WILLINGBORO TOWNSHIP, NEW JERSEY

'Willingboro Township' is a Township in Burlington County, New Jersey, United States. As of the United States 2000 Census, the township population was 33,008.
Willingboro was originally developed in the 1950s and 1960s as a planned community by Abraham Levitt and Son in the Levittown model, with the 1950 population of 852 exploding to 11,861 in 1960 and 43,386 in 1970. The community was known as "Levittown Township" from 1959 to 1963.^[1]

Contents

History

Geography

Parks & Sections

Demographics

Government

Local government

Federal, state and county representation

Education

Transportation

Notable natives

References

External links

History

Willingboro was one of the original nine divisions in the organization of Burlington County, West Jersey, and was originally formed as the "Constabulary of Wellingborrow" on November 6, 1688."The Story of New Jersey's Civil Boundaries: 1606-1968", John P. Snyder, Bureau of Geology and Topography; Trenton, New Jersey; 1969. p. 100. At the time, it included present day Beverly, Delanco Township and Edgewater Park Township. The original name of Wellingborough was after the community in England which was the home of Thomas Olive, who led the original settlers into what would become Willingboro Township, but there were other spellings used at different times.
After the establishment of the United States and the State of New Jersey, the community was formally incorporated as "Willingborough Township", one of New Jersey's initial 104 townships, on February 21, 1798, by the New Jersey Legislature when it enacted "An Act incorporating the Inhabitants of Townships, designating their Powers, and regulating their Meetings", P.L.1798, p. 289. This makes Willingboro one of the oldest Townships in the State.
Portions of the township were taken to form Beverly borough (March 5, 1850, now Beverly city) and Beverly Township (March 1, 1859, now known as Delanco Township).
In the 1950s and 1960s Willingboro was the location for a massive residential development by Abraham Levitt and Sons. The first Levittown homes were sold in June of 1958, at which time the community was already known as Levittown, New Jersey. The name was changed by the voters, by referendum held on November 3, 1959 to "Levittown Township." Willingboro is less than 12 miles from Levittown, Pennsylvania and this occasionally caused confusion. A referendum held on the issue on November 12, 1963, changed the name back to Willingboro.
Sociologist Herbert J. Gans used Willingboro as the subject of his 1967 book ''The Levittowners''.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the township has a total area of 20.8 km² (8.0 mi²). 19.9 km² (7.7 mi²) of it is land and 0.9 km² (0.3 mi²) of it (4.11%) is water.
Willingboro Township borders Edgewater Park Township, Burlington Township, Westampton Township, Mount Laurel Township, Moorestown Township, Delran Township, and Delanco Township.

Parks & Sections

Willingboro is divided into several sections, each section's street names beginning with the corresponding section. For example, streets in Pennypacker Park all begin with the letter P. This is the case with all parks, excluding Martin's Beach and certain streets in Rittenhouse Park.

★ Buckingham Park

★ Country Club Ridge

★ Pennypacker Park

★ Millbrook Park

★ Martin's Beach

★ Deer Park

★ Somerset Park (First house was occupied here.^[2])

★ Windsor Park

★ Garfield Park

★ Garfield Park East

★ Garfield Park North

★ Rittenhouse Park

★ Twin Hill Park

★ Ironside Court (Non-residential, restricted to Public Works Department

★ Hawthorne Park

★ Fairmount Park
There is another section without a name located near Olympia Lakes. This is the only part of the town with the Area code 856. The rest of Willingboro is in Area code 609.

Demographics

As of the census² of 2000, there were 33,008 people, 10,713 households, and 8,784 families residing in the township. The population density was 1,657.3/km² (4,292.7/mi²). There were 11,124 housing units at an average density of 558.5/km² (1,446.7/mi²). The racial makeup of the township was 24.67% White, 66.71% African American, 0.30% Native American, 1.70% Asian, 0.04% Pacific Islander, 2.62% from other races, and 3.95% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 6.05% of the population.
There were 10,713 households out of which 33.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 58.1% were married couples living together, 18.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 18.0% were non-families. 15.0% of all households were made up of individuals and 6.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.07 and the average family size was 3.36.
In the township the population was spread out with 27.5% under the age of 18, 7.5% from 18 to 24, 26.1% from 25 to 44, 26.0% from 45 to 64, and 12.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females there were 90.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 84.4 males.
The median income for a household in the township was $60,869, and the median income for a family was $64,338. Males had a median income of $39,963 versus $31,554 for females. The per capita income for the township was $21,799. About 3.5% of families and 5.9% of the population were below the poverty line, including 8.3% of those under age 18 and 5.1% of those age 65 or over.

Government

Local government

The Township of Willingboro is governed generally by the provisions of Title 40 of the New Jersey Revised Statutes and specifically by the Council-Manager form of government as set forth in "The Optional Municipal Charter Law" (known commonly as the Faulkner Act) and the amendments to that law enacted since it was first adopted in 1950.
The Council-Manager form of government was adopted by referendum in November, 1960, after a charter study was conducted. The first Council was elected in November 1961 and the Council-Manager form of government took effect as of January 1, 1962.
Under this form of government, the Township Council is the elected governing body of the municipality. Members of the Township Council are elected to four-year terms at the general election in November. Elections are held every two years, in odd-numbered years. Two members of the Council are elected at one election, for example in 2005, to serve four-year terms, and three members of the Council are elected at the next Council election, in 2007, also to serve four-year terms.
The Council members annually elect from among themselves one member of the Council to serve as Mayor and another member of the Council to serve as Deputy Mayor. Traditionally, the Council members have rotated the positions of Mayor and Deputy Mayor among the Council members.
The Members of the Willingboro Township Council are Mayor Jeffrey E. Ramsey, Deputy Mayor Jacqueline Jennings, James Ayrer, Eddie Campbell, Jr., and Paul Stephenson.^[3]

