Alloway Township has a total area of 33.91 square miles and is located in the south central of Salem County. The name Alloway comes from a local Native American chief “Allowas.” Some of the other unincorporated communities, place names, and localities that are within the township’s borders are Aldine, Alloway Junction, Friesburg, Mower, Oakland, Penton, Remsterville, Stockington, Cohansey, and Watsons Mills.
Welcome to a sprawling, rural community defined by its quiet farmlands and the calm waters of Alloway Lake and Alloway Creek. Long before it became a modern agricultural haven, the region cemented its place in American history as the 1739 site of Wistarburg, the nation’s first successful glass factory. Today, it remains a tranquil township where deep multi-generational roots and wide-open spaces endure.
Nestled in the middle of Salem County, Alloway serves as a junction of two integral roadways Rt. 540 and Rt. 581. The area’s original importance came from the natural waterway now named Alloway Creek which served as the backbone for the township‘s growth as a community, center of industry, plus much more.
First mentioned in official records as Alloways Creek Township (Monmouth Precinct) in 1701, the defunct township survived until June 17, 1767, when the Legislature “empowered the inhabitants of Alloway’s Creek” to split into Lower Alloways Creek Township (34,000 acres) and Upper Alloways Creek Township (30,000 acres) according to the Alloway Remembers Book.
Upper Alloways Creek Township was formally incorporated by an act of the New Jersey Legislature on February 21, 1798 as one of the original 104 original townships of the State. On February 18, 1873 Quinton Twp. was formed from portions of Upper Alloway’s Creek Township. In 1884, the township name officially was changed to Alloway Township.
Alloway Lake serves as the scenic heart of the community, offering a peaceful destination for fishing and local gatherings. The lake is a part of Alloway Creek, a 23.2-mile-long (37.3 km) tributary of the Delaware River, which also has been a historical cornerstone of industry and outdoorsman activities in the area.
The township remains a quintessential agricultural hub where the rhythm of the seasons still dictates the pace of local life.
Alloway Township Local Articles
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PSEG Won’t Confirm Director’s “Two Reactors” Claim
Salem County Board Director Ben Laury says the basis for his statement that PSEG is “currently planning two new reactors” at its Salem site was a phone call from a PSEG representative. PSEG itself won’t confirm or deny it. SALEM — While Salem County leaders have said PSEG is planning new reactors for its Salem…
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Around the County: Where were you and what do you remember from 9/11
SALEM COUNTY — Twenty-five years ago tomorrow, on a clear Tuesday morning in September, two planes struck the towers of the World Trade Center, a third hit the Pentagon, and a fourth went down in a field outside Shanksville, Pennsylvania. By the time the dust settled that evening, nearly 3,000 people were gone, and the…
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(UPDATED) Telegraph Road Construction to Begin Final Phase – Start Date Changed to 9/16
Final 1.7-mile stretch of CR 540 between Alloway and Quinton as part of a 16-mile countywide paving push UPDATED SEPT. 9, 2026 at 11:34am QUINTON — Road work and detours have been pushed back and are set to begin Wednesday, September 16 along Telegraph Road (Salem County Route 540), marking the final phase of a…
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County Creates Nuclear Advisory Council and Its Leaders Immediately Clash Over Whether the Public Gets In
The Board Director says meetings are “not planning on being public.” Commissioner Ramsay, in writing: “Advisory boards are public.” SALEM — Salem County has created a Nuclear Advisory Council to prepare for what may be the largest development question in the county’s modern history. Whether the public will be allowed to watch it work is…
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This Day in Salem County History: September 5th
Alloway’s Beloved Educator M. Elizabeth Remster Teaches Her First Class on September 5, 1895 ALLOWAY — On September 5, 1895, an 18-year-old local woman stepped into the 1856 Lambert Street schoolhouse to lead her very first class. That young educator was M. Elizabeth Remster, beginning what would become an extraordinary 48-year continuous teaching career in…
