Essex County, New Jersey
U.S. County|
county = Essex County|
state = New Jersey |
seal = EssexSeal.jpg |
map = Map of New Jersey highlighting Essex County.svg |
map size = 100 |
founded =
1682 | seat =
Newark | area = 336
km² (130
mi²) |
area land = 327 km² (126 mi²) |
area water = 9 km² (3 mi²) |
area percentage = 2.54% |
census yr = 2000|
pop = 793,633 |
density = 2,427|
web = www.co.essex.nj.us|}}
Essex County is a
county located in the northeastern part of the
U.S. state of
New Jersey. As of the
United States 2000 Census, the population was 793,633, ranking it second in the state after
Bergen County. Its
county seat is
Newark6. It is part of the
New York Metropolitan Area.
Like many of the counties of
Northern New Jersey near
New York City — which tend to have sharp divides between relatively rich suburban neighborhoods and less wealthy, more densely-populated cities nearby — the eastern region of Essex County tends to be poorer and more urbanized, while the western parts tend to be more affluent and surburban.
Essex County is the second most densely populated county in the state, after
Hudson County. Newark, with a population density of 11,400 people/square mile, is the largest municipality in the county both in terms of area (24.14 square miles) and population (280,000). At the opposite end, Caldwell is the smallest in area (1.2 square miles) and Roseland is smallest in population (5,298); however even these small towns have population densities (6,396 people/square mile and 1,464 people/square mile, respectively) that rival many big cities, and are well above the state's average, which is the highest in the nation.
Essex County also has extreme disparities in terms of income levels. From the time of the race riots in the late 1960s until the mid-1990s, Newark was reviled for its high crime, poverty, and unemployment rates, along with low rates of educational attainment. Things have improved though as, overall crime has decreased by over 60% since 1997. The west and southwest Essex communities of
Millburn (#18 of municipalities with over 10,000 residents) and
Essex Fells (#62 of municipalities with over 1,000 residents) are among the
Highest-income places in the United States.
While many residents commute to New York City,
Organon,
Anheuser-Busch,
Automatic Data Processing, Inc.,
CIT Group,
Hoffmann-LaRoche,
Grainger,
Dun & Bradstreet and
Prudential have large facilities in Essex County or are headquartered there, and there are numerous factories and large office parks scattered throughout.
Essex County was one of the quickest counties in America to become fully urbanized and was the first county in the country to create a county park system, to ensure that it did not lose all its land to development.
The various towns of the county, especially Newark, the Oranges, and the Caldwells can be seen in every episode of the
HBO mob drama
The Sopranos, which is set in North Caldwell.
The county is also home to
Newark Liberty International Airport and
Port Newark-Elizabeth Marine Terminal.
Essex County's
County Executive is
Joseph N. DiVincenzo, Jr. The executive, along with the
Board of Chosen Freeholders administer all county business. Nine members are elected to serve concurrent terms. Five of the freeholders represent districts; four are elected from the county at-large. The Freeholder President and Vice-President serve one-year terms. The County Executive is elected by a direct vote of the electorate.
As of 2006, Essex County's Freeholders are:
*Freeholder President
Johnny Jones*Freeholder Vice President
Patricia Sebold*Freeholder-At-Large Blonnie R. Watson
*Freeholder-At-Large Donald M. Payne, Jr.
*Freeholder District 1 Samuel Gonzalez
*Freeholder District 2 D. Bilal Beasley
*Freeholder District 3 Carol Y. Clark
*Freeholder District 4 Linda Lordi Cavanaugh
*Freeholder District 5 Ralph R. Caputo
Essex County also has the highest property taxes in the state of New Jersey, which is the state with the overall highest level of property taxes in the nation. This has been an issue of contention for some time between the county's more upper-class west and its lower-income east.
In 2003, the towns of
Millburn,
Roseland, and
Montclair had all voted to secede from Essex County if something was not changed about the towns' taxation
[MONTCLAIR, NEW JERSEY Council minutes, dated June 22, 2004]. In 2004, the towns of
Verona and
Cedar Grove followed suit, with the secession bill passing overwhelmingly. However, people in favor and opposed to the secession alike stated that the bills were mostly symbolic, as it would take a lot of work for the towns to actually secede from Essex County. Some critics even claimed that the desire to secede was inspired by
racism (due to the fact that Newark and surrounding cities are mostly black, and West Essex's towns are mostly white).
If they were to form their own new county, "West Essex County," they would have to have support from several of the county's towns because what would remain Essex County and what would become West Essex County would each need contiguous borders. There was also talk that the towns who wished to secede might choose to become part of
Morris County to their west,
Passaic County to their north, or
Union County to their south. But similarly there would be difficulties if the towns could not all agree on contiguous borders and coordinate the secession with their new county's government.
