Beverly, New Jersey

thumb|275px|[[Watercolor painting by Thomas Moran depicting Beverly, New Jersey in the late 1800s]]

Beverly is a city in Burlington County in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the city's population was 2,499, The city and all of Burlington County constitute a part of the Philadelphia-Reading-Camden combined statistical area and the Delaware Valley.

Beverly was originally incorporated as a borough on March 5, 1850, within Willingboro Township. Beverly was incorporated as a city by an act of the New Jersey Legislature on April 13, 1857, replacing Beverly borough, based on the results of a referendum held that day. Beverly Township, formed in 1859, co-existed alongside Beverly City and was renamed as Delanco Township in 1926.

The city had the 15th-highest property tax rate in New Jersey, with an equalized rate of 4.550% in 2020, compared to 2.676% in the county as a whole and a statewide average of 2.279%.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city had a total area of 0.76 square miles (1.96 km2), including 0.54 square miles (1.40 km2) of land and 0.21 square miles (0.56 km2) of water (28.16%).

Demographics

2020 census

As of the 2020 census, Beverly had a population of 2,499. The median age was 39.5 years. 24.1% of residents were under the age of 18 and 15.7% of residents were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 95.8 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 89.4 males age 18 and over.

100.0% of residents lived in urban areas, while 0.0% lived in rural areas.

There were 971 households in Beverly, of which 33.1% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 37.2% were married-couple households, 18.6% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 34.5% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 26.1% of all households were made up of individuals and 11.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.

2000 census

At the 2000 United States census,

There were 960 households, of which 33.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 44.6% were married couples living together, 22.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 27.7% were non-families. 21.6% of all households were made up of individuals, and 10.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.77 and the average family size was 3.23. The governing body is comprised of an elected mayor and a five-member elected city council who are chosen at-large on a partisan basis to serve four-year terms of office as part of the November general election, with either two or three seats coming up for election in odd-numbered years. Responsibilities of the governing body include all executive and legislative functions.

, the mayor of the City of Beverly is Democrat Cynthia Hall Miller, who was elected to serve the remainder of the term of office ending December 31, 2027. Members of the Beverly Common Council are Council President Bernardine Williams (D, 2027), Council President Pro-Tem Kelsey Snively (D, 2027), Ghana Clouden Jr. (D, 2029), Robert E. Lowden Jr. (D, 2029) and Ariel Piña (D, 2029).

In November 2025, Cynthia Hall Miller was elected as mayor to serve the two years remaining on the term of office that had been held by her husband, Randy Miller, until his death in July 2025.

Luis Crespo was appointed by the council in December 2012 to fill the vacant seat of Scott Perkins. In the November 2013 general election, Republican Mark Schwedes defeated Crespo to win the remaining two years of the unexpired term.

Federal, state and county representation

Beverly is located in the 3rd Congressional District and is part of New Jersey's 7th state legislative district.

Politics

In March 2011, there were 1,543 registered voters in Beverly City, of whom 608 (39.4% vs. 33.3% countywide) were registered as Democrats, 262 (17.0% vs. 23.9%) were registered as Republicans and 673 (43.6% vs. 42.8%) were registered as Unaffiliated. There were no voters registered to other parties. Among the city's 2010 Census population, 59.9% (vs. 61.7% in Burlington County) were registered to vote, including 77.9% of those ages 18 and over (vs. 80.3% countywide).

