Maurice River Township, New Jersey
Maurice River Township, New Jersey | |
|---|---|
| Nickname: MRT | |
Location of Maurice River Township in Cumberland County highlighted in red (right). Inset map: Location of Cumberland County in New Jersey highlighted in red (left). | |
Census Bureau map of Maurice River Township, New Jersey | |
Location in Cumberland County Location in New Jersey | |
| Coordinates: 39°17′44″N 74°55′44″W / 39.295626°N 74.928882°W | |
| Country | United States |
| State | New Jersey |
| County | Cumberland |
| Formed | January 19, 1748 |
| Incorporated | February 21, 1798 |
| Named after | Maurice, Prince of Orange |
| Government | |
| • Type | Township |
| • Body | Township Committee |
| • Mayor | Ken Whildin (R, term ends December 31, 2023) |
| • Municipal clerk | Denise Peterson |
| Area | |
• Total | 95.90 sq mi (248.38 km2) |
| • Land | 93.17 sq mi (241.30 km2) |
| • Water | 2.73 sq mi (7.08 km2) 2.85% |
| • Rank | 6th of 565 in state 1st of 14 in county |
| Elevation | 39 ft (12 m) |
| Population (2020) | |
• Total | 6,218 |
• Estimate (2023) | 5,117 |
| • Rank | 337th of 565 in state 5th of 14 in county |
| • Density | 66.7/sq mi (25.8/km2) |
| • Rank | 550th of 565 in state 12th of 14 in county |
| Time zone | UTC−05:00 (Eastern (EST)) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC−04:00 (Eastern (EDT)) |
| ZIP Code | 08327 – Leesburg |
| Area code | 856 exchange: 785 |
| FIPS code | 3401144580 |
| GNIS feature ID | 0882063 |
| Website | www |
Maurice River Township (/ˈmɔːrɪs/) is the easternmost township in Cumberland County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. The township, and all of Cumberland County, is part of the Vineland-Bridgeton metropolitan statistical area for statistical purposes, and of the Philadelphia-Wilmington-Camden, PA-NJ-DE-MD combined statistical area, also known as the Delaware Valley or Philadelphia metropolitan area. As of the 2020 United States census, the township's population was 6,218, a decrease of 1,758 (−22.0%) from the 2010 census count of 7,976, which in turn reflected an increase of 1,048 (+15.1%) from the 6,928 counted in the 2000 census.
Maurice River Township was first formed as a precinct on January 19, 1748, and was incorporated by an act of the New Jersey Legislature on February 21, 1798, as one of New Jersey's initial group of 104 townships. Portions of the township were taken to form Millville on March 1, 1866. The township derives its name from Maurice, Prince of Orange.
It had long been a dry town where alcohol could not legally be sold. The Township Committee began consideration in 2012 of asking residents to approve the creation of two liquor licenses. In 2018, the committee created an ordinance allowing the sale of alcohol, after voters approved a ballot question the previous November.