The issue of secession was mainly forgotten for a while until in 2005, representatives from the nineteen suburban Essex towns of Caldwell, West Caldwell, North Caldwell, Fairfield, Essex Fells, Roseland, Livingston, Maplewood, Millburn, Cedar Grove, Verona, West Orange, South Orange, Orange, Montclair, Glen Ridge, Nutley, Bloomfield, and Belleville decided to get together and form a committee. They began to discuss a way that they could potentially all agree to either fight the Essex County government to allow them lower tax rates, or to coordinate a breakaway from the cities of Newark, East Orange, and Irvington, which would alone remain as Essex County.
According to the
U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 336
km² (130
mi²). 327 km² (126 mi²) of it is land and 9 km² (3 mi²) of it (2.54%) is water.
The county rises from generally flat in the east to the twin ridges of the
Watchung Mountains in the western half, beyond which the land lowers again into the
Passaic River valley.
The highest elevation is found at four areas scattered between Verona, North Caldwell and Essex Fells, all of which reach at least 660 feet (201 m) above sea level. The lowest point is sea level, at
Newark Bay.
Census 2000 data
As of the
census² of 2000, there were 793,633 people, 283,736 households, and 193,507 families residing in the county. The
population density was 2,427/km² (6,285/mi²). There were 301,011 housing units at an average density of 920/km² (2,384/mi²). The racial makeup of the county was 44.46%
White, 41.24%
Black or
African American, 0.23%
Native American, 3.71%
Asian, 0.05%
Pacific Islander, 6.88% from
other races, and 3.42% from two or more races. 15.42% of the population were
Hispanic or
Latino of any race.
There were 283,736 households out of which 33.80% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 42.30% were
married couples living together, 20.40% had a female householder with no husband present, and 31.80% were non-families. 26.70% of all households were made up of individuals and 9.60% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.72 and the average family size was 3.30.
In the county the population was spread out with 26.10% under the age of 18, 9.40% from 18 to 24, 31.10% from 25 to 44, 21.50% from 45 to 64, and 11.90% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35 years. For every 100 females there were 90.70 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 86.40 males.
The median income for a household in the county was $44,944, and the median income for a family was $54,818. Males had a median income of $41,374 versus $32,052 for females. The
per capita income for the county was $24,943. About 12.80% of families and 15.60% of the population were below the
poverty line, including 20.50% of those under age 18 and 12.20% of those age 65 or over.
The county has a high
Italian population, with significant percentages of residents (over 25%) in several communities, of the
West Essex area and elsewhere in the county, being of Italian descent. This includes the communities of
Belleville (30.9%),
Bloomfield (26.4%),
Caldwell (26.3%),
Cedar Grove (34.8%),
Fairfield (45.8%),
Nutley (44.5%),
Roseland (38.7%),
Verona (34.3%) and
West Caldfwell (35.2%).
[ 2000 Census data for Essex County, New Jersey county subdivisions: Ancestry profile, United States Census Bureau, accessed May 11, 2006] The county has a notable population, with 76,200 Jewish residents according to the 2002 results of the
National Jewish Population Survey.
[Jewish Population in the United States, 2002, National Jewish Population Survey, accessed May 11, 2006] |
Index map of Essex County Municipalities (click to see index key) |
*
Belleville (township)
*
Bloomfield (township)
*
Caldwell (borough)
*
Cedar Grove (township)
*
East Orange (city)
*
Essex Fells (borough)
*
Fairfield (township)
*
Glen Ridge (borough)
*
Irvington (township)
*
Livingston (township)
*
Maplewood (township)
*
Millburn (township)
*
Montclair (township)
*
Newark (city)
*
North Caldwell (borough)
*
Nutley (township)
*
Orange (city)
*
Roseland (borough)
*
South Orange (village)
*
Verona (township)
*
West Caldwell (township)
*
West Orange (township)
*
Branch Brook Park, Newark/Belleville
*
Brookdale Park, Montclair/Bloomfield
*
Eagle Rock Reservation, West Orange/Montclair
*
Grover Cleveland Park, West Caldwell/Essex Fells/Roseland
*
Hilltop Reservation, Caldwell/ Cedar Grove/ North Caldwell/ Verona
*
Mills Reservation, Cedar Grove/Upper Montclair
*
South Mountain Reservation, West Orange/South Orange/Millburn/Maplewood
*
Verona Park, Verona
*
West Essex Park,West Caldwell/Roseland
*
Yanticaw Park,Nutley
*
Official website
