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Middletown Information
Middletown Township is a township in Monmouth County, New Jersey, United
States. As of the United States 2000 Census had a total population of 66,327.
Middletown is one of the oldest sites of European settlement in New Jersey.
Belford (2000 Census population of 1,340), Fairview (3,942), Leonardo (2,823),
Lincroft (6,255), Navesink (1,962), North Middletown (3,165) and Port Monmouth
(3,742) are all Census-designated places and unincorporated areas located within
Middletown Township. In 2006, Middletown was voted 50th in CNN Money's Best
Places to Live.
Though small communities of Lenape Native Americans were common throughout the
area, the first known European landing in what would become Middletown Township
occurred in 1609, when the English explorer Henry Hudson landed along the shores
of the Sandy Hook Bay. Hudson was in search of the mythical Northwest Passage in
the service of the Dutch West India Company. Middletown Township was established
in 1664, after the English conquest of New Amsterdam; but there was unauthorized
settlement before that. The long-standing tradition had Penelope Stout, one of
the first settlers, hiding in a tree from hostile Indians.
During the American Revolution, Middletown and much of the rest of Eastern
Monmouth County was held by the British. After the Battle of Monmouth, the
British retreat from Freehold Township, New Jersey carried them down King's
Highway in Middletown to their embarkation points in the bay.
Upon the completion of a railroad junction in 1875, the town grew more rapidly,
eventually changing from a group of small and loosely connected fishing and
agricultural villages into a wealthy and alarmingly fast-growing suburb at the
turn of the 21st century. If Middletown ever had a recognizable town center or
town square, it was lost in that rapid growth soon after World War II.
In May of 1958, several Nike Ajax missiles exploded at Battery NY-53 in Chapel
Hill, killing ten Army and civilian personnel. The accident was one of the worst
missile-related disasters of the Cold War.
Middletown was extremely hard hit during the September 11, 2001 attacks on the
World Trade Center, losing 36 of its residents, among the largest number for any
municipality in New Jersey; there is a memorial to them in the Highlands of
Middletown.
The planned Middletown Town Center is a major concern to the town, because of
traffic issues, open space, etc.
A popular landmark in the community is the "Evil Clown of Middletown", a
towering sign along Route 35 painted to resemble a circus clown that currently
advertises a liquor store. The sign (and recent successful attempts from
residents to save it from demolition) has been featured in the pages of Weird NJ
magazine, on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, and in the Kevin Smith-directed
film Clerks II.
The Middletown Township Public School District consists of seventeen public
schools, with a student population of more than 10,000. There are twelve K-5
Elementary Schools (Bayview, Fairview, Harmony, Leonardo, Lincroft, Middletown
Village, Navesink, New Monmouth, Nut Swamp, Ocean Avenue, Port Monmouth and
River Plaza), three grade 6-8 middle schools (Bayshore, Thompson and Thorne),
and two high schools for grades 9-12, Middletown High School North and
Middletown High School South. Four elementary schools feed into each of the
three middle schools. The facilities vary in age, architecture, size, and
student population.
Along with public education, Middletown Township is home to two private high
schools. Christian Brothers Academy is an all boys College preparatory school
with a focus on Christian education run by the Institute of the Brothers of the
Christian Schools, located in Lincroft. Mater Dei High School is a four-year
Catholic coeducational high school located in the New Monmouth section.
There are also two parochial grammar schools, Saint Mary in New Monmouth and
Saint Leo the Great School in Lincroft.