Gloucester County, New Jersey


Gloucester County is a county located in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2019 Census estimate, the county's population was 291,636, making it the state's 14th-most populous county, an increase of 1.0% from the 2010 United States Census, when its population was enumerated at 288,288, in turn an increase of 33,615 from the 254,673 counted in the 2000 U.S. Census. The percentage increase in the county's population between 2000 and 2010 was the largest in New Jersey, almost triple the statewide increase of 4.5%, and the absolute increase in residents was the third highest. Its county seat is Woodbury.
Gloucester County is located south of Philadelphia and northwest of Atlantic City. It is part of the Camden, New Jersey Metropolitan Division of the Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington Metropolitan Statistical Area as well as the Delaware Valley Combined Statistical Area.

Geography

According to the 2010 Census, the county had a total area of, including of land and of water.
Gloucester County is largely composed of low-lying rivers and coastal plains. The highest elevation in the county is a slight rise along County Route 654 southeast of Cross Keys that reaches approximately above sea level; the lowest point is at sea level on the Delaware River.

Adjacent counties

In recent years, average temperatures in the county seat of Woodbury have ranged from a low of in January to a high of in July, although a record low of was recorded in February 1934 and a record high of was recorded in August 1918. Average monthly precipitation ranged from in February to in July. The county has a humid subtropical climate. Average monthly temperatures in Newfield range from 33.0 °F in January to 76.6 °F in July.

History

and Bridgeport were among the earliest European settlements in New Jersey as a part of the 17th century New Sweden colony.
Gloucester dates back to May 26, 1686, when courts were established separate from those of Burlington. It was officially formed and its boundaries defined as part of West Jersey on May 17, 1694. Portions of Gloucester County were set off on February 7, 1837, to create Atlantic County, and on March 13, 1844 to create Camden County. The county was named for the city of Gloucester / county of Gloucestershire in England.
Woodbury, founded in 1683 by Henry Wood, is the oldest municipality in the county. The municipality of National Park hosts the site of the Revolutionary War Battle of Red Bank where Fort Mercer once stood. It is now the site of Red Bank Battlefield Park and the remains of laid there until they were moved and subsequently re-sunk in Gloucester City on their way to Philadelphia. During the colonial era, Gloucester County's main economic activity was agriculture. Woodbury was the site of the county courthouse, the county jail, a Quaker meeting house, and an inn. Because of the county's many creeks leading to the Delaware River and the Atlantic Ocean, smuggling was very common.
In 2014, the county heroin death rate was 17.3 deaths per 100,000 people, the fourth-highest rate in New Jersey nearly seven times the national average.
The Gloucester County Historical Society, founded in 1903, maintains a collection of materials and artifacts related to the history of South Jersey. The Hunter-Lawrence-Jessup House Museum in Woodbury, displays many of these artifacts.

Demographics

2010 Census

2000 Census

As of the 2000 United States Census there were 254,673 people, 90,717 households, and 67,221 families residing in the county. The population density was 784 people per square mile. There were 95,054 housing units at an average density of 293 per square mile. The racial makeup of the county was 87.07% White, 9.06% Black or African American, 0.19% Native American, 1.49% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 0.85% from other races, and 1.30% from two or more races. 2.58% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. Among those residents listing their ancestry, 26.9% were of Italian, 24.4% Irish, 22.9% German and 11.5% English ancestry according to Census 2000.
There were 90,717 households out of which 36.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 58.3% were married couples living together, 11.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 25.9% were non-families. 25.9% of all households were made up of individuals and 23.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.75 and the average family size was 3.22.
In the county, the population was spread out with 26.40% under the age of 18, 8.90% from 18 to 24, 30.40% from 25 to 44, 22.60% from 45 to 64, and 11.70% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females there were 93.70 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 90.20 males.
The median income for a household in the county was $54,273, and the median income for a family was $62,482. Males had a median income of $43,825 versus $31,077 for females. The per capita income for the county was $22,708. Around 4.3% of families and 6.2% of the population were below the poverty line, including 6.6% of those under age 18 and 7.0% of those age 65 or over.

Economy

Based on data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis, Gloucester County had a gross domestic product of $14.4 billion in 2018, which was ranked 14th in the state and represented an increase of 1.3% from the previous year.

