

Politics

As of March 2011, there were a total of 19,684 registered voters in Belleville, of which 7,241 were registered as Democrats, 2,708 were registered as Republicans and 9,729 were registered as Unaffiliated. There were 6 voters registered as Libertarians or Greens.

Education

The Belleville School District serves public school students in pre-kindergarten through twelfth grade. As of the 2023–24 school year, the district, comprised of 10 schools, had an enrollment of 5,095 students and 384.5 classroom teachers, for a student–teacher ratio of 13.3:1. Schools in the district are
Hornblower Early Childhood Center with 250 students in PreK,
School 3 with 354 students in grades K–6,
School 4 with 438 students in grades PreK–6,
School 5 with 377 students in grades K–6,
School 7 with 427 students in grades PreK–6,
School 8 with 500 students in grades PreK–6,
School 9 with 148 students in grades K–6,
School 10 with 168 students in grades PreK–6,
Belleville Middle School with 709 students in grades 7–8 and
Belleville High School with 1,591 students in grades 9–12.
The Belleville Public Library and Information Center had a collection of 98,603 volumes.

Transportation

Roads and highways

, the township had a total of of roadways, of which were maintained by the municipality, by Essex County and by the New Jersey Department of Transportation.
Route 7, Route 21 and County Route 506 all pass through Belleville.
The Belleville Turnpike Bridge crosses the Passaic River, connecting Belleville to North Arlington. The bridge was formally renamed on July 4, 2013, as the "Lance Corporal Osbrany Montes de Oca Memorial Bridge" in memory of a United States Marine Corps soldier killed in February 2012 while serving in Afghanistan.

Public transportation

The Silver Lake station provides service to Newark Penn Station on the Newark Light Rail.
Until 1966, the Newark Branch of the Erie-Lackawanna Railroad provided train service at stations at Belleville and Cleveland Street. The New York and Greenwood Lake Railway, later the Boonton Line, also served the township. The Newark Branch tracks are now used for freight only, operated by Norfolk Southern.
NJ Transit bus service is available to and from Newark on the 13, 27, 72, 74, 90, 92, 93 and 94 bus lines.

Places of interest

  • Clara Maass Medical Center is a 469-bed teaching hospital that is part of the Barnabas Health system, founded in 1868 as Newark German Hospital, and named for Clara Maass, a nurse who died after volunteering for medical experiments to study yellow fever
  • Reformed Dutch Church of Second River – The church's original building was constructed in 1697 and replaced in 1725. A new structure was erected in 1807 after a tornado destroyed the previous church building, and the current church dates to 1853. More than 60 Continental Army soldiers are buried in the cemetery that adjoins the church.
  • Christ Church Cemetery & Mausoleum – This cemetery was originally the first Episcopal Church in the area, established in 1746 by a land grant signed by King George II. The original burial ground still exists today, accompanied by a newer mausoleum.

Belleville locations in ''The Sopranos''

  • Episode 3 : Christopher Moltisanti's "mock execution" is on the pier in the Passaic River used by Belleville High School's crew team.
  • Episode 28 : Livia Soprano's funeral is held at the Irvine-Cozzarelli Memorial Home, across the street from Belleville Middle School on Washington Avenue.
  • Season 4- Even though Furio Giunta's house was stated to be in Nutley, its actual location was Belleville on Essex Street.
  • Episode 55 : Junior gets lost and tells the policemen who find him that he lives in Belleville.
  • Episode 76 : Rosalie Aprile briefly dates a much younger French motorcyclist named Michel, who hails from Belleville, Paris. Ro expresses a particular sense of kinship with Michel given his connection to a town with the same name as the New Jersey town where members of her inner circle live and do business.

1996 Torch Relay

On June 18, 1996, the Olympic Torch Relay came through 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, Georgia for the 1996 Summer Olympics.

Notable people

People who were born in, residents of, or otherwise closely associated with Belleville include: