Stillwater Township is a township located in Sussex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Situated in the Kittatinny Valley, Stillwater is a rural farming community with a long history of dairy farming. As of the 2020 United States census, the township's population was 4,004, a decrease of 95 (−2.3%) from the 2010 census count of 4,099, which in turn reflected a decrease of 168 (−3.9%) from the 4,267 counted in the 2000 census.Table 7. Population for the Counties and Municipalities in New Jersey: 1990, 2000 and 2010, New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development, February 2011. Accessed May 1, 2023.

Stillwater was settled in the eighteenth century by Palatine German immigrants who entered through the port of Philadelphia. In 1741, Casper Shafer, John George Wintermute (Windemuth), and their father-in-law Johan Peter Bernhardt settled along the Paulins Kill.Schaeffer, Casper and Johnson, William M. Memoirs and reminiscences: together with sketches of the early history of Sussex County, New Jersey. (Hackensack, N.J. : Privately printed, 1907), passim. For the next 50 years, the village of Stillwater was essentially German, centered on a union church shared by Lutheran and German Reformed (Calvinist) congregations.Chambers, Theodore Frelinghuysen. The Early Germans of New Jersey: Their History, Churches, and Genealogies. (Dover, New Jersey, Dover Printing Company, 1895), 631 ff. The German population assimilated by the early nineteenth century, but evidence of their settlement remains in the architecture of the grist mills, lime kilns, and stone houses located throughout the valley. Stillwater was incorporated as a township by an act of the New Jersey Legislature on December 27, 1824, from portions of Hardwick TownshipSnyder, John P. The Story of New Jersey's Civil Boundaries: 1606-1968, Bureau of Geology and Topography; Trenton, New Jersey; 1969. p. 232. Accessed May 30, 2024.Snell, James P. (complied). History of Sussex and Warren Counties, New Jersey, with Illustrations and Biographical Sketches of Prominent Men and Pioneers. (Philadelphia: Everts & Peck, 1881), 383. when Sussex County was divided in half by the legislature a few weeks earlier to create Warren County.Snell, James P. (complied). History of Sussex and Warren Counties, New Jersey, with Illustrations and Biographical Sketches of Prominent Men and Pioneers. (Philadelphia: Everts & Peck, 1881), 474.The legislature's act of November 20, 1824 creating Warren County effectively divided Hardwick Township in half, see: State of New Jersey. Acts of the Legislature of the State of New Jersey. (1824), 146-147, subsequent acts would create Stillwater and Green Townships from parts of Hardwick, at 126. Portions of the township were taken to form Fredon Township on February 24, 1904.Honeyman, Abraham Van Doren. Index-analysis of the Statutes of New Jersey, 1896-1909: Together with References to All Acts, and Parts of Acts, in the 'General Statutes' and Pamphlet Laws Expressly Repealed: and the Statutory Crimes of New Jersey During the Same Period, p. 270. New Jersey Law Journal Publishing Company, 1910. Accessed October 9, 2015.

In 2008, New Jersey Monthly magazine ranked Stillwater Township as its 40th best place to live in its annual rankings of the "Best Places To Live" in New Jersey."Best Places To Live - The Complete Top Towns List 1-100" , New Jersey Monthly, February 21, 2008. Accessed February 24, 2008.

History

The township was created on December 27, 1824, by an act passed by the New Jersey Legislature.Snell, James P. (1881) History of Sussex and Warren Counties, New Jersey, With Illustrations and Biographical Sketches of Its Prominent Men and Pioneers. (Centennial ed., Harmony, NJ: Harmony Press, 1981), pg. 383

A prominent structure in the area's history is the Shafer Grist Mill. Originally built by Casper Shafer in 1741, it was moved approximately a half mile to its present location in 1764. It was rebuilt in 1844 and powered by water from the Paulins Kill. Casper's son, Nathan Armstrong Shafer lived in Whitehall Manor, which he built near what is now the center of the village. The gristmill operated commercially until 1955, making it one of the oldest, continuously operating, water-powered gristmills in the State of New Jersey. Aline Murray Kilmer, the widow of poet Joyce Kilmer, lived the last decade of her life at Whitehall, dying there on October 1, 1941.Talbot, Francis X. "A Tribute to Aline Kilmer" in America. (October 18, 1941), 46.Staff. "KILMER CHILDREN GET $25,602 EACH; Soldier-Poet's Heirs Share in Estate Left by Their Grandfather in Jersey", The New York Times, January 31, 1937. Accessed January 20, 2013. "At Stillwater, N. J., today Mrs. Aline Kilmer, widow of the poet, said that her son, Kenton, in addition to his duties with the FHA, has been writing verse."

In the early 1900s, Swartswood Lake became a major resort. Weekenders took the train into nearby Blairstown through the 1940s to stay at such places as the North Shore Inn, The Casino, and The Dove Island Inn (now a private home). Later, summer cabins became popular with Brooklyn weekenders.

The Stillwater creamery was built in 1910. Borden, Inc. later took control of the creamery., NY-NJ-CT Botany Online. Accessed October 9, 2015.

In the 1920s, the Paulins Kill was dammed to create Paulins Kill Lake and many summer residences sprang up. These summer cottages have grown into what is now a year-round community.About the PLA, Paulinskill Lake Association. Accessed October 9, 2015. "Currently, Paulinskill Lake is a year-round residential community of over 500 homes managed by the Paulinskill Lake Homeowners Association."

