Avalon, New Jersey facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Avalon, New Jersey
Borough
Former Avalon Lighthouse
Motto(s):  "Cooler by a Mile"
Location of Avalon in Cape May County highlighted in red (left). Inset map: Location of Cape May County in New Jersey highlighted in orange (right).
Census Bureau map of Avalon, New Jersey
Avalon, New Jersey Location in Cape May County, New Jersey Show map of Cape May County, New Jersey Avalon, New Jersey Location in New Jersey Show map of New Jersey Avalon, New Jersey Location in the United States Show map of the United States
Country	United States
State	New Jersey
County	Cape May
Formed	1723 as part of Middle Township
Incorporated	April 18, 1892
Named for	Avalon of Arthurian legend
Government
• Type	Faulkner Act (mayor–council)
• Body	Borough Council
Area
• Total	5.06 sq mi (13.09 km2)
• Land	4.27 sq mi (11.06 km2)
• Water	0.79 sq mi (2.04 km2)  15.53%
Area rank	275th of 565 in state 7th of 16 in county
Elevation	10 ft (3 m)
Population  (2020)
• Total	1,243
• Estimate  (2023)	1,218
• Rank	523rd of 565 in state 12th of 16 in county
• Density	291.1/sq mi (112.4/km2)
• Density rank	476th of 565 in state 12th of 16 in county
Time zone	UTC−05:00 (Eastern (EST))
• Summer (DST)	UTC−04:00 (Eastern (EDT))
ZIP Code	08202
Area codes	609 Exchanges: 263, 368, 967
FIPS code	3400902320
GNIS feature ID	0885146

One of Avalon's beaches on the New Jersey shore

Avalon is a borough in Cape May County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is located on Seven Mile Island. As of the 2020 United States census, the borough's population was 1,243, a decrease of 91 (−6.8%) from the 2010 census count of 1,334, which in turn declined by 809 (−37.8%) from the 2,143 counted in the 2000 census. The borough's population swells to as many as 45,000 during the summer.

Geographically part of the South Jersey region, the community is one of the most affluent communities along the Jersey Shore and is home to some of the most expensive real estate on the East Coast. In 2007, Forbes listed Avalon as the 65th most expensive ZIP Code in the United States. Washingtonian "named Avalon the 'chicest beach' in the mid-Atlantic, the place to see women in diamonds and designer swimwear." A small portion of Avalon is not on Seven Mile Island. The borough, and all of Cape May County, is part of the Ocean City metropolitan statistical area, and is part of the Philadelphia-Wilmington-Camden, PA-NJ-DE-MD combined statistical area, also known as the Delaware Valley or Philadelphia metropolitan area.

Avalon is known as a South Jersey seashore resort and has the motto "Cooler by a Mile" since it juts out into the Atlantic Ocean about a mile farther than other barrier islands. Alternatively, the motto is because Avalon, at four miles long, is one mile longer than its neighboring town on the southern end of Seven Mile Island, Stone Harbor. It was ranked the seventh-best beach in New Jersey in the 2008 Top 10 Beaches Contest sponsored by the New Jersey Marine Sciences Consortium.

History

Around 14,000 years ago, the barrier islands of Cape May County formed, likely from spits and lines of dunes. Originally a thriving juniper forest occupied by Lenni Lenape Native Americans, the area was purchased by Aaron Leaming in December 1722 for 79 pounds. Known as Seven Mile Beach (which included present-day Avalon and Stone Harbor), it was owned and retained by the Leamings for approximately 100 years. Unconfirmed legends say that pirates buried their bounty on Seven Mile Island, and that Henry Hudson may have dropped anchor somewhere offshore. The island served as a cattle range and was also used for its plentiful timber. The Leamings eventually sold the land, and the island exchanged hands in a number of transactions afterwards. In April 1887, the Seven Mile Beach company was formed. As early as 1893, Avalon was advertised as a resort town. With this rapid development, homes and businesses were erected. The native juniper forest was graded and cut, and the sandy hills were leveled off, making the island mostly flat. Today it is extremely rare to see hills or native juniper in Avalon.

