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Washington Township, Morris County, New Jersey

Washington Township is a township in southwestern Morris County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the township's population was 18,197, a decrease of 336 (−1.8%) from the 2010 census count of 18,533,  which in turn reflected an increase of 941 (+5.3%) from the 17,592 counted in the 2000 census.

The township is situated in the westernmost part of Morris County bordering both Hunterdon and Warren counties. It is located within the Raritan Valley region and is one of six municipalities (five of which are townships) in the state with the name "Washington". Washington Borough, located only 10 mi away, is surrounded by another municipality that is also called Washington Township in Warren County.

The township has been ranked as one of the state's highest-income communities. Based on data from the American Community Survey (ACS) for 2014–2018, Washington Township residents had a median household income of $150,682, nearly 90% above the statewide median of $79,363. In the 2013–2017 ACS, Washington Township had a median household income of $140,445, ranking 45th in the state.

History
Washington Township was incorporated as a township by the New Jersey Legislature on April 2, 1798, from portions of Roxbury Township. Portions of the township were taken to form Chester Township as of April 1, 1799. The township was named for George Washington, one of more than ten communities statewide named for the first president.

In June 1979, a 5-year-old boy was killed by a leopard that had been chained to a stake outside of a circus, during a performance sponsored by the local fire department at Flocktown Road School.

Murder of Rachel Domas
On September 12, 1985, 14-year-old Rachel Domas was sexually assaulted and murdered on Fairmount Avenue by 19-year-old Michael Manfredonia while on her three-mile walk from school to her home after missing the school bus. Manfredonia, a gas station attendant who worked nearby, confessed to asking Domas out, when he was refused he pulled a knife and threatened to kill himself. Domas told him to "stop acting childish" to which Manfredonia pushed her to the ground, sexually assaulted her and stabbed her 26 times, 15 of which where too shallow to cause significant damage and were intended to make Domas suffer. Police would find Domas's body buried in a shallow grave in the woods close to the road 2 days later. Manfredonia would be turned in by his parents and was found by the police attempting to commit suicide by slicing his wrists and ingesting a high concentration of pills. Manfredonia, who had an IQ of 78 making him clinically retarded, was suffering from Intermittent explosive disorder. Manfredonia waved his right to a trial and was found guilty of murder, felony murder, aggravated sexual assault, kidnapping, and possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose. Manfredonia would be sentenced to life in prison as well as an additional 110 years and will not be eligible for parole until 2041.

Geography
According to the United States Census Bureau, the township had a total area of 44.771 square miles (115.957 km2), including 44.387 square miles (114.963 km2) of land and 0.384 square miles (0.994 km2) of water (0.86%).

Long Valley (2010 population of 1,879 ) is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) located within Washington Township. The Long Valley section—the heart of the township—was called German Valley when it was first settled in the 18th century by people from Saxony, in Germany, until its name was changed around 1917 in the wake of anti-German sentiment following World War I.

Other unincorporated communities, localities and place names located partially or completely within the township include Bartley, Beattystown, Crestmoore, Drakestown, Fairmount, Four Bridges, German Valley, Lake George, Middle Valley, Naughright, Parker, Pleasant Grove, Pottersville, Scrappy Corner, Springtown and Stephensburg.

Schooley's Mountain is an unincorporated community in Washington Township named for the Schooley family, who owned a considerable amount of land there during the 1790s. The natural springs in the area helped attract visitors to the Schooley's Mountain section in the 1800s.

Neighboring municipalities include Morris County communities Chester Township to the east, Mount Olive to the north, Hunterdon County communities Tewksbury Township to the south and Lebanon Township to the southwest as well as Warren County communities Mansfield Township to the west and Hackettstown to the northwest. Also in Somerset County in the extreme southeast corner of the town there is a border with Bedminster Township.

2010 census
The 2010 United States census counted 18,533 people, 6,237 households, and 5,195 families in the township. The population density was 417.5 per square mile (161.2/km2). There were 6,488 housing units at an average density of 146.2 per square mile (56.4/km2). The racial makeup was 93.06% (17,247) White, 1.39% (257) Black or African American, 0.06% (11) Native American, 3.30% (612) Asian, 0.01% (2) Pacific Islander, 0.69% (127) from other races, and 1.49% (277) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 4.57% (847) of the population.

Of the 6,237 households, 43.4% had children under the age of 18; 73.7% were married couples living together; 6.8% had a female householder with no husband present and 16.7% were non-families. Of all households, 13.9% were made up of individuals and 6.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.95 and the average family size was 3.27.

28.7% of the population were under the age of 18, 5.8% from 18 to 24, 19.6% from 25 to 44, 34.5% from 45 to 64, and 11.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 43.0 years. For every 100 females, the population had 96.1 males. For every 100 females ages 18 and older there were 93.3 males.

The Census Bureau's 2006–2010 American Community Survey showed that (in 2010 inflation-adjusted dollars) median household income was $112,651 (with a margin of error of ± $7,207) and the median family income was $124,818 (± $8,669). Males had a median income of $92,019 (± $5,016) versus $66,302 (± $11,089) for females. The per capita income for the borough was $49,154 (± $2,492). About 0.1% of families and 0.9% of the population were below the poverty line, including 0.2% of those under age 18 and 4.8% of those age 65 or over.

2000 census
As of the 2000 United States census there were 17,592 people, 5,755 households, and 4,874 families residing in the township. The population density was 392.1 PD/sqmi. There were 5,890 housing units at an average density of 131.3 /sqmi. The racial makeup of the township was 96.16% White, 0.83% African American, 0.09% Native American, 1.87% Asian, 0.05% Pacific Islander, 0.35% from other races, and 0.65% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2.21% of the population.

There were 5,755 households, out of which 47.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 76.1% were married couples living together, 6.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 15.3% were non-families. 12.2% of all households were made up of individuals, and 5.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.02 and the average family size was 3.31.

In the township the population was spread out, with 30.2% under the age of 18, 5.3% from 18 to 24, 28.2% from 25 to 44, 28.1% from 45 to 64, and 8.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females, there were 95.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 93.5 males.

The median income for a household in the township was $97,763, and the median income for a family was $104,926. Males had a median income of $76,791 versus $41,759 for females. The per capita income for the township was $37,489. About 1.8% of families and 2.3% of the population were below the poverty line, including 2.0% of those under age 18 and 4.0% of those age 65 or over.

Local government
Washington Township is governed under the Township form of New Jersey municipal government, one of 141 municipalities (of the 564) statewide that use this form, the second-most commonly used form of government in the state. The Township Committee is comprised of five members, who are elected directly by the voters at-large in partisan elections to serve three-year terms of office on a staggered basis, with either one or two seats coming up for election each year as part of the November general election in a three-year cycle. At an annual reorganization meeting, the Township Committee selects one of its members to serve as Mayor and another as Vice Mayor.

, the members of the Washington Township Committee are Mayor Matthew Murrello (R, term on committee and as mayor ends December 31, 2023), Vice Mayor Michael Marino (R, term on committee ends 2025; term as vice mayor ends 2023), Kenneth W. "Bill" Roehrich (R, 2024), Kenneth W. Short (R, 2024) and Richard Wall (R, 2025).

In June 2022, the Township Committee appointed Michael Marino to fill the seat expiring in December 2022 that had been held by Tyler Oborn until he resigned from office as he was moving out of state.

In September 2021, committeeman Greg Forsbrey, who was originally elected as a Republican in 2016, and subsequently re-elected in 2019, left the party and became an independent. He cited the election of two people who lost their party committee seats in the previous primary to be the chair and vice chair of the local Republican Committee, saying that this ignored the results of the primary and through it the will of the voters.

The 2013 property tax rate for Washington Township was $2.328 per $100 of assessed value, with an equalization ratio of 97.57%.

Federal, state and county representation
Washington Township is located in the 7th Congressional District and is part of New Jersey's 24th state legislative district.

Politics
As of March 2011, there were a total of 12,709 registered voters in Washington Township, of which 1,999 (15.7%) were registered as Democrats, 5,295 (41.7%) were registered as Republicans and 5,401 (42.5%) were registered as Unaffiliated. There were 14 voters registered as Libertarians or Greens.

In the 2012 presidential election, Republican Mitt Romney received 64.0% of the vote (6,021 cast), ahead of Democrat Barack Obama with 34.9% (3,278 votes), and other candidates with 1.1% (107 votes), among the 9,451 ballots cast by the township's 13,373 registered voters (45 ballots were spoiled), for a turnout of 70.7%. In the 2008 presidential election, Republican John McCain received 61.1% of the vote (6,323 cast), ahead of Democrat Barack Obama with 37.6% (3,887 votes) and other candidates with 0.9% (94 votes), among the 10,342 ballots cast by the township's 13,315 registered voters, for a turnout of 77.7%. In the 2004 presidential election, Republican George W. Bush received 64.7% of the vote (6,402 ballots cast), outpolling Democrat John Kerry with 34.1% (3,377 votes) and other candidates with 0.6% (79 votes), among the 9,894 ballots cast by the township's 13,048 registered voters, for a turnout percentage of 75.8.

In the 2013 gubernatorial election, Republican Chris Christie received 75.5% of the vote (4,467 cast), ahead of Democrat Barbara Buono with 22.5% (1,330 votes), and other candidates with 2.0% (120 votes), among the 5,981 ballots cast by the township's 13,294 registered voters (64 ballots were spoiled), for a turnout of 45.0%. In the 2009 gubernatorial election, Republican Chris Christie received 69.1% of the vote (5,076 ballots cast), ahead of Democrat Jon Corzine with 21.5% (1,582 votes), Independent Chris Daggett with 8.4% (618 votes) and other candidates with 0.5% (39 votes), among the 7,348 ballots cast by the township's 13,037 registered voters, yielding a 56.4% turnout.

