Freehold Township is a township in western Monmouth County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Crisscrossed by several major highways, the township is a commercial hub for Central New Jersey (home to the Freehold Raceway and Freehold Raceway Mall) and is a suburban bedroom community of New York City, located within the Raritan Valley region of the much larger New York metropolitan area.Fowler, Glenn "In Monmouth, Homes Still Rise, Defying Lag: Freehold, N.J." , The New York Times, April 19, 1970. Accessed June 14, 2022.Tarabour, Brooke. "New Jersey-Bound: The Staten Island Migration" , The New York Times, January 10, 1993. Accessed June 10, 2022.Capuzzo, Jill P. "Living In Freehold, N.J.: A ‘Sweet Spot’ in Monmouth County" , The New York Times, February 15, 2023. Accessed February 15, 2023. The township is located roughly from Manhattan and about from Staten Island.Freehold NJ to New York NY , Distance between cities. Accessed September 10, 2020.Freehold NJ to Tottenville NY Distance between cities. Accessed September 10, 2020. As of the 2020 United States census, the township's population was 35,369, a decrease of 815 (−2.3%) from the 36,184 recorded at the 2010 census, which in turn reflected an increase of 4,647 (+14.7%) from the 31,537 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.

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 (), so some wills and official records following the split referred to "Lower Freehold Township" although the official name has always been Freehold Township.Documents Relating to the Colonial History of the State of New Jersey, by Elmer T. Hutchinson; page 85: Will of Hendrick Covenhoven, Oct 1799.Lower Freehold Township Tax Roll July 1787. 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 Borough was originally formed as a town 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.Snyder, John P. The Story of New Jersey's Civil Boundaries: 1606–1968, Bureau of Geology and Topography; Trenton, New Jersey; 1969. p. 179-180. Accessed March 15, 2012.

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.Monmouth Battlefield State Park, New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection Division of Parks and Forestry. Accessed July 13, 2026.

History

Early The Lenni Lenape Native Americans were the earliest known people to live in the area that became Freehold.History , Township of Freehold. Accessed November 30, 2022. The Lenape were a hunter-gatherer society. They were largely sedentary, changing campsites seasonally. They were prolific hunters of small game and birds. They were also skilled fisherman, and were known to harvest vast amounts of clams from the bays and inlets on the Jersey Shore. They also practiced some agriculture to augment their food supply. During this time, an important crossroad of two major Lenape trails was located in the area of Freehold.Pepe, p. 19.

In 1498, John Cabot became the first European to sight this land. By the late 17th century, the English had begun to take over the area. In 1664, the Duke of York (later James II & VII) granted a patent to Sir George Carteret to develop the area. In 1685, Scottish Presbyterians from Scotland, along with English Baptists and Quakers from New England fleeing religious persecution at home, became the first to settle within the area.Salter's History of Monmouth and Ocean Counties New Jersey: The First Legislative Assembly in New Jersey. In 1693, along with Middletown and Shrewsbury, Freehold was established by act of legislature as one of the three original townships in Monmouth County.Lurie, Maxine ed.; "Freehold Township", The Encyclopedia of New Jersey, p. 291. Rutgers University Press; New Brunswick, NJ; 2004. Accessed August 28, 2013. . The name of the township comes from the word freehold, an English legal term describing fee simple property ownership.Gannett, Henry. The Origin of Certain Place Names in the United States , p. 198. United States Government Printing Office, 1905. Accessed August 31, 2015.

Colonial In 1714, when the colonial government was deciding where to locate the county seat and courthouse, Freeholder John Reid, the first Surveyor General of East Jersey, wanted the county seat located in Freehold. Reid's offer to sell the property to the Board of Chosen Freeholders at a heavily discounted price may have been the deciding factor in choosing Freehold—rather than Middletown or Shrewsbury—as the site of the county seat. As part of the deal, Reid placed a restrictive covenant in the deed that, should the property ever cease being used as a courthouse, ownership would revert to the Reid family. Direct descendants of John Reid still reside in Freehold Township.History of the Hall of Records , Monmouth County, New Jersey. Accessed March 30, 2020. "On August 26, 1714, John Reid sold a plot of land on the Burlington Path, less than an acre in size, to the Board of Chosen Freeholders for 30 shillings. The bargain price may have been the deciding factor in settling a then raging dispute between Middletown, Shrewsbury and Freehold Townships over the location of the county seat."

