Swartswood, New Jersey

Swartswood State Park is a 3,460-acre (14.0 km2) protected area located in the Swartswood section of Stillwater and Hampton townships in Sussex County, New Jersey, in the United States. Established in 1915 by the state's Forest Park Reservation Commission, it was the first state park established by the state of New Jersey for the purposes of recreation at the state's third-largest freshwater lake. Today, Swartswood State Park is operated and maintained by the New Jersey Division of Parks and Forestry. The park's main feature is Swartswood Lake, a 502-acre (2.03 km2) glacial lake located in northwestern New Jersey's Kittatinny Valley—part of New Jersey's Ridge and Valley physiographic province. Both Swartswood Lake and the smaller Little Swartswood Lake are remnants of the retreat glaciers from the Wisconsin glaciation which began roughly 20,000 years ago. Both lakes have been the focus of water-quality improvement efforts by the state, including invasive aquatic-weed control and watershed protection in association with a local non-profit organization. The park is open all year, with many recreational activities available, including hiking, birdwatching, cross-country skiing, swimming, boating, and camping. Fishing and hunting are also permitted within the park.

Swartswood Lake (previously called Swartout's Pond) is a freshwater lake located in Stillwater and Hampton townships in Sussex County, New Jersey in the United States. The lake is a 520-acre (210 ha) glacial lake that is the third-largest freshwater lake in New Jersey. The lake stretches 3 miles (4.8 km) (north-to-south) and 1 mile (1.6 km) wide (east to west); and has an average depth of 22 feet (6.7 m) with a maximum depth of 42 feet (13 m). The lake is the focus of Swartswood State Park a 3,460-acre (14.0 km2) protected area administered by the New Jersey Division of Parks and Forestry. Swartswood Lake is fed by the waters of Neldon's Brook (draining several lakes and Bear Swamp in Stillwater, Hampton, and Frankford townships; and by Indian Creek (or River) which empties Little Swartswood Lake to the north. The southern end of the lake was dammed by Charles Rhodes, Sr., in 1790 forming a mill pond in the narrow ravine at the lake's outlet, Keen's Mill Brook. The Brook flows into the Trout Brook near Middleville in Stillwater Township, a tributary of the Paulins Kill.

Hampton Township is a township in Sussex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the township's population was 4,893, a decrease of 303 (−5.8%) from the 2010 census count of 5,196, which in turn reflected an increase of 253 (+5.1%) from the 4,943 counted in the 2000 census.Hampton Township was formed from portions of Sussex County by an act of the New Jersey Legislature on April 11, 1864. The township was named for Jonathan Hampton, who donated land in 1769 to the Episcopal Church of Newton. State legislator Robert Hamilton, an Episcopalian, appreciated Hampton's generosity, and gave the township its name. Portions of the township were taken on February 24, 1904, to form Fredon Township.

Crandon Lakes is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) split between Hampton Township and Stillwater Township, in Sussex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2010 United States Census, the CDP's population was 1,178, of which 682 were in Hampton Township and 496 in Stillwater Township.

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.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. 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. 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 Township when Sussex County was divided in half by the legislature a few weeks earlier to create Warren County. Portions of the township were taken to form Fredon Township on February 24, 1904.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.

Middleville is an unincorporated community located within Stillwater Township, in Sussex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Middleville is 5.8 miles (9.3 km) west of Newton. Middleville has a post office with ZIP Code 07855.

The Coursen House is a historic mansion in Fredon Township, New Jersey. Built in 1805 by the Coursen Family, the building is now owned by the town.