Education
The Washington Township Schools is a public school district that serves students in pre-kindergarten through eighth grade. As of the 2020–21 school year, the district, comprised of four schools, had an enrollment of 1,938 students and 196.9 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 9.8:1. Schools in the district (with 2020–21 enrollment data from the National Center for Education Statistics ) are Benedict A. Cucinella Elementary School with 451 students in grades PreK-5, Flocktown-Kossmann School with 442 students in grades PreK-5, Old Farmers Road School with 310 students in grades K-5 and Long Valley Middle School with 720 students in grades 6–8.

Students in public school for ninth through twelfth grades attend West Morris Central High School, which is located in the township, but has a Chester mailing address. The school is part of the West Morris Regional High School District, which also serves students from the surrounding Morris County school districts of Chester Borough, Chester Township, Mendham Borough, Mendham Township. of the 2020–21 school year, the high school had an enrollment of 1,098 students and 94.5 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 11.6:1. The high school district's board of education is comprised of nine members who are elected directly by voters to serve three-year terms of office on a staggered basis. The nine seats on the board of education are allocated based on the populations of the constituent municipalities, with four seats assigned to Washington Township.

Roads and highways
The township had a total of 149.44 mi of roadways, of which 129.99 mi were maintained by the municipality, 18.25 mi by Morris County and 1.20 mi by the New Jersey Department of Transportation.

U.S. Route 46, County Route 513, and County Route 517 pass through the township. The nearest limited-access roads are Interstate 80 in neighboring Mount Olive and Interstate 78 in neighboring Tewksbury Township. U.S. Route 206 is accessible in nearby Bedminster and Chester townships.

Public transportation
NJ Transit offered local bus service on the MCM5 route, which was terminated in 2010 as part of budget cuts.

Local media
Radio station WRNJ has studios, offices and its transmitter in Washington Township, broadcasting at 1510 AM and several FM stations in neighboring towns. The station is licensed to nearby Hackettstown.

The township's official newspaper is the Daily Record. The Observer-Tribune is a weekly newspaper that serves Washington Township and a few surrounding communities in western Morris County.

Notable people
People who were born in, residents of, or otherwise closely associated with Washington Township include:
 * Wesley Addy (1913–1996), actor
 * Walt Ader (1913–1982), race car driver who placed 22nd at the 1950 Indianapolis 500
 * Jack Borgenicht (1911–2005), mountain climber, entrepreneur, preservationist and philanthropist
 * Michael Burton (born 1992), football fullback for the Denver Broncos of the National Football League
 * Dolan Twins (born 1999), comedy duo
 * Guy R. Gregg (born 1949), politician who served in the New Jersey General Assembly from 1992 to 2008, where he represented the 24th Legislative District
 * Celeste Holm (1917–2012), Oscar-winning actress
 * Jacob W. Miller (1800–1862), politician who represented New Jersey in the United States Senate
 * Henry Muhlenberg (1711–1787), founder of Lutheranism in America, who established a congregation in German Valley, which met at the Old Stone Church
 * Ida C. Nahm (1865–1922), physician and clubwoman
 * Mike Rossi (born 1994), freestyle aerialist
 * Paul Schmidtberger, novelist, whose works include Design Flaws of the Human Condition
 * Shannon Sohn (born 1974), television news reporter at WABC-TV Eyewitness News in New York City, where she became the first helicopter reporter to win a national Emmy Award
 * Bill Stepien (born 1978), former Deputy Chief of Staff for Governor Chris Christie and former campaign manager for the Donald Trump 2020 presidential campaign
 * Lisa Unger (born 1970), author of contemporary fiction
 * Diana West (born 1965), lactation consultant and author specializing on the topic of breastfeeding
 * Charles Wuorinen (born 1938), Pulitzer Prize-winning composer of contemporary classical music


text:
Wharton, New Jersey

Wharton is a borough in Morris County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the borough's population was 7,241, an increase of 719 (+11.0%) from the 2010 census count of 6,522,  which in turn reflected an increase of 224 (+3.6%) from the 6,298 counted in the 2000 census.

Wharton was originally incorporated as the borough Port Oram by an act of the New Jersey Legislature on June 26, 1895, created from portions of Randolph Township and Rockaway Township, subject to the results of a referendum passed on the previous day; the name was changed to Wharton on April 16, 1902, based on a referendum held that day and subject to legislation passed on March 27, 1902. The borough was named for Joseph Wharton of the Wharton Steel Company.

History
In 1831, the Morris Canal was completed from Newark to Phillipsburg, New Jersey across the Delaware River from the terminus of the Lehigh Canal. On the way, it passed through Boonton, Dover and Port Oram. On this route it tapped the Morris County ore fields and became a carrier for both ore and pig iron. Its main purpose, however, was as an extension of the Lehigh Canal to furnish a route for anthracite coal from the Pennsylvania mines to seaboard. Any local traffic was a gain to supplement the through anthracite freight and iron ore and its products soon became important sources of revenue. Sites on the canal were selected for docks and industry, including iron works.

On June 28, 1895, voters from the settlements Port Oram, Irondale, Luxemburg, Maryville and Mount Pleasant voted 143 to 51 to incorporate as the borough Port Oram, the largest of the communities in the area covering 2.25 sqmi west of Dover, New Jersey. A mayor, six councilmen, an assessor and a collector were elected to govern the new borough which had started life as an ore shipping port on the Morris Canal. These elected officials (mine superintendents, store owners, a railroad superintendent and a school teacher) represented the leaders of these settlements where iron ore was mined, smelted and shipped.

The borough was renamed in 1902 in honor of Joseph Wharton, who was born in 1826 in Philadelphia to an old family of Quakers. Wharton first studied at a local Quaker school after which he worked on a farm rather than attend college because his parents wanted him to mature, and during the winter studied chemistry at the laboratory of Martin Hans Boyè in Philadelphia. He started producing zinc and nickel, and gradually bought a controlling interest in Bethlehem Iron Works. As his business interests expanded he purchased substantial shares of several railroads involved in the coal and iron trade, also purchasing iron mines and furnaces near Port Oram. After selling his interest in Bethlehem Iron Works in 1901 and his nickel works to CVRD Inco in 1902, he continued to actively acquire and manage a large and diverse business empire that included iron smelting in Wharton until just before his death in January, 1909. Wharton also endowed the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. The town was named after him in a referendum in 1902.

In 1984, the long-time local bar The Heslin House and Hartley's Store were destroyed in a gas leak explosion, in which flames as high as 100 ft destroyed several area buildings.

Wharton was one of the filming locations for Cyndi Lauper's music video "Time After Time" in 1984.

Geography
According to the United States Census Bureau, the borough had a total area of 2.13 square miles (5.51 km2), including 2.07 square miles (5.37 km2) of land and 0.06 square miles (0.14 km2) of water (2.63%).

The borough borders the Morris County municipalities of Dover, Jefferson Township, Mine Hill Township, Rockaway Township, Roxbury Township.

Unincorporated communities in the borough include Irondale, Luxemburg, Maryville, Mount Pleasant and Port Oram.

Climate
The climate in this area is characterized by hot, humid summers and generally mild to cool winters. According to the Köppen Climate Classification system, Wharton has a humid subtropical climate, abbreviated "Cfa" on climate maps.

2010 census
The 2010 United States census counted 6,522 people, 2,304 households, and 1,590 families in the borough. The population density was 3,039.0 per square mile (1,173.4/km2). There were 2,426 housing units at an average density of 1,130.4 per square mile (436.4/km2). The racial makeup was 75.85% (4,947) White, 4.57% (298) Black or African American, 0.18% (12) Native American, 5.67% (370) Asian, 0.06% (4) Pacific Islander, 9.61% (627) from other races, and 4.05% (264) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 40.33% (2,630) of the population.

Of the 2,304 households, 33.5% had children under the age of 18; 48.1% were married couples living together; 14.8% had a female householder with no husband present and 31.0% were non-families. Of all households, 25.0% were made up of individuals and 10.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.83 and the average family size was 3.34.

23.9% of the population were under the age of 18, 8.4% from 18 to 24, 28.6% from 25 to 44, 27.4% from 45 to 64, and 11.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38.2 years. For every 100 females, the population had 96.9 males. For every 100 females ages 18 and older there were 92.7 males. The Census Bureau's 2006–2010 American Community Survey showed that (in 2010 inflation-adjusted dollars) median household income was $73,571 (with a margin of error of +/− $8,504) and the median family income was $75,176 (+/− $9,601). Males had a median income of $48,750 (+/− $12,951) versus $31,105 (+/− $5,994) for females. The per capita income for the borough was $27,233 (+/− $2,723). About 6.6% of families and 6.8% of the population were below the poverty line, including 8.6% of those under age 18 and none of those age 65 or over.

2000 census
As of the 2000 United States census there were 6,298 people, 2,328 households, and 1,599 families residing in the borough. The population density was 2,882.4 PD/sqmi. There were 2,394 housing units at an average density of 1,095.6 /sqmi. The racial makeup of the borough was 82.09% White, 4.40% African American, 0.44% Native American, 3.14% Asian, 7.21% from other races, and 2.72% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 23.21% of the population.

There were 2,328 households, out of which 34.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 52.1% were married couples living together, 12.0% had a female householder with no husband present and 31.3% were non-families. 26.5% of all households were made up of individuals, and 10.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.70 and the average family size was 3.28.

In the borough the population age was spread out, with 26.0% under the age of 18, 6.8% from 18 to 24, 34.0% from 25 to 44, 21.9% from 45 to 64, and 11.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females, there were 93.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 88.8 males.

The median income for a household in the borough was $56,580, and the median income for a family was $64,957. Males had a median income of $42,311 versus $36,016 for females. The per capita income for the borough was $25,168. About 6.4% of families and 8.3% of the population were below the poverty line, including 15.0% of those under age 18 and 4.2% of those age 65 or over.

Parks and recreation
The Hugh Force Canal Park provides hiking trails along the former Morris Canal and abandoned railroad beds. It features Lock 2 East of the canal.

