Skillman, New Jersey

Skillman, New Jersey
Census-designated place
Skillman as seen from the intersection of Camp Meeting Avenue and Fairview Road
Skillman Location in Somerset County Show map of Somerset County, New Jersey Skillman Location in New Jersey Show map of New Jersey Skillman Location in the United States Show map of the United States
Coordinates: 40°25′41″N74°42′44″W / 40.428191°N 74.712293°W / 40.428191; -74.712293 [1] [2]
Country	United States
State	New Jersey
County	Somerset
Township	Montgomery
Named for	Skillman family
Area [3]
• Total	1.48 sq mi (3.82 km2)
• Land	1.47 sq mi (3.80 km2)
• Water	0.01 sq mi (0.03 km2)  0.69%
Elevation [4]	138 ft (42 m)
Population  (2020) [5]
• Total	237
• Density	161.66/sq mi (62.40/km2)
Time zone	UTC−05:00 (Eastern (EST))
• Summer (DST)	UTC−04:00 (Eastern (EDT))
ZIP Code	08558 [6]
Area code(s)	609/640 and 732/848
FIPS code	34-67860 [1] [7] [8]
GNIS feature ID	02584029 [1] [9]

Skillman is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) located within Montgomery Township, in Somerset County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. ^{[10] [11] [12] [13]} As of the 2010 United States Census, the CDP's population was 242. ^[14]

The area is served as United States Postal Service ZIP Code 08558. ^[6] However, the Skillman postal address covers an area significantly larger than the Skillman CDP. The Skillman postal address services approximately half of the 32 square miles (83 km²) and approximately 23,000 residents comprising Montgomery Township. The small CDP designated as Skillman and the much larger area known as Skillman based on the post office delivery area (which encompasses the Skillman CDP), are not the same.

The Skillman postal area is home to Johnson & Johnson's Consumer Products division and Bloomberg L.P. Financial's offices.

All of the public school buildings (elementary, middle and high schools) for Montgomery Township are located in the Skillman postal area.

History

Skillman is named after the Skillman family. The first Skillmans were Dutch, but lived in England before moving to Brooklyn in 1664, according to family accounts. In 1729, Thomas Skillman ventured westward, buying some 500 acres (2.0 km²) of farmland on the Millstone River, near the village of Rocky Hill, for his sons, Jan and Isaac. That purchase was the Skillman family's entry into Montgomery. The Skillman area got its name when the railroads arrived in the 1870s, according to the Skillman family. Joseph A. Skillman, was a teamster who owned "wild Missouri mules," according to family accounts. When railroad workers were trying to lay tracks, their horses got bogged down in thick, clay mud, and Joseph A. Skillman came to the rescue with his mules. Railroad officials also socialized at the home of another Skillman nearby, and the new train station was named for the family. A post office opened in the station and a small village, with a hay press, feed store and hardware store, sprouted around it. It took the Skillman name, too. (While the train station is gone, remnants of the village still exist at the spot where Camp Meeting Avenue and Skillman Road meet. A clay and sculpting supply business occupies some of the buildings.) Also in Skillman was the sprawling New Jersey State Village for Epileptics, a 250-acre (1.0 km²) complex opened around 1900 that had its own dairy, laundry, and movie theater. Visitors would arrive by train. Skillman was a busy little country place. There were 1,637 residents in Montgomery in 1910, compared with more than 23,000 now, according to Census data. The community now has more traffic, fewer farms and more houses (specifically developments).

In 2011, Montgomery Township sold what remained of the North Princeton Developmental Center (also known as Skillman Village) to Somerset County in order for the village to be demolished. ^[15]

Geography

Rock Brook flowing through Bessie Grover Park in Skillman.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP had a total area of 1.476 square miles (3.824 km²), including 1.466 square miles (3.798 km²) of land and 0.010 square miles (0.026 km²) of water (0.69%). ^{[1] [2]}

Demographics

Historical population

Census	Pop.	Note	%±
2010	240		—
2020	237		−1.2%
Population sources: 2010 [14] [5]

2010 census

The 2010 United States census counted 242 people, 87 households, and 72 families in the CDP. The population density was 165.0 per square mile (63.7/km²). There were 99 housing units at an average density of 67.5 per square mile (26.1/km²). The racial makeup was 91.32% (221) White, 0.41% (1) Black or African American, 0.41% (1) Native American, 2.48% (6) Asian, 0.00% (0) Pacific Islander, 2.89% (7) from other races, and 2.48% (6) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 6.20% (15) of the population. ^[14]

Of the 87 households, 35.6% had children under the age of 18; 72.4% were married couples living together; 8.0% had a female householder with no husband present and 17.2% were non-families. Of all households, 12.6% were made up of individuals and 6.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.78 and the average family size was 3.06. ^[14]

