Lumberton Township Hall is located at 35 Municipal Drive, Lumberton NJ 08048.
Phone: 609‑267‑3217.
Neighborhoods
Lumberton is an incorporated township located in the center of Burlington County, New Jersey. The township is bounded by six municipalities: Hainesport Township to the north and northwest, Mount Holly Township to the north, Eastampton Township to the northeast, Southampton Township to the east, Medford Township to the south, and Mount Laurel Township to the southwest.
The historic village of Lumberton, located on the South Branch of the Rancocas Creek, is in the center of the township. The village of Lumberton is representative of a 19th century commercial center, which supported its agricultural hinterland and linked to larger commercial centers, such as Mount Holly to the north. The township is bisected by County Route 541, which flows into the major transportation corridor, State Highway 38. This highway connects central Burlington County with the New Jersey Turnpike, >Camden County, and Philadelphia. Lumberton is roughly 20 miles from Philadelphia by way of State Highway 38, which connects directly to the Benjamin Franklin Bridge.
Lumberton Township was created by an act of the New Jersey State Assembly on March 14, 1860, and was formed from portions of Northampton, Eastampton, and Medford townships. Lumberton Township's name was inspired by the large amounts of oak and pine that were harvested for lumber in the area. Originally, Lumberton Township comprised an area of 20.7 square miles in the center of Burlington County. However, in 1924, the northwestern portion of the township, 6.8 square miles, detached to form Hainesport Township.
Before European settlers arrived in the Delaware Valley, Native Americans populated the Burlington County area. The Native Americans that lived in the Lumberton area belonged to the tribes of the Lenape Nation. One settlement was located west of present-day Eayrestown Road and north of Newbolds Corner, while another group settled along the Rancocas Creek in present-day Hainesport Township. There are signs of additional Native American settlements in Lumberton Township. In 1916, a group from the University of Pennsylvania excavated a mound on the Crispin Farm, at the intersection of Fostertown and Crispin roads. The university's archeologists discovered Native American tools and relics suggesting "fine workmanship."
The first documented European settlers in Lumberton Township were English in origin. The early settlers traveled along the Rancocas Creek to reach the Lumberton area. In 1680, only three years after Burlington was founded by Quakers, John Haines pulled his boat to the side of the Rancocas and dug a cave on the north side of the creek. Haines lived in the cave until he was able to raise sufficient funds to build a house.
Another English settler, Doctor Robert Dinsdale, shares a similar story with Haines. Dinsdale, a nonconformist if not a Quaker, purchased a tract of land on the north side of the Rancocas Creek from his friend William Penn, while still in England. After arriving in North America in 1683, Dinsdale navigated his boat up the Rancocas along a tributary that would later be called Dinsdale Run or Bobby's Run in his honor. When Dinsdale came to his tract, he, too, dug a cave in which he lived for a year until his house was constructed.
Much like the rest of Burlington County, Lumberton was an attractive area for the newly arrived Quakers that settle after arriving in the colonies as it offered tall trees, fertile ground, and a tidal passage to the Delaware River. Early development in Lumberton occurred slowly during the 18th century. Several small houses dotted the Rancocas shoreline, but few settlers ventured into the interior forests. The village of Lumberton grew slowly along the banks of the Rancocas Creek's South Branch, at the head of navigable waters leading to the Delaware River. This colonial settlement was modest in size, although only two miles south of Mount Holly, which was the Burlington County seat during the 18th century, as it is today. In 1795, one visitor commented that the village "contained but eleven dwellings and a meeting house, the whole number of inhabitants being thirty-three."
Lumberton Township occupies approximately 8,336 acres, or 13 square miles, on the Inner Coastal Plain of New Jersey. Currently, Lumberton's land use is in a period of transition. Historically, the township has been a stronghold of agricultural production in Burlington County. Much of the southern portion of the township still maintains its rural character. However, the northern portion of the township is rapidly changing. Many agricultural parcels are subdivided for new residential development. Most of Lumberton's housing units (2,286 of 4,053 total units) were built between 1980 and 2000. During the 1990s, Lumberton's population grew by 3,600 residents to a total population of 10,461 by 2000. This was a 54% increase over its 1990 US Census population.
Before European settlement, as much as 90% of the township was covered with a mostly mixed deciduous hardwood forest consisting of oak, birch, ash, beech, hickory, walnut, and maple trees. Although large portions of that expansive forest are now gone, more than 7 percent of the township remains forested. Given the good soils in Lumberton, it is not surprising that as of 2002, 33% of the township's land area was dedicated to agricultural uses. The agricultural eastern half of the township is mostly dominated by row crops such as corn and soybeans.
† Lumberton Township, Environmental Resource Inventory, 2007, www.lumbetontwp.com, accessed August, 2019.
Nearby Towns: Burlington Twp • Eastampton Twp • Hainesport Twp • Medford Twp • Mount Holly Twp • Mount Laurel Twp • Southampton Twp • Springfield Twp • Westampton Twp • Willingboro Twp •