Newfield was formed as a borough by the New Jersey Legislature on March 8, 1924, from portions of Franklin Township, based on the results of a referendum held on April 1, 1924.[20] In the weeks before the legislature approved the formation of the borough, a group of 240 residents traveled to Trenton by train to lobby on behalf of the creation of an independent municipality.[21] The borough's name derives from its status as a new-field development.[22]
Geography
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Newfield had a total area of 1.74 square miles (4.51 km2), including 1.74 square miles (4.50 km2) of land and <0.01 square miles (0.01 km2) of water (0.17%).[1][2] The borough borders the municipalities of Franklin Township in Gloucester County and Vineland in Cumberland County.[23][24][25]
The 2010 United States census counted 1,553 people, 579 households, and 453 families in the borough. The population density was 912.0 inhabitants per square mile (352.1/km2). There were 626 housing units at an average density of 367.6 per square mile (141.9/km2). The racial makeup was 94.66% (1,470) White, 2.19% (34) Black or African American, 0.26% (4) Native American, 0.32% (5) Asian, 0.00% (0) Pacific Islander, 0.97% (15) from other races, and 1.61% (25) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 6.57% (102) of the population.[17]
Of the 579 households, 31.1% had children under the age of 18; 59.2% were married couples living together; 12.4% had a female householder with no husband present and 21.8% were non-families. Of all households, 18.3% were made up of individuals and 7.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.68 and the average family size was 3.03.[17]
23.4% of the population were under the age of 18, 7.0% from 18 to 24, 24.5% from 25 to 44, 31.0% from 45 to 64, and 14.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 41.5 years. For every 100 females, the population had 93.2 males. For every 100 females ages 18 and older there were 91.9 males.[17]
The Census Bureau's 2006–2010 American Community Survey showed that (in 2010 inflation-adjusted dollars) median household income was $60,350 (with a margin of error of +/− $5,077) and the median family income was $67,045 (+/− $11,678). Males had a median income of $45,000 (+/− $6,268) versus $47,000 (+/− $8,386) for females. The per capita income for the borough was $25,924 (+/− $1,886). About 7.8% of families and 8.2% of the population were below the poverty line, including 9.8% of those under age 18 and 6.9% of those age 65 or over.[31]
2000 census
As of the 2000 United States Census,[14] there were 1,616 people, 596 households, and 470 families residing in the borough. The population density was 951.1 inhabitants per square mile (367.2/km2). There were 620 housing units at an average density of 364.7 per square mile (140.8/km2). The racial makeup of the borough was 95.11% White, 1.30% African American, 0.68% Native American, 0.56% Asian, 1.05% from other races, and 1.30% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 3.84% of the population.[29][30]
There were 596 households, out of which 33.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 64.9% were married couples living together, 9.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 21.0% were non-families. 17.6% of all households were made up of individuals, and 9.1% 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 3.04.[29][30]
In the borough, the population was spread out, with 24.4% under the age of 18, 7.2% from 18 to 24, 28.9% from 25 to 44, 25.3% from 45 to 64, and 14.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females, there were 85.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 83.8 males.[29][30]
The median income for a household in the borough was $51,875, and the median income for a family was $59,934. Males had a median income of $39,926 versus $28,750 for females. The per capita income for the borough was $21,063. About 5.5% of families and 6.5% of the population were below the poverty line, including 9.8% of those under age 18 and 6.1% of those age 65 or over.[29][30]
Newfield is governed under the borough form of New Jersey municipal government, which is used in 218 municipalities (of the 564) statewide, making it the most common form of government in New Jersey.[33] The governing body is comprised of a mayor and a borough council, with all positions elected at-large on a partisan basis as part of the November general election. A mayor is elected directly by the voters to a four-year term of office. The borough council includes six members elected to serve three-year terms on a staggered basis, with two seats coming up for election each year in a three-year cycle.[5] The borough form of government used by Newfield is a "weak mayor / strong council" government in which council members act as the legislative body with the mayor presiding at meetings and voting only in the event of a tie. The mayor can veto ordinances subject to an override by a two-thirds majority vote of the council. The mayor makes committee and liaison assignments for council members, and most appointments are made by the mayor with the advice and consent of the council.[34][35]
As of 2025[update], the mayor of Newfield Borough is Republican Charles Grova Jr., whose term of office ends December 31, 2026.[36] Members of the Newfield Borough Council are Council President Michael Carrow (R, 2026), Thomas D. Corwonski (D, 2025), Joseph Curcoio III (D, 2026), Jennifer Marandino (2025), Scott C. Miller (D, 2027) and Christina Renzi (R, 2027).[3][37][38][39][40][41]