Local government
Wharton is governed under the borough form of New Jersey municipal government, which is used in 218 municipalities (of the 564) statewide, making it the most common form of government in New Jersey. The governing body is comprised of the mayor and the borough council, with all positions elected at-large on a partisan basis as part of the November general election. The mayor is elected directly by the voters to a four-year term of office. The borough council includes six members elected to serve three-year terms on a staggered basis, with two seats coming up for election each year in a three-year cycle. The borough form of government used by Wharton is a "weak mayor / strong council" government in which council members act as the legislative body with the mayor presiding at meetings and voting only in the event of a tie. The mayor can veto ordinances subject to an override by a two-thirds majority vote of the council. The mayor makes committee and liaison assignments for council members, and most appointments are made by the mayor with the advice and consent of the council.

, the mayor of Wharton is Republican William J. Chegwidden, whose term of office ends December 31, 2026. Members of the Borough Council are Council President Vincent Binkoski (R, 2023), Sandra L. Hayes (R, 2023), Robert Norton (R, 2025), Paola Vasquez (R, 2025), Thomas C. Yeager (R, 2024) and Nicole Wickenheisser (R, 2024).

Dover serves as the lead agency operating a joint municipal court that includes Wharton and the neighboring municipalities of Mine Hill Township, Mount Arlington and Victory Gardens. Established in 2009, the joint municipal court was forecast to offer annual savings in excess of $250,000 over the 10-year life of the agreement.

Federal, state and county representation
Wharton is located in the 7th Congressional District and is part of New Jersey's 25th state legislative district.

Politics
As of March 2011, Wharton had a total of 3,258 registered voters, of which 923 (28.3%) were registered as Democrats, 935 (28.7%) were registered as Republicans and 1,397 (42.9%) were registered as Unaffiliated. Three voters were registered as Libertarians or Greens.

In the 2012 presidential election, Democrat Barack Obama received 56.0% of the vote (1,310 cast), ahead of Republican Mitt Romney with 43.0% (1,006 votes), and other candidates with 1.0% (24 votes), among the 2,359 ballots cast by the borough's 3,455 registered voters (19 ballots were spoiled), for a turnout of 68.3%. In the 2008 presidential election, Democrat Barack Obama received 51.8% of the vote (1,326 cast), ahead of Republican John McCain with 47.0% (1,202 votes) and other candidates with 0.7% (19 votes), among the 2,559 ballots cast by the borough's 3,432 registered voters, for a turnout of 74.6%. In the 2004 presidential election, Republican George W. Bush received 54.4% of the vote (1,334 ballots cast), outpolling Democrat John Kerry with 44.6% (1,092 votes) and other candidates with 0.5% (16 votes), among the 2,451 ballots cast by the borough's 3,510 registered voters, for a turnout percentage of 69.8.

In the 2013 gubernatorial election, Republican Chris Christie received 65.9% of the vote (892 cast), ahead of Democrat Barbara Buono with 32.1% (434 votes), and other candidates with 2.0% (27 votes), among the 1,381 ballots cast by the borough's 3,449 registered voters (28 ballots were spoiled), for a turnout of 40.0%. In the 2009 gubernatorial election, Republican Chris Christie received 52.9% of the vote (848 ballots cast), ahead of Democrat Jon Corzine with 36.6% (586 votes), Independent Chris Daggett with 8.6% (137 votes) and other candidates with 1.1% (17 votes), among the 1,602 ballots cast by the borough's 3,357 registered voters, yielding a 47.7% turnout.

Education
The Wharton Borough School District serves public school students in kindergarten through eighth grade. As of the 2018–19 school year, the district, comprised of two schools, had an enrollment of 738 students and 73.7 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 10.0:1. Schools in the district (with 2018–19 enrollment data from the National Center for Education Statistics ) are Marie V. Duffy Elementary School with 462 students in grades K–5 and Alfred C. MacKinnon Middle School with 271 students in grades 6–8.

Public school students in ninth through twelfth grades attend Morris Hills High School, located in Rockaway Borough, and which also serves portions of Rockaway Borough and Rockaway Township. As of the 2018–19 school year, the high school had an enrollment of 1,279 students and 118.4 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 10.8:1. The high school is part of the Morris Hills Regional High School District, which also includes students from Denville Township, who attend Morris Knolls High School along with students from parts of Rockaway Borough and Rockaway Township.

Roads and highways
, the borough had a total of 22.12 mi of roadways, of which 16.67 mi were maintained by the municipality, 3.31 mi by Morris County and 2.14 mi by the New Jersey Department of Transportation.

Interstate 80 runs east-west for about 1.1 mi and New Jersey Route 15 runs through north–south for 0.9 mi.

Public transportation
NJ Transit offers local bus service on the 880 route, which largely replaced the previous MCM10 route.

Notable people
People who were born in, residents of, or otherwise closely associated with Wharton include:

 * Kirk Alyn (1910–1999), the first on-screen Superman, lived during his youth in Wharton, the son of Hungarian immigrants
 * Alan Rowe Kelly (born 1959), independent film actor, director, writer and producer, specializing in horror films
 * Mayme Schweble (1874–1943), prospector and politician who served in the Nevada Assembly from 1924 to 1926

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: Wharton, New Jersey


text:
Sister Carrie

Sister Carrie (1900) is a novel by Theodore Dreiser (1871–1945) about a young woman who moves to the big city where she starts realizing her own American Dream. She first becomes a mistress to men that she perceives as superior, but later becomes a famous actress. It has been called the "greatest of all American urban novels".

Plot
In late 1889, dissatisfied with life in Columbia County, Wisconsin, 18-year-old Caroline Meeber, "Sister Carrie" to her family, takes the train to Chicago to live with her older sister Minnie and Minnie's husband. On the train, Carrie meets Charles Drouet, a traveling salesman who is attracted to her because of her simple beauty and unspoiled manner. They exchange contact information, but upon discovering the "steady round of toil" and somber atmosphere at her sister's flat, she writes to Drouet and discourages him from calling on her there.

Carrie soon finds a job running a machine in a shoe factory and gives most of her meager salary to the Hansons for room and board. One day, after an illness costs her job, she encounters Drouet. He persuades her to leave her dull, constricted life and move in with him. To press his case, he slips Carrie two $10 bills, opening a vista of material possibilities to her. The next day, he rebuffs her feeble attempt to return the money and retain her virtue, taking her shopping at a Chicago department store and buying her a jacket and some shoes. That night, she moves in with him.

Drouet installs her in a much nicer apartment. She gradually sheds her provincial mannerisms. By the time he introduces her to George Hurstwood, the manager of Fitzgerald and Moy's – a respectable bar that Drouet describes as a "way-up, swell place" – her material appearance has improved considerably. Hurstwood, a married man with a social-climbing wife, a 20-year-old son, and a 17-year-old daughter, becomes infatuated with Carrie, and they start an affair, meeting secretly while Drouet is on a business trip.

One night, Drouet casually agrees to find an actress to play Laura in an amateur theatrical presentation of Augustin Daly's melodrama Under the Gaslight for his local chapter of the Elks. He encourages a hesitant Carrie to take the part. Carrie turns out to have acting talent, and her ambition is born. Initially, she falls victim to stage fright, but Drouet's encouragement between acts enables her to give a fine performance that rivets the audience's attention and inflames Hurstwood's passion. He then decides to take Carrie away from Drouet.

The next day, Drouet finds out about the affair, and Hurstwood's wife Julia learns that Hurstwood has been seen with another woman. Hurstwood makes advances, and when Carrie asks if he will marry her, he says yes. Later, Drouet confronts Carrie and informs her that Hurstwood is married, then walks out on her. After a night of drinking, and despairing at his now-emboldened wife's demands and Carrie's rejection letter, Hurstwood finds that the safe in Fitzgerald and Moy's offices has accidentally been left unlocked. When he inadvertently locks the safe after taking the money out, he drunkenly panics and steals the day's proceeds - more than $10,000. Under the false pretext of Drouet's sudden illness, he lures Carrie onto a train and takes her to Canada. In Montreal, Hurstwood is found by a private investigator; he returns most of the stolen funds to avoid prosecution. Hurstwood mollifies Carrie by arranging a marriage ceremony (but he still is married to Julia), and the couple move to New York City.

They rent a flat, where they live as George and Carrie Wheeler. Hurstwood buys a minority interest in a saloon, and initially he can provide Carrie with an adequate, if not lavish, lifestyle. The couple grow distant, however, as their finances do not improve. Carrie's dissatisfaction only increases when she makes friends with Mrs. Vance, a neighbor whose husband is prosperous. Through Mrs. Vance, Carrie meets Robert Ames, a young scholar from Indiana and her neighbor's cousin, who introduces her to the idea that great art, rather than showy materialism, is worthy of admiration.

After only a few years, the saloon's landlord sells the property, and Hurstwood's business partner decides to terminate the partnership. Too proud to accept any of the limited job opportunities available to him, Hurstwood watches his savings dwindle. He urges Carrie to economize, which she finds humiliating and distasteful. As Hurstwood sinks into apathy, Carrie becomes a chorus girl through her good looks. While he deteriorates, she rises from the chorus line to small roles. Her performance as a minor, non-speaking character, a frowning Quakeress, greatly amuses the audience and makes the play a hit. She is befriended by Lola Osborne, another chorus girl, who urges Carrie to become her roommate. In a final attempt to earn money, Hurstwood becomes a scab, driving a Brooklyn streetcar during a streetcar operator's strike. His ill-fated venture lasts only two days, ending after a couple of violent encounters with the strikers. Carrie, unaware of Hurstwood's reason for quitting, leaves him.

Hurstwood ultimately becomes one of the homeless of New York, taking odd jobs, falling ill with pneumonia, and finally becoming a beggar. He ultimately commits suicide in a flophouse. Carrie achieves stardom, but finds that, even with fame and fortune, she is lonely and unhappy.

Characters

 * Caroline "Carrie" Meeber, a.k.a. Carrie Wheeler and Carrie Madenda, the latter her stage name
 * Minnie Hanson, Carrie's elder sister
 * Sven Hanson, Minnie's husband
 * Charles H. Drouet, a buoyant traveling salesman
 * George W. Hurstwood, a.k.a. George Wheeler
 * Julia Hurstwood, George's strong-willed, social-climbing wife
 * Jessica Hurstwood, George's daughter
 * George Hurstwood, Jr, George's son
 * Mr. and Mrs. Vance, a wealthy merchant and his vivacious young wife, who live in the same building as Hurstwood and Carrie in New York City. Mrs. Vance and Carrie become friends.
 * Robert Ames, Mrs. Vance's cousin from Indiana, a handsome young scholar whom Carrie regards as a male ideal
 * Lola Osborne, a friendly chorus girl Carrie meets during a theatre production. She provides helpful advice, then seeing that Carrie shows much promise, becomes her "satellite".

Publication history and response

At the urging of his journalist friend Arthur Henry, Dreiser began writing his manuscript in 1899. He frequently gave up on it but Henry urged him to continue. From the outset, his title was Sister Carrie, but he changed it to The Flesh and the Spirit while writing it; he restored the original name once complete.

Dreiser had difficulty finding a publisher for Sister Carrie. Doubleday & McClure Company accepted the manuscript, but the wife of one of the publishers declared it to be too sordid. Dreiser insisted on publication, and Doubleday & McClure were legally bound to honor their contract; 1,008 copies were printed on November 8, 1900, but the publisher made no effort to advertise the book and only 456 copies were sold. However, Frank Norris, who was working as a reader at Doubleday, sent a few copies to literary reviewers.

From 1900 to 1980, all editions of the novel were of a second altered version. Dreiser's unaltered version was not published until 1981, when the University of Pennsylvania Press issued a scholarly edition based upon the original manuscript held by the New York Public Library. It is a reconstruction by a team of leading scholars to represent the novel before it was edited by people other than Dreiser.

In his Nobel Prize Lecture of 1930, Sinclair Lewis said that "Dreiser's great first novel, Sister Carrie, which he dared to publish thirty long years ago and which I read twenty-five years ago, came to housebound and airless America like a great free Western wind, and to our stuffy domesticity gave us the first fresh air since Mark Twain and Whitman."

In 1998, the Modern Library ranked Sister Carrie 33rd on its list of the 100 best English-language novels of the 20th century.

Style and genre
Theodore Dreiser is considered one of America's great naturalists, significant because he wrote at the early stages of the naturalist movement. Sister Carrie was a movement away from the emphasis on morals of the Victorian era and focused more on realism and the base instincts of humans.

Sister Carrie went against social and moral norms of the time as Dreiser presented his characters without judging them. Dreiser fought against censorship of Sister Carrie, brought about because Carrie engaged in affairs and other "illicit sexual relationships" without suffering any consequences. This flouted prevailing norms, that a character who practiced such sinful behavior must be punished in the course of the plot in order to be taught a lesson.

Dreiser sometimes has been criticized for his writing style. In 1930, Arnold Bennett stated "Dreiser simply does not know how to write, never did know, never wanted to know." Other critics called his style "vulgar", "uneven", "clumsy", "awkward", and "careless". His plots were decried as unimaginative, with critics citing his lack of education and claiming that he lacked intellectualism.

However, Alfred Kazin—while criticizing Dreiser's style—pointed out that Dreiser's novels had survived and remained influential works. Michael Lydon, in defense of Dreiser, claims that his patience and powers of observation created accurate depictions of the urban world and the desires and ambitions of the people of the time. Lydon stated that Dreiser's intent was to focus on the message of Sister Carrie, not on its writing style.

General reception
Theodore Dreiser's Sister Carrie was not widely accepted after it was published, but it was not completely withdrawn by its publishers as some sources say it was. Neither was it received with the harshness that Dreiser reported. For example, the Toledo Blade reported that the book "is a faithful portraiture of the conditions it represents, showing how the tangle of human life is knotted thread by thread" but that it was "too realistic, too somber to be altogether pleasing". There is also the receipt of sale which Doubleday sent to Dreiser showing that Sister Carrie was not withdrawn from the shelves, reporting that 456 copies of the 1,008 copies printed were sold.

Sister Carrie evoked different responses from the critics, and although the book did not sell well among the general public, it often received positive reviews. Some of the reason for lack of sales came from a conflict between Dreiser and his publishers, who did little to promote the book. However, critics did praise the book, and a large number seemed most affected by the character of Hurstwood, such as the critic writing for the New Haven Journal Courier, who wrote "One of the most affecting passages is where Hurstwood falls, ruined, disgraced." Edna Kenton in the Chicago Daily News wrote in 1900 that Sister Carrie is "well worth reading simply for this account of Hurstwood".

Reviews mentioned the novel's realistic depiction of the human condition. A 1901 review in The Academy wrote that Sister Carrie was "absolutely free from the slightest trace of sentimentality or pettiness, and dominated everywhere by a serious and strenuous desire for truth." The London Express claimed that realism made the book appealing: "It is a cruel, merciless story, intensely clever in its realism, and one that will remain impressed in the memory of the reader for many a long day." The novel has been praised for its accurate depiction of the protests in New York and the city life in Chicago.

Negative response to the novel came largely from the book's sexual content, which made Sister Carrie, in the words of the Omaha Daily Bee in 1900, "not a book to be put into the hands of every reader indiscriminately." Another review in Life criticized Carrie's success and warned "Such girls, however, as imagine that they can follow in her footsteps will probably end their days on the Island or in the gutter." The book also was criticized for never mentioning the name of God.

Several critics complained the title made the book sound as if the main character is a nun. The title of the book was considered by The Newark Sunday News to be the "weakest thing about the book" because it "does not bear the faintest relation to the story." Similarly, Frederic Taber Cooper in The Bookman declared it to be a "colourless and misleading title". Other common complaints were about the length of the book and that it is so depressing that it is unpleasant to read.

While some viewed his work as grammatically and syntactically inaccurate, others found his detailed storytelling intriguing. H. L. Mencken, an avid supporter and friend, referred to Dreiser as "a man of large originality, of profound feeling, and of unshakable courage". Mencken believed that Dreiser's raw, honest portrayal of Carrie's life should be seen as a courageous attempt to give the reader a realistic view of the life of women in the 19th century.

In opposition, one critic, Karl F. Zender, argued that Dreiser's stress on circumstance over character was "adequate neither to the artistic power nor to the culture implications of Sister Carrie". Many found Dreiser's work attractive due to his lenient "moralistic judgments" and the "spacious compassion" in which he viewed his characters' actions. This tolerance of immorality was an entirely new idea for the readers of Dreiser's era. In fact, the novel and its modern ideas of morality helped to produce a movement in which the literary generation of its time was found "detaching itself from its predecessor". There remained some who disapproved of Dreiser's immoral, atypical story. David E.E. Sloan argued that Dreiser's novel undermined the general opinion that hard work and virtue bring success in life.

Although Dreiser has been criticized for his writing style and lack of formal education, Sister Carrie remains an influential example of naturalism and realism. While it initially did not sell well (fewer than 500 copies) and encountered censorship, it now is considered one of the great American urban novels, which explores the gritty details of human nature and the effect of industrialization on the American people.

On screen and stage
Laurence Olivier and Jennifer Jones starred in the 1952 film adaptation Carrie.

The musical Sister Carrie (Māsa Kerija) by Raimonds Pauls (music) and Jānis Peters (lyrics) premiered at the Riga State Operetta Theatre in 1978, with Mirdza Zīvere as Carrie.

The Florentine Opera Company in Milwaukee, Wisconsin produced the world premiere of Robert Aldridge and Herschel Garfein's operatic adaptation of the book in October 2016.

title: Sister Carrie


text:
White Meadow Lake, New Jersey

White Meadow Lake is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) located within Rockaway Township, in Morris County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2010 United States Census, the CDP's population was 8,836.

Geography
According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP had a total area of 4.318 square miles (11.184 km2), including 3.847 square miles (9.964 km2) of land and 0.471 square miles (1.221 km2) of water (10.92%).

2010 census
The 2010 United States census counted 8,836 people, 3,061 households, and 2,531 families in the CDP. The population density was 2296.9 /sqmi. There were 3,152 housing units at an average density of 819.3 /sqmi. The racial makeup was 89.08% (7,871) White, 1.69% (149) Black or African American, 0.03% (3) Native American, 5.89% (520) Asian, 0.05% (4) Pacific Islander, 1.45% (128) from other races, and 1.82% (161) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 9.19% (812) of the population.

Of the 3,061 households, 41.0% had children under the age of 18; 71.3% were married couples living together; 8.4% had a female householder with no husband present and 17.3% were non-families. Of all households, 13.6% were made up of individuals and 5.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.89 and the average family size was 3.18.

25.9% of the population were under the age of 18, 6.3% from 18 to 24, 25.8% from 25 to 44, 31.9% from 45 to 64, and 10.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40.4 years. For every 100 females, the population had 96.5 males. For every 100 females ages 18 and older there were 93.6 males.

2000 census
As of the 2000 census, there were 9,052 people, 3,046 households, and 2,562 families living in the CDP. The population density was 2210.6 PD/sqmi. There were 3,119 housing units at an average density of 761.7 /sqmi. The racial makeup of the CDP was 91.6% White, 1.61% African American, 0.1% Native American, 4.7% Asian, 0.9% from other races, and 1.1% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 4.7% of the population.

There were 3,046 households, out of which 45.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 75% were married couples living together, 7.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 15.9% were non-families. 11.9% of all households were made up of individuals, and 3.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.97 and the average family size was 3.25.

In the CDP, the population was spread out, with 28.7% under the age of 18, 5.3% from 18 to 24, 33.3% from 25 to 44, 24.8% from 45 to 64, and 8.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females, there were 98.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 95.1 males.

