Branchville

History

Branchville was established by settlers from Connecticut in the 18th century. It grew quickly and in the 1820s the town was divided into building lots. By the year 1844, it was a well-established community with 32 dwellings, mills, blacksmiths, an academy, a church and a variety of other factories and businesses. The addition of two water-powered mills and a dam in 1855 furthered the community's prosperity. Energy would later be harnessed from this dam and a second one that was built to supply Branchville with electricity and its own power company. Extension of rail service on the Sussex Railroad to Branchville in 1869 brought an even greater boon to the community's economic growth. From 1869 to 1871, forty new homes were built. The railroad had made it possible to ship products from the local mills and creameries to larger urban areas to the east. With lake communities nearby, tourism was also spurred by the railroad. As many as six trains a day would bring people from the larger cities to enjoy a country vacation.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the borough had a total area of , including of land and of water (1.17%). making it part of 21 pairs of "doughnut towns" in the state, where one municipality entirely surrounds another. This climatic region is typified by large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers and cold (sometimes severely cold) winters. According to the Köppen Climate Classification system, Branchville has a humid continental climate, abbreviated "Dfb" on climate maps. Branchville is on the Ordovician Martinsburg Formation. This is a shale, slate, and limestone formation created 450 million years ago when a chain of volcanic islands collided with proto North America. The islands went over the North American Plate, creating the Highlands of Sussex County and the Kittatinny Valley. Millions of years of erosion occurred and there was a second event. About 400 million years ago a small continent that was long and thin, collided with proto North America creating folding and faulting. The Silurian Shawangunk conglomerate that was under a shallow sea, lifted due to pressure. The pressure created heat which melted the silica and bonded the quartz and conglomerate together, creating Kittatinny Mountain. The Wisconsin Glacier covered all of Branchville from 21,000 BCE to 13,000 BCE, covering the top of Kittatinny Mountain. End moraines exist in Stokes State Forest, another just off Route 565 north of the Skylands Park and one about a mile south of Ross's Corner. An esker was created when the glacier retreated due to climate warming. Many ponds and lakes created. Culver Lake was created at this time, as the drainage became blocked. Branchville is drained by Culver's Lake Creek and Dry brook. Dry Creek starts at the…

Race & ethnicity

Largest nearby schools

• Sparta High School
  High · SPARTA · 1,071 students · 10.8:1 ratio
• High Point Regional High School District
  High · SUSSEX · 817 students · 12:1 ratio
• Kittatinny Regional High School
  High · NEWTON · 781 students · 9.9:1 ratio
• Alpine Elementary School
  Elementary · SPARTA · 759 students · 12.7:1 ratio
• Sparta Middle School
  Middle · SPARTA · 746 students · 9.6:1 ratio
• Newton High School
  High · NEWTON · 719 students · 12:1 ratio
• Sussex County Technical School
  High · Sparta · 679 students · 11.3:1 ratio
• WALLKILL VALLEY REGIONAL HIGH SCHOOL
  High · HARDYSTON TOWNSHIP · 615 students · 12.3:1 ratio