Resident committees were formed in September 2013, which announced that they would mount a petition drive to recall council members Michael Carrow and Everett Marshall III, in the wake of a conflict between the borough council and the volunteer fire department, in which the council passed an ordinance giving the borough control over the fire department and in response the fire company threatened to close in October if the ordinance wasn't overturned.[42]
In January 2015, the borough council selected Stephen Boyle from a list of three candidates nominated by the Republican municipal committee to fill the vacant council seat expiring in December 2016 that had been held by Donald Sullivan until he took office as mayor.[43] In the November 2015 general election, Boyle was elected to serve the balance of the term of office.[44]
In August 2019, Christina Pierce was appointed by the borough council to fill the seat expiring in December 2021 that had been held by Patricia M. Purdy.[45] In the November 2019 general election, Pierce was elected to serve the balance of the term of office.[46]
Federal, state, and county representation
Newfield is located in the 2nd Congressional District[47] and is part of New Jersey's 3rd state legislative district.[48][49][50]
Gloucester County is governed by a board of county commissioners, whose seven members are elected at-large to three-year terms of office on a staggered basis in partisan elections, with either two or three seats coming up for election each year. At a reorganization meeting held each January, the Board selects a Director and a Deputy Director from among its members. As of 2025[update], Gloucester County's Commissioners are:
As of March 2011, there were a total of 1,139 registered voters in Newfield, of which 514 (45.1%) were registered as Democrats, 245 (21.5%) were registered as Republicans and 380 (33.4%) were registered as Unaffiliated. There were no voters registered to other parties.[75]
In the 2012 presidential election, Republican Mitt Romney received 49.9% of the vote (405 votes), ahead of Democrat Barack Obama with 47.8% (388 votes), and other candidates with 2.2% (18 votes), among the 811 ballots cast by the borough's 1,154 registered voters (9 ballots were spoiled), for a turnout of 70.3%.[76][77] In the 2008 presidential election, Republican John McCain received 48.9% of the vote (434 cast), ahead of Democrat Barack Obama with 48.0% (426 votes) and other candidates with 1.9% (17 votes), among the 887 ballots cast by the borough's 1,185 registered voters, for a turnout of 74.9%.[78] In the 2004 presidential election, Republican George W. Bush received 50.5% of the vote (442 ballots cast), outpolling Democrat John Kerry with 47.8% (418 votes) and other candidates with 0.7% (8 votes), among the 875 ballots cast by the borough's 1,214 registered voters, for a turnout percentage of 72.1.[79]
In the 2013 gubernatorial election, Republican Chris Christie received 66.8% of the vote (362 cast), ahead of Democrat Barbara Buono with 32.3% (175 votes), and other candidates with 0.9% (5 votes), among the 562 ballots cast by the borough's 1,141 registered voters (20 ballots were spoiled), for a turnout of 49.3%.[80][81] In the 2009 gubernatorial election, Republican Chris Christie received 44.4% of the vote (283 ballots cast), ahead of Democrat Jon Corzine with 40.8% (260 votes), Independent Chris Daggett with 10.2% (65 votes) and other candidates with 1.1% (7 votes), among the 637 ballots cast by the borough's 1,176 registered voters, yielding a 54.2% turnout.[82]
Students in public school for kindergarten through sixth grade attend the Franklin Township Public Schools, as part of a sending/receiving relationship in which Newfield accounts for about 100 of the more than 1,400 students in the district.[86][87] As of the 2018–19 school year, the district, comprised of three schools, had an enrollment of 1,408 students and 114.0 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 12.4:1.[88] Schools in the district (with 2018–19 enrollment data from the National Center for Education Statistics[89]) are
Mary F. Janvier Elementary School[90] with 597 students in grades K–2, Main Road School[91] with 394 students in grades 3–4, and Caroline L. Reutter School[92] with 406 students in grades 5–6.[93][94][95]
Edgarton Christian Academy is a non-denominational Christian K–8 school established in 2012. As of 2020[update] it leases a 29,000-square-foot (2,700 m2) space in Newfield. When the 76-student The Ellison School in Vineland closed in December 2019, 25 of them moved to Edgarton. The school is building a 50,000-square-foot (4,600 m2) permanent building on a 15-acre (6.1 ha) property in Buena, Atlantic County.[104]
Notre Dame Regional School of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Camden had one of its two campuses in Newfield, with the other in Landisville in Buena. The school closed in 2012.[105] It had 270 students at the time of closure.[104] That year remnants of the school formed the non-Catholic Edgarton Christian Academy.[106] 263 of the former Notre Dame students moved to Edgarton.[104]
Transportation
U.S. Route 40 westbound, along the north edge of Newfield
Roads and highways
As of May 2010[update], the borough had a total of 12.06 miles (19.41 km) of roadways, of which 9.67 miles (15.56 km) were maintained by the municipality, 2.27 miles (3.65 km) by Gloucester County and 0.12 miles (0.19 km) by the New Jersey Department of Transportation.[107]
^History, Borough of Newfield. Accessed November 10, 2019. "On February 19, 1924, two hundred and forty loyal Newfield residents braved the cold, damp, winter, weather and traveled to Trenton by Special Train and petitioned the legislature for Incorporation of the village of Newfield as a Borough."
