Moorestown is a township in Burlington County in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is an eastern suburb of Philadelphia and geographically part of the South Jersey region of the state. As of the 2020 United States census, the township's population was 21,355, its highest decennial census count ever and an increase of 629 (+3.0%) from the 2010 census count of 20,726, which in turn had reflected an increase of 1,709 (+9.0%) from the 19,017 counted at the 2000 census.Table 7. Population for the Counties and Municipalities in New Jersey: 1990, 2000 and 2010, New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development, February 2011. Accessed May 1, 2023. The township, and all of Burlington County, is a part of the Philadelphia metropolitan area.New Jersey: 2020 Core Based Statistical Areas and Counties, United States Census Bureau. Accessed February 1, 2023.
Moorestown was authorized to be incorporated as a township by an act of the New Jersey Legislature on March 11, 1922, from portions of Chester Township (now Maple Shade Township), subject to the approval of voters in the affected area in a referendum. Voters approved the creation on April 25, 1922.Snyder, John P. The Story of New Jersey's Civil Boundaries: 1606-1968, Bureau of Geology and Topography; Trenton, New Jersey; 1969. p. 97. Accessed May 30, 2024.Staff. Acts of the One Hundred and Forty-Sixth Legislature of the State of New Jersey, pp. 123-127. New Jersey Secretary of State, 1922. Accessed October 17, 2015. "Chapter 68 - An Act to incorporate the township of Moorestown, in the county of Burlington" The township is named for a Thomas Moore who settled in the area in 1722 and constructed a tavern called Moore's Tavern,About Moorestown, Moorestown, New Jersey. Accessed January 10, 2025. "Thomas Moore and his wife Elizabeth settled here in 1722 and in 1732, Moore purchased 33 acres of land on the north side of King's Highway.... Mr. Moore set up a hotel on the northwest corner of King's Highway and Union Streets (currently a bank).... The old homestead on the northeast corner of King's Highway and Lenola Road was constructed in 1742 by John Cowperthwaite. Because of its excellent example of an 18th century home, record of its construction was made in 1937 by the U.S. Department of Interior and is now recorded in the Library of Congress." though other sources attribute the name to poet Thomas Moore.Hutchinson, Viola L. The Origin of New Jersey Place Names, New Jersey Public Library Commission, May 1945. Accessed September 8, 2015.
Chester Township had banned all liquor sales in 1915, and Moorestown retained the restrictions for more than 70 years after Prohibition ended in 1933. Referendums aiming to repeal the ban failed in both 1935 and 1953. In 2007, the township council approved a referendum that would allow the sale by auction of six liquor licenses (the state limit of one per every 3,000 residents), with estimates that each license could sell over $1 million each.Jones, Richard G. "A New Fight for a Holdout on Prohibition", The New York Times, July 17, 2007. Accessed July 19, 2007. The referendum did not receive enough votes to pass. In 2011, voters repealed the liquor ban; however, liquor sales in the township will be restricted to the Moorestown Mall.Hefler, Jan. "Moorestown repeals liquor ban", The Philadelphia Inquirer, November 9, 2011. Accessed February 11, 2012. "After months of heated debate, Moorestown voters decisively approved a proposal to allow restaurants at Moorestown Mall to sell liquor in the historically dry community.... Voters in the community of 19,000 people were asked two questions: whether to permit liquor sales, and then whether to restrict the sales to mall restaurants. Unofficial tallies show the vote on the first question was 4,138 to 2,740, and on the second, 3,750 to 2,876."
In 2005, Moorestown was ranked number one in Money magazine's list of the 100 best places to live in America.Best places to live 2005, Money magazine. Accessed May 17, 2006. The magazine screened over a thousand small towns and created a list of the top 100 for its August 2005 issue, in which Moorestown earned the top spot.
History
Main Street is located along a ridge historically occupied by the Lenni Lenape Native Americans. Two natural springs, one to the west (off Main Street before reaching the Perkins Center for the Arts, just by Roberts Elementary School) and one to the east (off North Stanwick Road) drew Native Americans and traders to the area.
In 1682, John and Sarah Roberts became the first English-speaking residents of Moorestown when they established their home. Their residence is now marked by the Roberts Monument at the intersection of County Route 537 and Route 73.DeCou, George (1929). Moorestown and Her Neighbors; historical sketches. Philadelphia: Harris & Partridge, Inc., pp. 7-9.Lamborn, Suzanne Parry (2006). John and Sarah Roberts, with many related families. Morgantown, Pennsylvania: Masthof Press, pp. 1-3. In May 1686, three years after the founding of Philadelphia, John Rodman bought on the west side of Chester Township, and Thomas Rodman bought in the same area; this soon became known as the Village of Rodmantown. The growing area around the eastern spring was known as the Village of Chestertown.Chaplin, Philippa J. "All about King George's 'Great Road'", The Philadelphia Inquirer, October 3, 2004. Accessed June 26, 2012. "To the northeast, the Lenni Lenape had settled near two springs in what is now Moorestown. It is not known exactly when the Indians left, but sometime after Kings Highway came through in 1682, two white settlements sprang up near the springs - Rodmantown on the west end, around today's Church and Main Streets, and Chestertown on the east, around Chester and Main, according to Stephanie Herz, librarian for the Moorestown Historical Society."