The median income for a household in the CDP was $83,708, and the median income for a family was $89,345. Males had a median income of $57,400 versus $41,057 for females. The per capita income for the CDP was $32,596. About 1.2% of families and 2.3% of the population were below the poverty line, including 3.1% of those under age 18 and 1.5% of those age 65 or over.

Community
All homeowners in White Meadow Lake are members of the White Meadow Lake Property Owners Association, Inc., which owns and maintains the lake itself and its beaches, boat docks, club house and other facilities. Full membership dues (as of 2023) were $895.00 per home.

Two places of worship are located within White Meadow Lake, both Jewish: the White Meadow Temple, a Conservative congregation, and a Chabad center.

Copeland Middle School, part of the Rockaway Township Public Schools, is located in White Meadow Lake as is Stony Brook Elementary School. Elementary students in White Meadow Lake will attend either Stony Brook or Catherine A. Dwyer Elementary School. High School students from White Meadow Lake attend Morris Hills High School in Rockaway Borough.

title: White Meadow Lake, New Jersey


text:
Barnegat (CDP), New Jersey

Barnegat is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) located within Barnegat Township, in Ocean County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2010 United States census, the CDP's population was 2,817.

Geography
According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP had a total area of 2.667 mi2, including 2.655 mi2 of land and 0.012 mi2 of water (0.47%).

2010 census
The 2010 United States census counted 2,817 people, 1,019 households, and 733 families in the CDP. The population density was 1061.2 /mi2. There were 1,132 housing units at an average density of 426.4 /mi2. The racial makeup was 92.26% (2,599) White, 2.63% (74) Black or African American, 0.00% (0) Native American, 2.24% (63) Asian, 0.04% (1) Pacific Islander, 0.85% (24) from other races, and 1.99% (56) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 5.79% (163) of the population.

Of the 1,019 households, 37.7% had children under the age of 18; 55.3% were married couples living together; 12.1% had a female householder with no husband present and 28.1% were non-families. Of all households, 21.0% were made up of individuals and 4.8% 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 3.26.

26.9% of the population were under the age of 18, 9.7% from 18 to 24, 27.6% from 25 to 44, 27.2% from 45 to 64, and 8.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35.8 years. For every 100 females, the population had 98.5 males. For every 100 females ages 18 and older there were 98.6 males.

2000 census
As of the 2000 United States census there were 1,690 people, 595 households, and 443 families living in the CDP. The population density was 243.5 /km2. There were 640 housing units at an average density of 92.2 /km2. The racial makeup of the CDP was 95.68% White, 0.53% African American, 0.12% Native American, 1.30% Asian, 0.65% from other races, and 1.72% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2.72% of the population.

There were 595 households, out of which 39.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 61.2% were married couples living together, 9.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 25.5% were non-families. 18.8% of all households were made up of individuals, and 8.2% 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 3.31.

In the CDP the population was spread out, with 29.2% under the age of 18, 7.3% from 18 to 24, 29.9% from 25 to 44, 24.3% from 45 to 64, and 9.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females, there were 105.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 101.5 males.

The median income for a household in the CDP was $55,040, and the median income for a family was $59,100. Males had a median income of $36,755 versus $24,500 for females. The per capita income for the CDP was $21,431. About 2.6% of families and 6.0% of the population were below the poverty line, including 6.4% of those under age 18 and 5.9% of those age 65 or over.

title: Barnegat (CDP), New Jersey


text:
Barnegat Township, New Jersey

Barnegat Township is a township in Ocean County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the township's population was 24,296, the highest ever count at a decennial census and an increase of 3,360 (+16.0%) from the 2010 census count of 20,936,  which in turn reflected an increase of 5,666 (+37.1%) from the 15,270 counted in the 2000 census.

What is now Barnegat Township was originally 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). Union Township changed its name to Barnegat Township as of January 1, 1977.

History
Barnegat's name can be traced back to Dutch explorers who, in 1614, mapped the coastline of the nearby Barnegat Bay and Barnegat Inlet. The original name for the inlet was "Barendegat" or "Barnde Gat," which translates to "inlet of the breakers" or "surf cove". These names were given due to the turbulent channel of the inlet, which is characterized by strong currents and choppy waters. An alternative theory suggests that "Barndegat" is a Dutch term meaning "a pool created from a dike breach"

Long before European settlers arrived, the Lenape Native Americans inhabited the region, including the area now known as Barnegat. The Lenape would spend their summers along the shore, collecting and roasting clams for sustenance during the winter months. They also fished, hunted, and gathered various fruits and nuts found in the area.

European settlers, primarily Dutch, English, and Swedes, began to arrive in the Barnegat area around 1720. These settlers were attracted to the region's fertile land, abundant natural resources, and proximity to the coastline. The first permanent homes in Barnegat were constructed around 1750, as the settlers established farms, fisheries, and other small businesses. Barnegat played a role in the American Revolutionary War, as one of the last skirmishes of the conflict took place near the site of the Cedar Bridge Tavern in 1782. Known as the "Battle of Cedar Bridge," this encounter involved Patriot forces clashing with Loyalist troops and local Pine Robbers, who took advantage of the war's chaos to engage in banditry. The Patriots eventually emerged victorious, marking a symbolic end to the Revolutionary War in New Jersey.

Geography
According to the United States Census Bureau, the township had a total area of 40.41 square miles (104.65 km2), including 34,00 square miles (88.07 km2) of land and 6.40 square miles (16.58 km2) of water (15.85%).

Barnegat CDP (2010 Census population of 2,817 ) is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) located within Barnegat Township, while Ocean Acres (16,142, of which 925 are in Barnegat and 15,217 are in Stafford) is a census-designated place and unincorporated area split between Barnegat Township and Stafford Township.

The township borders the Ocean County municipalities of Harvey Cedars, Lacey Township, Little Egg Harbor Township, Long Beach Township, Ocean Township and Stafford Township; and both Bass River Township and Woodland Township in Burlington County.

Other unincorporated communities, localities and place names located partially or completely within the township include Cedar Bridge, Howardsville, Lower Dock and Upper Dock.

2010 census
The 2010 United States census counted 20,936 people, 8,128 households, and 6,039 families in the township. The population density was 609.0 PD/sqmi. There were 9,085 housing units at an average density of 264.3 /sqmi. The racial makeup was 91.77% (19,214) White, 3.25% (681) Black or African American, 0.14% (30) Native American, 1.73% (363) Asian, 0.00% (1) Pacific Islander, 1.27% (265) from other races, and 1.82% (382) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 6.78% (1,420) of the population.

Of the 8,128 households, 26.1% had children under the age of 18; 61.6% were married couples living together; 9.3% had a female householder with no husband present and 25.7% were non-families. Of all households, 21.8% were made up of individuals and 12.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.56 and the average family size was 2.98.

20.9% of the population were under the age of 18, 7.1% from 18 to 24, 20.8% from 25 to 44, 27.1% from 45 to 64, and 24.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 45.9 years. For every 100 females, the population had 91.7 males. For every 100 females ages 18 and older there were 88.5 males.

The Census Bureau's 2006–2010 American Community Survey showed that (in 2010 inflation-adjusted dollars) median household income was $60,440 (with a margin of error of +/− $3,408) and the median family income was $68,504 (+/− $5,322). Males had a median income of $55,282 (+/− $4,415) versus $39,681 (+/− $4,254) for females. The per capita income for the township was $29,192 (+/− $1,549). About 6.6% of families and 6.9% of the population were below the poverty line, including 8.3% of those under age 18 and 4.5% of those age 65 or over.

2000 census
As of the 2000 United States census there were 15,270 people, 5,493 households, and 4,191 families residing in the township. The population density was 440.4 PD/sqmi. There were 6,066 housing units at an average density of 175.0 /sqmi. 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.

Local government
Barnegat Township is governed under the Township form of New Jersey municipal government, one of 141 municipalities (of the 564) statewide that use this form, the second-most commonly used form of government in the state. The Township Committee is comprised of five members, who are elected directly by the voters at-large in partisan elections to serve three-year terms of office on a staggered basis, with either one or two seats coming up for election each year as part of the November general election in a three-year cycle. At an annual reorganization meeting, the Township Committee selects one of its members to serve as Mayor and another as Deputy Mayor.

, members of the Barnegat Township Committee are Mayor Joseph Marte (R, term on committee ends December 31, 2026; term as mayor ends 2024), Deputy Mayor Alfonso Cirulli (R, term on committee ends 2026; term as deputy mayor ends 2024), Albert Bille (R, 2025), Pasquale "Pat" Pipi (R, 2026) and Jake Townsend (R, 2024).

In November 2015, Martin J. Lisella stepped down from the Township Committee to take a position as the township's business administrator. In December 2015, the Township Committee selected former mayor Alfonso Cirulli from a list of three candidates nominated by the Republican municipal committee to fill Lisella's vacant seat expiring in December 2017; Cirulli will serve on an interim basis until the November 2016 general election, when voters will select a candidate to serve the balance of the term of office.

Federal, state, and county representation
Barnegat Township is located in the 2nd Congressional district and is part of New Jersey's 9th state legislative district.

Politics
As of March 2011, there were a total of 14,604 registered voters in Barnegat Township, of which 3,163 (21.7%) were registered as Democrats, 3,666 (25.1%) were registered as Republicans and 7,767 (53.2%) were registered as Unaffiliated. There were 8 voters registered as Libertarians or Greens. Among the township's 2010 Census population, 69.8% (vs. 63.2% in Ocean County) were registered to vote, including 88.2% of those ages 18 and over (vs. 82.6% countywide).

In the 2012 presidential election, Republican Mitt Romney received 53.9% of the vote (5,670 cast), ahead of Democrat Barack Obama with 44.8% (4,711 votes), and other candidates with 1.3% (132 votes), among the 10,605 ballots cast by the township's 15,321 registered voters (92 ballots were spoiled), for a turnout of 69.2%. In the 2008 presidential election, Republican John McCain received 54.9% of the vote (5,910 cast), ahead of Democrat Barack Obama with 42.9% (4,620 votes) and other candidates with 1.4% (147 votes), among the 10,769 ballots cast by the township's 14,805 registered voters, for a turnout of 72.7%. In the 2004 presidential election, Republican George W. Bush received 57.8% of the vote (5,223 ballots cast), outpolling Democrat John Kerry with 40.4% (3,655 votes) and other candidates with 0.7% (87 votes), among the 9,037 ballots cast by the township's 12,465 registered voters, for a turnout percentage of 72.5.

