Lower Township is a township in Cape May County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. The township, and all of Cape May County, is part of the Ocean City metropolitan statistical area, and is part of the Philadelphia-Wilmington-Camden, PA-NJ-DE-MD combined statistical area, also known as the Delaware Valley or Philadelphia metropolitan area. As of the 2020 United States census, the township's population was 22,057,
New Jersey Monthly magazine ranked Lower Township as its 34th best place to live in its 2008 rankings of the "Best Places To Live" in New Jersey. The township is part of the state's South Jersey region and the larger Delaware Valley or Philadelphia metropolitan area.
History
Before the region was settled by Europeans, the Kechemeche tribe of the Lenape Native Americans inhabited South Jersey, and traveled to the barrier islands during the summer to hunt and fish. On August 28, 1609, English explorer Henry Hudson entered the Delaware Bay and stayed one day on land, north of what is now Cape May Point. In 1630, representatives of the Dutch West India Company purchased a tract of land along the Delaware from indigenous people, and additional land in the county was purchased 11 years later. The sole remaining section of the original structure, which was moved several times during its history, is now preserved as Coxe Hall Cottage at Historic Cold Spring Village, a 19th-century living history museum in Lower Township.
Lower Township was formed as a precinct on April 2, 1723, and was incorporated by an act of the New Jersey Legislature on February 21, 1798, as one of New Jersey's initial group of 104 townships established by the Township Act of 1798.
Portions of the township were taken to form Cape Island Borough (March 8, 1848; now known as Cape May city), Cape May Point borough (created April 19, 1878; restored to Lower Township on April 8, 1896; re-created April 6, 1908), Holly Beach (April 14, 1885, now part of Wildwood city), South Cape May (August 27, 1894; restored to Lower Township after the borough was dissolved on April 30, 1945), Wildwood Crest (April 6, 1910), and North Cape May (March 19, 1928; restored to Lower Township after it was dissolved on April 30, 1945). Other unincorporated communities, localities and place names located partially or completely within the township include Bennett, Cold Spring, Cold Spring Inlet, Ephraims Island, Fishing Creek, Higbees Landing, Miami Beach, Schellengers Landing, Sewells Point, Shawcrest, South Cape May, Sunset Beach, Town Bank, Weers Landing, and Wildwood Gables.
Schellengers Landing is where boats dock and where a bridge between Cape Island and the mainland is located. Schellengers Landing was named after people who moved from New England to New Jersey in the 1600s. There were multiple families with the Schellenger name who had settled the area. Schellengers Landing is connected to Cape May city via a bridge, The name of the community is spelled differently in different works.