Willingboro Township (known from 1959 to 1963 as Levittown and Levittown Township) is a township in Burlington County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is a suburb of Philadelphia and part of the state's South Jersey region. 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.
As of the 2020 United States census, the township's population was 31,889, an increase of 260 (+0.8%) from the 2010 census count of 31,629, which in turn reflected a decline of 1,379 (−4.2%) from the 33,008 counted in 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 has British roots going back to the 17th century. Abraham Levitt and Sons purchased and developed Willingboro land in the 1950s and 1960s as a planned community in their Levittown model.Hester, Tom. "Willingboro: a half-century of suburbia", NJ Advance Media for NJ.com, October 12, 2018, updated April 2, 2019. Accessed October 26, 2019.
The 1967 book The Levittowners, by sociologist Herbert J. Gans, was a famous case study in American urban sociology based on the development of Levittown. Willingboro later became a predominantly African American suburb.
History
Willingboro was one of the original nine divisions in the organization of Burlington County within West Jersey, and was originally formed as the "Constabulary of Wellingborrow" on November 6, 1688.Snyder, John P. The Story of New Jersey's Civil Boundaries: 1606-1968 , Bureau of Geology and Topography; Trenton, New Jersey; 1969. p. 100. Accessed May 30, 2024. At the time, it included present day Delanco Township, New Jersey. The original name of Wellingborough was after the community in England,Hutchinson, Viola L. The Origin of New Jersey Place Names, New Jersey Public Library Commission, May 1945. Accessed October 31, 2015. which was the hometown of Thomas Olive, who led the original settlers into what would become Willingboro Township. Other spellings were used at different times.
After the establishment of the United States and the State of New Jersey, the community was formally incorporated as "Willingborough Township", one of New Jersey's initial group of 104 townships, on February 21, 1798, by the New Jersey Legislature when it enacted "An Act incorporating the Inhabitants of Townships, designating their Powers, and regulating their Meetings", P.L. 1798, p. 289. This makes Willingboro one of the oldest townships in the State. Portions of the township were taken to form Beverly borough (March 5, 1850, now Beverly city) and Beverly Township (March 1, 1859, now known as Delanco Township).
In the 1950s and 1960s, Willingboro was the location for a massive residential development by Levitt & Sons. The town was to be Levitt & Sons' third and largest Levittown development, following similar projects in New York and Pennsylvania. Levitt acquired the great majority of the land in Willingboro; the historic community of Rancocas, in the southeast portion of the township, was annexed to Westampton Township to keep it from being bulldozed, as Levitt wished to keep the development within the boundaries of a single municipality. The first Levittown homes were sold in June 1958, at which time the community was already known as Levittown, New Jersey.Township History, Township of Willingboro. Accessed August 12, 2013.
The town's name was changed from the original Willingboro to "Levittown Township" by a referendum of township residents held on November 3, 1959. Willingboro was less than from Levittown, Pennsylvania and this occasionally caused confusion. The community used the name "Levittown, New Jersey" in 1958, and "Levittown Township" from 1959 to 1963."Chronology of Willingboro" , Willingboro Township. Accessed June 29, 2007. A referendum held on the issue on November 5, 1963, changed the name back to Willingboro.Suplee, C. (1995). Stories of Willingboro Township, New Jersey. Willingboro: Calkins Newspapers, Inc. The name change was passed by a narrow margin of 3,123 to 3,003. In retaliation, Levitt refused to donate any more schools to the fast-growing community. With residential development, the 1950 population of 852 rapidly climbed to 11,861 in 1960; and 43,386 in 1970.
When homes for the new Levittown were first being sold in 1958, Levitt and Sons had a policy against sales to African Americans.Anderson, Priscilla B. The History and Contribution of Black Americans to the Development of Willingboro, Burlington, New Jersey. Trenton, NJ: New Jersey Historical Commission - Afro-American Division, 1985 W. R. James, an African-American officer in the Army's Criminal Investigation Division, was stationed at nearby Fort Dix and applied to purchase a Levittown home. On June 29, 1958, an agent of Levitt and Sons told him that the new Levittown development would be an all-white community. James filed suit against the company challenging their policy. A friend of his, who worked at the New Jersey Division of Civil Rights, said that it was illegal in New Jersey to discriminate in federally-subsidized housing. At the time, de facto racial segregation in housing existed in many areas in the United States. Levittown was receiving mortgage insurance from the Federal Housing Administration. But as of 1958, the law had not been tested.
James sued Levitt in a case that ultimately went to the New Jersey Supreme Court, which upheld lower court rulings in favor of James. James was not the first African American to move into Willingboro. Given James' success in his suit, Charles and Vera Williams purchased a house and moved into the community in 1960, the first African-American family in Willingboro. James eventually moved into Millbrook Park in 1960. He served as head of the local chapter of the NAACP and eventually became a minister. An elementary school in Willingboro was named in his honor.Mulford, Kim. "'It was like heaven': Residents recall Levittown; Original owners gather for its 55th anniversary", Courier-Post, October 13, 2013. Accessed October 21, 2013.
