Lower 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 ...

Cape May County Cape May County is the southernmost county in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Much of the county is located on the Cape May peninsula, bound by the Delaware Bay to its west and the Atlantic Ocean to its south and east. Adjacent to the Atlantic ...

, 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, and all of Cape May County, is part of the Ocean City metropolitan statistical area, and is part of the

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 ...

- Wilmington- Camden, PA-NJ- DE- MD combined statistical area, also known as the Delaware Valley or Philadelphia metropolitan area. As of the 2020 United States census, the township's population was 22,057, a decrease of 809 (−3.5%) from the 2010 census count of 22,866, which in turn reflected a decrease of 79 (−0.3%) from the 22,945 counted in the 2000 census. ''

New Jersey Monthly ''New Jersey Monthly'' is an American monthly magazine featuring issues of possible interest to residents of New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United St ...

'' magazine ranked Lower Township as its 34th best place to live in its 2008 rankings of the "Best Places To Live" in New Jersey. The township is part of the state's

South Jersey South Jersey, also known as Southern New Jersey, comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is located between Pennsylvania and the lower Delaware River to its west, the Atlantic Ocean to its east, Delaware to its south, ...

region and the larger Delaware Valley or Philadelphia metropolitan area.

History

Before the region was settled by Europeans, the Kechemeche tribe of the

Lenape The Lenape (, , ; ), also called the Lenni Lenape and Delaware people, are an Indigenous peoples of the Northeastern Woodlands, Indigenous people of the Northeastern Woodlands, who live in the United States and Canada. The Lenape's historica ...

Native Americans inhabited

, and traveled to the barrier islands during the summer to hunt and fish.Snyder, John P
''The Story of New Jersey's Civil Boundaries: 1606-1968''
Bureau of Geology and Topography; Trenton, New Jersey; 1969. p. 118. Accessed May 29, 2024.Holden, Robert F

''

The Press of Atlantic City ''The Press of Atlantic City'' is the fourth-largest daily newspaper in New Jersey. Originally based in Pleasantville, New Jersey, Pleasantville, it is the primary newspaper for southeastern New Jersey and the Jersey Shore. The Designated marke ...

'', August 9, 2017. Accessed October 27, 2019.A Brief History of Ocean City New Jersey
Ocean City, New Jersey. Accessed December 23, 2017. On August 28, 1609, English explorer

Henry Hudson Henry Hudson ( 1565 – disappeared 23 June 1611) was an English sea explorer and navigator during the early 17th century, best known for his explorations of present-day Canada and parts of the Northeastern United States. In 1607 and 16 ...

entered the

Delaware Bay Delaware Bay is the estuary outlet of the Delaware River on the northeast seaboard of the United States, lying between the states of Delaware and New Jersey. It is approximately in area, the bay's freshwater mixes for many miles with the saltw ...

and stayed one day on land, north of what is now Cape May Point."Cape May County"
from ''Historic Roadsides of New Jersey by The Society of Colonial Wars in the State of New Jersey, 1928''. Accessed October 27, 2019. In 1630, representatives of the

Dutch West India Company The Dutch West India Company () was a Dutch chartered company that was founded in 1621 and went defunct in 1792. Among its founders were Reynier Pauw, Willem Usselincx (1567–1647), and Jessé de Forest (1576–1624). On 3 June 1621, it was gra ...

purchased a tract of land along the Delaware from indigenous people, and additional land in the county was purchased 11 years later. Due to the large number of whales in the region of

Cape May Cape May consists of a peninsula and barrier island system in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is roughly coterminous with Cape May County and runs southwards from the New Jersey mainland, separating Delaware Bay from the Atlantic Ocean. Th ...

, Dutch explorers founded Town Bank around 1640 as a whaling village in what is now Lower Township. It was the first European settlement in Cape May County. The village once functioned as the

court house A courthouse or court house is a structure which houses judicial functions for a governmental entity such as a state, region, province, county, prefecture, regency, or similar governmental unit. A courthouse is home to one or more courtrooms, ...

for the county, along with Coxehall, built by Dr.

