Lower Alloways Creek Township, New Jersey facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Lower Alloways Creek Township, New Jersey
Township
Hancock House in the Hancock's Bridge section of the township
Seal
Motto(s):  The Heart of South Jersey
Lower Alloways Creek Township highlighted in Salem County. Inset map: Salem County highlighted in the State of New Jersey.
Census Bureau map of Lower Alloways Creek Township, New Jersey
Lower Alloways Creek Township, New Jersey Location in Salem County, New Jersey Show map of Salem County, New Jersey Lower Alloways Creek Township, New Jersey Location in New Jersey Show map of New Jersey Lower Alloways Creek Township, New Jersey Location in the United States Show map of the United States
Country	United States
State	New Jersey
County	Salem
Formed	June 17, 1767
Incorporated	February 21, 1798
Government
• Type	Township
• Body	Township Committee
Area
• Total	72.53 sq mi (187.84 km2)
• Land	45.31 sq mi (117.35 km2)
• Water	27.22 sq mi (70.49 km2)  37.53%
Area rank	14th of 565 in state 1st of 15 in county
Elevation	3 ft (0.9 m)
Population  (2020)
• Total	1,717
• Estimate  (2023)	1,736
• Rank	500th of 565 in state 12th of 15 in county
• Density	37.9/sq mi (14.6/km2)
• Density rank	557th of 565 in state 15th of 15 in county
Time zone	UTC−05:00 (Eastern (EST))
• Summer (DST)	UTC−04:00 (Eastern (EDT))
ZIP Code	08038 – Hancock's Bridge
Area code(s)	856 exchanges: 339, 935
FIPS code	3403341640
GNIS feature ID	0882065
Website

Lower Alloways Creek Township is a township in Salem County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the township's population was 1,717, a decrease of 53 (−3.0%) from the 2010 census count of 1,770, which in turn reflected a decline of 81 (−4.4%) from the 1,851 counted in the 2000 census.

PSE&G operates three nuclear reactors in Lower Alloways Creek Township. Salem 1 and Salem 2 are pressurized water reactors at the Salem Nuclear Power Plant and the Hope Creek Nuclear Generating Station has one boiling water reactor. Lower Alloways Creek Township is a dry town where alcohol cannot be sold legally.

History

Lower Alloways Creek Township was formed on June 17, 1767, when Alloways Creek Township was subdivided and Upper Alloways Creek Township (now Alloway Township) was also formed. The township was incorporated by the New Jersey Legislature's Township Act of 1798 on February 21, 1798, as one of New Jersey's original group of 104 townships. The name Alloway is derivative of Allowas, a local Native American chief.

Geography

The Hope Creek (left) and Salem (right) nuclear power plants as seen from the Delaware River

According to the United States Census Bureau, the township had a total area of 72.53 square miles (187.84 km²), including 45.31 square miles (117.35 km²) of land and 27.22 square miles (70.49 km²) of water (37.53%).

Hancock's Bridge (with a 2010 Census population of 254) is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) located within Lower Alloways Creek Township, and home to the township's municipal building, police station and a post office.

The township includes the great majority of Artificial Island, the northern tip of which is crossed east-westward by the New Jersey-Delaware state line, so it borders a tiny portion of New Castle County, Delaware, which is one of two areas of land of Delaware (and New Castle County) that is east of the Delaware River, the other being Finns Point, also part of New Castle County, DE, adjacent to Pennsville Township.

Other unincorporated communities, localities and place names located partially or completely within the township include Alder Cove, Arnold Point, Canton, Cumberland, Harmersville, Haskells Mills, Maskellers Mill, New Bridge and Woods Landing.

The township borders the Salem County municipalities of Elsinboro Township, Quinton Township and Salem. Lower Alloways Creek Township also borders the Delaware Bay, Cumberland County and a small point of land that is located within Delaware's Twelve-Mile Circle.

Demographics

2010 census

The 2010 United States census counted 1,770 people, 679 households, and 503 families in the township. The population density was 39.1 inhabitants per square mile (15.1/km²). There were 727 housing units at an average density of 16.1 per square mile (6.2/km²). The racial makeup was 96.95% (1,716) White, 1.36% (24) Black or African American, 0.28% (5) Native American, 0.17% (3) Asian, 0.00% (0) Pacific Islander, 0.11% (2) from other races, and 1.13% (20) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.53% (27) of the population.

Of the 679 households, 27.4% had children under the age of 18; 62.2% were married couples living together; 8.5% had a female householder with no husband present and 25.9% were non-families. Of all households, 20.8% were made up of individuals and 10.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.60 and the average family size was 3.03.

21.8% of the population were under the age of 18, 7.8% from 18 to 24, 22.1% from 25 to 44, 31.0% from 45 to 64, and 17.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 44.2 years. For every 100 females, the population had 96.0 males. For every 100 females ages 18 and older there were 94.7 males.

The Census Bureau's 2006–2010 American Community Survey showed that (in 2010 inflation-adjusted dollars) median household income was $66,384 (with a margin of error of +/− $3,808) and the median family income was $72,969 (+/− $7,867). Males had a median income of $46,964 (+/− $6,435) versus $43,083 (+/− $8,815) for females. The per capita income for the borough was $27,325 (+/− $2,057). About none of families and 1.8% of the population were below the poverty line, including none of those under age 18 and 3.0% of those age 65 or over.

Education

The Lower Alloways Creek Township School District serves students in pre-kindergarten through eighth grade at Lower Alloways Creek Elementary School. As of the 2021–22 school year, the district, comprised of one school, had an enrollment of 143 students and 19.5 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 7.3:1. In the 2016–17 school year, Lower Alloways Creek Township had the 32nd smallest enrollment of any school district in the state, with 159 students.

Public school students in ninth through twelfth grades attend Salem High School in Salem City, together with students from Elsinboro Township, Mannington Township and Quinton Township, as part of a sending/receiving relationship with the Salem City School District. As of the 2021–22 school year, the high school had an enrollment of 399 students and 39.0 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 10.2:1.

Transportation

Main Street-Canton Road (County Route 623) in Lower Alloways Creek Township

As of May 2010^[update], the township had a total of 49.78 miles (80.11 km) of roadways, of which 27.18 miles (43.74 km) were maintained by the municipality and 22.60 miles (36.37 km) by Salem County.

No Interstate, U.S., state or major county highways pass through Lower Alloways Creek Township. The only numbered roads are minor county routes, such as County Route 623.

Route 45 and Route 49 are the closest state highways, and are accessible in neighboring municipalities. The closest limited access roads, Interstate 295 and the New Jersey Turnpike, are accessible two towns away in Pennsville Township.

Notable people

People who were born in, residents of, or otherwise closely associated with Lower Alloways Creek Township include:

• William Hancock, judges. Hancock Sr. commissioned Hancock House in 1734. Hancock Jr. was killed in 1778 in the Hancock's Bridge massacre
• Thomas Jones Yorke (1801–1882), Whig Party politician who served two terms in the United States House of Representatives

See also

In Spanish: Municipio de Lower Alloways Creek para niños