The Presbyterian Church is the most prominent feature in Stillwater village. Opposite the church is the former Academy, an old schoolhouse that is now home of the Historical Society of Stillwater Township. Stillwater was, and still is, primarily agricultural. The area is dotted with lime kilns, which used to burn lime to enrich the soil, but are now obsolete, becoming lost to history and the overgrowth of vegetation. An intact kiln still exists on Millbrook Road, a little more than two miles (3 km) from Stillwater village.

Roughly one-third of Stillwater Township's area was ceded to create Fredon Township in 1904.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the township had a total area of 28.25 square miles (73.17 km2), including 26.92 square miles (69.73 km2) of land and 1.33 square miles (3.43 km2) of water (4.69%).

The township borders the municipalities of Fredon Township, Hampton Township and Walpack Township in Sussex County; and both Frelinghuysen Township and Hardwick Township in Warren County.Sussex County Map, Sussex County, New Jersey. Accessed March 10, 2020.New Jersey Municipal Boundaries, New Jersey Department of Transportation. Accessed November 15, 2019.

Neighborhoods

Crandon Lakes (with a 2010 Census population of 496 in Stillwater Township, out of a CDP total of 1,178DP-1 - Profile of General Population and Housing Characteristics: 2010 Demographic Profile Data for Crandon Lakes CDP, New Jersey , United States Census Bureau. Accessed February 25, 2013.) is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) split between Hampton Township and Stillwater Township.GCT-PH1 - Population, Housing Units, Area, and Density: 2010 - County -- County Subdivision and Place from the 2010 Census Summary File 1 for Sussex County, New Jersey , United States Census Bureau. Accessed February 25, 2013.2006-2010 American Community Survey Geography for New Jersey, United States Census Bureau. Accessed February 25, 2013.New Jersey: 2010 - Population and Housing Unit Counts - 2010 Census of Population and Housing (CPH-2-32), United States Census Bureau, August 2012. Accessed February 25, 2013.

Other unincorporated communities, localities and place names located partially or completely within the township include Catfish Pond, Duck Pond, Fairview Lake, Five Points, Lake Kathryn, Middleville, Mud Pond, Paulins Kill Lake, Quick Pond, Stillwater, Swartswood, Swartswood Lake and Wintermutes Foundry.Locality Search, State of New Jersey. Accessed May 21, 2015.

Stillwater is a small one-street village in the area that was first settled by Johan Peter Bernhardt and his two sons-in-law, John George Wintermute and Casper Shafer. At the western terminus of end of Main Street where it meets County Route 521, the First Presbyterian Church of Stillwater is the dominant feature. As Main Street travels east, the Garris's General Store (1876), "Whitehall" (built in 1785 by Abraham Shafer), Casper Shafer's stonehouse (), crossing the Paulins Kill near Shafer's grist mill (1764, 1844) and miller's house. An 1820 hostelry, the Stillwater Inn, recently was destroyed by fire. One half-mile (800 m) south of the Presbyterian church, is John George Wintermute's stonehouse (1755), his son Peter's stonehouse (1791). Located adjacent is Stillwater Cemetery—the site of the original Lutheran-Calvinist union church (1771–1838), the graves of the towns earliest settlers, and many eighteenth century ethnic German gravestones.

Geology Flanked to the west by Kittatinny Mountain, the Stillwater Township is located within the Ridge and Valley Physiographic Province, and the entire township is within the Kittatinny Valley a region of rolling hills and flat valley floors that is a section of the larger Great Appalachian Valley running from eastern Canada to northern Alabama. Elevations in this valley range from .U.S. Department of Agriculture Natural Resource Conservation Service. Soil Survey of Sussex County, New Jersey (Washington, DC: 2009), 3. According to Snell, "The surface of the country is generally uneven and hilly, and on the west exceedingly rugged and mountainous. Ponds and watercourses abound. Of the latter, the most important is the Paulinskill, a millstream of considerable consequence."Snell, 379. All of Stillwater Township is located in the Paulins Kill watershed which flows southwest through Sussex and Warren counties before joining the Delaware River near Columbia, New Jersey. The valley floor is part of the Ordovician Martinsburg Formation (shale and slate) which make up most of the valley—and the Jacksonburg Formation (mostly limestone).

Climate

Stillwater Township is located in Northwestern New Jersey which has a humid continental climate (microthermal)—a cooler climate due to its higher elevations.

Demographics

2010 census The 2010 United States census counted 4,099 people, 1,553 households, and 1,141 families in the township. The population density was 151.5 per square mile (58.5/km2). There were 1,930 housing units at an average density of 71.3 per square mile (27.5/km2). The racial makeup was 97.07% (3,979) White, 0.66% (27) Black or African American, 0.05% (2) Native American, 0.71% (29) Asian, 0.02% (1) Pacific Islander, 0.20% (8) from other races, and 1.29% (53) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2.20% (90) of the population.

Of the 1,553 households, 30.0% had children under the age of 18; 61.4% were married couples living together; 7.6% had a female householder with no husband present and 26.5% were non-families. Of all households, 21.6% were made up of individuals and 6.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.64 and the average family size was 3.09.

21.9% of the population were under the age of 18, 8.1% from 18 to 24, 22.0% from 25 to 44, 36.8% from 45 to 64, and 11.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 43.8 years. For every 100 females, the population had 97.9 males. For every 100 females ages 18 and older there were 100.1 males.