In the 2013 gubernatorial election, Republican Chris Christie received 74.0% of the vote (4,981 cast), ahead of Democrat Barbara Buono with 24.4% (1,645 votes), and other candidates with 1.6% (108 votes), among the 6,868 ballots cast by the township's 15,399 registered voters (134 ballots were spoiled), for a turnout of 44.6%. In the 2009 gubernatorial election, Republican Chris Christie received 63.6% of the vote (4,685 ballots cast), ahead of Democrat Jon Corzine with 29.5% (2,169 votes), Independent Chris Daggett with 4.8% (354 votes) and other candidates with 1.0% (75 votes), among the 7,363 ballots cast by the township's 14,585 registered voters, yielding a 50.5% turnout.

Education
The Barnegat Township School District serves public school students in pre-kindergarten through twelfth grade. As of the 2021–22 school year, the district, comprised of six schools, had an enrollment of 3,583 students and 272.5 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 13.1:1. Schools in the district (with 2021-22 enrollment data from the National Center for Education Statistics ) are Lillian M. Dunfee Elementary School with 293 students in PreK, Cecil S. Collins Elementary School with 759 students in grades K-2, Joseph T. Donahue Elementary School with 479 students in grades 3-4, Robert L. Horbelt Elementary School with 498 students in grades 5-6, Russell O. Brackman Middle School with 552 students in grades 7-8 and Barnegat High School with 971 students in grades 9-12.

St. Mary Academy near Manahawkin CDP, a K–8 school of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Trenton, is managed by St. Mary Church of Barnegat. From 1997, until 2019 it operated as All Saints Regional Catholic School and was collectively managed by five churches. In 2019 St. Mary took entire control of the school, which remained on the same Manahawkin campus, and changed its name. The other churches no longer operate the school but still may send students there.

Roads and highways
, the township had a total of 120.87 mi of roadways, of which 84.99 mi were maintained by the municipality, 23.69 mi by Ocean County, 9.88 mi by the New Jersey Department of Transportation and 2.33 mi by the New Jersey Turnpike Authority.

The main highway serving Barnegat Township is the Garden State Parkway, which traverses the township north-to-south near the center of the township. U.S. Route 9 also traverses Barnegat Township north-to-south towards the east side of the township. New Jersey Route 72 and County Route 539 are the main roads serving the western portion of the township. County Route 554 traverses most of the township from west-to-east and connects with the other major roads except CR 539.

Public transportation
NJ Transit provides bus service to and from Atlantic City on the 559 bus route.

Media
WBNJ 91.9 FM is licensed to Barnegat.

The Asbury Park Press provides daily news coverage of the town as does WOBM-FM radio. The government of the town provides columns and commentary to The Southern Ocean Times, which is one of seven weekly papers from Micromedia Publications.

In popular culture
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.

Phoenix, the first steamboat to sail the open ocean, traveling from New York to Philadelphia in June 1809, made harbor at Barnegat to wait out a storm that occurred during its voyage.

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

 * Juan Agudelo (born 1992), soccer player for Inter Miami CF and the United States men's national soccer team
 * Arthur Collins (1864–1933), baritone who was one of the most prolific and beloved of pioneer recording artists, regarded in his day as "King of the Ragtime Singers"
 * Kelsey Fowler (born 1996), actress
 * Micah Fowler (born 1998), actor with cerebral palsy who appeared in Labor Day and as JJ DiMeo in the television series Speechless
 * Jay Groome (born 1998), professional baseball pitcher who attended Barnegat High School, and was drafted 12th overall by the Boston Red Sox in the 2016 Major League Baseball draft
 * Brigid Harrington (born 2000), actress
 * Robert P. Hollenbeck (1931–2021), politician who served six terms in the New Jersey General Assembly from the 36th Legislative District
 * Heather McComb (born 1977), actress
 * Frank Molinaro (born 1988), wrestler who competed as a member of the U.S. team at the 2016 Summer Olympics
 * Tony Perez (1931–2022), boxing referee and judge
 * Ernestine Petras (1924–2017), infielder who played from 1944 through 1952 in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League
 * Mike Straka, television host, author, and producer who co-hosted Spike TV's "MMA Uncensored Live"
 * Henry R. Tilton (1836–1906), army surgeon who was awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions at the Battle of Bear Paw in 1877

title: Barnegat Township, New Jersey


text:
Barnegat Light, New Jersey

Barnegat Light is a borough in Ocean County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the borough's population was 640, an increase of 66 (+11.5%) from the 2010 census count of 574, which in turn reflected a decline of 190 (−24.9%) from the 764 counted in the 2000 census. The borough borders the Atlantic Ocean on Long Beach Island and is home to Barnegat Lighthouse.

Barnegat Light was formed as a borough by the New Jersey Legislature on November 2, 1948, to replace Barnegat City borough, which in turn had been created on March 29, 1904, from portions of Long Beach Township.

Early history
The area surrounding Barnegat Bay and Barnegat Inlet was described by Henry Hudson in 1609, as "...a great lake of water, as we could judge it to be ... The mouth of the lake hath many shoals, and the sea breaketh on them as it is cast out of the mouth of it." The name of the bay, mainland town, and island town were extensions of the inlet's name, named so in the 1610s by later Dutch mariners as "barende-gat" which was a general Dutch lingual description of a powerful inlet, not a formal place name, and depending on its context meant "burning hole" or "inlet of breakers." Subsequent transliteration as control of the land changed hands throughout the 17th century Anglo-Dutch wars resulted in barende-gat and its variations becoming Barnegat and a formal name for many locations and features in the area.

On October 26, 1782, a Belgian cutter traveling southward became stranded near the inlet. The ship was noticed by revolutionaries led by Captain Andrew Steelman, who recruited local men to unload the cargo. While at rest on the beach, the crews were attacked by Captain John Bacon, who ran a pinelands gang and was affiliated with the Loyalists. Almost all of Steelman's men were murdered in what became known as the Barnegat Light Massacre, which led to a manhunt and battle at Cedar Bridge Tavern and one of the last of the Revolutionary War.

By the 19th century, Long Beach Island was known for its plentiful and various wildlife, fishing, favorable sailing conditions, and pleasant weather in summer. In 1801, most of the northern tip of what was then commonly referred to as Barnegat Beach, a neighbor to the established mainland town of Barnegat across the bay, was purchased by Bornt Slaght, a founder of Staten Island and a revolutionary veteran, who built a small house, the first structure on the north end of Long Beach Island, and later, in 1821, a hotel, one of the first seaside hotels in New Jersey. In the late 1820s, Slaght sold his hotel to Jacob Herring, thereafter known as the Herring House. The building lodged many of the visiting hunters and sport fishermen, who primarily came from New York City and Philadelphia.

The first lighthouse at Barnegat Inlet was built in 1834 in recognition of the increased economic dependence on the inlet. Barnegat Inlet held a unique position of strategic regional and national importance. Maritime traffic to New York City, the gateway to the new world, relied upon Barnegat Light to navigate into New York harbor. The sheltered Barnegat Bay was a safe harbor and access point to inner bay ports, such as the Mullica and Toms rivers, down which came numerous commodities manufactured in the pine barrens, such as bog iron, and exported to the cities through Barnegat Bay. Cranberry Inlet, located between Ortley Beach and Seaside Heights, naturally opened by storm and tidal forces in 1750, was naturally closed again in 1812, cutting off a well-used and less treacherous entryway to the bay, making Barnegat Inlet the primary access point thereafter. The 1834 lighthouse was painted white, stood 40 feet tall, and was powered by a reflector system patented by Winslow Lewis, who also constructed the tower.

Brownsville
In 1854, John Maxon Brown, a wrecker from Manasquan, bought much of the land that makes up present-day Barnegat Light. This purchase included the acquisition of Herring House, which he renamed the Ashley House for his wife's family. The family owned so much of the tiny town that people in the area colloquially called it Brownsville during this time. The powerful inlet caused a southward drift that began to threaten the 1834 lighthouse, which was also in poor condition due to substandard construction and was the subject of voluminous complaints from mariners due to its weak light. The lighthouse collapsed into the inlet in 1857, but not before a temporary wooden tower had been put into service while a superior replacement lighthouse was erected from 1857 to 1859.

The Brown family left the island in the 1870s after John Ashley Brown, John M. Brown's son, by then a ship captain, died in a storm at sea. In 1874, the Brown's sold the Ashley House to "Uncle" Charlie Martin, the former manager and cook. The United States Life-Saving Service built Station No. 17 on East 5th street in 1872, replacing an 1840s house of refuge nearby. The new station was later expanded in the 1890s. In the late 1860s, a general store and post office was constructed near the intersection of West 4th Street and Central Avenue. The general store was originally run by Lloyd and Lucretia Butterworth and provided limited supplies—largely due to the difficulty in transporting goods to the remote Island location in then equally remote coastal New Jersey. In 1919, the general store was purchased by the Applegate family who ran it well into the 20th century.