Government

The Gloucester County Prosecutor is Charles A. Fiore.
Gloucester County is a part of Vicinage 15 of the New Jersey Superior Court, seated in Woodbury in Gloucester County; the Assignment Judge for the vicinage is Benjamin C. Telsey. The Gloucester County Courthouse is in Woodbury.
Gloucester County is included in the 1st and 2nd Congressional Districts.
The county is part of the 3rd, 4th and 5th Districts in the New Jersey Legislature.

Politics

The county leans toward the Democratic Party, though to a slightly lesser degree than the state of New Jersey as a whole. In the 2004 U.S. presidential election, John Kerry carried Gloucester County by a 5.3% margin over George W. Bush, while Kerry carried the state by 6.7% over Bush.
In the 2008 U.S. presidential election, Barack Obama carried Gloucester County by a 12.2% margin over John McCain, while Obama carried the state by 15.5% over McCain. However, in the 2009 Gubernatorial Election, Republican Chris Christie received 47% of the vote, defeating Democrat Jon Corzine, who received around 43%.

Transportation

Roads and highways

, the county had a total of of roadways, of which were maintained by the local municipality, by Gloucester County and by the New Jersey Department of Transportation and by the New Jersey Turnpike Authority.
Various county, state, U.S. routes and interstates pass through the county. Major county highways include County Road 534, County Road 536, County Road 538, County Road 544, County Road 551, County Road 553, County Road 555 and County Road 557.
State Routes include Route 41, Route 42, Route 45, Route 47, Route 55, Route 77, Route 168 and Route 324. The three U.S. routes that traverse include U.S. Route 130 in the northwest, U.S. Route 322 near the center, and U.S. Route 40 in the southern tip.
Interstate 295 is the only Interstate in the county which also runs through the northwest for about. The New Jersey Turnpike also passes through in the northwest. Only one turnpike interchange is located within Gloucester: Exit 2 in Woolwich.

Public transportation

bus service between the county and the Philadelphia Greyhound Terminal is available on the 313 and 315 routes; to Philadelphia on the 400, 401, 402, 403, 408, 410 and 412 routes, with local service offered on the 455 and 463 routes.
The Glassboro–Camden Line is a proposed diesel multiple unit light rail system that is planned to connect with the River LINE and PATCO Speedline in Camden and was previously anticipated to be in operation in 2019. The lack of both an official project sponsor and identified funding source, have delayed the start of construction, making the 2019 timeframe unrealistic.
Located within the Conrail South Jersey/Philadelphia Shared Assets Area. freight rail in the county travels along Penns Grove Secondary, the Salem Branch, and the Vineland Secondary. SMS Rail Lines handles interchanges with CSX Transportation and Norfolk Southern Railway.

Port

The Port of Paulsboro is located on the Delaware River and Mantua Creek in and around Paulsboro. Traditionally one of the nation's busiest for marine transfer operations of petroleum products, the port is being redeveloped as an adaptable omniport able to handle bulk, break bulk cargo and shipping containers. Studies completed in 2012 concluded that the port is well suited to become a center for the manufacture, assembly, and transport of wind turbines and platforms the development of wind power in New Jersey.

Municipalities

The following municipalities in Gloucester County are:
Municipality
Municipal
type		Pop.Housing
Units		Total
Area		Water
Area		Land
Area		Pop.
Density		Housing
Density		School
District		Communities
Clayton borough8,1793,1287.330.197.141,145.5438.1Clayton
Deptford
Township 		township30,56112,36117.610.2517.361,760.3712.0DeptfordAlmonesson
Good Intent
Oak Valley CDP
East Greenwich
Township 		township9,5553,40514.920.4814.44661.7235.8Kingsway
East Greenwich 		Mount Royal
Mickleton
Wolfert
Elk Township township4,2161,57619.690.1919.49216.380.8Delsea
Elk Township 		Aura
Hardingville
Franklin
Township 		township16,8206,10456.470.5655.91300.9109.2Delsea
Franklin Township 		Franklinville
Malaga
Glassboro borough18,5796,5909.220.049.182,022.9717.5Glassboro
Greenwich
Township 		township4,8992,04812.033.068.97546.2228.3Paulsboro
Greenwich Township 		Billingsport
Gibbstown CDP
Harrison
Township 		township12,4174,08919.230.0919.14648.7213.6Clearview
Harrison Township 		Mullica Hill CDP
Richwood CDP
Ewan
Logan Township township6,0422,17226.935.0021.93275.699.1Kingsway
Logan 		Beckett CDP
Bridgeport
Repaupo
Mantua
Township 		township15,2175,98015.920.0715.85960.1377.3Clearview
Mantua Township 		Barnsboro
Richwood CDP
Sewell
Monroe
Township 		township36,12913,38746.930.5346.39778.8288.6Monroe TownshipCross Keys
New Brooklyn
Victory Lakes CDP
Williamstown CDP
National Park borough3,0361,1531.450.451.003,023.21,148.1Gateway
National Park
Newfield borough1,5536261.710.001.70912.0367.6Delsea
Franklin Township
Paulsboro borough6,0972,5332.600.711.903,216.41,336.2Paulsboro
Pitman borough9,0113,7052.310.042.273,976.11,634.8Pitman
South Harrison
Township 		township3,1621,05615.730.0515.68201.767.4Kingsway
South Harrison 		Harrisonville
Swedesboro borough2,5841,0040.760.030.723,568.41,386.5Kingsway
Swedesboro-Woolwich
Washington
Township 		township48,55917,81021.600.2221.382,271.0833.0Washington TownshipGrenloch
Hurffville
Turnersville CDP
Wenonah borough2,2788600.980.010.972,342.8884.4Gateway
Wenonah
West Deptford
Township 		township21,6779,44117.872.4515.411,406.6612.6West DeptfordColonial Manor
Greenfields Village
Red Bank
Thorofare
Westville borough4,2881,9121.380.351.024,187.01,867.0Gateway
Westville
Woodbury city10,1744,4562.060.052.015,064.02,217.9Woodbury
Woodbury Heights borough3,0551,1251.230.011.222,499.4920.4Gateway
Woodbury Heights
Woolwich
Township 		township10,2003,27521.230.3220.91487.8156.6Kingsway
Swedesboro-Woolwich
Gloucester Countycounty288,288109,796337.1815.17322.01895.3341.0

Emergency services

Gloucester County is home to the first county based EMS agency in New Jersey providing services to the municipalities of Logan Township, Woolwich Township, Swedesboro, East Greenwich Township, Greenwich Township, Paulsboro, West Deptford Township, National Park, Mantua Township, Pitman, Glassboro, Clayton, Woodbury, South Harrison Township, Wenonah, Harrison Township, Franklin Township, Newfield, Woodbury Heights, and Westville. GCEMS was started in September 2007; its goal is to provide emergency medical services to the residents of the county within nine minutes from the time of dispatch 90% of the time. Currently GCEMS has ten ambulances in service around the clock and three "power shift" ambulances on duty from the hours of 8AM to 8PM seven days a week. Further, GCEMS operates three QRV units which are located in West Deptford, Newfield, and South Harrison. The department operates out of 14 stations spread strategically throughout the county. The Gloucester County EMS administrative offices are located at the county's Emergency Response Center at 1200 N. Delsea Drive, Clayton, New Jersey 08312. It was the winner of the 2010 Outstanding Public EMS Agency by the State of New Jersey.
Gloucester County SWAT is a multi-jurisdictional team, composed of police officers from departments within the county. Officers are on-call 24/7 for emergency situations such as barricaded subjects, suicidal subjects and hostage rescue. They also provide high-risk warrant service, dignitary protection and counter-terrorism response.

Education

Unified school districts

School districts in the county include the Gloucester County Vocational-Technical School District, with its one school being the Gloucester County Institute of Technology, which operates as a four-year vocational-technical high school that serves students from across the county.

Colleges and universities

in Glassboro, is a public university that was founded in 1923 as Glassboro Normal School on a site donated by the borough. After a series of alternative titles over the years, in 1992 the school was renamed Rowan College of New Jersey after Henry Rowan and his wife Betty gave the school $100 million, at the time the largest gift to a public college. It became Rowan University on March 21, 1997, when it won approval for university status from the New Jersey Commission on Higher Education. The Cold War Glassboro Summit Conference between U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson and Soviet Premier Alexei Kosygin took place from June 23–25, 1967, in Hollybush Mansion. The site was chosen because of its location equidistant between New York City, where Kosygin would be making a speech at the United Nations, and Washington, D.C.
The county college is Rowan College of South Jersey, having been established in 1966 as Gloucester County College and first opening to students two years later.

Wineries