Hanover Township, New Jersey:

Hanover Township is well known in the region for having low property taxes. This is a result of many years of responsible Township management and a good mix of tax ratables.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the township has a total area of 10.7 square miles (27.7 km²), of which, 10.7 square miles (27.6 km²) of it is land and 0.04 square miles (0.1 km²) of it (0.28%) is water.

Demographics

As of the census^[4] of 2000, there were 12,898 people, 4,745 households, and 3,620 families residing in the township. The population density was 1,209.6 people per square mile (467.2/km²). There were 4,818 housing units at an average density of 451.8/sq mi (174.5/km²). The racial makeup of the township was 88.79% White, 1.09% African American, 0.05% Native American, 8.71% Asian, 0.01% Pacific Islander, 0.59% from other races, and 0.77% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 3.50% of the population.

There were 4,745 households out of which 32.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 65.8% were married couples living together, 8.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 23.7% were non-families. 19.6% of all households were made up of individuals and 7.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.71 and the average family size was 3.13.

In the township the population was spread out with 22.8% under the age of 18, 5.6% from 18 to 24, 30.1% from 25 to 44, 26.6% from 45 to 64, and 14.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females there were 94.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 91.1 males.

The median income for a household in the township was $84,115, and the median income for a family was $93,937. Males had a median income of $59,278 versus $40,799 for females. The per capita income for the township was $37,661. About 0.7% of families and 1.2% of the population were below the poverty line, including 1.0% of those under age 18 and 1.4% of those age 65 or over.

History

Hanover Township marks the spot of the first settlement in all of Northwest New Jersey. New Englanders established a settlement along the Whippany River in 1685 near the current location of the old Whippany Cemetery on Route 10.

Once the Province of West Jersey purchased the land from the local Lenape Native Americans, the original County of Morris was created and comprised all of what is now Morris, Sussex, and Warren Counties. It was itself divided into Townships. One of its Townships was 'Whippenny' which itself comprised all of what is now Morris County.

The name Hanover was taken from the House of Hanover in Germany. This namesake was given to the Township of Hanover on December 7, 1720 as a sign of respect to George I of Great Britain who was of the House of Hanover and who ruled over the American colonies in the eighteenth century. Since the creation of Hanover Township in 1720 and its incorporation on March 25, 1740, its size has been considerably decreased as the population of the area has increased. Originally encompassing all of Morris County and parts of Sussex and Warren County, Hanover Township became too unwieldy for a single local government to maintain. The Township was subdivided into smaller municipalities that could provide more responsive local control despite placing greater demands on the local tax base to support new facilities for each.

The name Whippany is a bastardization of the Native American word 'Whippanong' which means "where the willow trees grow".^[9]

The old villages of Monroe and Malapardis were consumed by development and what remains are two communities - Whippany and Cedar Knolls - which are roughly separated by Interstate 287.

Until the post-World War II suburbanization of New Jersey, Hanover Township was a sparsely-populated industrial town known for its iron works and paper mills. This industry was driven by the ever-present power of the Whippany River. But over the second-half of the twentieth century, the Township became thoroughly suburban and a very popular place to live and do business.

Lucent Technologies has a large facility in Whippany. The first demonstration of long distance television transmission in the United States took place in 1927, with a transmission that went via wire from Washington, D.C., to New York, and from Whippany to New York using radio.^[10]

Government

Local government

Hanover Township employs the traditional Township form of government. The Township has a five member Township Committee whose terms of office begin on January 1 following the preceding general election. Members are elected at-large in partisan elections to three-year terms on a staggered basis, with one or two seats coming up for election each year.^[1] A Mayor and Deputy Mayor are selected at the annual reorganization meeting by the committeemen from among the members of the Township Committee.

Members of the Hanover Township Committee are Mayor Ronald F. Francioli, Deputy Mayor Judy Iradi, Leonardo Fariello, Howard Olsen and Ken Schleifer.^[11]

Politics in Hanover Township are decidedly Republican. No Democrat has made a serious bid for Committee since the 1950s.

Township Hall, which was renovated and enlarged in 2003, is located at the corner of Jefferson Road and Route 10. It contains all Township offices, the Township Municipal Court, the Police Department, and the Whippanong Public Library.

The 2007 Township budget was $21.083 million. The Township's NJ Treasury/Taxation code is 1412.

