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Cherry Hill Township, New Jersey

Encyclopedia : C : CH : CHE : Cherry Hill Township, New Jersey

Cherry Hill Township is a township in Camden County, New Jersey, in the United States. As of the United States 2000 Census, the township had a total population of 69,965, making it the fourteenth-largest municipality in New Jersey and the sixth-largest in the Delaware Valley, South Jersey's densely-populated core outside Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

In their 2006 survey, Cherry Hill was named the 47th Best Place to Live by CNN Money[Best Places to Live 2006], Money magazine, accessed July 17, 2006 and was ranked 8th Safest place to live in this same survey[Best Places to Live 2006: cities with the lowest crime risk], Money magazine, accessed July 17, 2006.

Contents

History

The area now known as Cherry Hill was originally settled by the Lenni Lenape Native Americans who coexisted peacefully with the first settlers from Britain, Quaker followers of William Penn who arrived in the late 1600s. The municipality was founded on February 25, 1844 as Delaware Township from half of the area of Waterford Township.

The township underwent explosive growth in the post-World War II era, with continued population growth through the 1980s. Today, the municipality's population remains stable with new development generally occuring in small pockets of custom luxury homes or through the rehabilitation and adaptive reuse of existing commercial and industrial areas.

Origin of the name \"Cherry Hill\"

Delaware Township was renamed Cherry Hill Township on November 7, 1961. The name Cherry Hill was chosen by the township's citizens in a non-binding referendum earlier in 1961. Cherry Hill had been the name of Abraham Browning's farm on Route 38 opposite the site where the Cherry Hill Mall would be built. The farm property was approximately what became Eugene Mori's Cherry Hill Inn and is now an AMC-Loews movie theater complex.

Mori, the largest developer in the town from the 1940s to the '60s, used the Cherry Hill name on many of his properties- the Cherry Hill Inn, Cherry Hill Apartments (now renovated as the Cherry Hill Towers), and the Cherry Hill Estates housing development. Thus, it has been suggested he had a vested interest in getting the town named Cherry Hill.

The reason the town needed a new name was that it wanted its own post office and there were other places in New Jersey named Delaware, New Jersey. The postal service suggested the name change, and Mayors Christian Weber and John Gilmour, whose administrations came during the renaming decision, agreed.

While the municipality's naming chronologically followed the similar naming of numerous landmarks, it has not been shown conclusively that the town was directly named after any particular place.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the township has a total area of 63.1 km² (24.4 mi²). 62.8 km² (24.2 mi²) of it is land and 0.3 km² (0.1 mi²) of it (0.45%) is water.

Ashland, Barclay-Kingston, Cherry Hill Mall, Erlton-Ellisburg, Golden Triangle, Greentree and Springdale are census-designated places and unincorporated areas located within Cherry Hill Township.

Cherry Hill is separated from Burlington County by the Pennsauken Creek to the east. The Creek separates Cherry Hill from Maple Shade Township, Evesham Township (or coloquially, 'Marlton'), and Mount Laurel Township.

Cherry Hill's western border is the Cooper River which it shares with Haddon Township, Haddonfield Borough, and Lawnside Borough.

On land, Cherry Hill borders Merchantville Borough and Pennsauken Township to the north, and Voorhees Township to the south.

Demographics

As of the census² of 2000, there were 69,965 people, 26,227 households, and 19,407 families residing in the township. The population density was 1,114.0/km² (2,884.9/mi²). There were 27,074 housing units at an average density of 431.1/km² (1,116.4/mi²). The racial makeup of the township was 84.67% White, 8.87% Asian, 4.46% African American, 0.10% Native American, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 0.70% from other races, and 1.16% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2.54% of the population.

There were 26,227 households out of which 32.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 62.8% were married couples living together, 8.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 26.0% were non-families. 22.5% of all households were made up of individuals and 11.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.61 and the average family size was 3.08.

In the township the population was spread out with 23.5% under the age of 18, 5.4% from 18 to 24, 26.4% from 25 to 44, 26.6% from 45 to 64, and 18.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 42 years. For every 100 females there were 91.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 87.2 males.

The median income for a household in the township was $69,421, and the median income for a family was $80,766. Males had a median income of $54,894 versus $37,282 for females. The per capita income for the township was $32,658. About 2.5% of families and 4.0% of the population were below the poverty line, including 3.7% of those under age 18 and 5.4% of those age 65 or over.

Government

Local government

Created as Delaware Township in 1844, the community was first governed by a Township Committee. On May 19, 1951, the citizens adopted, in a special election, a Walsh Act Commission form of government, consisting of a three-member Board of Commissioners. In 1962, the Township's population passed the 30,000 mark and two additional Commissioners were elected. Following a study made by a Citizen's Advisory Committee, a special election was held in 1962.

The Township voted to change its form of government to the Council-Manager Plan A under the Faulkner Act. Five Council members were elected at-large in a May election to serve concurrent four-year terms. The Council members elected one of their own as Mayor, but a Township Manager served as the Chief Administrator of the Township.

By 1975, after a Charter Study Commission report, Cherry Hill was ready for another change. After a ballot referendum, the citizens adopted the Council-Manager Plan B form of government. Two features of the government were changed: council members were to be elected every two years for overlapping terms of four years and the number of Council members would increase from five to seven.

