National Park is a Borough in Gloucester County, New Jersey, United States. As of the United States 2000 Census, 3,205 residents were counted. Despite its name, National Park is not a national park nor is it associated with one. The area was commercially developed starting in 1895 as National Park on the Delaware, a religious resort / retreat community for members of the Methodist Episcopal Church.

National Park was formed as a borough by an Act of the New Jersey Legislature on April 15, 1902, from portions of West Deptford Township.

Geography

National Park is located at (39.867158, -75.180201).

According to the United States Census Bureau, the borough has a total area of 1.4 square miles (3.7 km²), of which, 1.0 square miles (2.6 km²) of it is land and 0.4 square miles (1.1 km²) of it (30.56%) is water.

National Park borders West Deptford Township and the Delaware River.

The Delaware River shore faces the southern end of Philadelphia, approximately across from the mouth of the Schuylkill River and the site of Fort Mifflin.

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 3,205 people, 1,111 households, and 865 families residing in the borough. The population density was 3,219.0 people per square mile (1,237.5/km²). There were 1,165 housing units at an average density of 1,170.1/sq mi (449.8/km²). The racial makeup of the borough was 98.35% White, 0.09% African American, 0.25% Native American, 0.25% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 0.53% from other races, and 0.50% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.44% of the population.

There were 1,111 households out of which 37.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 58.2% were married couples living together, 14.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 22.1% were non-families. 18.6% of all households were made up of individuals and 8.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.86 and the average family size was 3.24.

In the borough the population was spread out with 26.4% under the age of 18, 9.3% from 18 to 24, 29.7% from 25 to 44, 22.2% from 45 to 64, and 12.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females there were 99.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 93.8 males.

The median income for a household in the borough was $48,534, and the median income for a family was $51,535. Males had a median income of $35,102 versus $27,398 for females. The per capita income for the borough was $18,048. About 6.5% of families and 7.6% of the population were below the poverty line, including 6.7% of those under age 18 and 7.9% of those age 65 or over.

Government

Local government

National Park is governed under the Borough form of New Jersey municipal government. The government consists of a Mayor and a Borough Council comprising six council members, with all positions elected at large. A Mayor is elected directly by the voters to a four-year term of office. The Borough Council consists of six members elected to serve three-year terms on a staggered basis, with two seats coming up for election each year.

The Mayor of National Park is Patricia M. Koloski. Members of the Borough Council Borough Council are Council President Dennis Mehaffey, Mark Cooper, Michael Duer, Anne Marie Henry, Harry Schaeffer and Michael Szatkowski.

Federal, state and county representation

National Park is in the First Congressional District and is part of New Jersey's 3rd Legislative District.

Education

The National Park School District serves public school students in Preschool through sixth grade. National Park Elementary School served 315 students as of the 2005-06 school year.

For seventh through twelfth grade, public school students attend Gateway Regional High School, a regional public high school serving students from the boroughs of National Park, Wenonah, Westville and Woodbury Heights, as part of the Gateway Regional High School District.

Site of Fort Mercer

During the American Revolutionary War, in 1777, the Continental Army, under the command of George Washington, constructed two forts on the Delaware River to block the approach to Philadelphia: Fort Mifflin, on the Pennsylvania side, and Fort Mercer, on the New Jersey side. Fort Mercer was located in what is now National Park. A park, monument, and museum exist today on the site of the fort. The fort was named in honor of Brigadier General Hugh Mercer who had died earlier that year at the Battle of Princeton.

On October 22 of that year, in what is known as the Battle of Red Bank, an attack by 900 Hessian troops, serving under British Major General William Howe, who then occupied Philadelphia, was repelled, with heavy losses on the Hessian side, including the death of their commander, Colonel Carl Emil Kurt von Donop, by the 600 Continental defenders under Colonel Christopher Greene. After the later loss of Fort Mifflin, Fort Mercer was abandoned without a fight when Lord Charles Cornwallis landed 2,000 British troops nearby on November 18.

References

External links

• Borough of National Park website
• National Park Elementary School
• Data for National Park Elementary School, National Center for Education Statistics
• National Park Fire Dept
• National Park forum