Little Egg Harbor Township is a

township A township is a form of human settlement or administrative subdivision. Its exact definition varies among countries. Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, this tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, Canad ...

situated on the

Jersey Shore The Jersey Shore, commonly called the Shore by locals, is the coast, coastal region of the U.S. state of New Jersey. The term encompasses about of shore, oceanfront bordering the Atlantic Ocean, from Perth Amboy, New Jersey, Perth Amboy in the n ...

, within

Ocean County Ocean County is a county located in the U.S. state of New Jersey and the southernmost county in the New York metropolitan area. The county borders the Atlantic Ocean on the east and in terms of total area is the state's largest county. Its co ...

, in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its so ...

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

. The township is the southernmost municipality in both Ocean County and the

New York metropolitan area The New York metropolitan area, also called the Tri-State area and sometimes referred to as Greater New York, is the List of cities by GDP, largest metropolitan economy in the world, with a List of U.S. metropolitan areas by GDP, gross metropo ...

. As of the 2020 United States census, the township's population was 20,784, its highest decennial count ever and an increase of 719 (+3.6%) from the 2010 census count of 20,065, which in turn reflected an increase of 4,120 (+25.8%) from the 15,945 counted in the 2000 census.

History

Founding

Originally part of Burlington County, Little Egg Harbor took its name from the portion of a bay called Egg Harbor (known today as Little Egg Harbor) by the Dutch sailors because of the eggs found in nearby

gull Gulls, or colloquially seagulls, are seabirds of the subfamily Larinae. They are most closely related to terns and skimmers, distantly related to auks, and even more distantly related to waders. Until the 21st century, most gulls were placed ...

nests. The first known account of the town was made by Captain

Cornelius Jacobsen May Cornelis Jacobsen Mey, often spelled Cornelius Jacobsz May in Dutch, was a 17th-century Dutch explorer, captain, and fur trader. Mey was the first director of New Netherland and was stationed at Fort Amsterdam. Mey was the captain of the shi ...

in 1614. The first European to settle the township was Hendrick Jacobs Falkenberg, who likely arrived by 1693 when he does not appear on a census of the Swedes along 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 ...

, where he had lived for nearly three decades.Craig, Peter S
"Sinnick Broer the Finn and his Sinex, Sinnickson & Falkenberg Descendants"
''Swedish Colonial News'', Volume 2, Number 7, Fall 2002. Accessed September 3, 2015. Though he was from

Holstein Holstein (; ; ; ; ) is the region between the rivers Elbe and Eider (river), Eider. It is the southern half of Schleswig-Holstein, the northernmost States of Germany, state of Germany. Holstein once existed as the German County of Holstein (; 8 ...

(now in Germany), his first wife was a Finn and part of the Swedish community. Falkenberg settled on an tract of land that he had acquired from the

Lenni Lenape The Lenape (, , ; ), also called the Lenni Lenape and Delaware people, are an Indigenous people of the Northeastern Woodlands, who live in the United States and Canada. The Lenape's historical territory included present-day northeastern Del ...

Native Americans in 1674, and a 1697 deed re-confirmed this earlier purchase. This tract included the two islands of Monhunk and Minnicunk later known as Osborn Island and Wills Island. Falkenberg was a linguist, fluent in the Lenape language, and was considered southern New Jersey's foremost language interpreter involving land transactions between the Indians and the European settlers, particularly the English

Quakers Quakers are people who belong to the Religious Society of Friends, a historically Protestantism, Protestant Christian set of Christian denomination, denominations. Members refer to each other as Friends after in the Bible, and originally ...

The Little Egg Harbor Massacre took place in October 1778 during the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was the armed conflict that comprised the final eight years of the broader American Revolution, in which Am ...

, as

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

Major

Patrick Ferguson Major Patrick Ferguson (1744 – 7 October 1780) was a British Army officer who designed the Ferguson rifle. He is best known for his service in the 1780 military campaign of Charles Cornwallis during the American Revolutionary War in the ...

was wreaking havoc on Colonial shipping in the

Mullica River The Mullica River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed April 1, 2011 river in southern New Jersey in the United States. The Mullica was once known as the ''Little Egg H ...

