Location: Freehold 🌎

Freehold Township is a township in Monmouth County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Located in Central New Jersey and crisscrossed by several major highways, the township is known for being the regional commercial hub for Monmouth County (home to the Freehold Raceway and Freehold Raceway Mall) and as a suburban bedroom community of New York City, located within the Raritan Valley region of the much larger New York Metropolitan Area. The township is located roughly 38 miles (61 km) away from Manhattan and about 20 miles (32 km) away from Staten Island. As of the 2020 United States census, the township’s population was 35,369, a decrease of 815 (−2.3%) from the 2010 census count of 36,184, which in turn reflected an increase of 4,647 (+14.7%) from the 31,537 counted in the 2000 census.Freehold Township was first formed on October 31, 1693, and was incorporated as a township by an act of the New Jersey Legislature on February 21, 1798. Portions of Freehold Township were taken to form Upper Freehold Township (c. 1731), so some wills and official records following the split referred to “Lower Freehold Township” although the official name has always been Freehold Township. Additional portions formed Millstone Township (February 28, 1844), Jackson Township (March 6, 1844), Atlantic Township (February 18, 1847; now Colts Neck Township), Marlboro Township (February 17, 1848) and Manalapan Township (March 9, 1848). Freehold town was formed within the township on March 25, 1869, and formally separated when it was reconstituted as a borough on April 15, 1919, including additional portions of the township.The Battle of Monmouth was fought in June 1778 in what has been preserved as Monmouth Battlefield State Park, which is in Freehold Township and Manalapan Township.