Cream Ridge is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a parcel of land that is not governed by a local general-purpose municipal corporation. (At p. 178.) They may be governed or serviced by an encompassing unit (such as a county) or another branch of the state (such as th ...

and

census-designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a Place (United States Census Bureau), concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only. CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the counte ...

(CDP) in Upper Freehold Township,

Monmouth County, New Jersey Monmouth County () is a county located in the central portion of the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is bordered to its west by Mercer and Middlesex Counties, to its south by Ocean County, to its east by the Atlantic Ocean, and to its north ...

, United States. As of the 2020 census, the first one for which Cream Ridge was listed, the population was 630.

History

The soil in Cream Ridge is Freehold

sandy loam Loam (in geology and soil science) is soil composed mostly of sand (particle size > ), silt (particle size > ), and a smaller amount of clay (particle size < ). By weight, its mineral composition is about 40–40–20% concentration of sand–si ...

, some of the richest in the state of New Jersey. Many of the early residents became relatively wealthy

gentleman farmer In the United Kingdom, the United States, and Canada, a gentleman farmer is a landowner who has a farm (gentleman's farm) as part of his estate and who farms as a hobby rather than for profit or sustenance. The Collins English Dictionary defin ...

s, with the actual farm work done by tenant farmers. Most of the early families were Presbyterians, Quakers, or Northern Baptists. Some of the surnames associated with the area are Holmes, Meirs, Rue, Cox, Wright, Lawrence, and Ridgway. The gentleman farmer lifestyle was dramatically curtailed during the Great Depression and after World War II, although remnants of this bygone lifestyle existed into the 1980s.

Geography

Cream Ridge is close to the southwesternmost extent of Monmouth County and occupies the south-central part of Upper Freehold Township. The community is southeast of Trenton, the state capital, and southwest of

Freehold Freehold may refer to: In real estate *Freehold (law), the tenure of property in fee simple * Customary freehold, a form of feudal tenure of land in England *Parson's freehold, where a Church of England rector or vicar of holds title to benefice ...

, the Monmouth

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or parish (administrative division), civil parish. The term is in use in five countries: Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, and the United States. An equiva ...

. According to the

U.S. Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The U.S. Census Bureau is part of the U ...

, the Cream Ridge CDP has a total area of , of which , or 0.69%, are water. Miry Run flows westward through the community, joining

Crosswicks Creek Crosswicks Creek is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed April 1, 2011 tributary of the Delaware River in Burlington, Mercer, Monmouth and Ocean Counties in central an ...

, which forms the western edge of the CDP. Via Crosswicks Creek, the community is part of the

Delaware River The Delaware River is a major river in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States and is the longest free-flowing (undammed) river in the Eastern United States. From the meeting of its branches in Hancock, New York, the river flows for a ...

watershed.

Demographics

Cream Ridge first appeared as a

census designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a Place (United States Census Bureau), concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only. CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the counte ...

in the 2020 U.S. Census. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 630.

Notable people

People who were born in, residents of, or otherwise closely associated with Cream Ridge include: * Linda K. Meirs (1884–1972), American Red Cross and Army nurse during World War I who was one of the first six American recipients of the

Florence Nightingale Medal The Florence Nightingale Medal is an international award presented to those distinguished in nursing and named after British nurse Florence Nightingale. The medal was established in 1912 by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), f ...

Ross Scheuerman Ross Scheuerman (born March 5, 1993) is a former professional Canadian football running back. He played college football at Lafayette. Scheuerman was signed by the Pittsburgh Steelers as an undrafted free agent in 2015. He has also been a membe ...

(born 1993),

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offense ...

for the

Hamilton Tiger-Cats The Hamilton Tiger-Cats are a professional Canadian football team based in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. They are currently members of the East Division (CFL), East Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL). The Tiger-Cats play their home game ...

of the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; , LCF) is a Professional gridiron football, professional Canadian football league in Canada. It comprises nine teams divided into two divisions, with four teams in the East Division (CFL), East Division and f ...

O'Gorman, George
"Eagles sign former Allentown High star Ross Scheuerman"
''

The Trentonian ''The Trentonian'' is a daily newspaper serving Trenton, New Jersey, USA, and the surrounding Mercer County community. The paper in 2020 has a daily circulation of under 8,000 and a Sunday circulation of under 7,000. As of August 2020, it was r ...

'', January 21, 2016. Accessed October 1, 2017. "The Eagles signed former Allentown High and Lafayette College running back Ross Scheuerman on Thursday.... A Cream Ridge resident who was twice an All-CVC selection and Mercer County Player of the Year and All-State, Scheuerman was also the Delaware Valley Scholar Athlete in 2012."

References

{{Authority control Upper Freehold Township, New Jersey Census-designated places in Monmouth County, New Jersey Census-designated places in New Jersey Unincorporated communities in Monmouth County, New Jersey Unincorporated communities in New Jersey