Sommerset Township

Sommerset's origins date back to the times of Gotham City's founding. In modern day, Sommerset is connected to Bristol Township via the Mooney Bridge, while access to Mercey Island and Gotham City is provided by way of the Trigate Bridge and the old steam tunnel system underneath the [[Gotham Ri

      For the county in England, see Somerset.

Sommerset Township is a civil township in Gotham County, New Jersey.^[3] Located on the mainland northwest of Gotham City, the region comprises several suburban communities, most notably Sommerset and Evanston. It was the original home of Arkham Asylum until the facility was destroyed by Bane, forcing Jeremiah Arkham to move the asylum to its current location on Mercey Island.

History

Sommerset's origins date back to the times of Gotham City's founding.^[1] In modern day, Sommerset is connected to Bristol Township via the Mooney Bridge, while access to Mercey Island and Gotham City is provided by way of the Trigate Bridge and the old steam tunnel system underneath the Gotham River.^[2][3]

The Sommerset region is the site of state forests and nature parks like Dayton National Forest, Sommerset Woods and Slaughter Swamp State Park.^[3][4] Sommerset Township is also known as the location of the Archie Goodwin International Airport in Little Stockton, which is situated in the northern part of the region.^[3]

Batman regularly checks on Sommerset during his nightly patrols.^[5]

Tony Bressi's residence in Sommerset was once attacked by Firefly and Killer Moth. When Garfield Lynns burned the house to the ground, Batgirl and Black Canary were barely able to escape along with James Gordon and Bressi.^[6][7]

Original location of Arkham Asylum

Sommerset was the original site of Arkham Asylum, situated on the mainland several miles outside of Gotham City's borders.^[8][1] It was founded in 1921 by Amadeus Arkham on a parcel of land inherited from his mother. Arkham transformed his ancestral home into a mental facility and staffed it with some of the most prominent psychologists of his time. However, Amadeus Arkham was later driven insane himself and became a patient of his own asylum until his death in 1963. Custodianship of Arkham Asylum was eventually passed down to his great-nephew, Jeremiah Arkham.^[9][10] Many of Gotham City's most notorious supervillains would end up incarcerated in Arkham Asylum over the years, including the Joker, Two-Face and the Floronic Man.^[9]

The original Arkham Asylum on the outskirts of Sommerset was later heavily damaged by Bane and his crew when they fired numerous missiles at the building, releasing all the dangerous patients in the process.^[11][12] Since the old mental facility in Sommerset was left in ruins and could no longer be used, Jeremiah Arkham had to relocate Arkham Asylum to an old mansion on Mercey Island, where it remains to this day.^[12][3]

Points of Interest

• Dayton National Forest
• Drescher
• Evanston (Evanstown)
  • Bradford Heights
  • Roxbury
  • Westvale
• Irving Grove
• Little Stockton
  • Archie Goodwin International Airport
• Mooney Bridge

• Slaughter Swamp State Park
• Sommerset
  • Arkham Asylum (Destroyed)
  • Gotham State Penitentiary
  • Logerquist Street
    • Sommerset General Hospital
  • Sommerset Stadium
• Sommerset Woods
• Trigate Bridge
• Victoria Place
  
  

Residents

• Amadeus Arkham (Deceased)
• Arkham Asylum Inmates (Formerly)
• Elizabeth Arkham (Deceased)
• Lonnie Machin/Anarky (Formerly)
• Tony Bressi (Formerly) (Deceased)
  
  

Notes

• Alan Moore established Sommerset as the original location of Arkham Asylum in Swamp Thing (Volume 2) #52. Before that, the region had appeared unnamed for several years.
  • Arkham Asylum was later destroyed by Bane in the prelude to Batman: Knightfall, following which the asylum was moved to its current location on Mercey Island.
  • In the continuity of the DCAU, Arkham Asylum is still located on a hill in the Somerset District,^[13] since Batman: The Animated Series premiered before Arkham Asylum was relocated to Mercey Island in the comics.
• Eliot R. Brown later included Sommerset on the official map of Gotham City that was first used during the storyline Batman: No Man's Land.
• Even though Alan Moore's run on Swamp Thing and Brown's map of Gotham City established the name Sommerset, the suburban community has sometimes also been spelled Somerset, possibly due to confusion with the real-life Somerset in England. For example, it was named Somerset in the Time Out Shortlist Gotham and Metropolis for the DC Extended Universe.
  • In the Blu-ray subtitles for the BTAS episode "Trial", it was spelled Somerset District.
  • The television series Gotham maintained the original name Sommerset from the comics.^[14]
    
    
    

Trivia

• In Batman #431, Thaddeus Gladden's home was located in Somerset, New Jersey. However, this place appears to be based on the real-life Somerset, New Jersey instead of being a precursor to the fictional Gotham suburb.
• In New Earth continuity, the area at the western end of Brown Bridge was usually considered part of Sommerset Township, too.^[3] However, DC later established this southern region as Burnside during the New 52 reboot. So far, it has not been confirmed whether Burnside is part of Sommerset Township or if it is considered its own independent community.

See Also

• Appearances of Sommerset Township
• Location Gallery: Sommerset Township
  
• Catalogued images related to Sommerset Township