Sussex

Formed June 8, 1753 (13^th county)

Sussex County (144,231), Newton (8,375), Hopatcong (14,362)

The Modern red brick 1992 courthouse replaced an 1847 facility.  It is sited on High Street at Park Place.  Park Place is United States Highway 206 in the town.  The building architect is Vitetta Group.  A Hall of Records and an Administration Building support the courthouse.  A 1765 courthouse also existed in Newton, the only county seat.  The county was created from Morris County on June 8, 1753 as the 13^th county.  The county is named for Sussex, England.  Newton is named for a part of Queens, New York City, from where the local settlers moved.  Sussex County was the birthplace for 3 New Jersey Governors, William Kennedy, Rodman M. Price, and John W. Griggs. 

Sussex County government consists of an executive, a sheriff, an administrator and a clerk (executive).  It has 5 Commissioners (legislative.)  Twenty Superior Court Judges serve Sussex and Morris counties and a prosecutor serves Sussex County (judicial.)  The county is in the northwest corner of the state.  Newark, New Jersey is southeast and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania is south of the county.  The county center is 7 miles Northeast of Newton nearer Augusta.  The county is surrounded clockwise by New York and Passaic, Morris, and Warren counties and Pennsylvania. 

The area of the county is 521 square miles.  It is 4 out of 21 in the state.  It ranks 17 out of 21 in population in the state.  It has a density of 276.8 persons per square mile making it 20 out of 21 in the state.  Sussex County has 27.8% of its population in its incorporated areas.  Interstate Highway 80 clips the southern tip of the county from Morris County, east, to Warren County, west.  United States Highway 206 enters from Pennsylvania, west, and exits into Morris County, southeast.  The highest point in New Jersey, High Point, is in the county.  The overall shape of the county is a diamond.  Newton is in the southwest quarter of the county.  Hopatcong is in the southern tip of the county.  Newton is the county seat and Hopatcong is the largest city.  Newton is 5.8% of the county population while Hopatcong is 10.0% of the county population.  The largest city is pronounced HA-PAT-KONG.  This county is in the New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island Metropolitan Statistical Area.