The Township of Washington was incorporated on February 17, 1836 as part of Gloucester County during a meeting held at the Green Tree Tavern, at the corner of Egg Harbor Road and GreenTree Road. The Township officially moved to Camden County in March of 1844 but moved back into Gloucester County on February 28, 1871. The Township's oldest community is the Grenloch Terrace area which was a thriving Lenni-Lenape Indian Village called Tetamekon. Some twenty other Indian encampments have been identified within this Township's borders. Some of the early settlers to the area were the Collins family of Chestnut Ridge Farm (1771), the Turner family (1798) for whom Turnersville was named, the Hurff family (1806) of Hurffville, the Heritage family (1725) whose family began the Heritage Dairy Farm Stores, the Morgan family who were the first residents of the Olde Stone House (1736) and the Bell Family who arrived in 1899 turning our 139 year old grist mill into GENERAL MILLS, INC. The Township government was formed in 1836 as a five person committee, township clerk, tax assessor, tax collector and constable which continued until 1985 when the residents overwhelmingly voted to change the government to a directly elected Mayor and Five elected Councilpersons. The 23.0 square miles Township is home to approximately 48,500 people who live within the communities of Turnersville, Hurffville, Grenloch, CrossKeys, Mayfair, Bunker Hill and Chapel Heights. Washington Township is a family community, providing all services in an environment conducive to outstanding educational, recreational, and social activities and programs. The Township also offers excellent retail, professional, and corporate businesses which are by far the finest in the County.
