Augusta, New Jersey

Augusta is an unincorporated area located within Frankford Township, Sussex County, New Jersey.

Augusta is the home of the New Jersey State Fair and the Sussex County Farm and Horse Show.

Skylands Park, a 4,300-seat ballpark, hosts the Sussex Skyhawks of the Can-Am League, which debuted starting with the 2006 baseball season.

Geography

Augusta is located at 41°8'42" North, 74°41'5" West (41.145086, -74.684753).

Augusta lies in the Kittatinny Valley which is part of the Great Appalachian Valley. The Kittatinny Mountains are to the west and the New Jersey Highlands are to the east.

Geology

Augusta lies on top of the Ordovician Martinsburg Formation, created around 450 million B. C. when a volcanic chain of islands collided with the proto North American plate. The islands rode over top of the North American plate creating the valley. The valley was under a shallow sea until geologic pressure forced the shale upwards.

The Wisconsin Glacier covered the valley from 21,000 B.C. to 13,000 B.C. Augusta was covered in three hundred meters of ice. When the ice slowly melted this created the Paulinskill River as well as Papakatkin Creek.

The Paulinskill River, which starts in Newton and flows westerly through Augusta from Lafayette, drains into the Delaware River to the southwest. The Paulinskill is one of the premier fishing streams in the state of New Jersey. Each year, thousands of trout are stocked in the Paulinskill River from the New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife.

Papakatkin Creek drains into the Wallkill River to the north. The drainage divide is just north of Route 206 in Augusta. A chain of hills leads Papakatkin Creek to travel east and then north into the Wallkill River.

External links

• New Jersey Horse Enthusiast Web
• New Jersey State Fair