Norma, New Jersey

Norma, New Jersey
Unincorporated community
Norma, New Jersey is located in Salem County, New Jersey
Norma, New Jersey
Norma, New Jersey
Norma's location in Salem County (Inset: Salem County in New Jersey)
Norma, New Jersey is located in New Jersey
Norma, New Jersey
Norma, New Jersey
Norma, New Jersey (New Jersey)
Norma, New Jersey is located in the United States
Norma, New Jersey
Norma, New Jersey
Norma, New Jersey (the United States)
Coordinates: 39°29′46″N 75°05′17″W / 39.49611°N 75.08806°W / 39.49611; -75.08806
Country United States
State New Jersey
CountySalem
TownshipPittsgrove
Elevation
82 ft (25 m)
Time zoneUTC−05:00 (Eastern (EST))
 • Summer (DST)UTC−04:00 (EDT)
ZIP Code
08347
Area code856
GNIS feature ID878816[1]

Norma is an unincorporated community located within Pittsgrove Township in Salem County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey.[2] Norma is located at the junction of County Routes 540 and 638, west of Vineland.[3] Norma has a post office with ZIP Code 08347, which opened on June 29, 1888.[4][5]

Norma is serviced by Pittsgrove Township School District. There is an elementary school within the town, currently enrolled 125 students which only offers pre-kindergarden. Year on year enrollment has been declining. The school is classified as fringe rural.[6][7]

According to the 2020 census, Pittsgrove Township has a population of about 8,800 people.[8] It is estimated about 500 people live in Norma.[9] There are currently a number of churches in the town, including a Mennonite church, a baptist church and missionary. Norma has experienced population decline since the early 2000s.

History

Norma was established, alongside the two other communities of Alliance and Brotmanville as agriculture settlements by Jewish Russian immigrants in the late nineteenth century. At the time of settlement, three million jews lived in a part of Russia known as the Pale, with severe restrictions on access to land.[10] Norma was selected as a site for a Jewish agriculture community by international philanthropic groups who wanted to support the ability for Jewish farmers, under pressure in Russia, to have access to agriculture land. With assistance from the international aid organizations, a small group of Jews were relocated to this area, alongside other agriculture settlements, which were fairly uninhabited, to avoid integration issues within existing cities and allow them to continue to work in agriculture.[11] Norma was established through funds provided by the Baron de Hirsch Fund, with ongoing support to farmers provided by the Jewish Agriculture and Industrial Society.

In 1897, the synagogue in Norma was established.[12] In 1889, a marketing cooperative was established by farmers, where the produce grown in the settlement was sold to markets in neighboring Philadelphia.[11]

By 1890, Norma was an independent community. In contrast to the neighboring towns, Norma had railway access in town, and by 1901, a cannery was built.[13][10] In 1926, the town received electricity access, and by 1928 was the first town in Salem County to use streetlights.[13] The town continued to attract Jewish immigrants through the 1940s, although the community remained small.[12]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Norma". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior.
  2. ↑ Locality Search, State of New Jersey. Accessed June 8, 2016.
  3. ↑ Salem County (PDF) (Map). New Jersey Department of Transportation. Retrieved July 27, 2013.
  4. ↑ United States Postal Service (2012). "USPS - Look Up a ZIP Code". Retrieved February 15, 2012.
  5. ↑ "Postmaster Finder - Post Offices by ZIP Code". United States Postal Service. Archived from the original on October 17, 2020. Retrieved July 27, 2013.
  6. ↑ "Search for Public Schools - Norma Elementary School (341311005082)". nces.ed.gov. Retrieved June 7, 2026.
  7. ↑ "Pittsgrove Township School District, New Jersey". Ballotpedia. Retrieved June 7, 2026.
  8. ↑ "Population Density by County and Municipality: New Jersey, Census 2020 and Estimates 2022" (PDF). NJ.gov. 2020.
  9. ↑ "Norma, NJ Demographics | BestNeighborhood.org". bestneighborhood.org. Retrieved June 7, 2026.
  10. 1 2 Popper, Deborah (January 4, 2006). ""GREAT OPPORTUNITIES FOR THE MANY OF SMALL MEANS": NEW JERSEY'S AGRICULTURAL COLONIES*". Geographical Review. 96 (1). American Geographical Society: 24–49. Bibcode:2006GeoRv..96...24P. doi:10.1111/j.1931-0846.2006.tb00386.x. Retrieved June 7, 2026.
  11. 1 2 O’Keefe, Siobhan; Quincy, Sarah (January 1, 2018). "Old Immigrants, New Niches: Russian Jewish Agricultural Colonies and Native Workers in Southern New Jersey, 1880–1910". RSF: The Russell Sage Foundation Journal of the Social Sciences. 4 (1): 20–38. doi:10.7758/RSF.2018.4.1.02. ISSN 2377-8253.
  12. 1 2 Meyers, Allen. Southern New Jersey Synagogues: Highlighted by stories of jewish life from 1880s-1980s (PDF).
  13. 1 2 "Norma | Alliance Heritage Center". My Site. Retrieved June 7, 2026.


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