| Barnegat Township, New Jersey | |
|---|---|
| — Township — | |
| Map of Barnegat Township in Ocean County. Inset: Location of Ocean County highlighted in the State of New Jersey. | |
| Census Bureau map of Barnegat Township, New Jersey | |
| Coordinates: | |
| Country | United States |
| State | New Jersey |
| County | Ocean |
| Incorporated | March 10, 1846 as Union Township |
| Renamed | January 1, 1977 as Barnegat Township |
| Government[1] | |
| • Type | Township (New Jersey) |
| • Mayor | Jeffrey Melchiondo |
| • Administrator | David Breeden[2] |
| Area | |
| • Total | 40.8 sq mi (105.7 km2) |
| • Land | 34.7 sq mi (89.8 km2) |
| • Water | 6.2 sq mi (15.9 km2) |
| Elevation[3] | 108 ft (33 m) |
| Population (2010)[4][5] | |
| • Total | 20,936 |
| • Density | 440.4/sq mi (170.0/km2) |
| Time zone | Eastern (EST) (UTC-5) |
| • Summer (DST) | EDT (UTC-4) |
| ZIP code | 08005 |
| Area code(s) | 609 |
| FIPS code | 34-03050[6][7] |
| GNIS feature ID | 0882070[8] |
| Website | http://www.ci.barnegat.nj.us |
Barnegat Township is a Township in Ocean County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census the population increased to a record high of 20,936.
What is now Barnegat Township was incorporated as Union Township on March 10, 1846, from portions of both Dover Township (now Toms River Township) and Stafford Township, while the area was still part of Monmouth County. It became part of the newly formed Ocean County on February 15, 1850. Portions of the township were taken to form Lacey Township (March 23, 1871), Ocean Township (April 13, 1876), Harvey Cedars (December 13, 1894) and Long Beach Township (March 23, 1899).[9] Union Township changed its name to Barnegat Township as of January 1, 1977.[10]
Barnegat CDP (2010 Census population of 2,817) is a census-designated place and unincorporated area located within Barnegat Township. Ocean Acres (16,142) is a census-designated place and unincorporated area split between Barnegat Township and Stafford Township.
Contents |
According to the United States Census Bureau, the township has a total area of 40.8 square miles (106 km2), of which, 34.7 square miles (90 km2) of it is land and 6.2 square miles (16 km2) of it (15.09%) is water.
| Lacey Twp | Ocean Twp | |||
| Woodland Twp | Long Beach | |||
| Barnegat Twp | ||||
| Little Egg Harbor Twp and Bass River Township |
Stafford Twp | Harvey Cedars |
Barnegat gets its name from nearby Barnegat Bay and Barnegat Inlet. The inlet was originally "Barendegat," or "Inlet of the Breakers," and was named by Dutch settlers in 1614 for the waterway's turbulent channel.[11]
| Historical populations | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Census | Pop. | %± | |
| 1930 | 1,037 |
|
|
| 1940 | 1,045 | 0.8% | |
| 1950 | 1,173 | 12.2% | |
| 1960 | 1,270 | 8.3% | |
| 1970 | 1,539 | 21.2% | |
| 1980 | 8,702 | 465.4% | |
| 1990 | 12,235 | 40.6% | |
| 2000 | 15,270 | 24.8% | |
| 2010 | 20,936 | 37.1% | |
| Population 1930 - 1990.[5][10] | |||
As of the census[6] of 2000, there were 15,270 people, 5,493 households, and 4,191 families residing in the township. The population density was 440.4 people per square mile (170.1/km²). There were 6,066 housing units at an average density of 175.0 per square mile (67.6/km²). The racial makeup of the township was 94.75% White, 2.21% African American, 0.09% Native American, 1.00% Asian, 0.70% from other races, and 1.25% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 3.86% of the population.
There were 5,493 households out of which 35.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 63.0% were married couples living together, 9.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 23.7% were non-families. 20.2% of all households were made up of individuals and 12.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.76 and the average family size was 3.19.
In the township the population was spread out with 27.1% under the age of 18, 6.6% from 18 to 24, 26.0% from 25 to 44, 22.4% from 45 to 64, and 17.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females there were 93.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 88.6 males.
