Avalon, New Jersey | ||
---|---|---|
Borough | ||
Borough of Avalon | ||
Former Avalon Lighthouse
|
||
|
||
Motto: "Cooler by a Mile" | ||
Avalon Borough highlighted in Cape May County. Inset map: Cape May County highlighted in the State of New Jersey. |
||
Census Bureau map of Avalon, New Jersey |
||
Coordinates: 39°05′26″N 74°44′09″W / 39.090532°N 74.735837°WCoordinates: 39°05′26″N 74°44′09″W / 39.090532°N 74.735837°W | ||
Country | United States | |
State | New Jersey | |
County | Cape May | |
Formed | 1723 (Middle Township) | |
Incorporated | April 18, 1892 | |
Named for | Avalon of Arthurian legend | |
Government | ||
• Type | Faulkner Act (Mayor-Council) | |
• Body | Borough Council | |
• Mayor | Martin L. Pagliughi (R, term ends June 30, 2019) | |
• Administrator | Scott J. Wahl | |
• Municipal clerk | Marie J. Hood | |
Area | ||
• Total | 4.927 sq mi (12.760 km2) | |
• Land | 4.152 sq mi (10.753 km2) | |
• Water | 0.775 sq mi (2.006 km2) 15.72% | |
Area rank | 278th of 566 in state 7th of 16 in county |
|
Elevation | 10 ft (3 m) | |
Population (2010 Census) | ||
• Total | 1,334 | |
• Estimate (2015) | 1,283 | |
• Rank | 523rd of 566 in state 12th of 16 in county |
|
• Density | 321.3/sq mi (124.1/km2) | |
• Density rank | 473rd of 566 in state 12th of 16 in county |
|
Time zone | Eastern (EST) (UTC-5) | |
• Summer (DST) | Eastern (EDT) (UTC-4) | |
ZIP code | 08202 | |
Area code(s) | 609 Exchanges: 263, 368, 967 | |
FIPS code | 3400902320 | |
GNIS feature ID | 0885146 | |
Website | avalonboro |
Avalon is a borough in Cape May County, New Jersey, on Seven Mile Island. As of the 2010 United States Census, the full-time borough population was 1,334, although it swells during the summer months. The population declined by 809 (-37.8%) from the 2,143 counted in the 2000 Census, which had in turn increased by 334 (+18.5%) from the 1,809 counted in the 1990 Census.
The community is one of the most affluent communities along the Jersey Shore and is home to some of the most expensive real estate on the East Coast. In 2007, Forbes listed Avalon as the 65th most expensive zip code in the United States.Washingtonian even "named Avalon the 'chicest beach' in the mid-Atlantic, the place to see women in diamonds and designer swimwear." A small portion of Avalon is not on Seven Mile Island. The borough is part of the Ocean City Metropolitan Statistical Area.
Avalon was incorporated as a borough by an act of the New Jersey Legislature on April 18, 1892, from portions of Middle Township, based on the results of a referendum held two days earlier. The borough was reincorporated on March 6, 1896, and again on May 4, 1897. Another portion of Middle Township was annexed in 1910. On December 27, 1941, portions of Avalon were ceded to Stone Harbor. The borough is named for Avalon of Arthurian legend.
Avalon, famous for being a South Jersey seashore resort, has the motto "Cooler by a Mile", since it juts out into the Atlantic Ocean about a mile farther than other barrier islands. It was ranked the seventh-best beach in New Jersey in the 2008 Top 10 Beaches Contest sponsored by the New Jersey Marine Sciences Consortium.