Salem County is the westernmost

county A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...

in the U.S. state of

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 ...

. Its western boundary is formed by the Delaware River, and it has the eastern terminus of the Delaware Memorial Bridge, which connects the county with New Castle, Delaware. Its

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

is Salem.New Jersey County Map
New Jersey Department of State. Accessed December 2, 2022. The county is part of the South Jersey region of the state. The county lies within 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 ...

metropolitan area, also known as the Delaware Valley area. As of the 2020 census, the county retained its position as the state's least-populous county,Table1. New Jersey Counties and Most Populous Cities and Townships: 2020 and 2010 Censuses
New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development. Accessed December 1, 2022. with a population of 64,837, a decrease of 1,246 (−1.9%) from the 2010 census count of 66,083. The most populous place in Salem County is Pennsville Township with 12,684 residents as of the 2020 Census. Lower Alloways Creek Township covers , the largest total area of any municipality. Salem County, along with adjacent Gloucester County, also in South Jersey, have become an East Coast epicenter for

logistics Logistics is the part of supply chain management that deals with the efficient forward and reverse flow of goods, services, and related information from the point of origin to the Consumption (economics), point of consumption according to the ...

and

warehouse A warehouse is a building for storing goods. Warehouses are used by manufacturers, importers, exporters, wholesalers, transport businesses, customs, etc. They are usually large plain buildings in industrial parks on the rural–urban fringe, out ...

construction.

History

Etymology

The county derives its name from the

Hebrew Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and ...

word shalom, which means "peace", chosen by early Quaker settlers to mark the serenity of the area.Hutchinson, Viola L
''The Origin of New Jersey Place Names''
New Jersey Public Library Commission, May 1945. Accessed April 4, 2023.

Early history

European settlement began with English colonists in the seventeenth century, who were settling both sides of the Delaware River. They established a colonial court in the area in 1681, but Salem County was first formally organized within West Jersey on May 17, 1694, from the Salem Tenth. Pittsgrove Township was transferred to Cumberland County in April 1867, but was restored to Salem County in February 1868.Snyder, John P
''The Story of New Jersey's Civil Boundaries: 1606-1968''
Bureau of Geology and Topography; Trenton, New Jersey; 1969. p. 120. Accessed October 30, 2012. The area was initially settled by Quakers. The Old Salem County Courthouse, located on the same block as the Salem County Courthouse, serves as the court for Salem City in the 21st century. It is the oldest active courthouse in New Jersey and is the second oldest courthouse in continuous use in the United States, the oldest being King William County Courthouse in Virginia. The courthouse was built in 1735 during the reign of King George II using locally manufactured bricks. The building was enlarged in 1817 and additionally enlarged and remodeled in 1908. Its distinctive bell tower is essentially unchanged and the original bell sits in the courtroom. Judge William Hancock of the King's Court presided at the courthouse. He was later killed by the British in 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 ...

during the massacre at Hancock House committed by the British against local militia during the Salem Raid in 1778. Afterward the courthouse was the site of the "treason trials", wherein suspected Loyalists were put on trial for having allegedly aided the British during the Salem Raid. Four men were convicted and sentenced to death for treason; however, they were pardoned by Governor William Livingston and exiled from New Jersey. The courthouse is also the site of the legend of Colonel Robert Gibbon Johnson's proving the edibility of the tomato. Before 1820, Americans often assumed tomatoes were poisonous. In 1820, Colonel Johnson, according to legend, stood upon the courthouse steps and ate tomatoes in front of a large crowd assembled to watch him do so. Salem County is notable for its distinctive Quaker-inspired

architecture Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and construction, constructi ...

and masonry styles of the 18th century. It had a rural and agricultural economy. In the early 20th century, its towns received numerous immigrants from eastern and southern Europe, who markedly added to the population. In the period following World War II, the county's population increased due to suburban development. To accommodate increasing traffic, the Delaware Memorial Bridge was built from Salem County to New Castle, Delaware.

