Egg Harbor Township, New Jersey facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Egg Harbor Township, New Jersey
Township
The majority of Atlantic City International Airport (IATA: ACY), a shared civilian and military airport, is situated in Egg Harbor Township.
Seal
Location of Egg Harbor Township in Atlantic County highlighted in yellow (left). Inset map: Location of Atlantic County in New Jersey highlighted in black (right).
Census Bureau map of Egg Harbor Township, New Jersey
Egg Harbor Township, New Jersey Location in Atlantic County, New Jersey Show map of Atlantic County, New Jersey Egg Harbor Township, New Jersey Location in New Jersey Show map of New Jersey Egg Harbor Township, New Jersey Location in the United States Show map of the United States
Country	United States
State	New Jersey
County	Atlantic
Established	1693
Incorporated	February 21, 1798
Named for	Bird eggs
Government
• Type	Township
• Body	Township Committee
Area
• Total	75.47 sq mi (195.48 km2)
• Land	67.05 sq mi (173.65 km2)
• Water	8.43 sq mi (21.82 km2)  11.16%
Elevation	43 ft (13 m)
Population  (2020)
• Total	47,842
• Estimate  (2023)	47,861
• Rank	42nd of 565 in state 1st of 23 in county
• Density	713.6/sq mi (275.5/km2)
• Density rank	418th of 565 in state 11th of 23 in county
Time zone	UTC−05:00 (Eastern (EST))
• Summer (DST)	UTC−04:00 (Eastern (EDT))
ZIP Codes	08232, 08234
Area code(s)	609
FIPS code	3400120290
GNIS feature ID	0882051

Egg Harbor Township is a township in Atlantic County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the township's population was 47,842, its highest decennial count ever and an increase of 4,519 (+10.4%) from the 2010 census count of 43,323, which in turn reflected an increase of 12,597 (+41.0%) from the 30,726 counted in the 2000 census.

Egg Harbor Township was first mentioned as part of Gloucester County in records dating back to March 20, 1693, and at times was called New Weymouth. The township's western boundary was established on May 13, 1761, with the area called Great Egg-Harbour Township. Portions of the township were taken to form Galloway Township, which was established by Royal charter on April 4, 1774. Additional portions were taken to form Weymouth Township on February 12, 1798. On February 21, 1798, the area was incorporated as Egg-Harbour Township. Over the ensuing centuries, portions of the township were taken to create many new municipalities: Hamilton Township on February 5, 1813; Atlantic City on May 1, 1854; Absecon on May 1, 1854; South Atlantic City (now Margate City) on September 7, 1885; Pleasantville on January 10, 1889; Linwood on February 20, 1889; Somers Point on April 24, 1886; Longport on March 7, 1898; Ventnor City on March 17, 1903; and Northfield on March 21, 1905. Geographically, the township, and all of Atlantic County, is part of the South Jersey region and of the Atlantic City-Hammonton metropolitan statistical area, which in turn is included in the Philadelphia-Reading-Camden combined statistical area and the Delaware Valley.

Great Egg Harbor got its name from Dutch explorer Cornelius Jacobsen Mey. In 1614, Mey came upon the inlet to the Great Egg Harbor River. The meadows were so covered with the eggs of waterfowl and shorebirds that he called it "Eieren Haven" (Egg Harbor).

History

The first residents of what would become Egg Harbor Township were the Lenni Lenape Native Americans, who would spend their summers on the elevated land around the cedar swamp that is now Bargaintown Lake, as well as along the banks of Patcong Creek, where they made use of the abundant fish, shellfish, wild berries, and bird's eggs in the area and collected shells that could be carved to make wampum.

Great Egg Harbor was originally part of Gloucester County. In 1694 a law was passed that read "forasmuch as there are families settled upon the Egg Harbor, and of right ought to be under some jurisdiction, be it enacted by the authority aforesaid that the inhabitants of the said Egg Harbor shall and do belong to the jurisdiction of Gloucester."

In 1710, by an Act of the Legislature, legal boundaries of Gloucester County were set from the Delaware River, along the Burlington County line to the sea and back up the Great Egg Harbor River to the Delaware River. At that time Great Egg Harbor encompassed all of present-day Atlantic County. In 1837, Atlantic County was set apart from Gloucester County and the Townships were Egg Harbor, Galloway, Hamilton and Weymouth.

Since 1837, ten municipalities have separated from the original Egg Harbor Township, including Atlantic City (1854), Absecon (1872), South Atlantic City (now Margate) (1885), Somers Point (1886), Pleasantville (1888), Linwood (1889), Longport (1898), Brigantine (1903), Ventnor (1903) and Northfield (1905).

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the township had a total area of 74.934 square miles (194.077 km²), including 66.598 square miles (172.488 km²) of land and 8.336 square miles (21.590 km²or 11.12%).

Portions of the township, notably the West Atlantic City and Anchorage Poynte areas, are not contiguous to the main body of the municipality, having been separated from the mainland portion of the township as municipalities were formed, largely since the boroughitis phenomenon in the 1890s.