Kazimierz Pułaski Kazimierz Michał Władysław Wiktor Pułaski (; March 4 or 6, 1745 October 11, 1779), anglicised as Casimir Pulaski ( ), was a Polish nobleman, soldier, and military commander who has been called "The Father of American cavalry" or "The Sold ...

and his newly raised forces were ordered to oppose his actions. Pulaski's Legion, along with three companies of light infantry, three troops of light horse, and one artillery detachment, came too late to be of great use against Ferguson's operations. But their arrival did stop Ferguson from raiding the iron works at Batsto, and stemmed their attacks on privateers at The Forks of the Mullica River. They then set up camp on a farm. A deserter, Lt. Gustav Juliet, found Ferguson and told him of Pulaski's encampment; he mentioned that morale was fairly low, and security almost nonexistent, so that a surprise attack would be devastating. Ferguson promptly loaded 250 of his best men onto boats and rowed them, in the dark, some to Osborne Island. He then marched them a further to the site of the infantry outpost, which comprised 50 men a short distance from the main encampment. At first light, Ferguson ordered the attack; only five of his quarry were taken alive. Pulaski eventually led his mounted troops up, causing Ferguson to retreat to his boats minus a few men that had fallen into the colonists' hands. A memorial on Radio Road commemorates the attack. Little Egg Harbor Township was formed on February 13, 1740, as Egg Harbour Township from portions of Northampton Township (now Mount Holly), while the area was still part of Burlington County. It was incorporated as one of New Jersey's 104 in the Township Act of 1798 by an act of the

New Jersey Legislature The New Jersey Legislature is the legislative branch of the government of the U.S. state of New Jersey. In its current form, as defined by the New Jersey Constitution of 1947, the Legislature consists of two houses: the General Assembly and ...

on February 21, 1798. While in Burlington County, portions of the township were taken to form Washington Township (November 19, 1802) and Bass River Township (March 30, 1864). Little Egg Harbor Township became part of Ocean County on March 30, 1891, after which further portions of the township were ceded to create Long Beach Township (March 23, 1899) and Tuckerton (February 18, 1901).Snyder, John P
''The Story of New Jersey's Civil Boundaries: 1606-1968''
Bureau of Geology and Topography; Trenton, New Jersey; 1969. p. 203. Accessed May 29, 2024.

Tuckerton Wireless Tower

The Tuckerton Wireless Tower (), at in height, was built in 1912 by the German "Hochfrequenzmaschinen Aktiengesellschaft Für Drahtlose Telegraphie" company (The High Frequency Machine Corporation for Wireless Telegraphy, often referred to as HOMAG) when the present-day Mystic Island was called Hickory Island. The tower was used to communicate with an identical radio telegraph station in Eilvese, Germany starting on Jun 19, 1914, less than two weeks before the

assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand The assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand was one of the key events that led to World War I. Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, heir presumptive to the Austria-Hungary, Austro-Hungarian throne, and his wife, Sophie, Duchess of Hohenberg ...

. The station continued to communicate with Eilvese until America entered World War I on April 6, 1917.Historic Monument - Telegraph Tower, Tuckerton
,

Stockton University Stockton University is a public university in Galloway Township, New Jersey. It is part of New Jersey's public system of higher education. It is named for Richard Stockton, one of the New Jersey signers of the U.S. Declaration of Independence ...

Art & Architecture of New Jersey. Accessed September 16, 2013. It is rumored that it was used to send the message to order the attack by a German

U-boat U-boats are Submarine#Military, naval submarines operated by Germany, including during the World War I, First and Second World Wars. The term is an Anglicization#Loanwords, anglicized form of the German word , a shortening of (), though the G ...

on the RMS ''Lusitania''. After President Wilson's Declaration of Neutrality, the President's Executive Order 2042 required the US Navy to take over the station on September 9, 1914, to assure the neutrality of messages sent to and from the station. However, the station continued to be operated by German nationals employed by HOMAG and continued to communicate only with the Eilvese radio station. When America entered the war, all U.S. radio stations were seized and shut down by Executive Order 2605A on April 30, 1917. The remaining German personnel at Tuckerton immediately became war prisoners and were replaced by U.S. Navy personnel. The Navy used the Tuckerton Radio Station for transatlantic communications while the naval radio stations in

New Brunswick, New Jersey New Brunswick is a city (New Jersey), city in and the county seat of Middlesex County, New Jersey, Middlesex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey.Sayville, New York Sayville is a hamlet and census-designated place in Suffolk County, New York, United States. Located on the South Shore of Long Island in the Town of Islip, the population of the CDP was 16,569 at the time of the 2020 census. History The earli ...