Freehold was officially designated as the seat of the Monmouth County government, and a court house was commissioned to be built on the land purchased from John Reid. The Monmouth Courthouse opened in 1715.Pepe, p. 10. A small village quickly began to develop around the courthouse. At first, the village was called Monmouth Courthouse. Over time, other government buildings opened near the courthouse, including a sheriff's office, a prison, and a post office. A number of homes and commercial businesses also sprang up in the village, including a blacksmith, a general store, a bank, a hotel, and saloon.Pepe, p. 25.

In the area surrounding Monmouth Courthouse, many successful farms began to appear. The farms in Freehold were particularly well known for the production of potatoes, beans, and rye, which were sold in the markets of nearby cities. Freehold also became known for its excellent horse farms. The differences within Freehold between the growing settlement around the courthouse and the surrounding farmland were the seeds for the eventual division of Freehold into two separate municipalities in the early 20th century.

As of 1745, the majority of families in Freehold were still Scottish immigrants.Pepe, p. 29. In modern Freehold, many important streets bear the name of early colonial families, including Barkalow, Applegate, Rhea, Throckmorton, and Schanck.

Revolutionary War

Freehold was deeply impacted by the American Revolution. In 1765 with the passage of the Stamp Act, dissidents in Middletown and Upper Freehold established Sons of Liberty groups. In late 1775, Capt. Elias Longstreet recruited the first company of colonists from the county to join the Continental Army for an ill-fated invasion of Canada.Adelberg, p. 16. Freehold was a known center of patriot activity. The Declaration of Independence was publicly proclaimed, read aloud, from the steps of the Monmouth Courthouse just a few days after being signed in Philadelphia.

After British success at the Battle of Long Island, Freehold and all of Monmouth County fell under the control of Loyalists.Adelberg, p. 17. The British government continued to operate the Monmouth Courthouse, and several people involved in revolutionary activities were arrested and tried for treason at the courthouse. The success of the Continental Army at the Battle of Trenton helped to weaken loyalist control of Freehold.Adelberg, p. 18.

In June 1778, the British Army began a major strategic evacuation of the city of Philadelphia. They attempted to protect a long, slow moving column of Loyalist families, equipment, and other supplies seized in Philadelphia, as they moved toward ships in New York Harbor. On June 28, 1778, the Continental Army intercepted the column in Freehold.Adelberg, p.20 The Battle of Monmouth was one of the largest battles of the Revolutionary War, involving over 25,000 soldiers combined in Continental, British, and Hessian forces. The initial engagement was in doubt until Washington arrived because Charles Lee was retreating from the battlefield. Washington rallied the Continentals and strongly engaged the British forces and they held their ground on the battlefield. British forces met their primary goal, the evacuation of Philadelphia. Both sides claimed victory in the battle.

Several famous figures from the Revolutionary War fought at the Battle of Monmouth. British forces were commanded by Sir Henry Clinton and Charles Cornwallis. The Continental Army was commanded by George Washington and Charles Lee. Charles Lee was later court martialed by the Continental Army for his actions at the Battle of Monmouth. Nathanael Greene, Alexander Hamilton, "Mad" Anthony Wayne, the Marquis de Lafayette and Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben also fought at the Battle of Monmouth for the Continental Army.Adelberg, p.11 Another famous figure at the Battle of Monmouth was Molly Pitcher, who manned a cannon during the battle after her husband was wounded.

In the aftermath of the Battle of Monmouth, Loyalist control of Freehold faltered. The township ceased to have a functioning municipal government and the courthouse was closed until the end of the war. Minor clashes between loyalists and continentals flared up in town, with the violence peaking around 1780.Adelberg, p.22 Colonel Tye was an escaped slave formerly named Titus, and the leader of a prominent loyalist guerrilla force, which conducted several raids in and around Freehold. In one famous incident Joshua Huddy was captured and hung by British Loyalists under the direction of Richard Lippincott and Colonel Tye. Colonel Tye later died from injuries sustained during that raid."Africans in America" , PBS Resource Bank. Patriots later cut down Huddy's body hanging from the gallows and buried it in Freehold, at Old Tennent Church.The Joshua Huddy era , Monmouth County. Accessed December 14, 2006. At the end of the war, the community was deeply divided and nearly 120 loyalist families left Freehold, fearing retribution from their neighbors. Most of these families re-settled in Canada.Adelberg, p. 23

19th century