Egg Harbor Township is a township in Atlantic County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the township's population was 47,842,
Egg Harbor Township was first mentioned as part of Gloucester County in records dating back to March 20, 1693, and at times was called New Weymouth. The township's western boundary was established on May 13, 1761, with the area called Great Egg-Harbour Township. Portions of the township were taken to form Galloway Township, which was established by Royal charter on April 4, 1774. Additional portions were taken to form Weymouth Township on February 12, 1798. On February 21, 1798, the area was incorporated as Egg-Harbour Township. Over the ensuing centuries, portions of the township were taken to create many new municipalities: Hamilton Township on February 5, 1813; Atlantic City on May 1, 1854; Absecon on May 1, 1854; South Atlantic City (now Margate City) on September 7, 1885; Pleasantville on January 10, 1889; Linwood on February 20, 1889; Somers Point on April 24, 1886; Longport on March 7, 1898; Ventnor City on March 17, 1903; and Northfield on March 21, 1905. Geographically, the township, and all of Atlantic County, is part of the South Jersey region and of the Atlantic City-Hammonton metropolitan statistical area, which in turn is included in the Philadelphia-Reading-Camden combined statistical area and the Delaware Valley.
Great Egg Harbor got its name from Dutch explorer Cornelius Jacobsen Mey. In 1614, Mey came upon the inlet to the Great Egg Harbor River. The meadows were so covered with the eggs of waterfowl and shorebirds that he called it "Eieren Haven" (Egg Harbor).
History
The first residents of what would become Egg Harbor Township were the Lenni Lenape Native Americans, who would spend their summers on the elevated land around the cedar swamp that is now Bargaintown Lake, as well as along the banks of Patcong Creek, where they made use of the abundant fish, shellfish, wild berries, and bird's eggs in the area and collected shells that could be carved to make wampum.
Great Egg Harbor was part of Gloucester County, West Jersey. On May 17, 1694 a law was passed that made this official, reading:
The same Act set the legal boundaries of Gloucester County from the Delaware River, along the Burlington County line to the sea and back up the Great Egg Harbor River to the Delaware River.
Since 1837, ten municipalities have separated from the original Egg Harbor Township, including Atlantic City (1854), Absecon (1872), South Atlantic City (1885; now Margate City), Somers Point (1886), Pleasantville (1888), Linwood (1889), Longport (1898), Brigantine (1903), Ventnor City (1903) and Northfield (1905).
Geography
According to the United States Census Bureau, the township had a total area of 75.47 square miles (195.48 km<sup>2</sup>), including 67.05 square miles (173.65 km<sup>2</sup>) of land and 8.43 square miles (21.82 km<sup>2</sup>) of water (11.16%).
The township is one of 56 South Jersey municipalities that are included within the New Jersey Pinelands National Reserve, a protected natural area of unique ecology covering , that has been classified as a United States Biosphere Reserve and established by Congress in 1978 as the nation's first National Reserve. Part of the township is included in the state-designated Pinelands Area, which includes portions of Atlantic County, along with areas in Burlington, Camden, Cape May, Cumberland, Gloucester and Ocean counties.
Egg Harbor Township includes the unincorporated communities of Bargaintown (the township's seat of government), Cardiff, English Creek, Farmington, Scullville (formerly known as Jeffers), Steelmanville and West Atlantic City, as well as part of McKee City. Other localities and place names located partially or completely within the township include Devenshire, English Creek Landing, Greenwood, Idlewood, Jeffers Landing, Jobs Point, Jones Island, McKee City Station, Mount Calvary, Pleasantville Terrace, Pork Island, Rainbow Islands, Sculls Landing, and Seaview Harbor.
The township borders the municipalities of Absecon, Atlantic City, Corbin City, Estell Manor, Galloway Township, Hamilton Township, Linwood, Longport, Margate City, Northfield, Pleasantville, Somers Point, Ventnor City and Weymouth Township in Atlantic County; and Ocean City and Upper Township in Cape May County.
Parks and protected areas
right|thumb|Sign for the Malibu Beach Wildlife Management Area
There are three wildlife management areas (WMAs) in Egg Harbor Township, two of them in the eastern discontinuous segment of the township. Malibu Beach WMA is located on marshlands between the Great Egg Harbor Bay and Broad Thorofare, covering , and bifurcated by Ocean Drive and NJ 152. In 2017, the city of Ocean City began collecting trash from the site, after the Cape May County Bridge Commission ended collection in Fall 2016, and the state considered shutting down the park.
Adjacent to Malibu Beach WMA is Pork Island WMA, which covers of land on four marshy islands between NJ 152 and Margate Blvd, and between Absecon Island and the mainland. It is inaccessible by car. In the southern part of Egg Harbor Township are scattered plots of wetland near the Great Egg Harbor River that consist of about , or 5.9%, of the Lester G. MacNamara WMA, previously known as Tuckahoe WMA. Established in 1933, the WMA is the oldest in the state, and spreads across four municipalities in Atlantic and Cape May counties.
The area is home to the Egg Harbor Township Nature Reserve, a former mining site that was converted into a park in 2013.