were undergoing major transmitter and antenna upgrades. Tuckerton was used for fleet broadcasts after installations of 200 kilowatt transmitters at New Brunswick and Sayville were completed in June 1918. After the war, the Tuckerton Wireless Station was included in German war reparations paid to America. Shortly afterwards, it was sold to

RCA RCA Corporation was a major American electronics company, which was founded in 1919 as the Radio Corporation of America. It was initially a patent pool, patent trust owned by General Electric (GE), Westinghouse Electric Corporation, Westinghou ...

which operated it until 1948 as a backup to their famous Radio Central facility in Rocky Point, New York. In 1921, RCA installed two massive

Alexanderson alternator An Alexanderson alternator is a rotating machine, developed by Ernst Alexanderson beginning in 1904, for the generation of high-frequency alternating current for use as a radio transmitter. It was one of the first devices capable of generating th ...

s, which were removed in 1948. For transatlantic communications, the radio station operated under the

call sign In broadcasting and radio communications, a call sign (also known as a call name or call letters—and historically as a call signal—or abbreviated as a call) is a unique identifier for a transmitter station. A call sign can be formally as ...

s WCI and WGG. For coastal communications, after World War I, the station operated under the callsign WSC. The steel tower, anchored by three large concrete blocks, was taken down on December 27, 1955. The three huge anchor blocks still exist today, in a backyard on North Ensign Drive and in the middle of South Ensign Drive and Staysail Drive. Many smaller anchor blocks providing foundations for smaller towers that supported the

umbrella antenna An umbrella antenna is a capacitively top-loaded wire monopole antenna, consisting in most cases of a mast fed at the ground end, to which a number of radial wires are connected at the top, sloping downwards. One side of the feedline supplying po ...

are still visible in the lagoons. Remains of the large tower can be seen in scraps at the Giffordtown Museum.

Later history

While the township was formed in the 1700s, Little Egg Harbor remained predominantly rural and undeveloped well into the late 20th century. It wasn't until the late 1950s until any major development was started. During this time, the construction of manufactured waterfront bungalows on

lagoons A lagoon is a shallow body of water separated from a larger body of water by a narrow landform, such as reefs, barrier islands, barrier peninsulas, or isthmuses. Lagoons are commonly divided into '' coastal lagoons'' (or ''barrier lagoons'') a ...

were built and marketed as vacation properties, most notably Mystic Islands, Holly Lake Harbor, as well as Atlantis; the latter of which a "research home" was constructed to test hundreds of components and finishing materials for possible inclusion in model homes. Most of the population were seasonal residents from either

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

, or other parts of New Jersey. Several developments were constructed in the decades following around the Mystic Islands area, mostly consisting of townhomes, duplex, and small single-family homes meant to act as either vacation homes or year-round residence. In 1979, Pinelands Regional High School opened in the growing township, serving students from Little Egg Harbor, Tuckerton, Bass River, and Eagleswood; those students formerly went to

Southern Regional High School Southern Regional High School is a regional comprehensive public high school located in the Manahawkin section of Stafford Township in Ocean County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, serving students in the ninth through twelfth grades and ope ...

in Manahawkin. By the 2000s, the township was one of the fastest-growing in Ocean County, next to Barnegat. The formerly sleepy township saw the development of several new housing developments, shopping centers, and offices. While 75% of the growth came from new retirement communities, the former resort town dubbed "Little Treasure on the Bay" saw an influx of year-round residents and families, becoming more of a suburb. On November 3, 2004, a fighter jet on a training mission from the 113th Wing of the District of Columbia

Air National Guard The Air National Guard (ANG), also known as the Air Guard, is a Reserve components of the United States Armed Forces, federal military reserve force of the United States Air Force, as well as the air militia (United States), militia of each U.S. ...

, based at

Andrews Air Force Base Andrews Air Force Base (Andrews AFB, AAFB) is the airfield portion of Joint Base Andrews, which is under the jurisdiction of the United States Air Force (USAF). In 2009, Andrews Air Force Base merged with Naval Air Facility Washington to form ...

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...

, shot seven bullets into the roof of the Little Egg Harbor Intermediate School, and many others into the parking lot. Only a few custodians were in the school, and nobody was injured. The plane had been on a training mission at the Warren Grove Gunnery Range, a area about from the school. The school was repaired during the New Jersey Teachers' Convention, using $519,000 paid by the Air Force to the school district. On the morning of August 28, 2011,

Tropical Storm Irene The name Irene has been used for twelve tropical cyclones worldwide. Seven in the Atlantic, two in the South and Western Pacific, and one on the South-West Indian Ocean and Australian region basins. It has also been used for two European windstorms ...

made its second U.S. landfall in

Brigantine A brigantine is a two-masted sailing vessel with a fully square-rigged foremast and at least two sails on the main mast: a square topsail and a gaff sail mainsail (behind the mast). The main mast is the second and taller of the two masts. Ol ...

