Gloucester County, NJ

Settlement & growth (pre-1960)

The original inhabitants of what is now Gloucester County were the Lenape people, specifically the Unami and Munsee bands, who lived in seasonal villages along the Delaware River and its tributaries. European contact began in the early 1600s with Dutch and Swedish traders, but permanent settlement accelerated after 1664, when the English took control of New Jersey. The county was formally established in 1686, and its early European settlers were predominantly English Quakers and Scots-Irish Presbyterians, who were granted large tracts of land for farming along the riverfront in what are now Greenwich, Woolwich, and Logan townships.

Throughout the 18th and 19th centuries, the population grew slowly but steadily, driven by agriculture—especially wheat, corn, and later peaches—and by the establishment of small industrial centers along the region’s creeks and rivers. The town of Woodbury, founded in 1683, became the county seat and a commercial hub. Glassboro, named for its glassmaking industry, attracted skilled German and Irish laborers in the mid-1800s, while Swedesboro and Mullica Hill retained a distinct Swedish and Quaker character. The construction of the Camden and Amboy Railroad in the 1830s connected Gloucester County to Philadelphia and New York, spurring the growth of towns like Paulsboro and Westville as shipping and manufacturing points.

The late 19th and early 20th centuries brought a wave of Italian and Polish immigrants, who settled in the industrial river towns—Paulsboro, Gibbstown, and Bridgeport—to work in oil refineries, shipyards, and chemical plants. These communities were tight-knit, with Catholic parishes and ethnic social clubs forming the backbone of local life. The Great Migration of Black Americans from the South, which began around 1915, brought a smaller but significant Black population to the county, primarily to Woodbury and Glassboro, where they found work in domestic service, factories, and the growing agricultural sector. By 1960, Gloucester County was still largely rural and agricultural, with a population of roughly 130,000, overwhelmingly white and native-born, and deeply rooted in its patchwork of small towns.

Modern era (post-1965)

The 1965 Hart-Cellar Act had a muted effect on Gloucester County compared to urban centers, as the county’s low foreign-born share (2.1% today) reflects. The most significant demographic shift since the 1960s has been domestic: the suburbanization of Philadelphia’s white and Black middle class. The construction of Interstate 295 and Route 55 in the 1970s and 1980s opened up the county to commuters, leading to rapid residential development in Washington Township, Deptford, and Mantua. These towns grew from small farming communities into sprawling bedroom suburbs, attracting families seeking larger homes, better schools, and lower taxes than in Camden or Philadelphia.

The Hispanic population, now 7.8% of the county, began to grow in the 1990s, driven by Puerto Rican and Mexican immigrants who settled in Glassboro, Woodbury, and Paulsboro, often working in warehousing, logistics, and food processing. The Black population, at 10.1%, is concentrated in Woodbury, Glassboro, and parts of Deptford, with a smaller but stable community in Clayton. East and Southeast Asian communities (1.8%) are small and dispersed, with no single enclave, though a modest presence of Chinese and Filipino families can be found in Washington Township and Mantua. The Indian-subcontinent population (1.2%) is similarly scattered, with professionals in healthcare and technology living in newer subdivisions in Harrison and Woolwich townships. Overall, the county remains 75.2% white, and its cultural identity has shifted from rural-agricultural to suburban-commuter, with a strong emphasis on local sports, school systems, and volunteer fire companies.