Fredon Township School District (FTSD) is a community public school district that serves students in pre-kindergarten through sixth grade from Fredon Township, in Sussex County, New Jersey, United States.As of the 2020–21 school year, the district, comprised of one school, had an enrollment of 178 students and 21.8 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 8.2:1.The district is classified by the New Jersey Department of Education as being in District Factor Group "GH", the third-highest of eight groupings. District Factor Groups organize districts statewide to allow comparison by common socioeconomic characteristics of the local districts. From lowest socioeconomic status to highest, the categories are A, B, CD, DE, FG, GH, I and J.Students in seventh through twelfth grade for public school attend Kittatinny Regional High School located in Hampton Township, which serves students who reside in Fredon Township, Hampton Township, Sandyston Township, Stillwater Township and Walpack Township. The high school is located on a 96-acre (39 ha) campus in Hampton Township, about seven minutes outside of the county seat of Newton. As of the 2020–21 school year, the high school had an enrollment of 843 students and 91.5 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 9.2:1. Kittatinny Regional High School was recognized as a National Blue Ribbon School of Excellence in 1997-98.In the wake of protests by parents about the exposure of students to electromagnetic fields and threats by the district to close the school, PSE&G agreed in 2011 to contribute $950,000 towards a construction project that would relocate a playground that had been situated near high voltage lines that pass by the school.

Kittatinny Mountain (Lenape: Kitahtëne) is a long ridge traversing primarily across Sussex County in northwestern New Jersey, running in a northeast-southwest axis, a continuation across the Delaware Water Gap of Pennsylvania's Blue Mountain (also known as Kittatinny Ridge). It is the first major ridge in the far northeastern extension of the Ridge and Valley province of the Appalachian Mountains, and reaches its highest elevation (the state's highest), 1,803 feet, at High Point in Montague Township. Kittatinny Mountain forms the eastern side of Wallpack Valley; the western side comprises the Wallpack Ridge (highest elevation: 928 feet (283 m) above sea level.

Fredon Township ( FREE-dən) is a township in Sussex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the township's population was 3,235, a decrease of 202 (−5.9%) from the 2010 census count of 3,437, which in turn reflected an increase of 577 (+20.2%) from the 2,860 counted in the 2000 census.In 1800, Isaac V. Coursen named the Stillwater Township area "Coursen's Corners" after establishing a post office in his store, the Coursen House, but changed the name to Fredon Village before his death in 1855. Stillwater Township's Bicentennial Committee obtained information from the Postmaster General which "states that 'Fredon' is derived from the German word 'fredonia,' meaning place of freedom." Fredon Township was incorporated on February 24, 1904, from portions of Andover Township, Green Township, Hampton Township and Stillwater Township.

The Kittatinny Regional High School is a six-year comprehensive regional public high school and school district in Sussex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, serving students in seventh through twelfth grades from five municipalities in the northwest area of the county, which are Fredon Township, Hampton Township, Sandyston Township, Stillwater Township and Walpack Township. The high school is located on a 96-acre (39 ha) campus in Hampton Township, about seven minutes outside of the county seat of Newton. As of the 2021–22 school year, the school had an enrollment of 798 students and 83.5 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 9.6:1. There were 51 students (6.4% of enrollment) eligible for free lunch and 22 (2.8% of students) eligible for reduced-cost lunch.The district is classified by the New Jersey Department of Education as being in District Factor Group "FG", the fourth-highest of eight groupings. District Factor Groups organize districts statewide to allow comparison by common socioeconomic characteristics of the local districts. From lowest socioeconomic status to highest, the categories are A, B, CD, DE, FG, GH, I and J.

Lake Owassa (formerly Long Pond) is a 275 acres (111 ha) freshwater lake within the watershed of the Paulins Kill located in Frankford Township in Sussex County, New Jersey. It is fed from runoff from Kittatinny Mountain along its western flank and by Bear Swamp. Water from Lake Owassa feeds into nearby Culver's Lake (formerly Round Pond) before flowing into the West Branch of the Paulins Kill. It is at an elevation of 866 feet (264 m).While the name Owassa implies an origin from Native American languages, it is not derived from the Unami or Munsee dialects of the Lenape who resided in New Jersey. Conversely, the name was derived from the fabricated name of a fictional Indian character in a long poem written by a local clergyman, George William Lloyd (1821–1906) in Branchville, New Jersey for his deceased wife, Sarah Prince Lloyd (1819–1890).