Geography and climate

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, as of the 2020 Census, the county had a total area of , of which was land (89.1%) and was water (10.9%).2020 Census Gazetteer File for Counties in 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 April 1, 2023. The county is bordered on the west by the Delaware River, and drained by Salem River, Alloway, and other creeks. The terrain is almost uniformly flat coastal plain, with minimal relief. The highest elevation in the county has never been determined with any specificity, but is likely one of seven low rises in Upper Pittsgrove Township that reach approximately in elevation. Sea level is the lowest point. The county has a

humid subtropical climate A humid subtropical climate is a subtropical -temperate climate type, characterized by long and hot summers, and cool to mild winters. These climates normally lie on the southeast side of all continents (except Antarctica), generally between ...

(''Cfa'') and monthly temperatures in Salem city average from in January to in July, while in Elmer they average from in January to in July.

Climate and weather

In recent years, average temperatures in the county seat of Salem have ranged from a low of in January to a high of in July, although a record low of was recorded in January 1985 and a record high of was recorded in August 1918. Average monthly precipitation ranged from in February to in July.

Demographics

2020 census

As of the 2020 U.S. census, the county's had 64,837 people, 24,404 households, and 16,880 families. 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 27,763 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup was 79.0%

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 ...

, 13.1%

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 ...

, 0.3% Native American, 1.1% Asian, and 3.7% 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 9.8% of the population. Of the 24,404 households, of which 21.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 48.6% were married couples living together, 14.9% had a female householder with no husband present, 5.6% had a male householder with no wife present and 30.8% were non-families, and 12.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.50 and the average family size was 3.03. About 21.0% of the population was under age 18, 8.0% was from age 18 to 24, 35.2% was from age 15 to 44, and 19.8% was age 65 or older. The median age was 43.1 years. The gender makeup was 47.9% male and 52.1% female. For every 100 females, there were 92.1 males. The median household income was $68,531, and the median family income was $81,122. About 12.4% 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 20.2% of those under age 18 and 4.7% of those age 65 or over.

2010 census

The 2010 United States census counted 66,083 people, 25,290 households, and 17,551 families in the county. The population density was . There were 27,417 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup was 79.83% (52,757)

, 14.09% (9,309) Black or African American, 0.36% (240) Native American, 0.84% (557) Asian, 0.02% (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 ...

, 2.64% (1,745) from other races, and 2.22% (1,465) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 6.82% (4,507) of the population. Of the 25,290 households, 29% had children under the age of 18; 49.9% were married couples living together; 14.4% had a female householder with no husband present and 30.6% were non-families. Of all households, 25.4% were made up of individuals and 10.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.56 and the average family size was 3.07. 23.5% of the population were under the age of 18, 8.2% from 18 to 24, 23.9% from 25 to 44, 29.4% from 45 to 64, and 15% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40.8 years. For every 100 females, the population had 94.9 males. For every 100 females ages 18 and older there were 91.6 males.