Following the court case, Levitt developed a thorough integration program. The company set up an integration committee headed by Howard Lett, an African American. Lett created a five-point program, which included the announcement by community leaders of Levitt's plan to desegregate housing, and a thorough briefing program for Levitt employees, government officials, the police and the press. Lett recommended an attempt to discourage anti-integration activities known as "Operation Hothead". Lett created a Human Relations Council to oversee possible disputes in community. James served as a member of that committee. The committee tried to solve problems of juvenile delinquency in the township. It opposed a curfew passed by the Township Council in the early 1970s. The curfew was later dropped, but reintroduced later.
The African-American population of Willingboro increased throughout the 1960s; by 1964 there were 50 African-American families. By 1970, African Americans represented about 11% of the population.Beck Pooley, Karen. "The Other Levittown: Race and Place in Willingboro, NJ," The Next American City 2(2003). During the early 1970s, several homeowners said they were approached by local real estate agents and told that their neighborhood was becoming increasingly African-American and home values could decline if they did not sell quickly; a practice known as blockbusting. While the Human Relations Council could not prove these claims, it made recommendations to help foster better relations between ethnic communities in the township and calm concerns."Has Blockbusting Come to Willingboro?", Burlington County Times, October 28, 1973.
The township in 1974 enacted an ordinance that prohibited the posting of "for sale" or "sold" signs on real estate. Proponents of the ordinance alleged the purpose was to maintain integration. Many other communities had enacted similar laws in reaction to the practice of blockbusting in the 1960s and 1970s. The Supreme Court in the 1977 case of Linmark Associates, Inc. v. Willingboro ruled that the ordinance violated the First Amendment protections for free speech, which applied to commercial needs.Linmark Associates, Inc. v. Township of Willingboro (No. 70-357), Cornell University Law School Legal Information Institute. Accessed August 12, 2013.
Geography According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the township had a total area of 8.14 square miles (21.08 km2), including 7.73 square miles (20.01 km2) of land and 0.41 square miles (1.07 km2) of water (5.09%).
The township borders the Burlington County municipalities of Burlington Township, Delanco Township, Delran Township, Edgewater Park Township, Moorestown Township, Mount Laurel Township and Westampton Township.Areas touching Willingboro Township, MapIt. Accessed March 10, 2020.Municipalities within Burlington County, NJ, Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission. Accessed March 10, 2020.New Jersey Municipal Boundaries, New Jersey Department of Transportation. Accessed November 15, 2019. Rancocas Creek drains Willingboro and forms its SW boundary while U.S. Route 130 forms its NW boundary.
Unincorporated communities, localities and place names located partially or completely within the township include Bortons Landing, Charleston and Cooperstown.Locality Search, State of New Jersey. Accessed May 21, 2015.
Parks and sections Willingboro is divided into several sections called parks. Each section's street names begin with the same letter as the corresponding section name. For example, streets in Pennypacker Park all begin with the letter "P".Friedman, Sally. "Levittown: Home to stay The Willingboro incarnation, now 50 years old, was a keeper. Residents who bought in early tell why they love it still.", The Philadelphia Inquirer, September 26, 2008. Accessed August 12, 2013. "They got that in a town ultimately divided into 11 'parks,' each with street names that began with the same letter, and offering schools, pools and recreation areas." This is the case with all parks, excluding Martin's Beach and certain streets in Rittenhouse Park. Some streets that predate Levittown retained their original names, such as Charleston Road.
Originally, each park or section had its own swimming pool for residents' use. Residents' families would receive free swim tags after showing applicable IDs at each section's school or the community office. However, some swimming pools, such as Hawthorne Park, have been inactive for years. Free lessons and other events were focused on these "park" pools during the summer months. By the 1990s, only Pennypacker Park and Country Club Park had operating summer pools. Finally, Country Club Park and Pennypacker Park have been denoted the "community pools" at this time.
The township's parks include: Buckingham Park Country Club Ridge, laid out in the 1960s around a golf course designed by Robert Trent Jones. Pennypacker Park Millbrook Park Martin's Beach Deer Park Somerset Park (First house was occupied here.Chronology of Willingboro .) Windsor Park Garfield Park Garfield Park East Garfield Park North Rittenhouse Park Twin Hill Park Ironside Court (Non-residential, Public Works Department and some industry.) Hawthorne Park Fairmount Park
A small, unnamed section of the township uses area code 856. The rest of Willingboro is in area code 609.
Climate Willingboro has a humid subtropical climate (Cfa) and average monthly temperatures in the vicinity of Veterans Parkway and Willingboro Parkway range from in January to in July. The local hardiness zone is 7a.
Demographics
2020 census