Frankford Township is a rural municipality in central Sussex County, New Jersey, set in the Kittatinny Valley, the New Jersey stretch of the Great Appalachian Valley that runs from Canada to Alabama. The township covers 35.4 square miles of rolling farmland, woods, and lakes in the northwest Skylands region, with the borough of Branchville completely surrounded by its borders — one of New Jersey's classic "doughnut town" arrangements. The township has deep roots. It was formed on April 10, 1797, from portions of Newton Township, and incorporated on February 21, 1798, as one of the state's original 104 townships. Over time, portions of its original territory were carved away to create Lafayette and Sparta townships and the borough of Branchville, all in 1845, leaving the township with its present rural footprint. Agriculture has long defined Frankford. Dairy farms, hayfields, and rolling pastures still pattern the landscape, and the township has emphasized the preservation of open space, maintaining a bucolic character unusual in the nation's most densely populated state. Frankford Park, with its athletic fields, anchors local recreation, while thousands of acres of nearby public land — Stokes State Forest, the Kittatinny Mountains, and the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area — provide wilderness access minutes from home. Life in Frankford is quiet and land-centered. The township has no dense downtown of its own; residents use nearby Branchville, Newton, and the Route 206 corridor for shopping and services. With roughly 5,300 residents, it offers a low-density, owner-occupied housing pattern and a strong sense of rural community. Commuting to northern New Jersey and New York employment hubs is possible via Route 206 and Interstate 80, though the township's appeal is decidedly pastoral. Frankford suits people seeking space, farmland, and outdoor recreation within reach of the region's job centers.