In the 2012 presidential election, Democrat Barack Obama received 797 votes here (68.6% vs. 58.1% countywide), ahead of Republican Mitt Romney with 330 votes (28.4% vs. 40.2%) and other candidates with 14 votes (1.2% vs. 1.0%), among the 1,161 ballots cast by the city's 1,642 registered voters, for a turnout of 70.7% (vs. 74.5% in Burlington County). In the 2008 presidential election, Democrat Barack Obama received 850 votes here (68.6% vs. 58.4% countywide), ahead of Republican John McCain with 365 votes (29.5% vs. 39.9%) and other candidates with 13 votes (1.0% vs. 1.0%), among the 1,239 ballots cast by the city's 1,559 registered voters, for a turnout of 79.5% (vs. 80.0% in Burlington County). In the 2004 presidential election, Democrat John Kerry received 655 votes here (60.0% vs. 52.9% countywide), ahead of Republican George W. Bush with 398 votes (36.4% vs. 46.0%) and other candidates with 24 votes (2.2% vs. 0.8%), among the 1,092 ballots cast by the city's 1,442 registered voters, for a turnout of 75.7% (vs. 78.8% in the whole county).

In the 2013 gubernatorial election, Republican Chris Christie received 395 votes here (54.6% vs. 61.4% countywide), ahead of Democrat Barbara Buono with 300 votes (41.5% vs. 35.8%) and other candidates with 12 votes (1.7% vs. 1.2%), among the 723 ballots cast by the city's 1,625 registered voters, yielding a 44.5% turnout (vs. 44.5% in the county). In the 2009 gubernatorial election, Democrat Jon Corzine received 422 ballots cast (52.7% vs. 44.5% countywide), ahead of Republican Chris Christie with 306 votes (38.2% vs. 47.7%), Independent Chris Daggett with 47 votes (5.9% vs. 4.8%) and other candidates with 12 votes (1.5% vs. 1.2%), among the 801 ballots cast by the city's 1,590 registered voters, yielding a 50.4% turnout (vs. 44.9% in the county).

Education

The Beverly City Schools serve students in public school for pre-kindergarten through eighth grade at Beverly City School. As of the 2022–23 school year, the district, comprised of one school, had an enrollment of 353 students and 36.0 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 9.8:1.

For ninth through twelfth grades, students in public school from Beverly and Riverton attend Palmyra High School in Palmyra, as part of sending/receiving relationships with the Palmyra Public Schools. As of the 2022–23 school year, the high school had an enrollment of 388 students and 34.3 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 11.3:1.

Students from Beverly, and from all of Burlington County, are eligible to attend the Burlington County Institute of Technology, a countywide public school district that serves the vocational and technical education needs of students at the high school and post-secondary level at its campuses in Medford and Westampton.

Transportation

thumb|right|[[County Route 543 (New Jersey)|County Route 543, the most prominent road in Beverly]]

Roads and highways

, the city had a total of of roadways, of which were maintained by the municipality and by Burlington County.

County Route 543 is the most prominent roadway in Beverly.

Public transportation

The Beverly/Edgewater Park station provides service between the Trenton Transit Center in Trenton and the Walter Rand Transportation Center (and other stops) in Camden on NJ Transit's River Line light rail system.

NJ Transit provides bus service on route 419 between Burlington and Camden.

BurLink bus service is offered on the B1 route (between Beverly and Pemberton) and on the B2 route (between Beverly and Westampton).

Points of interest

thumb|right|St. Stephen's Episcopal Church in Beverly, New Jersey

Beverly National Cemetery was created in 1863 with the purchase of a single acre of land and was expanded five times from 1936 to 1951, before being added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1997.
St. Stephen's Episcopal Church, consecrated by the Episcopal Diocese of New Jersey in 1837, was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1999. The church, which celebrated its 175th anniversary in 2012, had its tower and steeple renovated at a cost of $450,000 raised from parish members and local organizations.

Notable people

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

Grace Alekhine (1876–1956), artist and chess master
Eleanor Bisbee (1893–1956), journalist, Universalist minister, philosopher and college professor
Sam Calderone (1926–2006), Major League Baseball catcher who played for three seasons
John Lowden Knight (1915–2001), professor, university administrator, and a Methodist theologian
A. Merritt (1884–1943), author best known for his fantasy works
Barney Schultz (1926–2015), pitcher who played in the Major Leagues for the St. Louis Cardinals, Detroit Tigers, and Chicago Cubs
James F. Scott (1942–2020), physicist and research director at the Cavendish Laboratory