, though initial reports placed it at the

Little Egg Inlet Little Egg Inlet is an inlet connecting the Atlantic Ocean and the Great Bay along the southeastern coast of New Jersey, United States. Little Egg Inlet forms a maritime border separating Little Egg Harbor Township in southern Ocean County and Ga ...

on the border with Galloway Township. At the time it was believed to be the first hurricane to make landfall in New Jersey since 1903,Staff
"Hurricane Irene makes landfall in New Jersey; storm should be gone by mid-afternoon, meteorologist predicts - UPDATE"
''

The Express-Times Founded in 1885, ''The Express-Times'' began as The Easton Daily Express, a daily newspaper based in Easton, Pennsylvania. The newspaper provided national news and extensive local news coverage of the Lehigh Valley region of eastern Pennsylvania. ...

'', August 28, 2011. Accessed September 29, 2014. "Hurricane Irene made landfall at 5:35 this morning in Little Egg Inlet, near Atlantic City, according to Hackettstown-based WeatherWorks meteorologist Nick Troiano, with maximum sustained winds of 75 mph, 1 mile an hour above the level at which a hurricane is defined. It was 1903 the last time a hurricane -- also a category one storm -- Troiano said. It was also near Atlantic City." but later analysis by the

National Hurricane Center The National Hurricane Center (NHC) is the division of the United States' NOAA/National Weather Service responsible for tracking and predicting tropical weather systems between the IERS Reference Meridian, Prime Meridian and the 140th meridian ...

determined that the storm had weakened to

tropical storm A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system with a low-pressure area, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depending on its lo ...

status by the time it made its second landfall.Avila, Lixion A.; and Cangialosi, John. ,

, December 14, 2011. Accessed January 24, 2015. "Irene then continued north-northeastward, just offshore of the Delmarva peninsula, and made another landfall very near Atlantic City, New Jersey, at Brigantine Island, at 0935 UTC 28 August. Although Irene's intensity at the New Jersey landfall was 60 kt, winds of that strength were confined to the waters east of the track of the center." On October 29, 2012,

Hurricane Sandy Hurricane Sandy (unofficially referred to as Superstorm Sandy) was an extremely large and devastating tropical cyclone which ravaged the Caribbean and the coastal Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States in late ...

caused widespread damage and flooding to the township, damaging roughly 4,000 homes, especially in the Mystic Island section. On the one-year anniversary of the storm, New Jersey Governor

Chris Christie Christopher James Christie (born September 6, 1962) is an American politician and former United States Attorney, federal prosecutor who served as the 55th governor of New Jersey from 2010 to 2018. A member of the Republican Party (United States) ...

visited the township's Community Center to celebrate both the reopening of the storm-damaged building as well as the recovery efforts from the storm.

Geography

According to the

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

, the township had a total area of 72.97 square miles (188.99 km²), including 47.35 square miles (122.63 km²) of land and 25.62 square miles (66.36 km²) of water (35.11%). Mystic Island (2010 Census population of 8,493) 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) located in the southern part of the township.New Jersey: 2010 - Population and Housing Unit Counts - 2010 Census of Population and Housing (CPH-2-32)

, August 2012. Accessed December 27, 2012. Other unincorporated communities, localities and place names located partially or completely within the township include Atlantis, Edge Cove, Giffordtown, Jessies Point, Nugentown, Parkertown, Storm Island, Tucker Beach and West Tuckerton. The township borders the Ocean County municipalities of Barnegat Township, Beach Haven, Eagleswood Township, Long Beach Township and Stafford Township; Galloway Township in

Atlantic County Atlantic County is a county located in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 census, the county was the state's 15th-most-populous county,Bass River Township and Woodland Township in Burlington County. Little Egg Harbor completely surrounds the independent municipality of Tuckerton, which became independent when it was incorporated in 1901. Little Egg Harbor and Tuckerton share the same ZIP code.

Demographics

2010 census

The 2010 United States census counted 20,065 people, 8,060 households, and 5,674 families in the township. The population density was . There were 10,324 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup was 94.19% (18,899)

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

, 1.35% (271) Black or African American, 0.16% (33) Native American, 1.24% (249) Asian, 0.01% (2)

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe th ...