In 1700, the first Society of Friends' Meeting House, built of logs, was erected on the King's Highway. Originally known as Meeting House Lane, Chester Avenue was laid out in 1720. The community at that time probably consisted of a few farmhouses along the King's Highway from Stanwick Road to Locust Street.Pray, Rusty. "A little bit country and a little bit ritzy", The Philadelphia Inquirer, October 20, 2004. Accessed June 26, 2012.
Thomas Moore and his wife Elizabeth settled here in 1722. In 1732, Moore purchased of land on the north side of the King's Highway. The land ran from the west side of the Friends' graveyard on the northwest corner of the King's Highway and Meeting House Lane on the east, and west to Locust Street on the western boundary of his property and north to Second Street. Moore set up a hotel on the northwest corner of the King's Highway and Union streets (Cornerstone Bank and the Wawa now occupy opposite corners there). Given Moore's extensive property ownership, the name Moorestown gradually replaced Chester informally in the center of town. Finally, Moorestown formerly split off from Chester and became a Township.
The Coles Hotel, east of the corner of Main and Chester, was a stop on the stagecoach route connecting Camden with Trenton and Philadelphia. Construction of the railroad in 1867 superseded the stagecoaches and connected Mount Holly and Camden.Herold, Patti. "Moorestown's buildings tell centuries of tales", Courier-Post, June 23, 1999. Accessed November 15, 2025, via Newspapers.com. "For most of the 1800s, the stagecoach traveled Kings Highway from Camden to Trenton. Moorestown was divided by the coming of the railroad -- residents welcomed the convenience, but shopkeepers feared local business would suffer with the access to Philadelphia.... John T. Evans had a real estate office, and the Coles Hotel, demolished in 1925 to make room for the Burlington County Trust Company, was located at 91 East Main Street."
A tavern built in 1745 by John Cox at what is now Main and Schooley streets was taken over in 1778 during the Revolutionary War by Hessian officers retreating from Philadelphia. A nearby house called the "Hessian House" also housed officers while enlisted men camped on what is now the lawn of the Moorestown Friends School. In the years after the war the tavern was used for as a town hall until 1812, when what is now called "Old Town Hall" was constructed further down the road.
A house constructed in 1742 by John Cowperthwaite at King's Highway and Lenola Road is listed in the Library of Congress with details of the house recorded in 1937 by the Historic American Buildings Survey of the United States Department of the Interior.
Quakers built Moorestown's first two schools in 1785. A brick schoolhouse was located near what is now the intersection of Route 73 and the Kings Highway overpass. A stone schoolhouse was located adjacent to the present Friends Meeting House at the intersection of Chester Avenue and Main Street. The first district school was opened in 1810. The first free Moorestown public school was established in 1873.History, Moorestown Friends School. Accessed February 11, 2012. "In 1785, members of the Religious Society of Friends (also known as Quakers) erected a little brick schoolhouse at a point where Kings Highway passes over Route 73, in present day Maple Shade. The same year, they built a one-room stone schoolhouse on land west of the present Moorestown Friends Meeting House, on what is now part of the site of Moorestown Friends School."
On October 28, 1962 operators at the Moorestown US Air Force radar facility, which is now the site of the USS Rancocas, part of the Falling Leaves network reported to NORAD that a nuclear missile had been launched from Cuba towards Florida. After the expected impact came and went without a nuclear detonation it was found that a test tape simulating a launch coincidentally lined up with a satellite passing overhead, causing the false alarm.
Vernon Hill's mansion Villa Collina—Italian for "Hill House"—the largest private residence in New Jersey, is located in Moorestown.Smith, Eileen and Walsh, Jim. "Hill's climb took bank to heights of industry", Asbury Park Press, June 30, 2007. Accessed July 25, 2007. "Hill and his wife Shirley built Villa Collina, literally Hill House, a Tuscan-style mansion in Moorestown that is the biggest private residence in the state."
Moorestown's Quaker heritage is discussed in Moorestown resident and native historian William H. Kingston's book, Moorestown's Third Century: The Quaker Legacy.
Geography According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the township had a total area of 14.94 square miles (38.70 km2), including 14.73 square miles (38.15 km2) of land and 0.21 square miles (0.55 km2) of water (1.43%).
The township is located in southwest Burlington County and borders Maple Shade to the south, Cinnaminson, and Delran to the west, Willingboro on the north and Mount Laurel to the east.Areas touching Moorestown Township, MapIt. Accessed February 28, 2020.Burlington County Map, Coalition for a Healthy NJ. Accessed February 27, 2020.New Jersey Municipal Boundaries, New Jersey Department of Transportation. Accessed November 15, 2019. Moorestown is approximately east of Philadelphia.
Moorestown-Lenola is an unincorporated community and census-designated place located within Moorestown, which had a 2020 population of 14,240.
Other unincorporated communities, localities and place names located partially or completely within the township include Bortons Landing, North Bend, Stanwick and West Moorestown.Locality Search, State of New Jersey. Accessed April 23, 2015.
Climate The climate in the Moorestown area is characterized by hot, humid summers and generally mild to cooler winters. According to the Köppen Climate Classification system, Moorestown has a humid subtropical climate, abbreviated "Cfa" on climate maps.Climate Summary for Moorestown, New Jersey, Weatherbase.com.
Demographics
2020 census