During the American Revolutionary War, Toms River was home to a strategically important salt works that supplied colonial militias, as well as a base for privateer vessels that plundered British and Tory ships off the coast. Toms River was located in the southern section of the Township of Shrewsbury that obtained a royal charter to secede in 1767 and form Dover Township. The settlement and the river were usually spelled "Tom's River" in its early days, though its current spelling has been standard since the middle of the 19th century. During the 19th century, Toms River became a center for shipbuilding, whaling, fishing, and iron and lumber production. In 1992, as part of celebrations commemorating the township's 225th anniversary, official recognition was granted to the tradition that the "Tom" in "Toms River" was for Thomas Luker, who ran a ferry across Goose Creek (now the Toms River). Various sources list the eponym of the township as either English captain William Tom, or farmer and ferryman Thomas Luker. Much of the early history of the settlement of Toms River is obscured by conflicting stories. In 2007, Toms River was again ranked as the 14th-safest city in the United States of 371 cities nationwide. In 2006, Toms River was ranked by Morgan Quitno Press as the 15th safest city in the United States, of 369 cities nationwide. The township has what is said to be the second-largest Halloween parade in the world. In 1998, Toms River East Little League won the Little League World Series. Toms River is featured in various TV and news media, including MTV's Made and Jersey Shore (seasons 1, 3, and 5), HBO's Boardwalk Empire and the original The Amityville Horror movie. Located at the heart of the Jersey Shore region, the township is a bedroom suburb of New York City in the New York metropolitan area and a regional commercial hub in central New Jersey.Īs of the 2020 United States census, the township was the state's eighth-most-populous municipality, with a population of 95,438, an increase of 4,199 (+4.6%) from the 2010 census count of 91,239, which in turn reflected an increase of 1,533 (+1.7%) from the 89,706 counted in the 2000 census. Formerly known as the Township of Dover, in 2006 voters approved a change of the official name to the Township of Toms River, adopting the name of the largest unincorporated community within the township. Its mainland portion is also a census-designated place of the same name, which serves as the county seat of Ocean County. Toms River is a township in Ocean County, in the U.S.
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