, 1.51% (303) from other races, and 1.54% (308) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 5.22% (1,047) of the population. Of the 8,060 households, 25.5% had children under the age of 18; 55.5% were married couples living together; 10.6% had a female householder with no husband present and 29.6% were non-families. Of all households, 24.2% were made up of individuals and 11.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.46 and the average family size was 2.90. 20.4% of the population were under the age of 18, 6.7% from 18 to 24, 22.3% from 25 to 44, 29.0% from 45 to 64, and 21.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 45.4 years. For every 100 females, the population had 92.3 males. For every 100 females ages 18 and older there were 89.8 males. The Census Bureau's 2006–2010

American Community Survey The American Community Survey (ACS) is an annual demographics survey program conducted by the United States Census Bureau. It regularly gathers information previously contained only in the long form of the United States census, decennial census ...

showed that (in 2010

inflation-adjusted In economics, nominal value refers to value measured in terms of absolute money amounts, whereas real value is considered and measured against the actual goods or services for which it can be exchanged at a given time. Real value takes into acco ...

dollars)

median household income The median income is the income amount that divides a population into two groups, half having an income above that amount, and half having an income below that amount. It may differ from the mean (or average) income. Both of these are ways of und ...

was $59,365 (with a margin of error of +/− $3,765) and the median family income was $66,345 (+/− $4,466). Males had a median income of $56,279 (+/− $3,204) versus $42,683 (+/− $3,850) for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...

for the borough was $28,566 (+/− $1,778). About 6.5% of families and 8.9% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line, or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...

, including 14.9% of those under age 18 and 4.7% of those age 65 or over.

2000 census

As of the 2000 United States census there were 15,945 people, 6,179 households, and 4,442 families residing in the township. The population density was . There were 7,931 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the township was 96.22%

, 0.79%

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

, 0.26% Native American, 0.60% Asian, 0.01%

, 0.98% from other races, and 1.15% from two or more races.

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

or Latino of any race were 3.26% of the population.Census 2000 Profiles of Demographic / Social / Economic / Housing Characteristics for Little Egg Harbor township, Ocean County, New Jersey
,

. Accessed December 27, 2012.DP-1: Profile of General Demographic Characteristics: 2000 - Census 2000 Summary File 1 (SF 1) 100-Percent Data for Little Egg Harbor township, Ocean County, New Jersey
,

. Accessed December 27, 2012. There were 6,179 households, out of which 30.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 56.8% were married couples living together, 10.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 28.1% were non-families. 22.5% of all households 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 2.55 and the average family size was 2.98. In the township the population was spread out, with 24.2% under the age of 18, 6.7% from 18 to 24, 27.5% from 25 to 44, 23.9% from 45 to 64, and 17.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females, there were 92.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 89.8 males. The median income for a household in the township was $45,628, and the median income for a family was $51,580. Males had a median income of $39,668 versus $29,576 for females. The per capita income for the township was $20,619. About 4.1% of families and 6.5% of the population were below the poverty line, including 9.4% of those under age 18 and 3.4% of those age 65 or over.

Government

Local government

Little Egg Harbor Township operates under the

Township A township is a form of human settlement or administrative subdivision. Its exact definition varies among countries. Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, this tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, Canad ...

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 At large (''before a noun'': at-large) is a description for members of a governing body who are elected or appointed to represent a whole membership or population (notably a city, county, state, province, nation, club or association), rather tha ...

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.''2012 New Jersey Legislative District Data Book'',

Rutgers University Rutgers University ( ), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a Public university, public land-grant research university consisting of three campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's C ...

Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy, March 2013, p. 49. Annually, the Township Committee selects one of its members to serve as Mayor, and another as Deputy Mayor, each serving one-year terms. , the members of the Township Committee are Mayor Blaise Scibetta ( R, term on committee and as mayor ends December 31, 2024), Deputy Mayor Dan Maxwell (R, term on committee and as deputy mayor ends 2024), Ray Gormley (R, 2026), John Kehm Jr. (R, 2026) and Kenneth W. Laney Jr. (R, 2025).Mayor and Committee
Little Egg Harbor Township. Accessed June 3, 2024. "The Township Committee is voted in by Public election on the General Election Day. The Mayor in Little Egg Harbor Township is appointed annually by the Township Committee from among the Committee’s five members. Under this form of government the Mayor is not elected directly by the citizens."Township of Little Egg Harbor

Ocean County, New Jersey Ocean County is a List of counties in New Jersey, county located in the U.S. state of New Jersey and the southernmost county in the New York metropolitan area. The county borders the Atlantic Ocean on the east and in terms of total area is the ...

