Location of Brick Township in Ocean County highlighted in yellow (right). Inset map: Location of Ocean County in New Jersey highlighted in black (left).
A majority of Brick Township is located on the mainland. Ocean Beaches I, II, and III are situated on the Barnegat Peninsula, a long, narrow barrier peninsula that separates Barnegat Bay from the Atlantic Ocean.[23] The mainland and beach area of the town are not geographically adjacent. Brick Township was incorporated as a township by an act of the New Jersey Legislature on February 15, 1850, from portions of both Dover Township (now Toms River Township) and Howell Township. The township was named after Joseph Brick, the owner of Bergen Iron Works located on the Metedeconk River.[24][25] Portions of the township were taken to form Point Pleasant Beach (May 18, 1886), Bay Head (June 15, 1886), Lakewood Township (March 23, 1892), Mantoloking (April 10, 1911) and Point Pleasant (April 21, 1920).[26] In 1963, voters rejected a referendum that would have changed the township's name to "Laurelton".[27]
After hovering for years in the top five, in 2006, the township earned the title of "America's Safest City", out of 371 cities included nationwide in the 13th annual Morgan Quitno survey.[28] Since the year 2000, Brick Township has been the safest "city" (population over 75,000) in New Jersey. In 2003 and 2004, Brick Township was ranked as the second safest city in the United States, after Newton, Massachusetts.[29] In 2005, Brick Township had dropped down to the fifth safest "city" (population over 75,000) in the United States, before it rebounded to the top in 2006.[30]
^Cullinane, Bob. "Brick Beaches", Asbury Park Press, July 28, 2002. Accessed January 22, 2012. ""There are three public access beaches in Brick (Ocean Beach I, Ocean Beach II, Ocean Beach III) that, in total, cover about a half-mile. These should not be confused with Ocean Beach, a section of Dover Township, just south of Brick's Ocean Beaches. Got it?"
^Donatiello, Gene. "Who is Joseph Woolston Brick?"Archived December 25, 2021, at the Wayback Machine, Brick Township Historical Society. Accessed February 19, 2013. "The new township was named after its most prominent citizen Joseph Woolston Brick. Joseph W. Brick was the industrious and successful owner of Bergen Iron Works."