Avalon was incorporated as a borough by an act of the New Jersey Legislature on April 18, 1892, from portions of Middle Township, based on the results of a referendum held two days earlier. The borough was reincorporated on March 6, 1896, and again on May 4, 1897. Another portion of Middle Township was annexed in 1910. On December 27, 1941, portions of Avalon were ceded to Stone Harbor. The borough is named for Avalon of Arthurian legend.

On January 4, 1890, the Commonwealth, piloted by Captain W.S. Willets, sank. This 197-ton ship was en route from New York City to Philadelphia with a cargo of molasses, coffee, tobacco, tea, coconut oil, and camphor. Straying from its course in rough weather, the Commonwealth ran aground in Townsend's Inlet. The crew was rescued and most of the cargo was salvaged. However, after a week trapped in the sandy bottom of the inlet, the ship began to come apart in the waves. Some of the remaining cargo washed ashore and most of it was taken by the early residents of Avalon. The wreck, unable to be recovered, was sold to John Townshend on February 2.

A plaque placed in July 2004, recognizing the “Site of the Avalon Pier 1929-1980”.

By the early 1900s, the Leaming Railroad bridge was constructed, allowing train connections into the town. This increased the traffic from nearby Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Around 1944 the West Jersey and Seashore railroad lines merged with the Reading Railroad. This effectively ended the era of travel by train to the island. A hurricane took several streets and Avalon now has a north end beginning at 7th street. In the mid-1950s the Wolfington Family of Philadelphia purchased and operated the Puritan Hotel later enlarged and renamed the Whitebriar Hotel on the beach block at 21st Street. The Whitebriar was managed for two seasons in the mid-1950s, one of the future 'great hosts' of several hotels in the Greater Philadelphia area, Robert C. Bennett. He was the son of another 'famous' hotelier, Claude H. Bennett of the Bellevue Stratford Hotel in Philadelphia. Currently the most widely used method of transportation to and from Avalon is by car or boat; however, buses run on a regular schedule all over the shore towns.

Geography

Avalon beach at 78th Street

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the borough had a total area of 5.06 square miles (13.09 km²), including 4.27 square miles (11.06 km²) of land and 0.79 square miles (2.04 km²) of water (15.53%).

Unincorporated communities, localities and place names located partially or completely within the borough include Peermont.

The borough borders the Cape May County municipalities of Dennis Township, Middle Township, Sea Isle City and Stone Harbor, as well as the Atlantic Ocean.

Demographics

2010 census

The 2010 United States census counted 1,334 people, 692 households, and 416 families in the borough. The population density was 321.3 per square mile (124.1/km²). There were 5,434 housing units at an average density of 1,308.8 per square mile (505.3/km²). The racial makeup was 98.05% (1,308) White, 0.30% (4) Black or African American, 0.30% (4) Native American, 0.22% (3) Asian, 0.00% (0) Pacific Islander, 0.15% (2) from other races, and 0.97% (13) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2.17% (29) of the population.

Of the 692 households, 9.2% had children under the age of 18; 54.6% were married couples living together; 4.8% had a female householder with no husband present and 39.9% were non-families. Of all households, 36.0% were made up of individuals and 21.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 1.93 and the average family size was 2.45.

8.9% of the population were under the age of 18, 3.7% from 18 to 24, 11.8% from 25 to 44, 35.0% from 45 to 64, and 40.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 61.8 years. For every 100 females, the population had 89.8 males. For every 100 females ages 18 and older there were 89.5 males.

The Census Bureau's 2006–2010 American Community Survey showed that (in 2010 inflation-adjusted dollars) median household income was $88,527 (with a margin of error of +/− $20,202) and the median family income was $135,781 (+/− $32,487). Males had a median income of $162,125 (+/− $69,973) versus $46,397 (+/− $17,278) for females. The per capita income for the borough was $99,655 (+/− $18,059). About 1.6% of families and 4.3% of the population were below the poverty line, including 3.1% of those under age 18 and 1.8% of those age 65 or over.

Education

Avalon Elementary School and Avalon Free Public Library

Avalon School District is a public school district that serves students in public school for first through eighth grade. As of the 2022–23 school year, the district, comprised of one school, had an enrollment of 83 students and 12.2 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 6.8:1. In the 2016–17 school year, Avalon had the smallest enrollment of any school district in the state, with 43 students.