Daniel Coxe Daniel Coxe III ( – 19 January 1730) was an English physician and governor of West Jersey from 1687 to 1688 and 1689 to 1692. Biography The Coxe family traced their lineage to a Daniel Coxe who lived in Somersetshire, England, in the 13th ce ...

to be a center for a

manorial Manorialism, also known as seigneurialism, the manor system or manorial system, was the method of land ownership (or "tenure") in parts of Europe, notably France and later England, during the Middle Ages. Its defining features included a large, ...

style of government.''Cape May County Comprehensive Plan''

Cape May County, New Jersey Cape May County is the southernmost County (United States), county in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Much of the county is located on the Cape May peninsula, bound by the Delaware Bay to its west and the Atlantic Ocean to its south and east. ...

Planning Board. Accessed October 27, 2019. The sole remaining section of the original structure, which was moved several times during its history, is now preserved as Coxe Hall Cottage at Historic Cold Spring Village, a 19th-century living history museum in Lower Township. Lower Township was formed as a precinct on April 2, 1723, and was incorporated 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, as one of New Jersey's initial group of 104 townships established by the

Township Act of 1798 The Township Act of 1798 ("An Act incorporating the Inhabitants of Townships, designating their Powers, and regulating their Meetings", PL 1798, p. 289) is an Act passed by New Jersey Legislature on February 21, 1798, that formally incorporat ...

. The township's name came from its location when Cape May was split into three townships in 1723 at the same time that Middle Township and Upper Township were created. Portions of the township were taken to form Cape Island Borough (March 8, 1848; now known as Cape May city), Cape May Point borough (created April 19, 1878; restored to Lower Township on April 8, 1896; re-created April 6, 1908), Holly Beach (April 14, 1885, now part of Wildwood city), South Cape May (August 27, 1894; restored to Lower Township after the borough was dissolved on April 30, 1945), Wildwood Crest (April 6, 1910), and

North Cape May North Cape May is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) located within Lower Township in Cape May County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is part of the Ocean City Metropolitan Statistical Area. At the 2010 United ...

(March 19, 1928; restored to Lower Township after it was dissolved on April 30, 1945).

Geography

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 township had a total area of 31.06 square miles (80.45 km²), including 27.38 square miles (70.91 km²) of land and 3.69 square miles (9.54 km²) of water (11.86%).

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 ...

s (CDPs) located within Lower Township include Diamond Beach (with a 2010 population of 136,), Erma (2,134),

(3,226) and

Villas Villas may refer to: Places * Villas, Florida, United States * Villas, Illinois, United States * Villas, New Jersey, United States * Las Villas, a region of Spain * Las Villas (Cuba), a former Cuban Province * The Villas, a housing estate in ...

(9,483). Other

unincorporated communities 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 ...

, localities and place names located partially or completely within the township include Bennett, Cold Spring, Cold Spring Inlet, Ephraims Island, Fishing Creek, Higbees Landing, Miami Beach, Schellengers Landing, Sewells Point, South Cape May, Sunset Beach, Town Bank, Weers Landing, and Wildwood Gables. Schellengers Landing is where boats dock and where a bridge between Cape Island and the mainland is located. Schellengers Landing was named after people who moved from New England to New Jersey in the 1600s.
Tischler was formerly the editor of the magazine
There were multiple families with the Schellenger name who had settled the area. Schellengers Landing is connected to Cape May city via a bridge, and is on Route 109. The name of the community is spelled differently in different works. Lower Township borders the Cape May County municipalities of Cape May City, Cape May Point Borough, Middle Township, West Cape May Borough, Wildwood City, Wildwood Crest Borough, and

and the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the ...

Demographics

2010 census

The 2010 United States census counted 22,866 people, 9,579 households, and 6,351 families in the township. The

population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geog ...

was . There were 14,507 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup was 94.24% (21,549)

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 ...

, 1.99% (456) Black or African American, 0.16% (37) Native American, 0.62% (142) Asian, 0.04% (10)

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 ...

, 1.20% (275) from other races, and 1.74% (397) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 4.24% (969) of the population. Of the 9,579 households, 22.6% had children under the age of 18; 49.3% were married couples living together; 12.1% had a female householder with no husband present and 33.7% were non-families. Of all households, 28.7% were made up of individuals and 15.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.38 and the average family size was 2.89. 19.8% of the population were under the age of 18, 7.6% from 18 to 24, 20.4% from 25 to 44, 31.0% from 45 to 64, and 21.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 46.5 years. For every 100 females, the population had 90.1 males. For every 100 females ages 18 and older there were 86.9 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 $51,101 (with a margin of error of +/− $2,460) and the median family income was $62,587 (+/− $7,438). Males had a median income of $50,572 (+/− $3,361) versus $35,978 (+/− $2,297) 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 $28,175 (+/− $1,295). About 6.6% of families and 10.6% 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 20.4% of those under age 18 and 6.5% of those age 65 or over.