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Woodstown Boys Soccer finds a way over Pennsville
PENNSVILLE — Ayden Ellis scored on a 35-yard free kick with 5:13 left in the match and Woodstown scored twice in the final 14 minutes to finally shake Pennsville 5-4 in an intense season-opener for both teams. The Wolverines could never seem to shake their hosts until the end. Woodstown held leads at three different…
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Late touchdown brings Woodstown first win
Woodstown rebounds from tough loss in opener, scores a late touchdown to turn back Clayton CLAYTON – The last time Woodstown’s football team stepped onto Haupt Field, the Wolverines pulled off a victory to bring a positive close to an otherwise disappointing 2025 campaign. They returned to the scene Thursday night, this time hoping to…
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Salem County’s Historic Patterned Brick Homes: The John Jarman House, Alloway Twp., 1755
ALLOWAY TWP. – Some of Salem County’s grandest colonial homes have been documented, photographed, and written about for generations. The John Jarman House almost wasn’t one of them. Tucked into the far eastern edge of Alloway Township, nearly in Cumberland County, this brick mansion sat unrecorded and unknown to historians until a Salem County surveyor…
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A Personal Note on this National Purple Heart Day
A Grandfather’s Purple Heart: Remembering George “Shorty” Remster ALLOWAY – Every August 7th, National Purple Heart Day asks us to pause for the men and women who carried the physical cost of American war home with them. For my family, that day has a name attached to it: my grandfather, George “Shorty” Linwood Remster. Shorty…
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Salem County’s Historic Patterned Brick Homes: The Dickinson House, Alloway Twp., 1754
“Scarce see a house but the south-side begrit with hives of bees…” ALLOWAY – Set back from Brickyard Road in Alloway Township, one brick wall in Salem County has spent nearly 275 years doing something almost no other wall in the country ever attempted: displaying, all at once, every decorative bricklaying technique an 18th-century mason…
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A Ghost Returns: Rare Northern Bobwhite Quail Spotted in Alloway Township
Local birdwatchers and residents in Alloway Township have reason to keep their eyes glued to the brush. A rare, native treasure has made a surprise appearance: a Northern Bobwhite Quail has been spotted and photographed in the wild by our very own Sara Morgan earlier this spring. While captive-bred game birds are frequently released for…
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Salem County’s Historic Patterned Brick Homes: William Oakford House circa 1736 in Alloway Twp.
A Deep Dive into Salem County’s Historic Brick Inlayed Homes: One by One The William Oakford House in Alloway Twp. Through a detailed review of the historical accounts preserved in the Alloway’s Remembers book, the remarkable history of the William S. Oakford House—one of our region’s finest surviving examples of early 18th-century architecture—is brought back…
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Lakes of Salem County: Elkinton Millpond
The Quiet Legacy of Elkinton Millpond: A Deep Run Cornerstone Introduction: The Echoes of Deep Run Tucked away in the quiet, agricultural expanses of Alloway Township, Elkinton Millpond (historically referred to as Elkinton Pond) serves as a peaceful sentinel of Salem County’s evolving relationship with its natural waterways. Sitting at an elevation of approximately 13…
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Southern NJ Transit Market Study Public Survey seeks Salem County Citizens’ Feedback
Speak Up, Salem County: NJ TRANSIT Launches Free Shuttle Pilot and Seeks Your Input to Get the Routes Right SALEM, NJ — Efforts to bring major changes to the public transportation landscape in South Jersey have begun, and local officials are handing Salem County as well as Cumberland, Cape May, and Atlantic County residents the…
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Fenwick’s Soil: The Enduring Ecological Tapestry of Salem County
Deep Roots and Sassafras Loam: How Salem County Held the Line Against the Sprawl Drive south from the concrete sprawl of the Northeast Corridor, and the landscape abruptly shifts. The endless distribution centers and subdivisions give way to sprawling fields of corn, historic glazed-brick farmhouses, and vast tidal marshes. You have crossed into Salem County,…