Berkeley Township, New Jersey facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Berkeley Township, New Jersey
Township
Island Beach State Park in Berkeley Township
Seal
Motto(s):  "From the shores of the Atlantic Ocean to the serenity of the Pine Barrens"
Location of Berkeley Township in Ocean County highlighted in yellow (right). Inset map: Location of Ocean County in New Jersey highlighted in black (left).
Census Bureau map of Berkeley Township, New Jersey
Berkeley Township, New Jersey Location in Ocean County, New Jersey Show map of Ocean County, New Jersey Berkeley Township, New Jersey Location in New Jersey Show map of New Jersey Berkeley Township, New Jersey Location in the United States Show map of the United States
Country	United States
State	New Jersey
County	Ocean
Incorporated	March 31, 1875
Named for	John Berkeley, 1st Baron Berkeley of Stratton
Government
• Type	Faulkner Act (mayor–council)
• Body	Township Council
Area
• Total	54.25 sq mi (140.51 km2)
• Land	42.72 sq mi (110.64 km2)
• Water	11.53 sq mi (29.87 km2)  21.26%
Area rank	31st of 565 in state 6th of 33 in county
Elevation	36 ft (11 m)
Population  (2020)
• Total	43,754
• Estimate  (2023)	44,856
• Rank	51st of 565 in state 6th of 33 in county
• Density	1,024.4/sq mi (395.5/km2)
• Density rank	382nd of 565 in state 20th of 33 in county
Time zone	UTC−05:00 (Eastern (EST))
• Summer (DST)	UTC−04:00 (Eastern (EDT))
ZIP Code	08721
Area codes	732 exchanges: 237, 269, 606
FIPS code	3402905305
GNIS feature ID	0882073
Website

Berkeley Township is a township in Ocean County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, extending from the Jersey Shore westward into the New Jersey Pine Barrens. As of the 2020 United States census, the township's population was 43,754, the highest ever in any decennial count and an increase of 2,499 (+6.1%) from the 2010 census count of 41,255, which in turn reflected an increase of 1,264 (+3.2%) from the 39,991 counted in the 2000 census.

Berkeley Township was incorporated as a township by an act of the New Jersey Legislature on March 31, 1875, from portions of Dover Township (now Toms River Township). Sections of the township were taken to form Seaside Park (March 3, 1898), Seaside Heights (February 6, 1913), Beachwood (March 22, 1917), Ocean Gate (February 28, 1918) Pine Beach (February 26, 1925), South Toms River (March 28, 1927), and Island Beach (June 23, 1933, reabsorbed into Berkeley Township in 1965). The township was named for John Berkeley, 1st Baron Berkeley of Stratton, one of the founders of the Province of New Jersey.

History

Army officer Lt. Edward Farrow began buying up woodland in the 1880s with the idea of building a retirement community for former Army and Navy officers. Farrow built a railroad station, shops and even a resort hotel called The Pines with the idea of attracting people. But only 11 people ever built houses in what Farrow called "Barnegat Park," and eventually he went bankrupt.

In the 1920s, Benjamin W. Sangor purchased the area, intending to create a resort town catering to wealthy urban vacationers. Between 1928 and 1929, about 8,000 lots were sold in Pinewald, a "new-type, residential, recreational city-of-the sea-and-pines." It was to contain a golf course, recreation facilities, and estate homes.

The developers immediately began construction of the Pinewald pavilion and pier at the end of Butler Avenue. The Royal Pines Hotel, a $1.175 million investment facing Crystal Lake, was built on the site of an earlier hotel dating back to the days of Barnegat Park. It was the focal point of the new community. The hotel was also used as an asylum, then later a nursing home now known as the Crystal Lake Nursing & Rehabilitation Center.

The hotel was constructed by Russian architect W. Oltar-Jevsky in the early 1920s. Al Capone may have frequented its halls, perhaps even venturing beneath the lake in tunnels especially designed for smuggling alcohol during Prohibition. One newspaper article interviewed an unidentified man who claimed that "in the early 1930s the then Royal Pines Hotel was frequented by society's elite who, for $1.90 a drink, consumed prohibition liquor under the watchful eye of men who had guns strapped under their coats." In 1929, during the Great Depression, this resort community also went bankrupt.

Geography

A cranberry bog within Double Trouble State Park, which straddles Berkeley Township and a smaller portion within neighboring Lacey Township in Ocean County

According to the United States Census Bureau, the township had a total area of 54.25 square miles (140.51 km²), including 42.72 square miles (110.64 km²) of land and 11.53 square miles (29.87 km²) of water (21.26%).

The township is located in the central part of Ocean County along the Atlantic Ocean and Barnegat Bay, which is part of the Intracoastal Waterway.

Approximately 72% of the township's land area is within the federally designated New Jersey Pinelands National Reserve and 38% is within the State's Pineland Area, which is within the Pinelands National Reserve. Toms River forms the northern border of the township, Cedar Creek and Lacey Township form the southern border. The barrier island, on which South Seaside Park and Island Beach State Park are situated, is the township's eastern boundary.

Holiday City-Berkeley (2010 Census population of 12,831), Holiday City South (3,689 as of 2010), Holiday Heights (2,099) and Silver Ridge (1,133) are unincorporated communities and census-designated places located within Berkeley Township. The four CDPs are parts of Holiday City – Silver Ridge Park, an age-restricted adult planned community with separate communities, each with its own homeowners association and amenities.

