Berlin, New Jersey, United States

🇺🇸 Berlin is a borough in Camden County, New Jersey, United States. U.S. Route 30 is the main highway serving Berlin. New Jersey Route 73 also brushes the east side of the borough. Camden County Airport is located one mile south-west of the central business district.

History What is now Berlin was known in earlier times as "Longacoming". The Lenape Native Americans used Lonaconing Trail to describe the travel route that ran through the area, connecting the Jersey Shore to the Delaware River. Another tradition cites early European visitors who found a stream at the head of the Great Egg Harbor River and appreciated the respite as being "long a coming".

Long-a-Coming Depot, built in 1856 and believed to be the oldest surviving railroad station in New Jersey

Long-a-Coming became a stopping point for stagecoaches located at the halfway point between Philadelphia and Atlantic City. Upon the creation of Camden County in 1844, it was briefly named the county seat (while the area was still a part of Waterford Township), until 1848 when the seat moved to the city of Camden. A rail line was laid in 1853. Three years later, the Long-a-Coming railroad station was built. In February 1867, the station was renamed "Magnolia". This caused confusion because there was a community called Magnolia nearby. Three months later, the station's name changed to Berlin. The name "Berlin" may have been chosen as a reference to the city of Berlin in Germany, though the derivation is uncertain.

Geography According to the United States Census Bureau, the borough had a total area of 3.61 square miles (9.34 km²), including 3.59 square miles (9.31 km²) of land and 0.01 square miles (0.04 km²) of water (0.39%).

The borough borders the Camden County municipalities of Berlin Township, Clementon, Lindenwold, Pine Hill, Waterford Township and Winslow Township.

The borough is one of 56 South Jersey municipalities that are included within the New Jersey Pinelands National Reserve, a protected natural area of unique ecology covering 1,100,000 acres (450,000 ha), that has been classified as a United States Biosphere Reserve and established by Congress in 1978 as the nation's first National Reserve. Part of the borough is included in the state-designated Pinelands Area, which includes portions of Camden County, along with areas in Atlantic, Burlington, Cape May, Cumberland, Gloucester and Ocean counties.

Historic district The Berlin Historic District is a 28-acre (11 ha) national historic district along Washington, East Taunton, and Haines avenues and parts of South White Horse Pike, Jackson Road, and Jefferson Avenue in the community. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places on April 14, 1995, for its significance in architecture and community development. The district includes 65 contributing buildings.

The Victorian-style John Westcott House on Washington Avenue was built in the 1860s and features a cupola. The Dr. William C. Raughley House was built 1888–1889 with Queen Anne style and is a key contributing property. The Victorian house at 18 Washington Avenue was built in 1865. The Victorian Joseph N. Ross House was built in 1870 and features a scalloped vergeboard and spindlework.

Education The Berlin Borough School District serves public school students in pre-kindergarten through eighth grade at Berlin Community School. As of the 2021–22 school year, the district, comprised of one school, had an enrollment of 802 students and 73.6 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 10.9:1. Many Community Education and Recreation (CER) programs are held at Berlin Community School, including preschool and after school programs.

Public school students in ninth through twelfth grades attend the Eastern Camden County Regional High School District, a limited-purpose, public regional school district that serves students at Eastern Regional High School from the constituent communities of Berlin Borough, Gibbsboro and Voorhees Township. As of the 2021–22 school year, the high school had an enrollment of 1,998 students and 137.0 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 14.6:1. Seats on the nine-member board of education are allocated based on population, with Berlin Borough assigned two seats on the board.

Students from Berlin Borough, and from all of Camden County, are eligible to attend the Camden County Technical Schools, a countywide public school district that serves the vocational and technical education needs of students at the high school and post-secondary level at the Gloucester Township Campus in the Sicklerville section of Gloucester Township or the Pennsauken Camps in Pennsauken Township. Students are accepted based on district admission standards and costs of attendance and transportation are covered by the home district of each student.

Our Lady of Mount Carmel Regional School, founded in 1956, is an elementary school that operates under the auspices of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Camden servingstudents in grades PreK-8.

Transport: Road As of May 2010, the borough had a total of 41.51 miles (66.80 km) of roadways, of which 27.66 miles (44.51 km) were maintained by the municipality, 9.52 miles (15.32 km) by Camden County and 4.33 miles (6.97 km) by the New Jersey Department of Transportation.

U.S. Route 30 is the main highway serving Berlin. New Jersey Route 73 also brushes the east side of the borough.

Transport: Public NJ Transit bus service is available in the borough on the 554 route, which operates between the Lindenwold train station and Atlantic City.

Camden County Airport is located one mile south-west of the central business district.

Berlin was formerly served by the Berlin Railroad Station.