Barnegat City
In 1881, the Barnegat City Improvement Company was formed by Benjamin Franklin Archer, William F. Bailey, and a group of Camden, New Jersey investors. They intended to capitalize on the success of Atlantic City, as well as the then-popular temperance and health resort movements. They laid out streets, housing lots, hotels, a port, and a railroad, calling their planned seaside resort Barnegat City, emulating its popular southern neighbor Atlantic City. Their vision enjoyed limited success, as the city increased its already established reputation as a small but popular destination for sailors, sport fishermen, and hunters from Philadelphia and New York City, who in the early 1880s arrived on regional rail lines for part of the way and a steamboat across the bay to waiting carriages on the Island. Or in the earliest days, by traditional horse-drawn carriage the entire way to the bay steamboats. The 1886 construction of a railroad from Whiting and Toms River to the Island made the trip faster and easier, but still not as direct or convenient as that built for Philadelphians to Atlantic City. Local concerns lobbied for years to have a direct rail route constructed, but those efforts failed to make the Island as convenient and affordable of a day-trip to those in Philadelphia as Atlantic City was. Those coming from New York City took a ferry to Long Branch, then railroad to Toms River, and finally a steamboat from Toms River down Barnegat Bay to Barnegat City. The SS Hesse, a ship chartered by the Pennsylvania Railroad, began providing transport into Barnegat City for passengers largely originating from New York City and Trenton. This ship was later replaced by the Connetquot. The Oceanic Hotel, Sunset Hotel (initially San Souci Hotel), and Social were built as part of the original BCIC plan. The Oceanic opened in 1882, the Sunset in 1883, and the Social in 1884. The large Oceanic Hotel, located on East 4th Street, would be moved 300 feet west barely a year after opening due to sudden erosion threatening the hotel, which was placed atop leveled dunes at the very edge of the beach.

The Ashley House was sold to John Warner Kinsey in 1882, who rebranded it the Kinsey Hotel. He sold the old hotel not long after, the Ashley being antiquated and badly in need of repairs to compete with its larger more modern new neighbors in town. The hotel stood empty until 1887 when it was torn down. Between 1884 and 1886, a direct railroad connection was completed to increase the Island's tourism capabilities. The first train reached Barnegat City on June 28, 1886. The lighthouse keeper's house was greatly expanded in 1889 by the Federal Lighthouse Bureau to house the head keeper, his two assistants, and their families. During the Spanish–American War, signal houses were hurriedly constructed up and down the east coast, one of which was built in Barnegat City whose staff were charged with watching the seas for signs of Spanish ships. The brief war ended, however, before the houses could be put into service.

Barnegat City became part of Long Beach Township after the township's establishment in 1899. In 1904, the city declared itself an independent borough and Barnegat City became the first officially recognized name for the storied old northern point of Long Beach Island.

In 1914, an automobile bridge was built next to the railroad bridge at the midpoint of the Island at Ship Bottom, eventually attracting more to the Island when roads and automobiles were plentiful but also increasing the devastating near term decline in railroad passenger and freight traffic vital to the Island's trade and tourist economy, as well as livelihoods of most residents. In 1919, the struggling Oceanic Hotel sold and the somewhat more successful Sunset Hotel, catering to seasonal water fowl hunters, was purchased by John Barber. In 1928, Kaetzel's Hotel and Bar was opened on West 7th Street by Paul and Toni Kaetzel. The bar was later purchased by Philadelphia bar owners Adamas "Pop" Kubelczikas and his wife Helena "Mom" Kubelczikas. They renamed the then bar and grill Kubel's Bar, which still operates today.

A severe winter storm in 1920 caused significant erosion of the shoreline from the lighthouse to East and West 8th streets on the bay and ocean side of Barnegat City, eroding the shore up to the base of the lighthouse and prompting the abandonment and removal of the keeper's house by the United States Lighthouse Service. The Oceanic Hotel owner planned to open it in the spring of 1920, but limited prospects for turning a profit and the dangerously close tides caused him to sell the hotel for salvage. Locals stripped and demolished the hotel a section at the time from the east end. The 1920 winter caused some damage to the hotel as well. Life-Saving Station No. 17 also had to be moved from its site at the end of East 5th Street to the middle of the block on East 7th Street. It was later replaced by a modern station across the street which still stands today as the Borough Hall. On the bay side, the port at 6th Street, populated by docks, boats, and fisherman and their families living in small cottages, began to erode as the inlet current wrapped around the contour of Barnegat City and scoured away at it from both sides. The disappearing town, as newspapers morbidly began writing of Barnegat City, which included frequent claims of the lighthouse near toppling and, in some sensationalist cases, claims that the lighthouse had toppled in a most recent storm, saw the end of the developers dreams from 1881. The block upon block of cottages they envisioned would be built, but it would take the next 60 years to be completed. In 1923, train service was discontinued from Barnegat City Junction at Ship Bottom to the entire north end of the Island, including the towns of Surf City and Harvey Cedars, and the tracks taken up shortly after due to low ridership, increasing maintenance costs to keep the aging railways passable, dilapidated locomotives and cars, and the growth of automobile traffic. This fate would follow for the southern branch of the Island railroad in 1935 when the train bridge was washed out in a nor'easter, while the regional shore lines would shutter in the 1940s. A series of disasters in the area occurred during the 1930s, beginning with the destruction of the Sunset Hotel by fire in June 1932. On April 4, 1933, the Airship USS Akron crashed in the sea off Barnegat Light, resulting in the deaths of 73 of the airship's crew of 76, still the most deadly airship disaster on record. In the era of airships from the late 1910s to the 1940s, nearby Navy base Lakehurst operated as the east coast port for all lighter-than-air traffic, including international flights from legendary craft such as the Graf Zeppelin and the Hindenburg. The Barnegat lighthouse and the inlet acted as a navigational point for airships from Lakehurst, making them a common sight in the skies above Barnegat City and parts of the Island. During World War II, airships were often seen as part of merchant convoys, providing anti-submarine services.

Barnegat City's commercial fishing economy improved with a pound boat fishery opened by Captain Dick Myers in 1920, who built a dock at West 6th Street replacing the old eroded port. Also by the 1920s, a wave of immigration since 1900 had changed Barnegat City's makeup as fishermen from Norway, Sweden, and Finland came to local waters after hearing of its reputation and solicitations from Myers to work his pound nets. In 1927 these Scandinavian fisherman united to form the Independent Fish Company and bought land further south to build their own dock complex that spanned West 17th to West 20th streets and remains active today. During this period, gillnetting declined in popularity, but it would later gain a comeback in the 1950s. Also in the 1950s, dragger fishing was ended and tilefishing began, the latter taking into the early 1970s before it became a profitable fishery and backbone, along with scalloping, of the evolving Barnegat Light commercial fishing industry.

The Independent Fish Company docks are now known as Viking Village and today provide a combined shopping and industrial establishment with both handcrafted goods and fresh seafood. Catches typically consist of scallops, tuna, swordfish, tilefish, weakfish, monkfish, bluefish, shad, dogfish, and various other types of in-shore fish. In the 1960s and 1970s, foreign trawlers, many international, were permitted to fish in the area, coming within a few miles of shore and fishing out several key species. Nearly all of the cod have been fished out of the area along with blue fish. The scallop boat Lindsay L, docked at Viking Village, was used in the movie The Perfect Storm.

Barnegat Light
In 1948, Barnegat City was renamed as Barnegat Light after a referendum. The motivations for this renaming were both to honor the legacy of the lighthouse (which was decommissioned four years earlier) and to distinguish itself from nearby Barnegat Township. In 1950, the post office moved from the Applegate's general store, which was falling into disrepair, to another general store on 18th Street. The building it replaced had itself been a general store and a gas station, both owned by Jens Jensen in 1920 who had given it to John Englesen in 1940 as a trade for a house on 19th Street. The post office remained at 18th Street until its current location on 10th Street was opened in the early 1960s when a borough hall and municipal complex was constructed. Town meetings had previously been held at the closed Barnegat City schoolhouse since 1951 and also the Barnegat Light Volunteer Firehouse hall. The site of the first post office, the general store on 4th Street, was saved and updated in the ensuing decades, operating today as the Inlet Deli.

The continued threat of storms such as the Great Atlantic Hurricane of 1944 and the Ash Wednesday Storm of 1962 reinforced concerns about Barnegat Light's survival in the long term and the survival of the lighthouse and beachfront homes in the near term. The first attempt at stabilizing the shoreline came in 1939-40 when a combination of rock jetties and earthen dams were used to reroute the inlet current away from the shoreline. The massive effort succeeded and stopped the erosion that had doomed the eastern beach blocks, threatened the lighthouse, and erased the former port at 6th street. A diagonal jetty extending hundreds of yards NNE from East 8th Street forced the current far away from land before it entered the channel between the lighthouse and southern tip of Island Beach, while the damming of the existing current's channel along the backside of the Island between West 20th Street and High Bar, plus the damming of a channel between High Bar and an island WNW of the inlet, rerouted the current a mile north and west of Barnegat Light, sending it farther into the bay away from the town. The construction of the existing jetty in the early 1990s further stabilized the earlier work, straightening the southern jetty of the inlet and reclaiming virtually all of the eastern shoreline from East 8th Street to the lighthouse that was lost over the last century, much of which was not redeveloped and instead designated as parkland, which in 2020 included the addition of a bird sanctuary. The jetties have provided stabilization to the shoreline and especially the previously unstable and occasionally shallow inlet. To maintain the channel, the inlet requires annual dredging by the United States Army Corps of Engineers. In addition to the lighthouse, Barnegat Light continues to host a United States Coast Guard station, now located on the bay at West 6th Street, reflecting the continued presence of the former United States Life-Saving Service and its vital duties on the still treacherous waters of Barnegat Inlet and out on the Barnegat shoals. In line with the borough's history, its most prominent industries continue to be tourism and fishing.

Geography
According to the United States Census Bureau, the borough had a total area of 1.20 square miles (3.10 km2), including 0.83 square mile (2.15 km2) of land and 0.37 square mile (0.95 km2) of water (30.50%).

The borough borders Berkeley Township, Long Beach Township and Ocean Township. It is located on the northern tip of Long Beach Island and is bounded by Barnegat Bay on the west, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, the Barnegat Inlet to the north and the Long Beach Township neighborhood of Loveladies to the south.

2010 census
The 2010 United States census counted 574 people, 274 households, and 184 families in the borough. The population density was 785.1 PD/sqmi. There were 1,282 housing units at an average density of 1,753.6 /sqmi. The racial makeup was 97.74% (561) White, 1.05% (6) Black or African American, 0.00% (0) Native American, 0.00% (0) Asian, 0.00% (0) Pacific Islander, 1.05% (6) from other races, and 0.17% (1) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.92% (11) of the population.

