Cherry Hill is a township within Camden County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the township's population was 74,553, an increase of 3,508 (+4.9%) from the 2010 census count of 71,045, which in turn reflected an increase of 1,080 (+1.5%) from the 69,965 counted in the 2000 census. As of 2020, the township was the state's 12th most populous municipality, and the largest in Camden County, after having been the state's 14th most-populous municipality and the county's second largest in the 2010 Census, having surpassed both Brick Township, as well as nearby Camden, within the previous decade, and was ranked 13th in 2000.
Cherry Hill Township is a suburb of Philadelphia and is part of South Jersey and the Delaware Valley (Greater Philadelphia) metropolitan statistical area. The previous decline of downtown Camden spawned the transformation of Cherry Hill Township into an edge city and one of the Delaware Valley's main commercial centers, including the prominent Cherry Hill Mall being located in Cherry Hill Mall CDP within the township.
History
The area now known as Cherry Hill was originally settled by the Lenni-Lenape Native Americans before being displaced by the first settlers from England, namely Quaker followers of William Penn who arrived in the late 17th century. The first settlement was a small cluster of homes named Colestown, in the perimeters of what is now the Colestown Cemetery on the corner of Route 41 (King's Highway) and Church Road. The municipality was founded on February 25, 1844, in Gloucester County as Delaware Township from half of the area of Waterford Township and became part of Camden County at its creation some two weeks later on March 13, 1844. Portions of the township were taken to form Stockton Township (February 23, 1859) and Merchantville (March 3, 1874). At its territorial peak, Delaware Township included all of modern-day Cherry Hill Township, as well as the neighborhood of North Camden and the municipalities of Merchantville and Pennsauken (including Petty's Island in the Delaware River).
The township's population grew rapidly after World War II and continued to increase until the 1980s. Today, the municipality's population is stable, with new development generally occurring in pockets of custom luxury houses or through the rehabilitation and adaptive reuse of commercial and industrial areas.
Origin of the name
Cherry Hill was a 19th-century farm on Kaighn Avenue (Route 38), owned by Abraham Browning. The farm property, named Cherry Hill because of the cherry trees growing on the property, later became the Cherry Hill Inn (now an AMC Theatres Cherry Hill 24 movie theater complex), as well as an RCA office campus (now a shopping center with big-box retailers and Target), and today's Cherry Hill Towers and Cherry Hill Estates housing developments.
Adding to the prevalence of the Cherry Hill name and leading to the official name change from Delaware Township to Cherry Hill Township, developer Eugene Mori branded several properties using the name, starting with the Cherry Hill Inn and Cherry Hill Lodge hotels. Cherry Hill Shopping Center (now known as Cherry Hill Mall) opened in 1961 opposite the old Cherry Hill Farm site, featuring 75 stores within a single enclosed space.
When the township sought a new post office, another New Jersey municipality in Hunterdon County was using the name Delaware Township. The United States Postal Service insisted on a name change, suggesting "Deltown". Delaware Township mayors Christian Weber and John Gilmour pursued public write-in campaigns to select possible titles and chose Cherry Hill from suggestions that included Chapel Hill, Cherry Valley and Delaware City. The name "Cherry Hill" was chosen by the township's citizens in a non-binding referendum in 1961 and was officially adopted on November 7, 1961.
Geography
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the township had a total area of 24.20 square miles (62.67 km2), including 24.07 square miles (62.35 km2) of land and 0.12 square miles (0.32 km2) of water (0.51%).
Ashland (2010 population of 8,302), Barclay (4,428), Cherry Hill Mall (14,171), Ellisburg (4,413), Golden Triangle (4,145), Greentree (11,367), Kingston Estates (5,685) and Springdale (14,518) are unincorporated communities and census-designated places (CDPs) located within the township.
Other unincorporated communities, localities, neighborhoods, and place names located partially or completely within the township include Coffins Corner, Colwick, Cooperstown, Deer Park, Erlton, Freeman, Greenbrier, Huttons Hill, Locust Grove, Old Orchard, Point of Woods and Woodcrest.