Toms River New Jersey History & Facts

Toms River is a township in Ocean County, New Jersey, United States. Its mainland portion is also a census-designated place of the same name, which serves as the county seat of Ocean County.Formerly known as the Township of Dover, in 2006 voters approved a change of the official name to the Township of Toms River, adopting the name of the largest unincorporated community within the township. Located at the heart of the Jersey Shore region, the township is a bedroom suburb of New York City in the New York metropolitan area and a regional commercial hub in central New Jersey.

As of the 2020 United States Census, the township had a total population of 95,438, with the township ranking as the eighth-most-populous municipality in the state in 2020 (same place as in 2010) and the second most-populous municipality in Ocean County (behind Lakewood Township, which had a population of 135,158). The 2020 population increased by 4,199 (+4.6%) from the 91,239 counted in the 2010 Census, which had in turn increased by 1,533 (+1.7%) from the 89,706 counted in the 2000 Census, and by 13,335 (+17.5%) from the 76,371 counted in the 1990 Census.

In 2006, Toms River was ranked by Morgan Quitno Press as the 15th safest city in the United States, of 369 cities nationwide.In 2007, Toms River was again ranked as the 14th-safest city in the United States of 371 cities nationwide.

Toms River can be seen in various TV and news media including MTV's Made and Jersey Shore (seasons 1, 3, and 5), HBO's Boardwalk Empire and the original The Amityville Horror movie. In 1998, Toms River East Little League won the Little League World Series. The township has what is said to be the second-largest Halloween parade in the world.

Much of the early history of the settlement of Toms River is obscured by conflicting stories. Various sources list the eponym of the township as either English captain William Tom,or farmer and ferryman Thomas Luker. In 1992, as part of celebrations commemorating the township's 225th anniversary, official recognition was granted to the tradition that the "Tom" in "Toms River" was for Thomas Luker, who ran a ferry across Goose Creek (now the Toms River).During the 19th century, Toms River became a center for shipbuilding, whaling, fishing, and iron and lumber production. The settlement and the river were usually spelled "Tom's River" in its early days, though its current spelling has been standard since the middle of the 19th century.

Toms River was located in the southern section of the Township of Shrewsbury that obtained a royal charter to secede in 1767 and form Dover Township. During the American Revolutionary War, Toms River was home to a strategically important salt works that supplied colonial militias, as well as a base for privateer vessels that plundered British and Tory ships off the coast. In March 1782, a group of British and loyalist soldiers attacked a blockhouse along the river that housed the colonial militia and captured Captain Joshua Huddy, who was later hanged at Sandy Hook. Also destroyed were the salt works and most of the houses in the village.The incident greatly complicated the tense relationship between the British, loyalist, and colonial and was a factor in prolonging the peace negotiations that were then in progress in Paris until 1783.

In the last two decades of the twentieth century, the demographics of the township changed substantially, adding over 20,000 residents just in the 1990s alone. While the village is still the center of municipal and county government, the population in the area exploded in the decades after World War II, due in part to the completion of the Garden State Parkway. Whereas the village was the largest and most densely populated section of the township for over two centuries, the vast majority of residents now shop and work in other sections of the town.

Famous Peoples From Toms River New Jersey

Corey Albano

Albano grew up in Toms River, New Jersey played high school basketball at Toms River High School South, graduating in 1993. After high school, he played college basketball at the Monmouth University, where he was a member of the Monmouth Hawks men's basketball team, from 1993 until 1997. In 1996, as a Junior, Albano led the Monmouth Hawks to the school's first ever division 1 NCAA tournament appearance, where after going 20–9 they earned a 13 seed. During that 95–96 season Albano was the team's leading scorer, averaging 17.2 points per game. The team has been back to the tournament 4 times since Albano led the Hawks there his Junior year.

Albano played for Ginásio C.F. in Portugal, Scaligera Verona, Victoria Libertas Pesaro, S.S. Basket Napoli, Pallacanestro Varese and Gruppo Triboldi Basket in Italy, Panathinaikos and Olympias Patras in Greece and Saint-Quentin in France.

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