. Accessed June 3, 2024.''2024 Ocean County & Municipal Elected Officials''

Clerk, updated April 2, 2024. Accessed January 3, 2024.General Election Results November 7, 2023 Official Results

, updated November 22, 2023. Accessed January 1, 2024.2022 General Election Official Results November 8, 2022

Clerk, updated November 21, 2022. Accessed January 1, 2023.2021 General Election Official Results

. Accessed January 1, 2022. In January 2022, the Township Committee appointed Kenneth Laney Jr. to fill the seat expiring in December 2022 that had been held by Barbara Jo Crea until she stepped down from office to take a seat on the

Board of County Commissioners.

Emergency services

Little Egg Harbor Township is served by Great Bay Regional Volunteer EMS, which also provides primary 911

emergency medical services Emergency medical services (EMS), also known as ambulance services, pre-hospital care or paramedic services, are emergency services that provide urgent pre-hospital treatment and stabilisation for serious illness and injuries and transport to d ...

for the residents of Bass River Township and Eagleswood Township.

Federal, state and county representation

Little Egg Harbor Township is located in the 2nd Congressional DistrictPlan Components Report

New Jersey Redistricting Commission The New Jersey Redistricting Commission is a constitutional body of the government of New Jersey tasked with redrawing the state's Congressional election districts after each decade's census. Like Arizona, Idaho, Hawaii, Montana, and Washington ...

, December 23, 2011. Accessed February 1, 2020. and is part of New Jersey's 9th state legislative district.Municipalities Sorted by 2011-2020 Legislative District

New Jersey Department of State The secretary of state of New Jersey oversees the Department of State, which is one of the original state offices. The Secretary is responsible for overseeing New Jersey State Council on the Arts, artistic, cultural, and New Jersey Historical Com ...

. Accessed February 1, 2020.''2019 New Jersey Citizen's Guide to Government''
New Jersey

League of Women Voters The League of Women Voters (LWV) is a nonpartisan American nonprofit political organization. Founded in 1920, its ongoing major activities include Voter registration, registering voters, providing voter information, boosting voter turnout and adv ...

. Accessed October 30, 2019.

Politics

As of March 2011, there were a total of 13,562 registered voters in Little Egg Harbor Township, of which 2,641 (19.5%) were registered as Democrats, 3,963 (29.2%) were registered as

Republicans Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

and 6,951 (51.3%) were registered as Unaffiliated. There were 7 voters registered as

Libertarians Libertarianism (from ; or from ) is a political philosophy that holds freedom, personal sovereignty, and liberty as primary values. Many libertarians believe that the concept of freedom is in accord with the Non-Aggression Principle, according ...

or Greens.Voter Registration Summary - Ocean

Division of Elections, March 23, 2011. Accessed December 27, 2012. Among the township's 2010 Census population, 67.6% (vs. 63.2% in Ocean County) were registered to vote, including 84.9% of those ages 18 and over (vs. 82.6% countywide). In the 2016 presidential election, Republican

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...

received 64.97% of the vote (6,700 cast), ahead of Democrat

Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, lawyer and diplomat. She was the 67th United States secretary of state in the administration of Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, a U.S. senator represent ...

with 30.88% (3,184 votes), and other candidates with 4.15% (428 votes), among the 10,417 ballots cast by the township's 14,633 registered voters (105 ballots were spoiled), for a turnout of 71.1%.General Election November 8, 2016

Clerk. Accessed September 9, 2019. In the

2012 presidential election This national electoral calendar for 2012 lists the national/ federal elections held in 2012 in all sovereign states and their dependent territories. By-elections are excluded, though national referendums are included. January *3–4 January: ...