The township is one of 56 South Jersey municipalities that are included within the New Jersey Pinelands National Reserve, a protected natural area of unique ecology covering 1,100,000 acres (450,000 ha), that has been classified as a United States Biosphere Reserve and established by Congress in 1978 as the nation's first National Reserve. Part of the township is included in the state-designated Pinelands Area, which includes portions of Atlantic County, along with areas in Burlington, Camden, Cape May, Cumberland, Gloucester and Ocean counties.

Egg Harbor Township includes the unincorporated communities of Bargaintown (the township's seat of government), Cardiff, English Creek, Farmington, Scullville (formerly known as Jeffers), Steelmanville and West Atlantic City, as well as part of McKee City. Other localities and place names located partially or completely within the township include Devenshire, English Creek Landing, Greenwood, Idlewood, Jeffers Landing, Jobs Point, Jones Island, McKee City Station, Mount Calvary, Pleasantville Terrace, Pork Island, Rainbow Islands and Sculls Landing.

Demographics

2010 Census

As of the census of 2010, there were 43,323 people, 15,250 households, and 11,316 families residing in the township. The population density was 650.5 per square mile (251.2/km²). There were 16,347 housing units at an average density of 245.5 per square mile (94.8/km²)^*. The racial makeup of the township was 69.78% (30,230) White, 9.58% (4,152) Black or African American, 0.38% (163) Native American, 11.76% (5,096) Asian, 0.02% (8) Pacific Islander, 5.20% (2,253) from other races, and 3.28% (1,421) from two or more races. [[Hispanic (U.S. Census)|Hispanic or Latino of any race were 13.00% (5,630) of the population.

There were 15,250 households out of which 36.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 56.1% were married couples living together, 12.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 25.8% were non-families. 20.3% of all households were made up of individuals, and 7.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.84 and the average family size was 3.29.

In the township, the population was spread out with 26.2% under the age of 18, 7.3% from 18 to 24, 26.0% from 25 to 44, 29.7% from 45 to 64, and 10.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39.2 years. For every 100 females there were 95.4 males. For every 100 females ages 18 and old there were 92.1 males.

The Census Bureau's 2006-2010 American Community Survey showed that (in 2010 inflation-adjusted dollars) median household income was $69,754 (with a margin of error of +/- $4,024) and the median family income was $78,259 (+/- $4,966). Males had a median income of $52,615 (+/- $3,434) versus $42,227 (+/- $2,127) for females. The per capita income for the township was $29,114 (+/- $1,241). About 4.0% of families and 6.1% of the population were below the poverty line, including 8.8% of those under age 18 and 4.8% of those age 65 or over.

Economy

Harbor Square (formerly the Shore Mall) is a redesigned regional mall that had originally opened in 1968, located on U.S. Route 40 / U.S. Route 322.

Development and the Pine Barrens

Egg Harbor Township (along with Hamilton and Galloway Townships) were designated as Regional Growth Areas" by the New Jersey Pinelands Commission resulting in increased residential development. In exchange for the development in Egg Harbor Township, no trees are demolished for housing and other buildings in the Pine Barrens, also known as the Pinelands. The "Regional Growth Area" designation was, and remains, tantamount to a state mandate to construct +/− 30,000 additional housing units in Egg Harbor Township. Neighboring communities, Galloway Township (to the north) and Hamilton Township (to the West) were also designated as "Growth Areas" by the New Jersey Pinelands Commission.

In January 2007, the Egg Harbor Township Planning Board issued site approval for 667 new homes (and a new fire station) in the Farmington section of Egg Harbor Township. The "Village at Farmington" will be developed by PulteGroup and is proposed to include 140 townhouses, 261 planned adult homes (55 and older) and 259 single family detached dwellings, as well as a community clubhouse, a second club house for 55 and older, recreation fields and walking paths to be constructed on a site covering 273.6 acres (1.107 km²). PulteGroup will pay over $800,000 to the Egg Harbor Township recreation fund because the club houses and paths do not satisfy the township's recreation requirements for a development of this size and, as part of the approval, PulteGroup will also contribute $350,000 toward the construction of a new Farmington Fire Station with the landowners, Schoffer Enterprises, donating the land.

Atlantic City Air National Guard Base

Once approvals are complete, PulteGroup will build 60 units of each type per year until the project is complete, offering single family homes in the mid $300,000's and the adult homes for $250,000.

The Planning Board has requested that paperwork presented to the homeowners at purchase will "fully disclose" to prospective purchasers that there exists a nearby airport (Atlantic City International Airport, which, in addition to functioning as a full service airport, is home to the 177th wing of the Air National Guard, the FAA Technical Center, a Homeland Security Department Training Center as well as the Atlantic City base of Operations for the United States Coast Guard), meaning they will be in the proximity of the approach and takeoff patterns for both incoming and outgoing aircraft, the Atlantic County Municipal Utility Authority (ACMUA), where all local municipalities bring their trash and recycle. The disclosure will inform prospective buyers that, from time to time, the ACMUA Facility is odoriferous and that a training/shooting range is part of the military/industrial portion of the Airport.

