Town Spotlight

Upper Freehold Township

BY ERIN MCFEETERS

Dating back to the 1730s along County Route 539 in Monmouth County lies Upper Freehold Township. When the New Jersey State Legislature passed the Township Act of 1738, Upper Freehold was officially incorporated as a township within Monmouth County, but over the years portions of Upper Freehold were taken to form neighboring townships such as Millstone and Jackson.

Today, Garden State residents are likely more familiar with Upper Freehold by its towns such as Cream Ridge, Wrightsville, Imlaystown, Sharon, and parts of Stone Tavern.

“The township is a wonderful mix of homes and opportunities for people to enjoy conveniences to urban areas in an agricultural world setting,” said Sarah Bent who has worked for the Monmouth County Parks System for over two decades.

The township has a large variety of home types including large colonials and smaller ranch style, as well as new build communities throughout the area. Yearto-date the median sales price in Upper Freehold Township, including Cream Ridge, is $400,000 according to New Jersey Realtors® , and homes tend to stay on the market longer than the overall state, at 97 days year-to-date.

Driving through the township on a warm summer day, you’ll encounter a multitudinous amount of fruit and vegetable stands, acres of Jersey corn, and an abundance of horse farms. New Jersey’s preservation programs such as Green Acres and Farmland Preservation ensure that Upper Freehold remains an agricultural community for years to come.

“It has wonderful preserved open space,” says Bent. “The park system has over 2,000 acres of preserved property here and Green Acres and Farmland Preservation adds to that, so Upper Freehold is very good about open space and keeping its agricultural history.”

The township is home to Upper Freehold Historic Farmland Scenic Byway, a 24-mile country road where you can experience the agriculture and history of Upper Freehold. Right at the byway corridor, you can find two golf courses, Cream Ridge and Gambler Ridge, as well as Cream Ridge Winery. For history lovers, along the path are many sites of yesteryear such as the Hamlet of Imlaystown, the Old Yellow Meeting House, and Historic Walnford.

The Waln family lived at the Walnford property, along Crosswicks Creek, from 1772 until 1973. “The property was first developed in the 1730s by Samuel Rodgers who was an Allentown merchant,” said Bent. Once the Waln family purchased the property, they built the Georgian-style home on the property, which can be visited today. Even during the pandemic, you can walk around the property— find groundskeeper Bent to let you in to take a peek around the home. It is furnished by items the Waln family left behind in the attic and basement.

In the Stone Tavern area of Upper Freehold is the Horse Park of New Jersey, a notfor-profit, 501(c), charitable, educational organization. Pre-pandemic, the park held events almost every weekend throughout the year in their indoor and outdoor facilities. A stand out event, the Jersey Fresh International, is a three-day event held in May each year and helps determine United States’ and Canadian Olympic teams and the World Equestrian Games Teams.

Along Route 539 towards New Egypt, you’ll come across Rutgers University’s Fruit and Ornamental Research and Extension Center. The university center conducts research on the production of high-quality tree and small fruits, as well as research to protect fruit crops against hazards, while decreasing production costs and pesticide use, according to Rutgers Plant Biology department.

A little further down the road right at the edge of the township, stop by the retro style ice cream stand, TK’s. Lifelong residents of Upper Freehold, Taffy and Kenny Horner, opened the joint to bring families of the sprawling township together.