Jackson, New Jersey, United States

🇺🇸 Jackson Township is a township in Ocean County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. A portion of the township is located within the New Jersey Pine Barrens.

Roughly equidistant between New York City and Philadelphia, Jackson is the site of Six Flags Great Adventure, home to the 456-foot (139 m) Kingda Ka, which as of 2022 is the tallest roller coaster in the world. Jackson is also home to Six Flags Hurricane Harbor and the 350-acre (140 ha) Safari Off Road Adventure, which replaced Six Flags Wild Safari in 2013.

History Jackson Township was incorporated as a township by an act of the New Jersey Legislature on March 6, 1844, from portions of Dover Township (now Toms River Township), Freehold Township and Upper Freehold Township, while the area was still part of Monmouth County. The township was named for president Andrew Jackson, a year before his death. It became part of the newly created Ocean County on February 15, 1850. Portions of the township were taken to form Plumsted Township on March 11, 1845.

Geography According to the United States Census Bureau, the township had a total area of 100.55 square miles (260.43 km²), including 99.17 square miles (256.86 km²) of land and 1.38 square miles (3.57 km²) of water (1.37%). Jackson is the largest municipality by area in Ocean County.

Vista Center is an unincorporated community and place (CDP) located within Jackson Township. Other unincorporated communities, localities and populated places located completely or partially within the township include Archers Corner, Bennetts Mills, Burksville, Butterfly Bridge, Cassville, Colliers Mills, DeBow Corner, Francis Mills, Grayville, Harmony, Holmansville, Holmeson, Hyson, Jackson Mills, Kapps Corner, Leesville, Legler, Maryland, Midwood, New Prospect, Pleasant Grove, Prospertown, Ridgeway State Forest, Success, The Alligator, Van Hiseville, Webbsville, Whitesbridge and Whitesville.

The township borders Lakewood Township, Manchester Township, Plumsted Township and Toms River Township in Ocean County; and Freehold Township, Howell Township, Millstone Township and Upper Freehold Township in Monmouth County.

Colliers Mills Wildlife Management Area is a 12,906.63-acre (5,223.13 ha) wildlife management area located within portions of both Jackson Township and Plumsted Township operated by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection's Division of Fish and Wildlife. Several man-made lakes are located within the township, including Success Lake in the Colliers Mills Wildlife Management Area.

The township is one of 11 municipalities in Ocean County that are part of the Toms River watershed.

Economy The Jackson Premium Outlets are an open-air outlet power centre owned by the Simon Property Group. It is located off of I-195, CR 537, and CR 526/CR 571 in Jackson Township. The facility opened in 1997, and was expanded in 1998. The outlets are located roughly 2.5 miles away from the amusement park Six Flags Great Adventure, the second-largest theme park in the world following Disney's Animal Kingdom. The retail outlet centre offers over 70 stores and has a gross leasable area of 285,719 square feet (26,544.2 m²).

Media The Asbury Park Press provides daily news coverage of the township, as does WOBM-FM radio. The township provides material and commentary to The Jackson Times, which is one of seven weekly papers from Micromedia Publications. In addition, JTOWN Magazine provides news, sports and other local information.

Sport In 2015, the Jackson Little League 12-year-old All-Stars won the state championship, and went on to the Mid-Atlantic Regional final where they lost to Red Land Little League from Pennsylvania who eventually won the U.S. Championship, but fell to the team from Japan in the 2015 Little League World Series.

In 2017, the Holbrook Little League All-Stars defeated Maryland 8–3, sending Holbrook to the 2017 Little League World Series.