thumb|300px|The historic First Baptist Church of Laurelton in Brick Township, located on [[New Jersey Route 88|Route 88]]
Brick Township is a township situated on the Jersey Shore within Ocean County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the city retained its position as the state's 13th-most-populous municipality, with a population of 73,620,
A majority of Brick Township is located on the mainland. Ocean Beaches I, II, and III are situated on the Barnegat Peninsula, a long, narrow barrier peninsula that separates Barnegat Bay from the Atlantic Ocean. The mainland and beach area of the town are not geographically adjacent. Brick Township was incorporated as a township by an act of the New Jersey Legislature on February 15, 1850, from portions of both Dover Township (now Toms River Township) and Howell Township. The township was named after Joseph Brick, the owner of Bergen Iron Works located on the Metedeconk River. Portions of the township were taken to form Point Pleasant Beach (May 18, 1886), Bay Head (June 15, 1886), Lakewood Township (March 23, 1892), Mantoloking (April 10, 1911) and Point Pleasant (April 21, 1920). In 1963, voters rejected a referendum that would have changed the township's name to "Laurelton".
After hovering for years in the top five, in 2006, the township earned the title of "America's Safest City", out of 371 cities included nationwide in the 13th annual Morgan Quitno survey. Since the year 2000, Brick Township has been the safest "city" (population over 75,000) in New Jersey. In 2003 and 2004, Brick Township was ranked as the second safest city in the United States, after Newton, Massachusetts. In 2005, Brick Township had dropped down to the fifth safest "city" (population over 75,000) in the United States, before it rebounded to the top in 2006.
History
The area that would become Brick Township began as a rural community. In 1833, Joseph W. Brick established the Bergen Iron Works. Brick died in 1847, shortly before the township’s creation.
In 1850, the New Jersey State Legislature created Ocean County from portions of Monmouth and Burlington counties. At the same time, Brick Township was formed from parts of Howell and Dover townships. The new township was named for Joseph W. Brick, the owner of Bergen Iron Works and one of the area’s most prominent citizens at the time of its incorporation.
The Havens Homestead Museum preserves the history of the Havens family, who originally settled in the Laurelton/Burrsville section of Brick. The museum is housed in the original Havens family home, located on a small plot of farmland. It includes a gift shop and offers daily tours of the property.
In August of 1869, President Ulysses S. Grant visited Brick. Parents of children diagnosed with autism have moved to the township in order to make use of the special education programs offered by the school district.
Brick has been affected by the heroin epidemic. According to the state's statistics, in 2012 Brick was ranked sixth in the state with 550 reported incidents of heroin or opiate abuse, behind Newark, Jersey City, Paterson, Atlantic City and Camden. In 2017, Brick improved to 438 reported heroin abuse cases, ranked ninth in the state.
On July 11, 2004, Brick Memorial High School student Brittney Gregory went missing, and her disappearance received national media attention. Her body was later found in a shallow grave after a woman led police to the area. Jack Fuller Jr., a drug addict and acquaintance of Gregory’s father, admitted to killing her. Fuller stated that he had been giving Gregory a ride to her boyfriend’s house when he began smoking crack cocaine in the car. According to Fuller, Gregory became upset, and he punched her several times. After she died, he buried her body.
During the December 2010 North American blizzard, Brick Township received of snow, the highest accumulation recorded in the state. In October 2012, parts of Brick were devastated by Hurricane Sandy. Barrier island and other waterfront properties were particularly hard hit. Homes and such buildings as the Shore Acres Yacht Club sustained major damage; some buildings had to be demolished.
During the February 2026 North American blizzard, Brick Township received of snow, multiple areas of Brick was without power for up to 15 hours, there was a state-wide travel ban from February 23-24, only emergency vehicles could travel on roadways.
Geography
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the township had a total area of 32.22 square miles (83.44 km<sup>2</sup>), including 25.61 square miles (66.34 km<sup>2</sup>) of land and 6.61 square miles (17.11 km<sup>2</sup>) of water (20.50%).
The communities of Herbertsville and Parkway Pines are located close to exit 91 of the Garden State Parkway, near the Monmouth County border, and are geographically distant from the rest of the township. Bayberry Court and Maypink Lane are two streets that are not accessible from any other Brick roads, and are served by the United States Postal Service as ZIP Code 07731 with Howell Township.
The township borders Bay Head, Lakewood Township, Mantoloking, Point Pleasant and Toms River Township in Ocean County; and the Monmouth County municipalities of Brielle, Howell Township and Wall Township.