Chester (Burlington County)

Identifier
NJS-PLC-00365
Place Type
City, Town, or Village
Alternate Name
Cropwell
Description
Chester Township was a municipality that used to exist in Burlington County from 1688 until 1945. It originally encompassed the area in the northwestern corner of the county, along the Delaware River, between Pennsauken Creek and Rancocas Creek. Official records for the slavery era often refer to Chester Township, but this name is no longer in use in the modern era, and the original township has splintered into many smaller municipalities.

The largest municipality that has its roots in Chester Township is Moorestown. Other municipalities that are located on the former territory of Chester Township are Maple Shade, Cinnaminson, Palmyra, Riverton, Delran, and Riverside.

Chester Township was originally established in 1688. For a short period from 1690 to 1699, Chester Township was also known as Cropwell in court records. Several distinct villages developed within Chester, but they remained unincorporated during the 18th century. Chester began to splinter in 1860 when half of the township broke off to form Cinnaminson; this was the territory located along the Delaware River. In the following decades, Cinnaminson further broke apart, giving rise to Palmyra, Riverton, Delran, and Riverside.

By 1922, the remaining half of Chester Township splintered again, with Moorestown and Maple Shade breaking apart. The larger section—Moorestown—was incorporated as a separate municipality, while the smaller section—Maple Shade—retained the historical name of Chester Township for another 23 years. In 1945, Maple Shade residents officially renamed their municipality Maple Shade, and with that, the name Chester Township ceased to exist on the Burlington County map.

Note that the former Chester Township in Burlington County is not to be confused with Chester Township in Morris County, which was formed in 1799 and still exists today.
Locality
Chester
County (Modern)
Burlington County
State or Province
New Jersey
Country
United States of America
Latitude
39.965610028843514
Longitude
-74.9422233783348
References

John P. Snyder, The Story of New Jersey’s Civil Boundaries, 1606–1968 (Trenton, Bureau of Geology and Topography, 1969; New Jersey Geological Survey, 2004), https://www.state.nj.us/dep/njgs/enviroed/oldpubs/bulletin67.pdf. Pages 94, 101.
Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maple_Shade_Township,_New_Jersey
Record Contributor
Nholvahiwa Cosmas
Linked Places

Places formed from a portion of Chester (Burlington County) or formerly associated with this place:
Linked Persons

To filter persons by location and other criteria, visit the Persons browsing page.

Persons of African descent linked to Chester (Burlington County):

White persons linked to Chester (Burlington County):
Linked Events

To filter events by location, name, date, and other criteria, visit the Events browsing page.

Event location is Chester (Burlington County):
Resource class
Location