, Republican

Mitt Romney Willard Mitt Romney (born March 12, 1947) is an American businessman and retired politician. He served as a United States Senate, United States senator from Utah from 2019 to 2025 and as the 70th governor of Massachusetts from 2003 to 2007 ...

received 57.0% of the vote (5,129 cast), ahead of Democrat

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...

with 42.0% (3,777 votes), and other candidates with 1.1% (97 votes), among the 9,060 ballots cast by the township's 14,200 registered voters (57 ballots were spoiled), for a turnout of 63.8%. In the 2008 presidential election, Republican

John McCain John Sidney McCain III (August 29, 1936 – August 25, 2018) was an American statesman and United States Navy, naval officer who represented the Arizona, state of Arizona in United States Congress, Congress for over 35 years, first as ...

received 56.5% of the vote (5,577 cast), ahead of Democrat Barack Obama with 41.6% (4,108 votes) and other candidates with 1.2% (117 votes), among the 9,879 ballots cast by the township's 14,042 registered voters, for a turnout of 70.4%. In the 2004 presidential election, Republican

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician and businessman who was the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Bush family and the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he i ...

received 58.9% of the vote (5,046 ballots cast), outpolling Democrat

John Kerry John Forbes Kerry (born December 11, 1943) is an American attorney, politician, and diplomat who served as the 68th United States secretary of state from 2013 to 2017 in the Presidency of Barack Obama#Administration, administration of Barac ...

with 40.0% (3,430 votes) and other candidates with 0.6% (71 votes), among the 8,571 ballots cast by the township's 12,064 registered voters, for a turnout percentage of 71.0. In the 2013 gubernatorial election, Republican

received 74.6% of the vote (4,603 cast), ahead of Democrat

Barbara Buono Barbara A. Buono (born July 28, 1953) is an American politician who served in the New Jersey Senate from 2002 to 2014, where she represented the 18th Legislative District. She served from 2010 to 2012 as the Majority Leader in the Senate, succ ...

with 23.5% (1,449 votes), and other candidates with 2.0% (122 votes), among the 6,322 ballots cast by the township's 13,898 registered voters (148 ballots were spoiled), for a turnout of 45.5%. In the 2009 gubernatorial election, Republican Chris Christie received 63.0% of the vote (4,198 ballots cast), ahead of Democrat

Jon Corzine Jon Stevens Corzine ( ; born January 1, 1947) is an American financial executive and retired politician who served as a United States Senator from New Jersey from 2001 to 2006, and the 54th governor of New Jersey from 2006 to 2010. Corzine ran f ...

with 28.9% (1,926 votes), Independent

Chris Daggett Christopher Jarvis Daggett (born March 7, 1950) is an American businessman who is the president and CEO of the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, one of the largest foundations in New Jersey. A former regional administrator of the United States En ...

with 5.5% (364 votes) and other candidates with 1.4% (91 votes), among the 6,666 ballots cast by the township's 13,690 registered voters, yielding a 48.7% turnout.

Education

Students in public school for grades

pre-kindergarten Pre-kindergarten (also called pre-K or PK) is a voluntary classroom-based preschool program for children below the age of five in the United States, Canada, Turkey and Greece (when kindergarten starts). It may be delivered through a preschool ...

through

sixth grade Sixth grade (also 6th grade or grade 6) is the sixth year of formal or compulsory education. Students in sixth grade are usually 11-12 years old. It is commonly the first or second grade of middle school or the last grade of elementary school, an ...

attend the schools of the Little Egg Harbor Township School District. Students from Bass River Township attend the Little Egg Harbor district as part of a

sending/receiving relationship A sending/receiving relationship is one in which a public school district sends some or all of its students to attend the schools of another district. This is often done to achieve costs savings in smaller districts or continues after districts hav ...

, that started in the 2020–21 school year. As of the 2021–22 school year, the district, comprised of three schools, had an enrollment of 1,672 students and 156.7 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a

student–teacher ratio The student–teacher ratio or student–faculty ratio refers to the number of students who attend a school or university divided by the number of teachers or staff in the institution. For example, a student–teacher ratio of 10:1 indicates that ...

of 10.7:1.District information for Little Egg Harbor Township School District

National Center for Education Statistics The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) is the principal federal agency responsible for collecting, analyzing, and reporting data on education in the United States. Established under , it operates within the Institute of Education S ...