^Romalino, Carly Q. "Newfield residents start recall petition to unseat councilmen in fire department feud", South Jersey Times, October 12, 2013. Accessed October 25, 2013. "Residents have launched a campaign to force borough councilman Everett Marshall III and council president Michael Carrow from their posts in light of the council vs. volunteer fire company feud that's raged on for more than three years.... In the last two months, both parties have continued to squabble in court over an ordinance that transferred control of the fire company's membership to borough council.The volunteer squad had given the borough an ultimatum — drop allegations against the chief by Oct. 12, or the fire company closes."
^Christina Pierce, Borough of Newfield. Accessed May 12, 2020. "Councilwoman Christina Pierce was appointed to Borough Council in August 2019 to fill a vacated seat."
^Romalino, Carly. "State OKs Newfield's break with Buena district", Gloucester County Times, June 17, 2009. "The Board of Education here can sever its three-decade tie with Buena Regional School District, New Jersey Commissioner of Education Lucille Davy has ruled. The move will begin in the 2010-11 school year. In a phase-in process, according to Delsea Regional School District Superintendent Frank Borelli, Delsea schools will first accept Newfield students entering grades seven and nine in September 2010. Students entering grades 10, 11 and 12 as of September 2010 would continue to be educated at Buena High School. Newfield children eligible for the sixth grade as of September 2010 would attend a school arranged for by Newfield, presumably the Franklin Township school district, and not Buena Middle School."
^Romalino, Carly Q. "Newfield's 'no' could hurt other districts", Courier-Post, November 4, 2015. Accessed February 1, 2017. "In 2012, Newfield ended its send-receive agreement with Buena schools in Atlantic County, instead sending its 400 elementary and 120 high school students to districts in neighboring Franklin Township. The send-receive agreement with Franklin Township Public Schools and Delsea Regional School District — which also educated Elk Township high schoolers — was touted as cheaper tuition than Buena."
^Township of Franklin Board of Education District Policy 0110 - Identification, Franklin Township Public Schools. Accessed May 12, 2020. "Purpose: The Board of Education exists for the purpose of providing a thorough and efficient system of free public education in grades Pre Kindergarten through six in the Township of Franklin School District. Composition: The Township of Franklin School District is comprised of all the area within the municipal boundaries of Franklin Township."
^Township of Franklin Public School District 2015 Report Card Narrative, New Jersey Department of Education. Accessed May 12, 2020. "The Township of Franklin Public School District, covering 56 square miles, is located in the southeast corner of Gloucester County. Our schools have an enrollment of approximately 1425 and service grades K-6 and a Pre-School Disabilities program. The enrollment includes nearly 100 students from the Newfield School District."
^2019-2020 School ProfileArchived November 8, 2019, at the Wayback Machine, Delsea Regional High School. Accessed November 10, 2019. "Delsea Regional High School serves the students of Franklin, Elk, and Newfield Townships."
^Romalino, Carly. "State OKs Newfield's break with Buena district", The Gloucester County Times, June 17, 2009. Accessed December 24, 2014. "In a phase-in process, according to Delsea Regional School District Superintendent Frank Borelli, Delsea schools will first accept Newfield students entering grades seven and nine in September 2010. Students entering grades 10, 11 and 12 as of September 2010 would continue to be educated at Buena High School."
^Job Bicknell Ellis Papers (1857-1903), New York Botanical Garden. Accessed July 9, 2015. "Based in Newfield, New Jersey, Ellis maintained a voluminous correspondence with American and European mycologists, a virtual Who's Who of 19th century mycology."
^"Obituary: Bessie Griffin", The Star-Ledger, January 8, 2010. Accessed October 16, 2017. "Bessie Griffin, better known as Bessie Blount, died at her Newfield, N.J., home, died on Dec. 30, 2009, at 95 years old."
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