Of the 274 households, 9.9% had children under the age of 18; 58.8% were married couples living together; 5.1% had a female householder with no husband present and 32.8% were non-families. Of all households, 29.9% were made up of individuals and 16.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.06 and the average family size was 2.48.

7.3% of the population were under the age of 18, 6.8% from 18 to 24, 10.1% from 25 to 44, 34.5% from 45 to 64, and 41.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 60.3 years. For every 100 females, the population had 98.6 males. For every 100 females ages 18 and older there were 97.8 males.

The Census Bureau's 2006–2010 American Community Survey showed that (in 2010 inflation-adjusted dollars) median household income was $63,750 (with a margin of error of +/− $30,634) and the median family income was $104,375 (+/− $41,197). Males had a median income of $71,250 (+/− $36,607) versus $41,250 (+/− $11,770) for females. The per capita income for the borough was $44,933 (+/− $10,912). About 5.0% of families and 8.5% of the population were below the poverty line, including none of those under age 18 and 7.4% of those age 65 or over.

2000 census
As of the 2000 United States census there were 764 people, 371 households, and 230 families residing in the borough. The population density was 1,056.8 PD/sqmi. There were 1,207 housing units at an average density of 1,669.6 /sqmi. The racial makeup of the borough was 98.30% White, 0.52% African American, 0.26% Asian, 0.26% Pacific Islander, 0.39% from other races, and 0.26% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.79% of the population.

There were 371 households, out of which 15.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 55.0% were married couples living together, 3.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 38.0% were non-families. 34.8% of all households were made up of individuals, and 19.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.05 and the average family size was 2.60.

In the borough the population was spread out, with 14.4% under the age of 18, 4.5% from 18 to 24, 17.4% from 25 to 44, 29.5% from 45 to 64, and 34.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 55 years. For every 100 females, there were 103.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 99.4 males.

The median income for a household in the borough was $52,361, and the median income for a family was $66,406. Males had a median income of $52,917 versus $45,000 for females. The per capita income for the borough was $34,599. About 2.6% of families and 4.7% of the population were below the poverty line, including 13.5% of those under age 18 and 1.8% of those age 65 or over.

Local government
Barnegat Light is governed under the borough form of New Jersey municipal government, which is used in 218 municipalities (of the 564) statewide, making it the most common form of government in New Jersey. The governing body is comprised of the mayor and the borough council, with all positions elected at-large on a partisan basis as part of the November general election. The mayor is elected directly by the voters to a four-year term of office. The borough council includes six members elected to serve three-year terms on a staggered basis, with two seats coming up for election each year in a three-year cycle. The borough form of government used by Barnegat Light is a "weak mayor / strong council" government in which council members act as the legislative body with the mayor presiding at meetings and voting only in the event of a tie. The mayor can veto ordinances subject to an override by a two-thirds majority vote of the council. The mayor makes committee and liaison assignments for council members, and most appointments are made by the mayor with the advice and consent of the council.

, the mayor of Barnegat Light is Republican Kirk O. Larson Sr., whose term of office ends December 31, 2026. Members of the Borough Council are Council President Michael W. Spark (R, 2024), Mary Ellen Foley (R, 2026), James M. Gutowski (R, 2025), Frank F. Mikuletzky Jr. (R, 2022), Dorothy Reynolds (R, 2026) and Edwin Wellington Jr. (R, 2024).

The borough council selected Edwin Wellington Jr. in October 2013 to fill the vacant seat of Dave Bossi expiring in 2015. Wellington served on an interim basis until the November 2014 general election, when voters choose him to serve the balance of the term through December 2015.

Emergency services
Police protection in the borough is provided under contract by the Long Beach Township Police Department.

Barnegat Light is served by both a volunteer fire department as well as a volunteer first aid squad. The Barnegat Light Volunteer Fire Company, established in 1937, covers Barnegat Light, High Bar Harbor, and parts of Loveladies. The Barnegat Light First Aid Squad covers all of the north end of Long Beach Island ending at the Surf City North Beach border.

Federal, state and county representation
Barnegat Light is located in the 2nd Congressional district and is part of New Jersey's 9th state legislative district. Prior to the 2010 Census, Barnegat Light had been part of the NJ's 3rd congressional district, a change made by the New Jersey Redistricting Commission that took effect in January 2013, based on the results of the November 2012 general elections.

Politics
As of March 2011, there were a total of 630 registered voters in Barnegat Light, of which 98 (15.6%) were registered as Democrats, 335 (53.2%) were registered as Republicans and 197 (31.3%) were registered as Unaffiliated. There were no voters registered to other parties. Among the borough's 2010 Census population, 109.8% (vs. 63.2% in Ocean County) were registered to vote, including 118.4% of those ages 18 and over (vs. 82.6% countywide).

In the 2012 presidential election, Republican Mitt Romney received 58.6% of the vote (222 cast), ahead of Democrat Barack Obama with 40.4% (153 votes), and other candidates with 1.1% (4 votes), among the 381 ballots cast by the borough's 660 registered voters (2 ballots were spoiled), for a turnout of 57.7%. In the 2008 presidential election, Republican John McCain received 57.8% of the vote (294 cast), ahead of Democrat Barack Obama with 39.9% (203 votes) and other candidates with 1.0% (5 votes), among the 509 ballots cast by the borough's 665 registered voters, for a turnout of 76.5%. In the 2004 presidential election, Republican George W. Bush received 57.2% of the vote (281 ballots cast), outpolling Democrat John Kerry with 40.7% (200 votes) and other candidates with 0.9% (6 votes), among the 491 ballots cast by the borough's 680 registered voters, for a turnout percentage of 72.2.

In the 2013 gubernatorial election, Republican Chris Christie received 76.7% of the vote (263 cast), ahead of Democrat Barbara Buono with 21.6% (74 votes), and other candidates with 1.7% (6 votes), among the 350 ballots cast by the borough's 627 registered voters (7 ballots were spoiled), for a turnout of 55.8%. In the 2009 gubernatorial election, Republican Chris Christie received 60.5% of the vote (231 ballots cast), ahead of Democrat Jon Corzine with 30.9% (118 votes), Independent Chris Daggett with 6.3% (24 votes) and other candidates with 1.0% (4 votes), among the 382 ballots cast by the borough's 650 registered voters, yielding a 58.8% turnout.

Education
In 1903, the Barnegat City School was built on West 5th Street and Central Ave, consisting of a single room with bathrooms and coat closets in the entranceways, of which there was one for boys and one for girls. An older school based out of a residential cottage on West 3rd Street previously educated small classes of children from the 1880s. Shortly after the new school was opened, the former school and neighboring houses caught fire. The one-room school closed in 1951 at the end of the school year due to increasing class sizes after World War II and the plan to consolidate the Island town schools under one roof, which became the Ethel A. Jacobsen Elementary School in Surf City and later the additional LBI Grade School in Ship Bottom.

For pre-kindergarten through sixth grade, public school students attend the Long Beach Island Consolidated School District, which also serves students from Harvey Cedars, Long Beach Township, Ship Bottom and Surf City. As of the 2020–21 school year, the district, comprised of two schools, had an enrollment of 215 students and 30.7 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 7.0:1. Schools in the district (with 2020–21 enrollment data from the National Center for Education Statistics ) are Ethel Jacobsen School in Surf City with 111 students in pre-kindergarten to second grade and Long Beach Island Grade School in Ship Bottom with 125 students in grades 3–6. The district's board of education is comprised of nine members who are directly elected from the constituent municipalities on a staggered basis, with three members elected each year. Of the nine seats, one is elected from Barnegat Light.

Students in public school for seventh through twelfth grades attend the Southern Regional School District, which serves the five municipalities in the Long Beach Island Consolidated School District, along with students from Beach Haven and Stafford Township, as well as students from Ocean Township (including its Waretown section) who attend as part of a sending/receiving relationship. Schools in the district (with 2020–21 enrollment data from the National Center for Education Statistics ) are Southern Regional Middle School with 902 students in grades 7–8 and Southern Regional High School with 1,975 students in grades 9–12. Both schools are in the Manahawkin section of Stafford Township.

Roads and highways
, the borough had a total of 11.48 mi of roadways, of which 7.46 mi were maintained by the municipality and 4.02 mi by Ocean County.

No Interstate, U.S. or state highways serve Barnegat Light. The main road serving the borough is County Route 607 (Central Avenue and Broadway).

Public transportation
Ocean County Ride provides bus service on the OC9 LBI North route between Barnegat Light and Manahawkin / Stafford Township.

The LBI Shuttle operates along Long Beach Boulevard, providing free service every 5 to 20 minutes from 10:00 AM to 10:00 PM. It serves the Long Beach Island municipalities / communities of Barnegat Light, Loveladies, Harvey Cedars, North Beach, Surf City, Ship Bottom, Long Beach Township, Beach Haven and Holgate.

Climate
According to the Köppen climate classification system, Barnegat Light has a Humid subtropical climate (Cfa).

Ecology
According to the A. W. Kuchler U.S. potential natural vegetation types, Barnegat Light would have a dominant vegetation type of Northern Cordgrass (73) with a dominant vegetation form of Coastal Prairie (20).

Notable people
People who were born in, residents of, or otherwise closely associated with Barnegat Light include:

 * Matt Cook (born 1984), actor known mostly for his roles as Mo McCracken on the TBS sitcom Clipped and as Lowell in the CBS sitcom Man with a Plan
 * Tom MacArthur (born 1960), former member of the U.S. House of Representatives who represented the 3rd Congressional District from 2015 to 2019
 * Matt McAndrew (born 1990), singer-songwriter best known for his appearance in Season 7 of NBC's reality TV singing competition The Voice where he finished as the runner-up as part of team Adam

title: Barnegat Light, New Jersey