Other unincorporated communities, localities and place names located wholly or partially within the township include Barnegat Park, Barnegat Pier, Bayville, Benders Corners, Berkeley Heights, Crossley, Double Trouble, Dover Forge, Glen Cove, Glenside Park, Good Luck Point, Holly Park, Manitou Park, Pelican Island, Pinewald, River Bank, Silver Ridge Park, Silver Ridge Park West, South Seaside Park, Stony Hill, Union Village and Zebs Bridge.

The township borders the Ocean County communities of Barnegat Light, Beachwood, Island Heights, Lacey Township, Manchester Township, Ocean Township, Pine Beach, Seaside Heights, Seaside Park, South Toms River and Toms River; The township completely surrounds the borough of Ocean Gate.

The township is one of 11 municipalities in Ocean County that are part of the Toms River watershed.

Demographics

2010 census

The 2010 United States census counted 41,255 people, 20,349 households, and 11,538 families in the township. The population density was 962.5 per square mile (371.6/km²). There were 23,818 housing units at an average density of 555.7 per square mile (214.6/km²). The racial makeup was 94.85% (39,129) White, 1.75% (723) Black or African American, 0.11% (46) Native American, 1.13% (466) Asian, 0.01% (5) Pacific Islander, 1.13% (465) from other races, and 1.02% (421) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 4.92% (2,028) of the population.

Of the 20,349 households, 12.2% had children under the age of 18; 45.8% were married couples living together; 8.0% had a female householder with no husband present and 43.3% were non-families. Of all households, 39.3% were made up of individuals and 30.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.00 and the average family size was 2.63.

11.9% of the population were under the age of 18, 4.6% from 18 to 24, 15.3% from 25 to 44, 24.9% from 45 to 64, and 43.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 61.1 years. For every 100 females, the population had 81.5 males. For every 100 females ages 18 and older there were 78.6 males.

The Census Bureau's 2006–2010 American Community Survey showed that (in 2010 inflation-adjusted dollars) median household income was $43,049 (with a margin of error of +/− $1,988) and the median family income was $58,230 (+/− $2,406). Males had a median income of $54,959 (+/− $3,373) versus $40,935 (+/− $2,531) for females. The per capita income for the borough was $28,168 (+/− $1,017). About 5.2% of families and 7.2% of the population were below the poverty line, including 8.7% of those under age 18 and 7.8% of those age 65 or over.

Education

The Berkeley Township School District serves public school students in pre-kindergarten through sixth grade. As of the 2019–20 school year, the district, comprised of four schools, had an enrollment of 2,479 students and 201.5 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 12.3:1. Schools in the district (with 2019–20 enrollment data from the National Center for Education Statistics) are Bayville Elementary School with 499 students in grades Pre-K–4, H. & M. Potter Elementary School with 629 students in grades Pre-K–4, Clara B. Worth Elementary School with 663 students in grades Pre-K–4 and Berkeley Township Elementary School with 574 students in grades 5–6.

Students in public school for seventh through twelfth grades attend the schools of the Central Regional School District, which serves students from the municipalities of Berkeley Township, Island Heights, Ocean Gate, Seaside Heights and Seaside Park. Schools in the district (with 2019–20 enrollment data from the National Center for Education Statistics) are Central Regional Middle School with 842 students in grades 7 and 8 and Central Regional High School with 1,568 students in grades 9–12. The high school district's board of education is comprised of nine members, who are directly elected by the residents of the constituent municipalities to three-year terms of office on a staggered basis, with three seats up for election each year. Seats on the high school district's board of education are allocated based on the population of the constituent municipalities, with Berkeley Township allocated five of the board's nine seats.

Media

The Asbury Park Press provides daily news coverage of the township, as does WOBM-FM radio. The township provides material and commentary to The Berkeley Times, which also covers news from Beachwood, Ocean Gate, Pine Beach and South Toms River as one of seven weekly papers from Micromedia Publications.

WOBM-FM radio started broadcasting from Bayville in March 1968. The station relocated to studios in Toms River in 2013.

Transportation

The southbound Garden State Parkway in Berkeley Township

Roads and highways

As of May 2010^[update], the township had a total of 266.02 miles (428.12 km) of roadways, of which 220.88 miles (355.47 km) were maintained by the municipality, 36.64 miles (58.97 km) by The Ocean County Road Dept., 6.27 miles (10.09 km) by the New Jersey Department of Transportation and 2.23 miles (3.59 km) by the New Jersey Turnpike Authority.

The Garden State Parkway is the primary access route, with two exits, exit 77 and exit 80 serving the township. U.S. Route 9 runs through the eastern-middle part of the municipality while Route 35 passes through briefly and ends at the park road for Island Beach State Park. A small section of Route 37 also passes through Berkeley Township, near its junction with Route 35.

Public transportation

NJ Transit offers local bus service between the township and Atlantic City on the 559 route.

Ocean Ride service is provided on routes OC1, OC2, OC7 and OC8.

Notable people

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

• Tom DeBlass (born 1982), practitioner of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and mixed martial artist signed with ONE Championship
• Jazmyn Foberg (born 2000), artistic gymnast who was the 2014 US Junior National All-Around and Uneven Bars Champion
• Al Leiter (born 1965), former MLB pitcher who played for both the New York Mets and New York Yankees
• Phil Longo (born 1968), American football coach who is offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach for the North Carolina Tar Heels football team
• Megan McCafferty (born 1973), author best known for her series of books about Jessica Darling, a witty teenage heroine
• Herbert Irving Preston (1876–1928), private serving in the United States Marine Corps during the Boxer Rebellion who received the Medal of Honor for bravery
• Augusta Huiell Seaman (1879–1950), author of children's literature.

See also

In Spanish: Municipio de Berkeley (Nueva Jersey) para niños