The median income for a household in the township was $48,572, and the median income for a family was $56,093. Males had a median income of $42,460 versus $28,452 for females. The per capita income for the township was $19,307. About 5.1% of families and 6.2% of the population were below the poverty line, including 9.7% of those under age 18 and 4.9% of those age 65 or over.
Barnegat Township is governed under the Township form of government with a five-member Township Committee. The Township Committee is elected directly by the voters in partisan elections to serve three-year terms of office on a staggered basis, with one or two seats coming up for election each year.[1] At an annual reorganization meeting, the Township Committee selects one of its members to serve as Mayor and another as Deputy Mayor.
As of 2011[update] members of the Barnegat Township Committee are Mayor Jeffrey Melchiondo (R, 2012) Deputy Mayor Al Cirulli (R, 2012), Al Bille (R, 2013), Martin Lisella (R, 2011) and Leonard Morano (D, 2011).[2][12]
The majority of the Barnegat Township Committee ran as Republicans, with the exception of Len Morano.[13] Morano is a former member of a loosely organized group called the Pick-it-Plus Boys. The Pick-it-Plus boys are a group of older residents who stand outside the local Pick-it-Plus convenience store and talk politics. They have been both credited with being a grass-roots movement with an impact on local government, and villainized for being a group of "nit-picking blowhards, part of why town politics are so venomous."[14]
Barnegat Township is in the 3rd Congressional district and is part of New Jersey's 9th state legislative district.[15] The legislative district was unchanged based on the results of the 2010 Census.[5]
New Jersey's Third Congressional District is represented by Jon Runyan (R, Mount Laurel Township). New Jersey is represented in the United States Senate by Frank Lautenberg (D, Cliffside Park) and Bob Menendez (D, Hoboken).
9th district of the New Jersey Legislature, which is represented in the New Jersey Senate by Christopher J. Connors (R, Lacey Township) and in the New Jersey General Assembly by DiAnne Gove (R, Long Beach Township) and Brian E. Rumpf (R, Little Egg Harbor Township).[16] The Governor of New Jersey is Chris Christie (R, Mendham).[17] The Lieutenant Governor of New Jersey is Kim Guadagno (R, Monmouth Beach).[18]
Ocean County is governed by a Board of Chosen Freeholders consisting of five members, elected at large in partisan elections and serving staggered three-year terms of office, with either one or two seats coming up for election each year. As of 2011, Ocean County's Freeholders are Freeholder Director Joseph H. Vicari (Toms River, term ends December 31, 2011), Freeholder Deputy Director Gerry P. Little (Surf City, 2012), John C. Bartlett, Jr. (Pine Beach, 2012), John P. Kelly (Eagleswood Township, 2010) and James F. Lacey (Brick Township, 2013).[19][20]
The Barnegat Township School District now serves public school students in Kindergarten through twelfth grade. Schools in the district (with 2008-09 enrollment data from the National Center for Education Statistics[21]) are four K-5 elementary schools (except as noted) — Cecil S. Collins Elementary School (396 students), Joseph T. Donahue Elementary School (304), Lillian M. Dunfee Elementary School (344; PreK-5) and Robert L. Horbelt Elementary School (432) — Russell O. Brackman Middle School for grades 6-8 (766) and Barnegat High School for grades 9-12 as of September 2007 (1,091).
In addition to easy access to and from the Garden State Parkway, Barnegat is a hub of major state and county highways. Route 72, which runs east to west, provides access to Burlington County and Philadelphia. County Route 539, which intersects Route 72, links the Township with Trenton. U.S. Route 9 and the Garden State Parkway split the Township east-west.
New Jersey Transit provides bus service to Atlantic City on the 559 bus route.[22]
Barnegat's annual Pirate Festival was featured in the Spike TV show 1000 Ways to Die, which shows fictional clips of unusual deaths. In that particular episode, it showed a sword-swallower who tried to swallow an umbrella, puncturing his esophagus and killing him. The incident is said to have taken place in 2007, although there are no records of this actually happening.