Bay Head, New Jersey

Bay Head, New Jersey
Borough
Sunrise at Bay Head Beach
Sunrise at Bay Head Beach
Official seal of Bay Head, New Jersey
Seal
Location of Bay Head in Ocean County highlighted in red (right). Inset map: Location of Ocean County in New Jersey highlighted in orange (left).
Location of Bay Head in Ocean County highlighted in red (right). Inset map: Location of Ocean County in New Jersey highlighted in orange (left).
Census Bureau map of Bay Head, New Jersey
Census Bureau map of Bay Head, New Jersey
Bay Head is located in Ocean County, New Jersey
Bay Head
Bay Head
Location in Ocean County
Bay Head is located in New Jersey
Bay Head
Bay Head
Location in New Jersey
Bay Head is located in the United States
Bay Head
Bay Head
Location in the United States
Coordinates: 40°04′13″N 74°02′53″W / 40.070315°N 74.048162°W / 40.070315; -74.048162[1][2]
Country United States
State New Jersey
County Ocean
IncorporatedJune 15, 1886
Named forBayhead Land Company / location on Barnegat Bay
Government
[7]
 • TypeBorough
 • BodyBorough Council
 • MayorWilliam W. Curtis (R, term ends December 31, 2027)[3][4]
 • AdministratorFrank Pannucci Jr.[5]
 • Municipal clerkAntoinette Jones[6]
Area
[8]
 • Total0.71 sq mi (1.83 km2)
 • Land0.58 sq mi (1.52 km2)
 • Water0.12 sq mi (0.32 km2)  17.32%
 • Rank529th of 565 in state
30th of 33 in county[1]
Elevation
[9]
3 ft (0.9 m)
Population
 (2020)[10]
 • Total930
 • Estimate 
(2023)[11]
965
 • Rank534th of 565 in state
30th of 33 in county[12]
 • Density1,588.4/sq mi (613.3/km2)
  • Rank331st of 565 in state
16th of 33 in county[12]
Time zoneUTC−05:00 (Eastern (EST))
 • Summer (DST)UTC−04:00 (Eastern (EDT))
ZIP Code
08742[13][14]
Area code(s)732[15]
FIPS code3402903520[1][16][17]
GNIS feature ID0885150[1][18]
Websitewww.bayheadnj.org
Loveland Homestead Museum

Bay Head is a borough situated on the Jersey Shore in northern Ocean County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the borough's population was 930,[10] a decrease of 38 (−3.9%) from the 2010 census count of 968,[19][20] which in turn reflected a decline of 270 (−21.8%) from the 1,238 counted in the 2000 census.[21] Bay Head is situated on the Barnegat Peninsula, also known as Barnegat Bay Island, a long, narrow barrier island that separates Barnegat Bay from the Atlantic Ocean. Together with Mantoloking, Bay Head is considered part of the Jersey Shore's "Gold Coast".[22]

Bay Head was incorporated as a borough by an act of the New Jersey Legislature on June 15, 1886, from portions of Brick Township, based on the results of a referendum held three days earlier.[23]

The community was supposed to have been named "Bayhead" after the Bayhead Land Company that developed the area in the 1870s.[24] A railroad sign posted in the 1880s labeled the station as "Bay Head," and the name stuck when the borough was incorporated in 1886. The name also comes from the town's location, which is at the "head" of Barnegat Bay.[25][26][27]

  1. ^ a b c d 2019 Census Gazetteer Files: New Jersey Places, United States Census Bureau. Accessed July 1, 2020.
  2. ^ US Gazetteer files: 2010, 2000, and 1990, United States Census Bureau. Accessed September 4, 2014.
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference Council was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ 2023 New Jersey Mayors Directory, New Jersey Department of Community Affairs, updated February 8, 2023. Accessed February 10, 2023.
  5. ^ Administration, Borough of Bay Head. Accessed June 3, 2024.
  6. ^ Municipal Clerk, Borough of Bay Head. Accessed June 3, 2024.
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference DataBook was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  8. ^ "ArcGIS REST Services Directory". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved September 20, 2022.
  9. ^ U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Borough of Bay Head, Geographic Names Information System. Accessed March 4, 2013.
  10. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference LWD2020 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  11. ^ Cite error: The named reference PopEst was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  12. ^ a b Population Density by County and Municipality: New Jersey, 2020 and 2021, New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development. Accessed March 1, 2023.
  13. ^ Look Up a ZIP Code for Bay Head, NJ, United States Postal Service. Accessed September 2, 2011.
  14. ^ ZIP Codes, State of New Jersey. Accessed August 25, 2013.
  15. ^ Area Code Lookup - NPA NXX for Bay Head, NJ, Area-Codes.com. Accessed September 17, 2013.
  16. ^ U.S. Census website, United States Census Bureau. Accessed September 4, 2014.
  17. ^ Geographic Codes Lookup for New Jersey, Missouri Census Data Center. Accessed April 1, 2022.
  18. ^ US Board on Geographic Names, United States Geological Survey. Accessed September 4, 2014.
  19. ^ Cite error: The named reference Census2010 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  20. ^ Cite error: The named reference LWD2010 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  21. ^ Table 7. Population for the Counties and Municipalities in New Jersey: 1990, 2000 and 2010, New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development, February 2011. Accessed May 1, 2023.
  22. ^ Staff. "Ahoy! HD:Set a course for Point Pleasant, home of the New Jersey Museum of Boating", Courier-Post, April 14, 2003. Accessed August 25, 2013. "Noted O'Brien, 'We've been very, very successful in appealing to the relatively affluent community here in Bay Head, Point Pleasant and Mantoloking, the Gold Coast of the Jersey Shore, at least during the summer.'"
  23. ^ Snyder, John P. The Story of New Jersey's Civil Boundaries: 1606-1968, Bureau of Geology and Topography; Trenton, New Jersey; 1969. p. 194. Accessed March 20, 2012.
  24. ^ Konrad, Walecia. "Havens; Weekender | Bay Head, N.J.", The New York Times, June 13, 2003. Accessed March 20, 2012."In the 1870s three New Jersey bankers formed the Bayhead Land Company and divided the area's farms, woods and cranberry bogs into building lots. The rail line, laid soon afterward, opened the beach to financiers and industrialists from New York and North Jersey, and Bay Head became one of New Jersey's most high-end resorts."
  25. ^ Staff. "Bay Head & Mantoloking: A brief history", from Asbury Park Press, June 20, 2002. Accessed March 20, 2012. "Bay Head's two-word name resulted from a typographical error. It was meant to be Bayhead, named for the Bayhead Land Co., organized by three Princeton bankers. But when the railroad station sign was hung in the early 1880s, it read Bay Head. And so, Bay Head was incorporated in 1886."
  26. ^ Gannett, Henry. The Origin of Certain Place Names in the United States, p. 39. United States Government Printing Office, 1905. Accessed August 27, 2015.
  27. ^ Hutchinson, Viola L. The Origin of New Jersey Place Names, New Jersey Public Library Commission, May 1945. Accessed August 27, 2015.