Starting with the 2011–12 school year, in an agreement with the Stone Harbor School District, public school students in grades K–4 from both communities attend school in Stone Harbor while all students in grades 5–8 attend school in Avalon, at Avalon Elementary School.

Students in public school for ninth through twelfth grades attend Middle Township High School in Cape May Court House, as part of a sending/receiving relationship with the Middle Township Public Schools, together with students from Dennis Township, Stone Harbor and Woodbine. As of the 2022–23 school year, the high school had an enrollment of 790 students and 65.0 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 12.2:1. Students are also eligible to attend Cape May County Technical High School in the Cape May Court House area, which serves students from the entire county in its comprehensive and vocational programs, which are offered without charge to students who are county residents. Special needs students may be referred to Cape May County Special Services School District in the Cape May Court House area.

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Camden operates Bishop McHugh Regional School, a Catholic K–8 school, in Ocean View, Dennis Township, which has a Cape May Courthouse postal address. It is the parish school of Avalon/Stone Harbor Catholic Church and three other churches.

Transportation

Roads and highways

County Route 619 in Avalon

As of May 2010^[update], the borough had a total of 41.61 miles (66.96 km) of roadways, of which 36.19 miles (58.24 km) were maintained by the municipality and 5.42 miles (8.72 km) by Cape May County.

No Interstate, U.S., state or major county highways serve Avalon. The most significant roads are minor county routes, such as County Route 601 (Avalon Boulevard), which connects the Garden State Parkway and U.S. Route 9 to the oceanfront, and County Route 619, which follows Ocean Drive.

Public transportation

There is also a seasonal trolley service that runs through the seven-mile-long island. Avalon also has multiple NJ Transit bus stops, and is served by the 315 to and from Philadelphia and the 319 that provides service to and from the Port Authority Bus Terminal in Midtown Manhattan.

Climate

According to the Köppen climate classification system, Avalon has a Humid subtropical climate (Cfa).

The Nor'easter of 1962

In March 1962, a major Nor'easter, the Ash Wednesday Storm of 1962, tore through the U.S. East Coast causing massive ocean swells. Much of Avalon suffered very serious flooding and major coastline loss. Much of the island was under water for four to five days, with damage to homes dependent on the foundation construction of the home and location on the island.

Rocks were erected where 8th Street meets Townsend's Inlet to hold back the ocean.

Protection efforts against storms

While there have been many strong storms since 1962, extensive rock jetty construction on Townsends Inlet (as recent as Summer 2006) has mostly succeeded in protecting the inlet-side homes. However, beaches and property facing the ocean at 8th through 12th Streets have struggled to prevent further loss of this barrier island through various anti-erosion schemes, including extending the 8th Street rock jetty, the installation of an artificial reef and the beach replenishment. So far, there has been no more "shrinkage" of the island at this location, but at a very high monetary cost. Several times, in 2015, the causeway leading north from Avalon to Townsends Inlet has been closed by flooding during stormy weather.

Ecology

According to the A. W. Kuchler U.S. potential natural vegetation types, Avalon would have a dominant vegetation type of Northern Cordgrass (73) with a dominant vegetation form of Coastal Prairie (20).

Notable people

People who were born in, residents of, or otherwise closely associated with Avalon include:

• Geno Auriemma (born 1954), head coach of the University of Connecticut Huskies women's basketball team
• Neil Hartman, Comcast Sportsnet personality
• Paul Holmgren (born 1955), former General Manager of the Philadelphia Flyers and current president
• Tim Kerr (born 1960), right winger who played in the NHL for the Philadelphia Flyers
• Ed McMahon (1923–2009), television show host
• Joe Paterno (1926–2012), Penn State football head coach
• Michael W. Rice (born 1945), CEO/Chairman of Utz Quality Foods
• Stephen Sharer (born 1992), YouTube personality
• Ed Stefanski, former General Manager of the Philadelphia 76ers

See also

In Spanish: Avalon (Nueva Jersey) para niños