Wantage Township is a township in Sussex County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the township’s population was 11,358, reflecting an increase of 971 (+9.3%) from the 10,387 counted in the 2000 Census, which had in turn increased by 900 (+9.5%) from the 9,487 counted in the 1990 Census.
Wantage Township was formed as a precinct on May 30, 1754, from portions of Newton Township. It was incorporated as a Township on February 21, 1798, as part of the state’s initial group of 104 townships. Boundary exchanges were made with Frankford Township in both 1826 and 1834. Portions of the township were taken on October 14, 1891, to form the Borough of Deckertown (which was renamed to Sussex borough in 1902). The township was named for Wantage, England.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the township had a total area of 67.481 square miles (174.776 km2), including 66.753 square miles (172.890 km2) of land and 0.728 square miles (1.886 km2) of water (1.08%). The township is located in the Kittatinny Valley which is a section of the Great Appalachian Valley that stretches for 700 miles (1,100 km) from Canada to Alabama.
Unincorporated communities, localities and place names located partially or completely within the township include Beemerville, Colesville, Hanford, Lake Neepaulin, Lake Rutherford, Lewisburg, Libertyville, Martins, Mount Salem, Papakating, Plumbsock, Quarryville, Rockport, Roys and Woodbourne.
Rutan Hill, also called Volcanic Hill, located near the Beemerville section of Wantage Township, is New Jersey’s only volcanic site that was last active over 440 million years ago.
Rivers and streams in Wantage are tributaries in the Wallkill River watershed, and include:
- Papakating Creek
- West Branch Papakating Creek
- Neepaulakating Creek, dammed to create Lake Neepaulin.
- Clove Brook, dammed to create Clove Acres Lake
The township completely surrounds Sussex borough, making it part of 21 pairs of “doughnut towns” in the state, where one municipality entirely surrounds another. Wantage borders the municipalities of Frankford Township, Hardyston Township, Lafayette Township, Montague Township, Sandyston Township and Vernon Township in Sussex County; and both Greenville and Minisink in Orange County, New York.
As of the 2010 United States Census, there were 11,358 people, 3,910 households, and 3,116.270 families residing in the township. The population density was 170.1 per square mile (65.7/km2). There were 4,173 housing units at an average density of 62.5 per square mile (24.1/km2). The racial makeup of the township was 95.23% (10,816) White, 1.21% (137) Black or African American, 0.11% (13) Native American, 0.99% (113) Asian, 0.00% (0) Pacific Islander, 0.93% (106) from other races, and 1.52% (173) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 5.23% (594) of the population.
Source: Wikipedia
