Bridgeton, New Jersey | |
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City | |
City of Bridgeton | |
Downtown Bridgeton
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Map of Bridgeton highlighted within Cumberland County. Right: Location of Cumberland County in New Jersey. |
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Census Bureau map of Bridgeton, New Jersey |
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Coordinates: 39°25′39″N 75°13′41″W / 39.427518°N 75.227954°WCoordinates: 39°25′39″N 75°13′41″W / 39.427518°N 75.227954°W | |
Country | United States |
State | New Jersey |
County | Cumberland |
Incorporated | March 1, 1865 |
Named for | Bridge on Cohansey River |
Government | |
• Type | Faulkner Act (Mayor-Council) |
• Body | City Council |
• Mayor | Albert B. Kelly (term ends December 31, 2018) |
• Administrator | Stephanie R. Bush-Baskette |
• Municipal clerk | Darlene Richmond |
Area | |
• Total | 6.431 sq mi (16.656 km2) |
• Land | 6.179 sq mi (16.003 km2) |
• Water | 0.252 sq mi (0.653 km2) 3.92% |
Area rank | 249th of 566 in state 13th of 14 in county |
Elevation | 39 ft (12 m) |
Population (2010 Census) | |
• Total | 25,349 |
• Estimate (2016) | 24,997 |
• Rank | 98th of 566 in state 3rd of 14 in county |
• Density | 4,102.5/sq mi (1,584.0/km2) |
• Density rank | 149th of 566 in state 1st of 14 in county |
Time zone | Eastern (EST) (UTC-5) |
• Summer (DST) | Eastern (EDT) (UTC-4) |
ZIP code | 08302 |
Area code(s) | 856 |
FIPS code | 3401107600 |
GNIS feature ID | 0885169 |
Website | Official website |
Bridgeton is a city in Cumberland County, New Jersey, United States, in the southern part of the state, on the Cohansey River, near Delaware Bay. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city's population was 25,349, reflecting an increase of 2,578 (+11.3%) from the 22,771 counted in the 2000 Census, which had in turn increased by 3,829 (+20.2%) from the 18,942 counted in the 1990 Census. It is the county seat of Cumberland County. Bridgeton, Millville, and Vineland are the three principal cities of the Vineland-Millville-Bridgeton Primary Metropolitan Statistical Area, which encompasses those cities and all of Cumberland County for statistical purposes and which constitutes a part of the Delaware Valley.
Similar to other areas near rivers and the bay, this area was inhabited for thousands of years by indigenous peoples. At the time of European contact, Lenni-Lenape Native Americans lived in the area, following a seasonal pattern of cultivation and hunting and fishing. The state-recognized Nanticoke Lenni-Lenape Indians of New Jersey maintain a cultural center here, serving a community of 12,000 in Cumberland, Gloucester and Salem counties.
The first recorded European settlement in what is now Bridgeton was made by 1686 when Richard Hancock established a sawmill here. Settlers established a pioneer iron-works in 1814. Bridgeton was incorporated as a township by an act of the New Jersey Legislature on March 3, 1845, from portions of Deerfield Township. Bridgeton city was incorporated on March 1, 1865, replacing both Bridgeton Township and Cohansey Township. The city was named for its location at a bridge on the Cohansey River and is said to be a corruption of "bridge town".