. Accessed December 1, 2022. Schools in the district (with 2021–22 enrollment data from the

.) are Robert C. Wood Sr. Early Childhood Center with 281 students in pre-kindergarten, George J. Mitchell Elementary School with 611 students in kindergarten through third grade and Frog Pond Elementary School with 780 students in grades 4 to 6. Public school students in seventh through

twelfth grade Twelfth Grade (also known as Grade 12, Senior Year, Standard 12, 12th Standard, 12th Class, or Class 12th or Class 12) is the twelfth and final Educational stage, year of Formal education, formal or compulsory education. It is typically the final ...

s attend the schools of the Pinelands Regional School District, which also serves students from Bass River Township, Eagleswood Township and Tuckerton Borough. Schools in the district (with 2021–22 enrollment data from the

) are Pinelands Regional Junior High School with 532 students in grades 7–8 and Pinelands Regional High School with 1,070 students in grades 9–12. The high school district's board of education is comprised of nine members directly elected by the residents of the constituent municipalities to three-year terms on a staggered basis, with three seats up for election each year. Little Egg Harbor Township is allocated six of the nine seats. St. Mary Academy near Manahawkin, a K–8 school of the

Roman Catholic Diocese of Trenton The Diocese of Trenton is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory, or diocese, of the Catholic Church in central New Jersey in the United States. It is a suffragan diocese in the ecclesiastical province of the metropolitan Roman Catholic Archdioce ...

, 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, including St. Theresa Church in Little Egg Harbor Township. 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.

Transportation

Roads and highways

, the township had a total of of roadways, of which were maintained by the municipality, by Ocean County, by the

New Jersey Department of Transportation The New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT) is the agency responsible for transportation issues and policy in New Jersey, including maintaining and operating the state's highway and public road system, planning and developing transport ...

and by the

New Jersey Turnpike Authority The New Jersey Turnpike Authority (NJTA) is a state agency responsible for maintaining the New Jersey Turnpike and the Garden State Parkway, which are two toll roads in the U.S. state of New Jersey. The agency is headquartered in Woodbridge Town ...

. The

Garden State Parkway The Garden State Parkway (GSP) is a Controlled-access highway, controlled-access toll road that stretches the north–south length of eastern New Jersey from the state's southernmost tip near Cape May, New Jersey, Cape May north to the New York ...

passes through the township, connecting Bass River Township in Burlington County in the south to Eagleswood Township in the north and includes interchange 58, which is signed for County Route 539 serving Tuckerton / Trenton. County Route 539 and Route 9 are major arteries in the township.

Public transportation

NJ Transit New Jersey Transit Corporation, branded as NJ Transit or NJTransit and often shortened to NJT, is a state-owned public transportation system that serves the U.S. state of New Jersey and portions of the states of New York and Pennsylvania. I ...

provides bus service between the township and

Atlantic City Atlantic City, sometimes referred to by its initials A.C., is a Jersey Shore seaside resort city in Atlantic County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Atlantic City comprises the second half of the Atlantic City- Hammonton metropolitan sta ...

on the 559 route. Ocean Ride local service is provided on the OC6 Little Egg Harbor – Stafford Township route.

Notable people

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

Gaten Matarazzo Gaetano John "Gaten" Matarazzo III ( , ; born September 8, 2002) is an American actor. He began his career on the Broadway stage as Benjamin in '' Priscilla, Queen of the Desert'' (2011–12) and as Gavroche in ''Les Misérables'' (2014–15) ...

(born 2002), star in the

Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...

original series ''

Stranger Things ''Stranger Things'' is an American television series created by the Duffer brothers, Duffer Brothers for Netflix. Produced by Monkey Massacre Productions and 21 Laps Entertainment, the Stranger Things season 1, first season was released on N ...

'' * Lily McBeth (1934–2014), transgender substitute teacher at the town's local schools who made national news after she underwent a gender reassignment operation * James Moody, ( 1744–1809),

loyalist Loyalism, in the United Kingdom, its overseas territories and its former colonies, refers to the allegiance to the British crown or the United Kingdom. In North America, the most common usage of the term refers to loyalty to the British Cr ...

soldier who fought for the British during the

; after the war, Moody retired to Canada so as not to face punishment as a traitor * Brian E. Rumpf (born 1964), member of the

New Jersey General Assembly The New Jersey General Assembly is the lower house of the New Jersey Legislature. Since the election of 1967 (1968 session), the Assembly has consisted of 80 members. Two members are elected from each of New Jersey's 40 legislative districts f ...

since 2003, who also served on the Little Egg Harbor Township Committee, serving as the township's mayor from 2000 to 2003Assemblyman Rumpf's Legislative Website
,

. Accessed December 27, 2012.

References

External links

*
Pinelands-Pine Barrens photo galleries of native flora fauna and landscapes
{{Authority control 1740 establishments in New Jersey Populated places in the Pine Barrens (New Jersey) Populated places established in 1740 Township form of New Jersey government Townships in New Jersey Townships in Ocean County, New Jersey