2000 census

As of the 2000 U.S. census, there were 22,945 people, 9,328 households, and 6,380 families residing in the township. The population density was . There were 13,924 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the township was 96.26%

, 1.39%

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 ...

, 0.23% Native American, 0.53% Asian, 0.02%

, 0.65% from other races, and 0.92% 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 1.88% of the population.Census 2000 Profiles of Demographic / Social / Economic / Housing Characteristics for Lower township, Cape May County, New Jersey
,

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 ...

. Accessed July 16, 2012.DP-1: Profile of General Demographic Characteristics: 2000 - Census 2000 Summary File 1 (SF 1) 100-Percent Data for Lower township, Cape May County, New Jersey
,

. Accessed July 16, 2012. There were 9,328 households, out of which 28.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 52.9% were

married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...

living together, 11.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 31.6% were non-families. 27.2% of all households were made up of individuals, and 15.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.43 and the average family size was 2.95. In the township, the population was spread out, with 23.7% under the age of 18, 6.1% from 18 to 24, 25.1% from 25 to 44, 24.4% from 45 to 64, and 20.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 42 years. For every 100 females, there were 90.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 85.2 males. The median income for a household in the township was $38,977, and the median income for a family was $45,058. Males had a median income of $35,201 versus $24,715 for females. The

for the township was $19,786. About 5.3% of families and 7.7% of the population were below the

, including 10.3% of those under age 18 and 5.3% of those age 65 or over.

Government

Local government

Lower Township operates within the Faulkner Act, formally known as the Optional Municipal Charter Law, under the Council-Manager form of government, which was adopted in 1984. The township is one of 42 municipalities (of the 564) statewide that use this form of government. The council is comprised of five members—the Mayor, the Council Member-at-Large and three

Ward Ward may refer to: Division or unit * Hospital ward, a hospital division, floor, or room set aside for a particular class or group of patients, for example the psychiatric ward * Prison ward, a division of a penal institution such as a pris ...

seats—each elected on a partisan basis to four-year terms on a staggered basis, with either two seats (mayor and council at-large) or the three ward seats up for election in even-numbered years on an alternating basis as part of the November general election.''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 The Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy of Rutgers University (The Bloustein School) serves as a center for the theory and practice of urban planning, public policy and public health/health administration scholarship. The sc ...

, March 2013, p. 8. The Mayor presides at all Council meetings and has a voice and vote in the proceedings. Powers are limited to those expressly conferred by the Charter. The Manager serves the council for an indefinite term of office and may be removed by a majority vote of the council. The Manager is the chief executive and administrator of the Township. , members of the Lower Township Council are

Mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...

Frank Sippel ( R, term ends December 31, 2024; At Large),

Deputy Mayor The deputy mayor (also known as vice mayor and assistant mayor) is an elective or appointive office of the second-ranking official that is present in many local governments. Duties and functions Many elected deputy mayors are members of the loca ...

David Perry (R, 2024; At Large), Thomas Conrad (R, 2026; Ward I), Kevin Coombs (R, 2026; Ward II) and Roland A. Roy Jr. (R, 2026; Ward III).Mayor and Council
Lower Township. Accessed August 23, 2023. "Lower Township adopted the Council-Manager form of government in 1984. The council is comprised of five council members (Mayor, Council Member-at-Large, and 3 Wards), each elected on partisan basis, serving the Township for a four-year term. Because the terms overlap, elections to council are held every two years."2023 County & Municipal Elected Officials Cape May County, NJ -- July 2023

, August 3, 2023. Accessed August 23, 2023.Summary Results Report 2022 November Cape May General Election November 8, 2022 Official Results

, updated November 17, 2022. Accessed January 1, 2023.2020 General Election Successful Candidates

, updated December 4, 2020. Accessed January 1, 2021. Erik Simonsen won a special election in November 2013 to fill the seat of Glenn Douglass, who had resigned two months earlier and whose seat had been filled on an interim basis by Jackie Henderson. In January 2017, Roland Roy was selected from three candidates nominated by the Republican municipal committee to fill the Third Ward seat vacated by Erik Simonsen when he took office as mayor; Roy served on an interim basis until the November 2017 general election, when he was elected to serve the balance of the term through December 2018.2017 General Election Official Results

, updated November 9, 2017. Accessed January 1, 2018. In February 2020, the Township Council selected Keven Coombs to fill the Ward II seat expiring in December 2022 that became vacant when David Perry was chosen to serve as deputy mayor. Earlier that month, Perry had been shifted to deputy mayor after Frank Sippel was selected as mayor to replace Erik K. Simonsen, who resigned to take office in 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 ...

Federal, state, and county representation

Lower 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 1st 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 14,612 registered voters in Lower Township, of which 3,000 (20.5%) were registered as Democrats, 5,902 (40.4%) 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 5,702 (39.0%) were registered as Unaffiliated. There were 8 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. 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 52.6% of the vote (5,493 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 46.2% (4,823 votes), and other candidates with 1.1% (120 votes), among the 10,534 ballots cast by the township's 15,217 registered voters (98 ballots were spoiled), for a turnout of 69.2%. 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 52.2% of the vote (5,831 cast), ahead of Democrat

, who received 45.1% (5,040 votes), with 11,177 ballots cast among the township's 14,435 registered voters, for a turnout of 77.4%. 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 54.3% of the vote (5,951 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 ...

, who received around 44.1% (4,830 votes), with 10,961 ballots cast among the township's 14,709 registered voters, for a turnout percentage of 74.5. In the 2013 gubernatorial election, Republican

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) ...

received 70.8% of the vote (4,909 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 27.6% (1,913 votes), and other candidates with 1.7% (115 votes), among the 7,142 ballots cast by the township's 14,910 registered voters (205 ballots were spoiled), for a turnout of 47.9%. In the 2009 gubernatorial election, Republican Chris Christie received 51.6% of the vote (3,712 ballots cast), ahead of both 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 40.1% (2,882 votes) and 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 6.0% (433 votes), with 7,190 ballots cast among the township's 14,989 registered voters, yielding a 48.0% turnout.

Education

Lower Township School District The Lower Township School District is a comprehensive community public school district that serves students in pre-kindergarten through sixth grade from Lower Township, in Cape May County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020–21 s ...

serves public-school students in

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 ...

. As of the 2020–21 school year, the district, comprised of four schools, had an enrollment of 1,519 students and 149.6 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 10.2:1.District information for Lower Township Elementary 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 February 15, 2022. Schools in the district (with 2020–21 enrollment data from the

) are David C. Douglass Veterans Memorial School with 312 students in grades PreK-K (in

), Carl T. Mitnick School with 440 students in grades 1-2 (in Cold Spring), Maud T. Abrams School with 355 students in grades 3-4 (in Cold Spring), and Charles W. Sandman Consolidated School with 388 students in grades 5-6 (in Cold Spring). The Lower Township School District participates in the

Interdistrict Public School Choice Program The Interdistrict Public School Choice Program is a program designed to expand educational choices for New Jersey students by providing them with the option of attending a school district outside their district of residence without cost to their ...

, which allows non-resident students to attend the district's schools without cost to their parents, with tuition paid by the state. Seats in the program for non-resident students are specified by the district and are allocated by lottery. For 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, public-school students attend the schools of the

Lower Cape May Regional School District The Lower Cape May Regional School District (LCMR School District) is regional public school district headquartered in Lower Township, New Jersey, Lower Township, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, that serves students in seventh grade, seventh th ...

, in the Erma area of the township, which also serves students from Cape May City and West Cape May, along with students from Cape May Point who attend the 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 ...

.Johnson, Virgil; and Kirtland, James L
"A Feasibility Study to Reconfigure the Lower Cape May Regional School District"
Statistical Forecasting LLC, June 2013. Accessed August 29, 2024. "Cape May City is one of three constituent communities served by the Lower Cape May Regional School District ('Lower Cape May Regional'), a limited purpose school district providing education for the middle and high school students from Cape May City, Lower Township, and West Cape May.... Students from Cape May Point attend on a sending-receiving basis." Schools in the district (with 2022–23 enrollment data from the

) are Richard M. Teitelman Middle School with 433 students in grades 7-8 and

Lower Cape May Regional High School The Lower Cape May Regional High School (LCMRHS) is a four-year comprehensive public high school located in Lower Township, in Cape May County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, operating as part of the Lower Cape May Regional School District. L ...

(LCMRHS) with 757 students in grades 9–12. In the 2011–12 school year, the city of Cape May paid $6 million in property taxes to cover the district's 120 high-school students, an average of $50,000 per student attending the Lower Cape May district. Cape May officials have argued that the district's funding formula based on assessed property values unfairly penalizes Cape May, which has higher property values and a smaller number of high-school students as a percentage of the population than the other constituent districts, especially Lower Township. The district's

board of education A board of education, school committee or school board is the board of directors or board of trustees of a school, local school district or an equivalent institution. The elected council determines the educational policy in a small regional area, ...

is nine members, who are elected directly by voters to serve three-year terms of office on a staggered basis, with three seats up for election each year Seats on the board are allocated based on population, with Lower Township assigned seven seats. Students are also eligible to attend

Cape May County Technical High School Cape May County Technical High School, located in Middle Township, which provides vocational and technical education to students in ninth through twelfth grades from Cape May County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, operating as part of the Cap ...

in Cape May Court House, which serves students from the entire county in its comprehensive and vocational programs, which are offered without charge to students who are county residents. Special needs students may be referred to

Cape May County Special Services School District The Cape May County Special Services School District (CMCSSSD) is a special education public school district headquartered in Middle Township, in Cape May County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. The district's schools offer educational and the ...

in Cape May Court House. Wildwood Catholic Academy (Pre-K–12) in North Wildwood, of the

Roman Catholic Diocese of Camden The Diocese of Camden () is a Latin Church diocese of the Catholic Church in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It consists of 62 parishes and about 475,000 Catholics in the South Jersey counties of Atlantic, Camden, Cape May, Cumberland, Gloucester, ...

, is the nearest Catholic school. Villas had its own Catholic K–8 school, St. Raymond's School, until 2007, when it merged into Our Lady Star of the Sea School in

. In 2010 Our Lady Star of the Sea merged into Cape Trinity Regional School (Pre-K–8) in North Wildwood. - The author was the principal of Our Lady Star of the Sea Regional School. That school in turn merged into Wildwood Catholic Academy in 2020. Bishop McHugh Regional School in Dennis Township takes students from Lower Township. Two of the initial properties of Cape Christian Academy, formed as a merger of South Cape Christian Academy and Cape May County Christian School were in Lower Township. - Available from Newsbank
ID# news/0EAEAA6D18083359
The current consolidated school building is in Middle Township, with a Cape May Courthouse postal address and within the CMCH census-designated place. Richard Degener of the ''

Press of Atlantic City ''The Press of Atlantic City'' is the fourth-largest daily newspaper in New Jersey. Originally based in Pleasantville, New Jersey, Pleasantville, it is the primary newspaper for southeastern New Jersey and the Jersey Shore. The Designated marke ...

'' described it as being in Burleigh. Its campus has of area. Cape May County Library operates the Lower Township Library in Villas.

Transportation

Roads and highways

, the township had a total of of roadways, of which were maintained by the municipality, by Cape May County and 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 most prominent highway serving Lower Township is 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 ...

, which has its southern terminus at the intersection with Route 109, in the township. U.S. Route 9, Route 109, Route 162, and Ocean Drive are other significant roadways within Lower 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 ...

offers bus service on the

313 __NOTOC__ Year 313 ( CCCXIII) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Constantinus and Licinianus (or, less frequently, year 1066 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denom ...

and 315 routes between

/ Wildwood /

, on the 552 between Cape May 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 ...

, with seasonal service on the

319 __NOTOC__ Year 319 ( CCCXIX) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Constantinus and Licinius (or, less frequently, year 1072 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denominat ...

route serving shore points between Cape May and the

Port Authority Bus Terminal The Port Authority Bus Terminal (colloquially known as the Port Authority and by its acronym PABT) is a bus station, bus terminal located in Manhattan in New York City. It is the busiest bus terminal in the world by volume of traffic, serving ab ...

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

Midtown Manhattan Midtown Manhattan is the central portion of the New York City borough of Manhattan, serving as the city's primary central business district. Midtown is home to some of the city's most prominent buildings, including the Empire State Building, the ...

. The

Cape May–Lewes Ferry The Cape May–Lewes Ferry is a ferry system on the East Coast of the United States that traverses a crossing of the Delaware Bay connecting North Cape May, New Jersey with Lewes, Delaware. The ferry constitutes a portion of U.S. Route 9 and ...

terminal is located in North Cape May. Operated by the

Delaware River and Bay Authority The Delaware River and Bay Authority (DRBA) is a bi-state government agency of the United States, U.S. states of Delaware and New Jersey established by an interstate compact in 1962. The authority operates the Delaware Memorial Bridge, Delaw ...

, the ferry makes the trip between Lower Township and

Lewes, Delaware Lewes ( ) is an incorporated city on the Delaware Bay in eastern Sussex County, Delaware, United States. According to the 2020 census, its population was 3,303. Along with neighboring Rehoboth Beach, Lewes is one of the principal cities of Del ...

in 85 minutes, carrying passengers and vehicles. The

operates a shuttle bus service that connects the ferry terminal with the Cape May Transportation Center in Cape May in the summer months and to the Cape May County Park & Zoo in July and August.

Cape May Airport Cape May Airport or Cape May County Airport is a public use airport in Lower Township, Cape May County, New Jersey, United States. Owned by the Delaware River and Bay Authority, the airport is four nautical miles (7 km) northwest o ...

is in Lower Township.

Points of interest

* Battery 223 *

Cape May Lighthouse The Cape May Lighthouse is a lighthouse located in the U.S. state of New Jersey at the tip of Cape May, in Lower Township, New Jersey, Lower Township's Cape May Point State Park. It was built in 1859 under the supervision of U.S. Army Corps of To ...

* Cape May Winery & Vineyard * Owen Coachman House * Cold Spring Grange Hall * Cold Spring Presbyterian Church * Fire Control Tower No. 23 * Fishing Creek Schoolhouse * George Hildreth House * Hawk Haven Vineyard & Winery * Historic Cold Spring Village * Jonathan Pyne House *

Naval Air Station Wildwood Aviation Museum The Naval Air Station Wildwood Aviation Museum is an aviation museum located at the Cape May Airport in Lower Township, in Cape May County, New Jersey, United States. History The Cape May Airport, which hosts the museum, was originally constru ...

* Rio Grande Station * Turdo Vineyards & Winery

Notable people

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

Bob Andrzejczak Robert John "Bob" Andrzejczak (born May 1, 1986) is an American Democratic Party politician who represented the 1st Legislative District in the New Jersey State Senate from January 15, 2019, when he was appointed to fill the vacancy created by ...

(born 1986), politician who represented the 1st Legislative District in the

from 2013 to 2019 and in the

New Jersey Senate The New Jersey Senate is the upper house of the New Jersey Legislature by the Constitution of 1844, replacing the Legislative Council. There are 40 legislative districts, representing districts with an average population of 232,225 (2020 figure ...

in 2019 * Maurice Catarcio (1929–2005), professional wrestler for the

World Wrestling Federation World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) is an American professional wrestling promotion. It is owned and operated by TKO Group Holdings, a majority-owned subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings. A global integrated media and entertainment company, ...

and record holder in ''

The Guinness Book of World Records ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a British reference book published annually, listi ...

'' * T. Millet Hand (1902–1956), politician who represented

New Jersey's 2nd congressional district New Jersey's 2nd congressional district, based in South Jersey, Southern New Jersey, is represented by Republican Jeff Van Drew. He was first elected as a Democrat in 2018, but announced on December 19, 2019, that he would be switching parties ...

in the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...

from 1945 to 1956 * Chris Jay, (born 1978), musician, screenwriter, actor and member of the band

Army of Freshmen Army of Freshmen is an American rock band formed in Ventura, California in 1997. They have performed over 1,500 shows in 13 countries and 43 US states. The band have released three albums and four singles since their first release in 2001. They ...

* Michael Linnington (born 1958), CEO of

Wounded Warrior Project Wounded Warrior Project (WWP) is an American charity and veterans service organization that operates as a nonprofit 501(c)(3). WWP offers a variety of programs, services and events for wounded veterans who incurred a physical or mental injury, ...

* Charles W. Sandman Jr. (1921–1985), politician who represented from 1967 to 1975 * Erik K. Simonsen, politician who represents the 1st Legislative District in the

and had served as mayor of Lower Township from 2016 until 2020 * Matt Szczur (born 1989),

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

outfielderCaldwell, Dave
"Two Sports, One Big Choice"
''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'', December 16, 2010. Accessed September 11, 2016. "Szczur, a senior from Erma, N.J., gained attention late in the 2009 season after the National Marrow Donor Program determined that his bone marrow was a match for a 13-month-old girl with juvenile leukemia."

References

External links

Official township website
{{Authority control 1723 establishments in New Jersey Faulkner Act (council–manager) Jersey Shore communities in Cape May County Populated places established in 1723 Townships in New Jersey Townships in Cape May County, New Jersey