Government

County government

Salem County is governed by a five-member Board of Commissioners who are elected at-large to serve three-year terms of office on a staggered basis, with either one or two seats coming up for election each year. At an annual reorganization meeting held at the beginning of January, the board selects a director and a deputy director from among its members. The appointed position professional county administrator was abolished by a unanimous vote of the commissioners in January 2014. In 2016, commissioners were paid $25,410 and the director was paid an annual salary of $26,410. In the 2016 general election, Salem County voters approved a binding referendum to cut the number of Commissioner from seven to five as well as a non-binding referendum to cut Commissioner salaries by 20%; both initiatives, which had been placed on the ballot as the result of grassroots campaigns opposed to a proposed outsourcing deal, passed by a 3–1 margin. In the wake of the referendum results, Director Julie Acton resigned in December 2016 and was replaced by Scott Griscom. In April 2017, the New Jersey Supreme Court ruled that the reduction in seats will be accomplished through attrition, with the seats expiring at the end of 2017 (held by Commissioners Cross, Painter, and Vanderslice) being eliminated; in the November 2017 general election there will be one new three-year seat up for a vote as well as a two-year unexpired term, so that on January 1, 2018, there will be a five-member board. Republicans have fully controlled the board since 2022. , Salem County's Commissioners (with terms for director and deputy director ending every December 31) are:Election Summary Report General Election Salem County November 2, 2021 Official Results Report
Salem County, New Jersey, updated November 15, 2021. Accessed January 1, 2022.Election Summary Report Salem County NJ General Election November 3, 2020 Official Report
Salem County, New Jersey, updated November 25, 2020. Accessed January 1, 2021.November 5, 2019 Summary Report Salem County, NJ Official Results
Salem County, New Jersey Clerk, updated November 18, 2019. Accessed January 1, 2020. Pursuant to Article VII Section II of the New Jersey State Constitution, each county in New Jersey is required to have three elected administrative officials known as "constitutional officers." These officers are the County Clerk and County Surrogate (both elected for five-year terms of office) and the County Sheriff (elected for a three-year term). Salem County's constitutional officers, elected on a countywide basis are: The Salem County Prosecutor is Kristin J. Telsey, who was nominated to fill the position in September 2022. Salem County is a part of Vicinage 15 of the New Jersey Superior Court (along with Cumberland County and Gloucester County), seated in Woodbury in Gloucester County; the Assignment Judge for the vicinage is Benjamin C. Telsey. The Salem County Courthouse is in Salem. No Democrat has won county-wide office since 2020.

Federal representatives

Salem County falls entirely within the 2nd congressional district

State represenatatives

All of Salem County is located in the 3rd legislative district.

Politics

Salem County has generally and historically been a bellwether county in the state, having voted for the national winner all but three times (1960, 1992, and 2000) between 1936 and 2012. Since 2012, the county has swung more toward Republicans, following the trend of most rural counties in the United States. 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 ...

won 54.9% of the vote in 2016, the highest vote share for a Republican since

George H. W. Bush George Herbert Walker BushBefore the outcome of the 2000 United States presidential election, he was usually referred to simply as "George Bush" but became more commonly known as "George H. W. Bush", "Bush Senior," "Bush 41," and even "Bush th ...

in 1988. Trump improved to 55.3% of the vote in 2020 and 58.71% in 2024. As of January 2023, there were a total of 48,956 registered voters in Salem County, of whom 14,768 (30.2%) were registered as Democrats, 14,839 (30.3%) were registered as Republicans and 18,525 (37.8%) were registered as unaffiliated. There were 824 voters (1.7%) registered to other parties. Among the county's 2010 Census population, 64.6% were registered to vote, including 84.4% of those ages 18 and over.Voter Registration Summary - Salem
New Jersey Department of State Division of Elections, March 23, 2011. Accessed January 23, 2013.GCT-P7: Selected Age Groups: 2010 - State – County Subdivision; 2010 Census Summary File 1 for New Jersey

. Accessed January 23, 2013.

Economy

The Bureau of Economic Analysis calculated that the county's

gross domestic product Gross domestic product (GDP) is a monetary measure of the total market value of all the final goods and services produced and rendered in a specific time period by a country or countries. GDP is often used to measure the economic performanc ...

was $5.2 billion in 2021, which was ranked 18th in the state and was a 3.9% increase from the prior year.

Education

School districts

School districts include:New Jersey School Directory for Salem County
New Jersey Department of Education. Accessed August 1, 2022. ;K-12: * Penns Grove-Carneys Point Regional School District * Pennsville School District * Pittsgrove Township School District * Salem City School District * Salem County Special Services School District * Woodstown-Pilesgrove Regional School District – Regional ;Secondary: * Salem County Vocational Technical Schools ;Elementary: * Alloway Township School District * Elsinboro Township School District * Lower Alloways Creek Township School District * Mannington Township School District * Oldmans Township School District * Quinton Township School District * Upper Pittsgrove School District Elmer School District became a non-operating school district in 2010, and disestablished completely in 2017.

