Lacey Township, New Jersey
Lacey Township is a township in Ocean County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey and is considered part of the Jersey Shore and South Jersey regions, as well as of the New York metropolitan area. As of the 2020 United States census, the township's population was 28,655, an increase of 1,011 (+3.7%) from the 2010 census count of 27,644, which in turn reflected an increase of 2,298 (+9.1%) from the 25,346 counted in the 2000 census. The 2010 population was the highest recorded in any decennial census. It was named for Continental Army General John Lacey.
Lacey Township, New Jersey | |
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Township | |
Lacey Schoolhouse Museum | |
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Seal | |
Location of Lacey Township in Ocean County highlighted in yellow (right). Inset map: Location of Ocean County in New Jersey highlighted in black (left). | |
Census Bureau map of Lacey Township, New Jersey | |
Lacey Township Location in Ocean County Lacey Township Location in New Jersey Lacey Township Location in the United States | |
| Coordinates: 39.855153°N 74.267152°W | |
| Country | United States |
| state | New Jersey |
| County | Ocean |
| Incorporated | March 23, 1871 |
| Named for | John Lacey |
| Government | |
| • Type | Township |
| • Body | Township Committee |
| • Mayor | Peggy Sue Juliano (R, term ends December 31, 2026) |
| • Administrator | Veronica Laureigh |
| • Municipal clerk | Veronica Laureigh |
| Area | |
| • Total | 99.81 sq mi (258.49 km2) |
| • Land | 83.25 sq mi (215.62 km2) |
| • Water | 16.55 sq mi (42.87 km2) 16.58% |
| • Rank | 5th of 565 in state 2nd of 33 in county |
| Elevation | 72 ft (22 m) |
| Population (2020) | |
| • Total | 28,655 |
| • Estimate (2022) | 29,632 |
| • Rank | 85th of 565 in state 7th of 33 in county |
| • Density | 344.2/sq mi (132.9/km2) |
| • Rank | 466th of 565 in state 31st of 33 in county |
| Time zone | UTC−05:00 (Eastern (EST)) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC−04:00 (Eastern (EDT)) |
| ZIP Codes | |
| Area code(s) | 609 exchanges: 242, 693, 971 |
| FIPS code | 3402937380 |
| GNIS feature ID | 0882072 |
| Website | www |
Lacey Township was incorporated as a township by an act of the New Jersey Legislature on March 23, 1871, from portions of Dover Township (now known as Toms River Township) and Union Township (now Barnegat Township). Portions of the township were taken on June 23, 1933, to form the borough of Island Beach (which is now Island Beach State Park, part of Berkeley Township). The township was named for Revolutionary War brigadier general John Lacey, who developed Ferrago Forge in 1809.
The Oyster Creek Nuclear Generating Station is located in the southern part of the township. The single-unit 636 MWe boiling water reactor power plant adjoins the Oyster Creek and is owned and operated by Exelon Corporation. It produced 9% of the state's electricity and is the nation's oldest operating nuclear power plant, having first been brought online on December 1, 1969, and is licensed to operate until April 9, 2029. In 2010, Exelon announced that it would close the facility in 2019 as part of an agreement with the State of New Jersey under which the plant would be allowed to operate without cooling towers. The plant, which had contributed a third of the township's budget through taxes, was closed in September 2018, after which a decommissioning process estimated to take eight years and cost $1.4 billion was to be undertaken.
Murray Grove is a Unitarian-Universalist retreat and conference center in Lanoka Harbor, traditionally considered the site where Universalism in America began.