McKee City 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 near the Mays Landing section of Hamilton 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,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 community was named after Colonel John McKee (1821–1902), an African American property speculator. Although its name includes the word "city", McKee City is not an actual city — it is currently a crossroads of commerce that has replaced

tenant farmer A tenant farmer is a farmer or farmworker who resides and works on land owned by a landlord, while tenant farming is an agricultural production system in which landowners contribute their land and often a measure of operating capital and ma ...

s with retail stores and residential neighborhoods. McKee City was the site of the former

Atlantic City Race Course The Atlantic City Race Course (ACRC), formerly the Atlantic City Race Track, was a Thoroughbred horse race track located in the Mays Landing section of Hamilton Township, in Atlantic County, New Jersey, United States. The track is located off ...

, and is home to numerous commercial businesses, including the

Hamilton Mall The Hamilton Mall is a major shopping destination in Mays Landing, New Jersey, Mays Landing, in Hamilton Township, Atlantic County, New Jersey, Hamilton Township, Atlantic County, New Jersey, Atlantic County, New Jersey, United States. Opened in ...

, which opened in 1987.

History

McKee City was founded by Colonel John McKee in 1884. It was originally a farming community, along with a sawmill, a schoolhouse, a general store, a community hall, and several farms near the former Pennsylvania-Reading Railroad (currently the site of the

Black Horse Pike The Black Horse Pike is a designation used for a number of different roadways that had been part of a historic route connecting the Camden area to the area of Atlantic City, New Jersey. Roadways now bearing the Black Horse Pike designation includ ...

). Colonel McKee intended to build a planned community where African Americans from the south could settle after the Civil War. A number of dormitory-type houses were built without frills like inside plumbing or heating. Leases were carefully designed to ensure that the tenants improved the land. The Colonel had great plans for this settlement, but he died before they could all be realized. Upon his death, Colonel McKee made a bequest of $2 million (equivalent to $ million in ), to be administered by the

Archdiocese of Philadelphia The Archdiocese of Philadelphia () is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory, or diocese, of the Catholic Church in southeastern Pennsylvania in the United States. The Archdiocese of Philadelphia originally included all of Pennsylvania and Dela ...

headed by Archbishop

Patrick John Ryan Patrick John Ryan (February 20, 1831 – February 11, 1911) was an Irish-born Catholic prelate who served as Archbishop of Philadelphia from 1884 until his death in 1911. Early life and education Patrick Ryan was born in Thurles, County Tippera ...

, to be partly used "to build a Catholic church, rectory and convent in McKee City..." However, the will was disputed by McKee's family, the funds were not distributed, and the facilities Colonel McKee envisioned were not built.

Demographics

McKee City was first listed as a

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

in the 2020 U.S. Census. As of 2020, the population was 9,758.

Education

The CDP is within two school districts: Hamilton Township School District (elementary) and

Greater Egg Harbor Regional High School District The Greater Egg Harbor Regional High School District is a regional public high school district in Atlantic County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. The district serves students in ninth through twelfth grades from the constituent municipalities ...

. The zoned high school for Hamilton Township is

Oakcrest High School Oakcrest High School is a comprehensive four-year public high school located in Hamilton Township, in Atlantic County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. The school is part of the Greater Egg Harbor Regional High School District, which includes ...

, which is a part of the Greater Egg Harbor district.

References

{{Atlantic County, New Jersey African-American history of New Jersey Hamilton Township, Atlantic County, New Jersey Census-designated places in Atlantic County, New Jersey Census-designated places in New Jersey Unincorporated communities in Atlantic County, New Jersey Unincorporated communities in New Jersey African-American Roman Catholicism Populated places in New Jersey established by African Americans