Federal, state and county representation

Willingboro Township is in the Third Congressional District and is part of New Jersey's 7th Legislative District.^[4]

Education

The Willingboro Township Public Schools serves students in Pre-kindergarten through twelfth grade. The district consists of:
'Elementary Schools (PreK-5)'

★ Garfield East Elementary School

★ Hawthorne Elementary School

★ J.C. Stuart Elementary School

★ Twin Hills Elementary School

★ W.R. James Sr. Elementary School
'Upper Elementary School (5-6)'

★ Memorial Upper Elementary School
'Middle School (7-8)'

★ Levitt Middle School
'High School (9-12)'

★ Willingboro High School
The S.W. Bookbinder, J.A. McGinley and Martin Luther King Jr. Elementary Schools were closed at the end of the 2005-06 school year as part of an effort to save about $3.7 million, through the reduction of 70 staff members meant class sizes increased to as many as 28 at the five remaining elementary schools. The cuts were needed to fill a two-year budget deficit of nearly $10 million.^[5]

Transportation

New Jersey Transit provides bus service to Philadelphia on the 409 line.^[6]

Notable natives

★ Malik Allen - NBA power forward for the Chicago Bulls

★ T. J. Brennan - 31st pick of the Buffalo Sabres in the 2007 NHL Draft.

★ Sean Casey - Major League Baseball first baseman for the Detroit Tigers

★ Mike Chioda - WWE Professional Wrestling Referee and ''RAW'' Senior Referee^[7]

★ William Franklin (1731-1813), Last Colonial Governor of New Jersey, son of Benjamin Franklin.^[8]

★ City High - R&B group

★ Carl Lewis (1961-), United States Olympic track athlete, won ten Olympic medals (9 gold, 1 silver). Ranked #1 on the ''Sports Illustrated'' list of ''The 50 Greatest New Jersey Sports Figures''.^[9][10]

★ Joey Marella (1964-1994) WWE Professional Wrestling Referee, Refereed main event for the indoor attendance record setting match at ''WrestleMania III'' between André the Giant versus Hulk Hogan in the Pontiac Silverdome.

★ Kareem McKenzie (1979-), National Football League offensive tackle.^[11]

★ Gorilla Monsoon (1937-1999), WWE Hall of Fame Professional Wrestler, Former President of WWE

★ Gervase Peterson (1969-), Contestant on '', the first season of the program.^[12]

★ Shaun Phillips (1981-), National Football League defensive tackle.^[13]

★ Jimmy Valiant (1942-), WWE Hall of Fame Professional Wrestler

References

1. Chronology of Willingboro, Willingboro Township. Accessed June 29, 2007.
2. Building Social Housing Foundation, Chronology of Willingboro.
3. Township Council Members, Willingboro Township. Accessed March 4, 2007.
4. 2006 New Jersey Citizen's Guide to Government, New Jersey League of Women Voters, p. 66. Accessed August 30, 2006.
5. McGinley, S.W. Bookbinder and Martin Luther King Jr. elementary schools will close, ''Burlington County Times'', March 28, 2006.
6. Burlington County Bus/Rail Connections, New Jersey Transit. Accessed July 15, 2007.
7. "Chioda Reppin' The Boro", WWE.com.
8. A Short History of Willingboro, Willingboro Township. Accessed August 15, 2007.
9. The 50 Greatest New Jersey Sports Figures, ''Sports Illustrated'', December 27, 1999.
10. "CARL LEWIS SWEEPS TRIPLE IN NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP", ''Miami Herald'', June 20, 1983. Accessed July 20, 2007. "Lewis, a 21-year-old from Willingboro, N.J., who had won the 100 in 10.27 Saturday night, leaped a remarkable 28 feet 10 1/4 inches in capturing the long jump and was clocked in an American record 19.75 seconds in the 200 on the final night of the USA- Mobil Outdoor track and field championships."
11. Eisen, Michael. "Giants Sign OL Kareem McKenzie: Signing is second major addition in two days for Big Blue", new York Giants, March 4, 2005. Accessed May 25, 2007. "McKenzie played only two years of football at Willingboro High School, but was still named an All-America by USA Today. He was All-State and All-Burlington County. McKenzie competed in the discus and shot put on the track team, serving as captain for two seasons."
12. "Gervase Gets Booted Off", CBS News, August 3, 2000. Accessed May 25, 2007. "For weeks the buzz, fueled by Internet rumors, was the Willingboro N.J., resident had won the million-dollar prize, even prompting a Philadelphia newspaper to feature Peterson on one of its covers."
13. Shaun Phillips player profile, San Diego Chargers. Accessed July 20, 2007. "Shaun grew up in Willingboro, New Jersey, not far from Giants Stadium where the New York Jets play their home games....all-state, All-South Jersey and all-city at Willingboro High School in Willingboro, New Jersey"

External links

★ Willingboro Township website

★ Willingboro Township Public Schools

★

★ National Center for Education Statistics data for the Willingboro Township Public Schools

★ Willingboro Crime Statistics