23.1% of the population were under the age of 18, 3.3% from 18 to 24, 20.2% from 25 to 44, 38.8% from 45 to 64, and 14.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 47.0 years. For every 100 females, the population had 98.4 males. For every 100 females ages 18 and older there were 91.8 males. ^[14]

Notable people

See also: Category:People from Montgomery Township, New Jersey

People who were born in, residents of, or otherwise closely associated with Skillman include:

• Sara Josephine Baker (1873–1945), pioneering physician; resident of Trevenna Farm with Wylie. ^[16]
• Ira Black (1941–2006), neuroscientist and stem cell researcher who served as the first director of the Stem Cell Institute of New Jersey. ^[17]
• Yvonne Brill (1924–2013), rocket scientist. ^[18]
• Louis Gambaccini (1931–2018), government official who spent his career in the area of transportation. ^[19]
• John Sheridan (1942–2014), Former New Jersey Transportation Commissioner and head of Cooper Health System; lived in Skillman along with his wife at the time of their controversial deaths. ^[20]
• I. A. R. Wylie (1885–1959), popular writer; resident of Trevenna Farm with Baker. ^[16]

References

1. Gazetteer of New Jersey Places, United States Census Bureau. Accessed July 21, 2016.
2. US Gazetteer files: 2010, 2000, and 1990, United States Census Bureau. Accessed September 4, 2014.
3. "ArcGIS REST Services Directory". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved October 11, 2022.
4. U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Skillman Census Designated Place, Geographic Names Information System. Accessed August 23, 2012.
5. "Census Population API". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved October 11, 2022.
6. Look Up a ZIP Code for Skillman, NJ, United States Postal Service. Accessed February 13, 2013.
7. U.S. Census website , United States Census Bureau. Accessed September 4, 2014.
8. Geographic Codes Lookup for New Jersey, Missouri Census Data Center. Accessed April 1, 2022.
9. US Board on Geographic Names, United States Geological Survey. Accessed September 4, 2014.
10. GCT-PH1 - Population, Housing Units, Area, and Density: 2010 - County -- County Subdivision and Place from the 2010 Census Summary File 1 for Somerset County, New Jersey Archived 2020-02-12 at archive.today , United States Census Bureau. Accessed February 13, 2013.
11. 2006-2010 American Community Survey Geography for New Jersey, United States Census Bureau. Accessed February 13, 2013.
12. 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 13, 2013.
13. Locality Search, State of New Jersey. Accessed April 19, 2015.
14. DP-1 - Profile of General Population and Housing Characteristics: 2010 Demographic Profile Data for Skillman CDP, New Jersey Archived 2020-02-12 at archive.today , United States Census Bureau. Accessed February 13, 2013.
15. Duffy, Erin. "Montgomery Township prepares for demolition of Skillman Village, former hospital to become new county park", The Times , July 17, 2011. Accessed September 8, 2014. "Once home to the State Village for Epileptics and a succession of state mental health hospitals, the self-sustaining little village once bustled on grounds that included a theater and its own fire department and power plant."
16. My Life with George: An Unconventional Autobiography by I. A. R. Wylie ^{[ permanent dead link ]}, The Neglected Books Page, May 27, 2012. Accessed February 13, 2013. "When Baker retired in the mid-1930s, she, Wylie, and another pioneering female physician, Dr. Louise Pearce, bought Trevenna Farm, outside Skillman, New Jersey, and lived there together."
17. Pearce, Jeremy. "Dr. Ira B. Black, 64, Leader in New Jersey Stem Cell Effort, Dies", The New York Times , January 12, 2006. Accessed August 13, 2009.
18. Martin, Douglas. "Yvonne Brill, a Pioneering Rocket Scientist, Dies at 88", The New York Times , March 31, 2013. Accessed March 31, 2013. "Matthew Brill said his mother died of complications of breast cancer. She lived in Skillman, N.J."
19. Tate, Curtis. "Louis Gambaccini, former NJDOT chief and NJ Transit's first chairman, dies at 87", The Record , August 20, 2018. Accessed April 10, 2023. "Louis Gambaccini, a former state transportation commissioner and the first chairman of NJ Transit's board, died at his home in Skillman on Sunday, the agency announced Monday. He was 87."
20. Sokolove, Michael (February 7, 2016). "Who Killed the Sheridans?". The New York Times Magazine . Retrieved September 22, 2016. It was still dark, a half-hour until sunrise, when the fire trucks and police vehicles came wailing down country roads in central New Jersey and stopped in front of 49 Meadow Run Drive in Skillman, north of Princeton.