Stirling is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Long Hill Township, Morris County, New Jersey, United States. The area is served by the U.S. Postal Service ZIP Code 07980. According to the 2020 census, the population was 2,555.

History

Stirling was settled in 1740. A manufacturing and residential community was developed in the area of the railroad in the decades after the Civil War. It was named by Fred Simpson Winston, who purchased about 500 acre of land in the area for development. He named the area after William Alexander, Lord Stirling, an American Revolutionary War general who had owned 1000 acre of land lying on both sides of the Passaic River. The Assyrian National School Association was established in Stirling in 1899 by Assyrian immigrants from Diyarbakır, Turkey.

Geography

Stirling is in southeastern Morris County and occupies the central portion of Long Hill Township. It is bordered to the east by Gillette and to the west by Millington. The Passaic River forms the southern boundary of the community as well as the Somerset County line. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the Stirling CDP has a total area of 2.35 sqmi, of which 0.02 sqmi, or 0.64%, are water. The Stirling train station is located along the Gladstone Branch of the New Jersey Transit Morristown Line.

Demographics

Stirling was first listed as a census designated place in the 2020 U.S. Census.

2020 census

Education

Stirling is home to Central Middle School, which is one of the four schools in the Long Hill Township School System. Central Middle School educates students from grades 6–8. St. Vincent de Paul School was a Catholic school in Stirling that operated under the auspices of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Paterson. The school closed in June 2016 in the wake of declining enrollment and financial challenges. The school was recognized with the Blue Ribbon School Award of Excellence in 2012.

Notable people

People who were born in, residents of, or otherwise closely associated with Stirling include: