Gloucester Township
- Identifier
- NJS-PLC-00453
- Place Type
- City, Town, or Village
- Description
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Gloucester Township is a municipality in Camden County. Prior to the establishment of Camden County in 1844, this township was part of Gloucester County. The township is not to be confused with the historically related, but separate, city on the Delaware River called Gloucester City (formerly known as Gloucestertown or the Town of Gloucester).
As explained in the historical sketch below, large swaths of modern-day Camden County were part of Gloucester Township during the slavery era. Some slavery records for this region list Gloucester Township as the location. Researchers should keep in mind that historical records filed under Gloucester Township may actually be referring to places far outside the modern-day boundaries of the township. Places that were, at one time or another, part of Gloucester Township include Mount Ephraim, Bellmawr, most of Haddon Heights, most of Barrington, Tavistock, Runnemede, Magnolia, Lawnside, Somerdale, Hi-Nella, Stratford, Laurel Springs, Lindenwold, Clementon, Pine Hill, most of Berlin borough, Winslow, and Chesilhurst.
Gloucester Township was established in Gloucester County in 1695. This was ten years after Gloucestertown was founded on the Delaware River. While the name Gloucestertown referred to the urban core of the riverfront settlement, Gloucester Township was the large rural area that extended inland for over 20 miles. Gloucester Township was originally much larger than it is today; the township’s modern territory is only about a quarter of its original size. The original territory of Gloucester Township occupied about half of what we call Camden County today. For the first 160 years of its existence, the rural Gloucester Township shared a boundary with the riverfront town. Although that boundary line shifted over time through annexations and territorial exchanges, the town and the rural township were always connected up until the mid-19th century. Gloucester Township originally stretched from the edge of Gloucestertown halfway to the Atlantic Ocean, reaching the line that now serves as the boundary between Camden County and Atlantic County. The area that now makes up Winslow Township (which borders Atlantic County) was originally part of Gloucester Township.
In 1734, there was an attempt to merge Gloucestertown and Gloucester Township together as the “Town and Precinct of Gloucester." This attempt was short-lived, and by 1739 the two municipalities were separated again. In the process of breaking apart the Precinct of Gloucester, the boundary between the urban core and the rural township was reconfigured, and a portion of Gloucester Township was given to Gloucestertown to facilitate the town’s expansion. The new boundary ran roughly through the area where the New Jersey Turnpike is located now. The area given to Gloucestertown in this process included the territory that is now occupied by the following communities: Mount Ephraim, Bellmawr, part of Haddon Heights, and part of Barrington. This whole area had been part of Gloucester Township before the 1730s.
Gloucester Township then retained the rest of its large territory for the next 100 years before it started to splinter again. Most slavery records for the region date from this period. In 1831, another section of Gloucester Township was annexed by the riverfront city (which was temporarily renamed Union and then became Gloucester City). At this point, Evesham Road became the new boundary between the riverfront city and Gloucester Township. Evesham Road remains Gloucester Township’s northwestern boundary today, but it no longer touches Gloucester City because the city shrank significantly since the mid-19th century, and now there are many small boroughs located between Gloucester City and Gloucester Township.
In 1844, Camden County split off from Gloucester County, and Gloucester Township was now officially part of Camden County. The next year, 1845, Gloucester Township underwent its most significant territorial change when it was split in half, and the southeastern half became Winslow Township. A small section of Gloucester Township was annexed to Waterford in 1859 (that section is now part of Berlin borough, no longer in Waterford). In 1903, Gloucester Township was again cut in half, and the eastern half became Clementon Township (the Clementon half later splintered into many smaller municipalities). This was the last time that Gloucester Township lost territory. The township went on to acquire a small piece of land on the western side of the South Branch Big Timber Creek from Washington Township in the 1920s; at this point, the township’s modern boundaries took shape. - Locality
- Gloucester Township
- County (Modern)
- Camden County
- County (Historical)
- Gloucester County
- State or Province
- New Jersey
- Country
- United States of America
- Related Place
- Gloucester City (Gloucestertown)
- Latitude
- 39.82211223292119
- Longitude
- -75.04299760445127
- References
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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), p. 105.
- Record Contributor
- Kemy Rodriguez
- Jesse Bayker
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