Skillman, New Jersey
Encyclopedia
Skillman is an unincorporated area within Montgomery Township
in Somerset County
, New Jersey
, United States
. The area is served as United States Postal Service
ZIP Code
08558. It is also home to Johnson and Johnson's consumer division.
in 1664, according to family accounts. In 1729, Thomas Skillman ventured westward, buying some 500 acres (2 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 Village for Epileptics, a 250 acres (1 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).
Montgomery Township, New Jersey
Montgomery Township is a Township in Somerset County, New Jersey, United States. As of the United States 2010 Census, the township population was 22,254, which represents growth of 27% since 2000 and more than 130% since the 1990 Census population figure of 9,612.Montgomery Township was...
in Somerset County
Somerset County, New Jersey
Somerset County is a county located in the U.S. state of New Jersey. In 2010, the population was 323,444. It is part of the New York Metropolitan Area. Its county seat is Somerville....
, New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. The area is served as United States Postal Service
United States Postal Service
The United States Postal Service is an independent agency of the United States government responsible for providing postal service in the United States...
ZIP Code
ZIP Code
ZIP codes are a system of postal codes used by the United States Postal Service since 1963. The term ZIP, an acronym for Zone Improvement Plan, is properly written in capital letters and was chosen to suggest that the mail travels more efficiently, and therefore more quickly, when senders use the...
08558. It is also home to Johnson and Johnson's consumer division.
History
Skillman is named after the Skillman family. The first Skillmans were Dutch, but lived in England before moving to BrooklynBrooklyn
Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
in 1664, according to family accounts. In 1729, Thomas Skillman ventured westward, buying some 500 acres (2 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 Village for Epileptics, a 250 acres (1 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).
Notable residents
Notable current and former residents of Skillman include:- Ira BlackIra BlackIra Barrie Black was an American physician and neuroscientist who was an advocate of stem cell research and was the first director of the Stem Cell Institute of New Jersey at Robert Wood Johnson Medical School which was created to advance research in the field.-Early life and education:Born in the...
(1941-2006), neuroscientistNeuroscientistA neuroscientist is an individual who studies the scientific field of neuroscience or any of its related sub-fields...
and stem cellStem cellThis article is about the cell type. For the medical therapy, see Stem Cell TreatmentsStem cells are biological cells found in all multicellular organisms, that can divide and differentiate into diverse specialized cell types and can self-renew to produce more stem cells...
researcher who served as the first director of the Stem Cell Institute of New Jersey.
External links
- Census 2000 Fact Sheet for Zip Code Tabulation Area 08558 from the United States Census BureauUnited States Census BureauThe United States Census Bureau is the government agency that is responsible for the United States Census. It also gathers other national demographic and economic data...