Surrounding communities

	Hamilton Township Weymouth Township		Galloway Township Absecon
	Estell Manor		Pleasantville, Atlantic City Northfield, Linwood
		Egg Harbor Township
	Corbin City	Upper Township	Ventnor City, Margate City Longport, Ocean City Somers Point

Note: This includes the adjacent municipalities that are in the "West Atlantic City and Anchorage Poynte" sections.

Education

The Egg Harbor Township Schools serve public school students in pre-kindergarten through twelfth grade. As of the 2018–19 school year, the district, comprised of seven schools, had an enrollment of 7,432 students and 604.8 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 12.3:1. Schools in the district (with 2018–19 enrollment data from the National Center for Education Statistics) are Clayton J. Davenport Elementary School Complex with 753 students in grades K–3, E. H. Slaybaugh Elementary School Complex with 851 students in grades Pre-K–3, H. Russell Swift Elementary School with 438 students in grades K–3, Dr. Joyanne D. Miller Elementary School with 1,110 students in grade 4–5, Alder Avenue Middle School with 877 students in grade 6–8, Fernwood Avenue Middle School with 970 students in grade 6–8 and Egg Harbor Township High School with 2,357 students in grade 9–12.

Township public school students are also eligible to attend the Atlantic County Institute of Technology in the Mays Landing section of Hamilton Township or the Charter-Tech High School for the Performing Arts, located in Somers Point.

The Islamic Academy of South Jersey (Arabic: کادیمیه سوث جيرزي الإسلامیة) is an Islamic elementary day school located in Egg Harbor Township.

As of 2020^[update] Bishop McHugh Regional School in Dennis Township in Cape May County accepts students from Egg Harbor Township. The school is under the Roman Catholic Diocese of Camden.

Transportation

The northbound Garden State Parkway in Egg Harbor Township

Roads and highways

As of May 2010^[update], the township had a total of 297.22 miles (478.33 km) of roadways, of which 206.73 miles (332.70 km) were maintained by the municipality, 65.46 miles (105.35 km) by Atlantic County, 10.10 miles (16.25 km) by the New Jersey Department of Transportation and 14.93 miles (24.03 km) by the New Jersey Turnpike Authority and South Jersey Transportation Authority.

The township is traversed by several major roadways. The Atlantic City Expressway runs through east–west for 5.3 miles (8.5 km) connecting Pleasantville in the east to Hamilton Township in the west and connects at Interchange 7 with the Garden State Parkway (at Interchange 38) that runs through north–south for 8.6 miles (13.8 km) connecting Somers Point in the south to Galloway Township in the north.

Major county roads that pass through include CR 559, CR 563, CR 575 and CR 585. U.S. Route 40 / 322 run concurrent with each other while going from east to west. U.S. Route 9 also runs through, although very briefly concurrent with the Parkway as it crosses over the Great Egg Harbor.

Public transportation

NJ Transit provides bus service between Egg Harbor Township and Atlantic City on routes 502 (from Atlantic Cape Community College), 507 (from Ocean City), 508 (from Hamilton Mall) and 509 (from Ocean City).

A majority of the Atlantic City International Airport is located in the northern area of the township.

Points of interest

• The Atlantic County Bikeway stretches for 7.5 miles (12.1 km) from the Shore Mall to the Atlantic County Institute of Technology in Hamilton Township.
• Storybook Land is a park for children on a site covering 20 acres (8.1 ha) that was opened in 1955, featuring storybook characters such as Mother Goose and the Three Little Pigs.
• Jersey Shore Children's Museum provided an environment for children to stimulate creativity, imagination, and learning through interactive play. The museum closed at the end of 2017 in the wake of declining contributions.

Notable people

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

• Aarthi Agarwal (1984–2015), actress who primarily worked in Telugu cinema
• Anastasia Cannuscio (born 1992), ice dancer
• Esther Choi (born 1990), chef, hotel owner and television personality, best known for her appearances on the Food Network
• Steve Coates (born 1950), retired NHL hockey player and Philadelphia Flyers announcer
• John F. Gaffney (1934–1995), politician who served in the New Jersey General Assembly, where he represented the 2nd Legislative District from 1992 until his death
• Toni Ann Gisondi (born 1972), best known for her role as Molly in the 1982 film Annie
• Steve Keiner, winner of the 1999 Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest in Coney Island, consuming 20+1⁄4 hot dogs in 12 minutes
• Ryan Lancaster (born 1985), professional basketball player
• Biz Markie (1964–2021), rapper
• James J. McCullough (born 1942), former member of the New Jersey Senate who served 24 terms as mayor of Egg Harbor Township
• Vincent J. Polistina (born 1971), member of the New Jersey General Assembly from 2008 to 2012, where he represented the 2nd Legislative District
• Cathy Rush (born 1947), former women's basketball program head coach at Immaculata University who led the team to three consecutive AIAW national titles from 1972–1974
• Nicky Scarfo Jr. (born 1964) alleged member of the Lucchese crime family
• Dominic Sessa (born 2002), actor who made his film debut in Alexander Payne's 2023 coming-of-age film The Holdovers

See also

In Spanish: Municipio de Egg Harbor para niños