Township services

The Township has its own Police Department consisting of about 30 officers in addition to a Public Works Department which handles the Township's sanitation and recycling needs. The Cedar Knolls First Aid Squad provides emergency medical coverage for the entire Township. Morristown Memorial Hospital, a level-2 regional trauma center, is about three miles away.

The Hanover Sewerage Authority provides sewerage service for the Township. It has a treatment plant located on Troy Road.

Hanover Township contains many municipal parks and recreational facilities including:

Federal, state and county representation

Hanover Township is in the Eleventh Congressional District and is part of New Jersey's 26th Legislative District.^[12]

Education

Public Elementary

Public Secondary

Parochial and Private

Transportation

Local media

Radio stations WMTR and WDHA have studios and offices located in the Cedar Knolls section of the township.

What's in a name?

There is some confusion over the place names in Hanover Township and this is understandable given the sometimes-arcane usage of place names in New Jersey.

Whippany and Cedar Knolls are place names with no governmental meaning. They have unique ZIP codes, post offices, and Fire Departments but are otherwise simply neighborhood names.

Residents of Whippany and Cedar Knolls have become accustomed to indicating that they live in either Whippany or Cedar Knolls and not in Hanover Township.

To compound the issue, the United States Postal Service insists on arbitrarily assigning ZIP Code boundaries that do not necessarily coincide with municipal boundaries resulting in Township mailing addresses which use place names outside of the Township. Whippany's ZIP code is 07981 and Cedar Knolls' is 07927.

Notable residents

References

^ ^a ^b 2005 New Jersey Legislative District Data Book, Rutgers University Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy, April 2005, p. 121.
^ USGS GNIS: Township of Hanover, Geographic Names Information System, accessed January 4, 2008.
^ ^a ^b Census data for Hanover township, United States Census Bureau. Accessed November 23, 2008.
^ ^a ^b "American FactFinder". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved on 2008-01-31.
^ A Cure for the Common Codes: New Jersey, Missouri Census Data Center. Accessed July 14, 2008.
^ "US Board on Geographic Names". United States Geological Survey (2007-10-25). Retrieved on 2008-01-31.
^ New Jersey Resident Population by Municipality: 1930 - 1990, Workforce New Jersey Public Information Network. Accessed March 1, 2007.
^ "The Story of New Jersey's Civil Boundaries: 1606-1968", John P. Snyder, Bureau of Geology and Topography; Trenton, New Jersey; 1969. p. 193.
^ Fariello, L., "A Place Called Whippany" (2nd ed.) L.A. Sunchild Publishing (2003).
^ AT&T milestones in TV History, AT&T. Accessed May 27, 2007.
^ The Governing Body of the Township of Hanover, Hanover Township. Accessed February 28, 2008.
^ 2006 New Jersey Citizen's Guide to Government, New Jersey League of Women Voters, p. 58. Accessed August 30, 2006.
^ Legislative Roster: 2008-2009 Session, New Jersey Legislature. Accessed June 6, 2008.
^ About the Governor, New Jersey. Accessed June 6, 2008.
^ What is a Freeholder?, Morris County, New Jersey. Accessed February 6, 2008.
^ Meet the Freeholders, Morris County, New Jersey. Accessed February 6, 2008.
^ Data for the Hanover Township Public Schools, National Center for Education Statistics. Accessed February 28, 2008.
^ Blue Ribbon Schools Program: Schools Recognized 1982-1983 through 1999-2002 (PDF), United States Department of Education. Accessed May 11, 2006.
^ "Hanover Park Regional High School District 2007 School Report Card, New Jersey Department of Education. Accessed April 5, 2008. "The Hanover Park Regional High School District consists of two high schools, Hanover Park and Whippany Park, serving grades 9 through 12. The district serves the communities of East Hanover, Florham Park, and Hanover Township. Students in East Hanover and Florham Park attend Hanover Park High School, which has a population of 898 students. Students from Hanover Township attend Whippany Park High School, which has a population of 615 students."
^ Morris County Elementary / Secondary Schools, Roman Catholic Diocese of Paterson. Accessed July 26, 2008.
^ Johnson, Janis. "PLAYING A NERD IS 'TOO EASY'", The Miami Herald, February 16, 1987. Accessed December 11, 2007. "But is the 23-year-old Whippany, N.J., native, character actor and stand-up comedian a nerd."
^ Aaron Kitchell, Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Accessed August 27, 2007.

Hanover Township, New Jersey

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