Winslow Township is a township in Camden County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the township's population was 39,907,
Winslow Township was incorporated as a township by an act of the New Jersey Legislature on March 8, 1845, from portions of Gloucester Township. Portions of the township were taken on November 26, 1867, to create Chesilhurst. In 1950, the township annexed a portion of Monroe Township in Gloucester County. The township, and all of Camden County, is part of South Jersey and of the Philadelphia-Wilmington-Camden, PA-NJ-DE-MD combined statistical area, also known as the Delaware Valley or Philadelphia metropolitan area.
History
Winslow Township is Camden County's largest municipality at . The township got its name from the son of a 19th-century glass factory owner, William Coffin Sr., who bought large tracts of timber in Camden County about six miles west of Hammonton and with his son-in-law in 1929. Thomas Jefferson Perce and William Coffin Jr., built the Winslow Glass Works (his second one in 12 years) in the midst of a thick pine forest. The community was named for Senior Coffin's youngest son, Edward Winslow Coffin.
Winslow Township was incorporated in 1845 from the Township of Gloucester. During the early 20th century, Winslow's population continued to grow until it peaked at a small 11,000 residents by the 1970s. During this time period the majority of Winslow residents were farmers. In 1965, Winslow township started to see an increase in population as the Atlantic City Expressway was completed with an interchange in Winslow at Williamstown Road. The proximity of the interchange drew developers towards the Sicklerville section of the township, where Levitt & Sons would build thousands of homes throughout the 1970s. Between 1970 and 1980, Winslow's population nearly doubled to 20,000 residents.
As of 2006, 80% of the township currently sits in the Pinelands National Reserve, thus restricting future land development. Despite the restriction of development on the reserve, agricultural areas still persist in Winslow.
The township is also served by two area codes, 856 and 609. When area code 609 was split in 1999, the southern/eastern end in the township (primarily those with a Hammonton mailing address, Cedar Brook, and a small section of Sickerville) were left in the 609 code, while the other sections closer to Berlin and Williamstown received 856 as their area code.
;Landmarks
- St Lucy's Roman Catholic Church, Route 73. It became a parish in 1961. The Rev. Edward McDaid is pastor.
- Bates Mills Cemetery is a cemetery located on South Erhke Road in Blue Anchor, Today passersby can observe a number of very old grave stones with hardly visible faded initials engraved upon them. The stones seem to be made from iron ore.
- Pinelands National Reserve
- Levitt and Sons Incorporated built Winslow Crossing in the 1970s in Sicklerville. The complexes that were built at that time were Primrose Gate, Manor Hall, Victoria Manor, Eden Hollow, Lehigh Manor, Arbor Meadows and Ivy Meadows.
- In 1972, the Lutheran affiliated Winslow Community Church opens in the Cedar Brook Hunting and Fishing Club.
;Historical timeline
- 1845: Winslow is incorporated from parts of Gloucester Township.
The Blue Hole is a body of water in the middle of woods that is clear blue and always cold, even in the summer, with a very steep shoreline and a maximum depth of approximately , though Weird NJ describes the water as "bottomless" and claims that it is a haunt of the Jersey Devil.
The township borders Berlin Borough, Chesilhurst, Gloucester Township, Pine Hill, and Waterford Township in Camden County; Folsom and Hammonton in Atlantic County, and both Monroe Township and Washington Township in Gloucester County.