After a 1981 referendum, the government changed yet again, this time to a Mayor-Council Plan B form of government. A full-time 'strong' mayor was elected directly by the people and seven Council members were elected at-large for staggered four-year terms.

The most recent change, resulting from a ballot referendum in November of 1986, changed the elections from a non-partisan May election to a partisan November election.

The current Mayor of Cherry Hill is [Bernard A. Platt] (D). Members of the Township Council are (all Democrats) Council President N. John Amato (term ends December 31, 2008), Council Vice President Frank Falcone (2010), Shelley Adler (2010, married to New Jersey State Senator John H. Adler), Dennis Garbowski (2007; appointed to fill an unexpired term), Marlyn Kalitan (2008), Joyce Kurzweil (2010) and Steve Polansky (2010)[Chreey Hill Township Council Members], accessed June 22, 2006.

Federal, state and county representation

Cherry Hill Township is in the Third Congressional District and is part of New Jersey's 6th Legislative District.

New Jersey's Third Congressional District, covering portions of Burlington County, Camden County and Ocean County, is represented by Jim Saxton (R, Mount Holly). New Jersey is represented in the Senate by Frank Lautenberg (D, Cliffside Park) and Robert Menendez (D, Union City).

The 6th Legislative District of the New Jersey Legislature is represented in the State Senate by John H. Adler (D, Cherry Hill) and in the Assembly by Louis Greenwald (D, Voorhees) and Pamela Rosen Lampitt (D, Haddonfield). The Governor of New Jersey is Jon Corzine (D, Hoboken).

Camden County is governed by a seven-member Board of Chosen Freeholders. Camden County's Freeholders are: Louis Cappelli, Jr. (Freeholder Director), Edward McDonnell (Freeholder Deputy Director), Riletta L. Cream, Thomas J. Gurick, Jeffrey L. Nash, Joseph Ripa and Carmen Rodriguez.

Education

Public Schools

The Cherry Hill Public Schools system is made up of 19 schools: an early childhood center ([Barclay early Childhood Center]), twelve elementary schools ([Clara Barton], [James F. Cooper], [Bret Harte], [James H. Johnson], [Joyce Kilmer], [Kingston], [A. Russell Knight], [Horace Mann], [Thomas Paine], [Joseph D. Sharp], [Richard Stockton] and [Woodcrest]), three middle schools ([Beck], [Carusi] and [Rosa International]), two traditional high schools, and an alternative high school program. It is the twelfth-largest school district in the state of New Jersey and one of the largest suburban districts. This year, the district will top 11,800 students and enrollments continue to grow. The district has grown by about 2,000 students in the last 12 years. The system has 1,400 employees, including 1,000+ teachers.

The three high schools in the district are Cherry Hill High School East (2,093 students in grades 9–12), Cherry Hill High School West (1,602 students in grades 9–12) and Cherry Hill Alternative High School [link] (47 students, ungraded).

For the 2001-02 school year, Cherry Hill High School East received the Blue Ribbon Award from the United States Department of Education, the highest honor that an American school can achieve[Blue Ribbon Schools Program: Schools Recognized 1982-1983 through 1999-2002 (PDF)], accessed May 11, 2006. In addition, the district has two New Jersey Department of Education Star Schools, three students accepted to the Governor's School of New Jersey, and five Best Practices Award Winners. SAT scores far exceed state and national averages. In 2005, the graduation rate was nearly 100% and more than 97% of graduates are continuing their education at two- or four-year colleges.

Private Schools

Camden Catholic High School [link], located on Cuthbert Boulevard at Route 38, is run by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Camden.

The King's Christian School, located on Carnegie Plaza off Springdale Road, is a private Christian fully-accredited PreK-12 institution founded as the Christian Day School of Camden County in 1946.

[Kellman Academy] located on Chapel Avenue is a private Judaic school serving children aged 3 through 8th grade. The school was founded in 1959 in association with Congregation Beth El.

[Politz Day School] located on Cooper Landing Road is a private Judaic school serving early childhood through middle school students. The school is co-located with and supported by Congregation Sons of Israel.

[Baptist Regional School] on Springdale Road is a private Christian school on two campuses, grades K-6 in Cherry Hill, and grades 7-12 in Haddon Heights, New Jersey. The schools were founded and supported by Bethel Baptist Church (Cherry Hill) and Haddon Heights Baptist Church.

Colleges and universities

Camden County College operates a campus at the William G. Rohrer Center, State Route 70 and Springdale Road.

Transportation

The New Jersey Turnpike passes through Cherry Hill Township. The Walt Whitman rest area (southbound at milepost 30.2) is located in the township. [New Jersey Turnpike: Walt Whitman Service Area], accessed May 30, 2006 However, there are no entrances to the turnpike within the township.

I-295 has three exits in the township. Exit 34A/B is Route 70 (Marlton Pike); exit 32 is CR 561 (Haddonfield-Berlin Rd.); and exit 31 goes directly to the Woodcrest station of the PATCO high-speed commuter rail line, which travels from 15-16th & Locust Streets in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to Lindenwold.

Several New Jersey Transit bus routes also pass through or stop in the township. The NJT Atlantic City Line stops at the Cherry Hill station, located between the Garden State Pavilion shopping center and the newer development on the grounds of the former Garden State Racetrack.

Noted residents, past and present

Miscellaneous information

References

External links

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