Transportation

, the county had a total of of roadways, of which were maintained by the local municipality, by Salem County and by the New Jersey Department of Transportation, by the New Jersey Turnpike Authority and by the Delaware River and Bay Authority. Salem is served by many roads. Major county routes include CR 540, CR 551, CR 553 (only in Pittsgrove) and CR 581. State highways include Route 45, Route 48 (only in Carneys Point), Route 49, Route 56 (only in Pittsgrove), Route 77 and Route 140 (only in Carneys Point). The U.S. routes are U.S. Route 40 and the southern end of U.S. Route 130. Limited access roads include Interstate 295 and the New Jersey Turnpike. Both highways pass through the northern part of the county. Only one turnpike interchange is located in Salem: Exit 1 in Carneys Point (which is also where the turnpike ends). There are a pair of service areas on the Turnpike, both located between exits 1 and 2 in Oldmans Township: The John Fenwick Service Area on the northbound side and the Clara Barton Service Area in the southbound direction. The Route 55 freeway passes through the northeastern part of the county briefly but has no interchanges within the county. The Delaware Memorial Bridge (which is signed as I-295/US 40) is a set of twin suspension bridges crossing the Delaware River. Connecting New Castle, Delaware and Pennsville Township, the original span was opened in 1951 and the second span in 1968. NJ Transit operates three routes through Salem County: the 401, which stops in Salem, Woodstown, Swedesboro, and Woodbury en route to and from Philadelphia; the 402, which stops in Penns Grove and has two stops in Salem en route to and from Philadelphia; and the 468, which has local stops throughout Salem County.

Municipalities

The 15 municipalities in Salem County (with 2010 Census data for population, housing units and area in square miles) are: Other, unincorporated communities in the county are listed next to their parent municipality. Some of these areas are

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) that have been created by the

for enumeration purposes within a Township. Other communities and enclaves that exist within a municipality are also listed next to the name.

Recreation

Wineries

* Auburn Road Vineyards * Chestnut Run Farm * Monroeville Vineyard & Winery * Salem Oak Vineyards

Notable people

* Whitey Witt, former baseball outfielder and member of the New York Yankees' first

World Series The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB). It has been contested since between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winning team, determined through a best- ...

championship team, 1923 * Teyona Anderson (born 1989), winner of '' America's Next Top Model (season 12)'' * David Bailey, politician who has represented the 3rd legislative district in the New Jersey General Assembly since January 2024 * Isaac Ambrose Barber (1852–1909), U.S. Congressman from Maryland, serving from 1897 to 1899 * Mario Cerrito (born 1984), horror filmmaker * Isaiah D. Clawson (1820–1879), represented New Jersey's 1st congressional district 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 1855 to 1859 * Fred Drains (born 1971), American-born and naturalized Swedish basketball player * Rachel Davis DuBois (1892–1993), educator, human rights activist and pioneer of intercultural education * Hilly Flitcraft (1923–2003), pitcher whose MLB career consisted of three games played with the Philadelphia Phillies during the 1942 season at the age of 19 * Elwood L. Haines (1893–1949), Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Iowa from 1944 to 1949 * Irv Halter (born 1954), retired

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Air force, air service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its ori ...

major general who ran for Congress in Colorado in the 2014 elections * Tara LaRosa (born 1978),

mixed martial arts Mixed martial arts (MMA) is a full-contact fighting combat sport, sport based on strike (attack), striking and grappling; incorporating techniques from various combat sports from around the world. In the early 20th century, various inter-s ...

fighter * Everett Shinn (1876–1953), realist painter best known for his work with the Ashcan School"One of Eight"
''

Time Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...

'', March 11, 1935. Accessed May 14, 2008. "Others of 'The Eight' may have been better artists but none, including the late, lusty George Luks, had a more adventurous life than Everett Shinn. A fat little Quaker boy in Woodstown, N. J., he was known as 'Pud' (pudding) to his contemporaries."

References

External links

Salem County official websiteThe Official Salem County Tourism and Travel WebsiteDiscover Salem County NJThe News of Salem County
{{Coord, 39.58, -75.36, display=title, type:adm2nd_region:US-NJ_source:UScensus1990 1694 establishments in New Jersey Populated places established in 1694 South Jersey