millstone

Either of two flat, round stones used for grinding grain to make flour. The stationary bottom stone is carved with shallow grooved channels that radiate from the centre. The upper stone rotates horizontally, and has a central hole through which grain is poured. The channels of the bottom stone lead the grain onto the flat grinding section, called the land, and to the edge, where it emerges as flour. The best millstones are made from French buhrstone, quarried near Paris. In the U.S., quartz conglomerate, quartzite, sandstone, or granite is used. Stone-ground flour accounts for only a small proportion of milled flour today.

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see also: Millstone Township, New Jersey

Millstone is a Borough in Somerset County, New Jersey, United States. As of the United States 2000 Census, the borough population was 410.

Millstone was incorporated as a borough by an Act of the New Jersey Legislature on May 14, 1894, from portions of Hillsborough Township, based on the results of a referendum held that day. The borough was reincorporated on March 12, 1928.

Added in 1976, Millstone Borough is listed in the National Register of Historic Places and encompasses 58 buildings. The borough possesses a military significance for 1700-1749, 1750-1799, 1850-1874.

New Jersey Monthly magazine ranked Millstone as its 7th best place to live in its 2008 rankings of the "Best Places To Live" in New Jersey.

Geography

Millstone is located at (40.499453, -74.590875).

According to the United States Census Bureau, the borough has a total area of 0.8 square miles (1.9 km²), all of it land.

History

Millstone was briefly the county seat of Somerset County until the British burned it to the ground during the American Revolutionary War. Millstone was briefly connected to the Pennsylvania Railroad when the Mercer and Somerset Railway was extended to the town in the 1870s and connected via a bridge across the Millstone River to the Pennsylvania Railroad's Millstone and New Brunswick Railroad, but that arrangement did not last into the 1880s. Remnants of the railroad bridge can still been seen to this day.

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 410 people, 169 households, and 126 families residing in the borough. The population density was 547.1 people per square mile (211.1/km²). There were 173 housing units at an average density of 230.9/sq mi (89.1/km²). The racial makeup of the borough was 97.56% White, 0.98% African American, 0.98% Asian, and 0.49% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 3.17% of the population.

There were 169 households out of which 25.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 59.8% were married couples living together, 9.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 24.9% were non-families. 18.9% of all households were made up of individuals and 8.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.43 and the average family size was 2.79.

In the borough the population was spread out with 19.3% under the age of 18, 4.1% from 18 to 24, 25.4% from 25 to 44, 34.1% from 45 to 64, and 17.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 46 years. For every 100 females there were 99.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 91.3 males.

The median income for a household in the borough was $76,353, and the median income for a family was $83,118. Males had a median income of $60,156 versus $36,406 for females. The per capita income for the borough was $30,694. About 3.1% of families and 4.6% of the population were below the poverty line, including 6.4% of those under age 18 and 7.3% of those age 65 or over.

Government

Local government

Millstone is governed under the Borough form of New Jersey municipal government. The government consists of a Mayor and a Borough Council comprising six council members, with all positions elected at large. A Mayor is elected directly by the voters to a four-year term of office. The Borough Council consists of six members elected to serve three-year terms on a staggered basis, with two seats coming up for election each year.

The Mayor of Millstone Borough is Ray Heck. Members of the Millstone Borough Council are Council President William Poch, Joe Dempster, Carolyn Halm, Robert McCarthy, Scott Ross and Denene Smerdon.

Federal, state and county representation

Millstone is in the Seventh Congressional District and is part of New Jersey's 16th Legislative District.

Education

Millstone has a non-operating school district. All public school students from Millstone attend school in the Hillsborough Township School District, in Hillsborough Township as part of a sending/receiving relationship.

Notable residents

Notable current and former residents of Millstone include:

• Ferdinand Schureman Schenck (1790-1860) was an American politician who represented New Jersey in the United States House of Representatives from 1833-1837.

References

External links

• Millstone Borough website
• Hillsborough Township School District
• Data for the Hillsborough Township School District, National Center for Education Statistics
• National Register of Historical Places details for Millstone Historic District