New Jersey Real Estate & Relocation Guide

Dover Township, New Jersey

Population: 94,320

Located in Ocean County

At one time Dover Township, New Jersey was part of Shrewsbury Township in Monmouth County. According to the "Township of Dover, 1767 - 1992," a booklet published during the community's 225th Anniversary, in 1767 a group of local residents petitioned the Royal General Assembly to create their own township. The 441 square mile township ranged from what is the Monmouth County line at its northern extremity to present day Oyster Creek in Lacey Township in the south and from the Burlington County line on the west to the Atlantic Ocean on the east. The township was formed more than 80 years before Ocean County was established.

Entwined with the history of Dover Township, New Jersey is the village of Toms River. Toms River has come to have two identities, much to the confusion of new residents and visitors to the area.

The first and original identity is historic Toms River. It is the "village" area with which most people associate "downtown" Toms River. Today its focal point is the area around Main, Washington and Water Streets and Hooper Avenue. The village is home to most of the Ocean County and Dover Township, New Jersey offices. Yesteryear it was a major trading center bustling with activity along the riverfront. Only a few thousand people reside in this area today. The official municipality in which Toms River is located is Dover Township, New Jersey, not to be confused with the town of Dover which is a municipality in northern New Jersey.