Roadstown, New Jersey

Roadstown, New Jersey
Unincorporated community
Ananias Sayre House at the center of Roadstown
Roadstown Location in Cumberland County Show map of Cumberland County, New Jersey Roadstown Location in New Jersey Show map of New Jersey Roadstown Location in the United States Show map of the United States
Coordinates: 39°26′27″N75°19′06″W / 39.44083°N 75.31833°W / 39.44083; -75.31833
Country	United States
State	New Jersey
County	Cumberland
Township	Stow Creek
Area [1]
• Total	0.83 sq mi (2.16 km2)
• Land	0.83 sq mi (2.16 km2)
• Water	0 sq mi (0.00 km2)
Elevation	115 ft (35 m)
Population  (2020) [2]
• Total	155
• Density	185/sq mi (71.6/km2)
Time zone	UTC−05:00 (Eastern (EST))
• Summer (DST)	UTC−04:00 (EDT)
FIPS code	34-63810 [3]
GNIS feature ID	879728 [4]

Roadstown is an unincorporated community located within Stow Creek Township, in Cumberland County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. ^{[4] [5]}

Roadstown is located at the intersection of County Route 620 and 626, approximately 3 mi (4.8 km) southwest of Shiloh.

Demographics

Historical population

Census	Pop.	Note	%±
2020	155		—
U.S. Decennial Census [6]

Roadstown was first listed as a census designated place in the 2020 U.S. census. ^[7]

Roadstown CDP, New Jersey – Racial and ethnic composition
Note: the US Census treats Hispanic/Latino as an ethnic category. This table excludes Latinos from the racial categories and assigns them to a separate category. Hispanics/Latinos may be of any race.

Race / Ethnicity (NH = Non-Hispanic)	Pop 2020 [8]	2020
White alone (NH)	126	81.29%
Black or African American alone (NH)	1	0.65%
Native American or Alaska Native alone (NH)	8	5.16%
Asian alone (NH)	4	2.58%
Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander alone (NH)	0	0.00%
Other race alone (NH)	0	0.00%
Mixed race or Multiracial (NH)	7	4.52%
Hispanic or Latino (any race)	9	5.81%
Total	155	100.00%

History

Prior to the American Revolution, Roadstown was considered an important settlement in the region. Roadstown was then known as "Sayre's Cross-Roads" or "Sayre's Corners", named for Ananias Sayre, "a leading citizen" and county sheriff. ^{[4] [9]} Maskell Ware settled in Roadstown in 1789, where he worked as a farmer and manufacturer of hand-made chairs. ^[10] Ware chairs are today considered collector's items. ^[11]

The Cohansey Baptist Church relocated to Roadstown in 1802. Established in 1683, it is today the third oldest Baptist church in New Jersey. ^{[12] [13]} A post office was established in 1803. ^[14] In 1834, Roadstown had a tavern, two stores, 20 dwellings, and "was peopled principally by the cultivators of the soil". ^[15] By 1882, the population had grown to 200. ^[16]

Education

For elementary school, Hopewell Township students are zoned to Hopewell Township School District, while Stow Creek Township students are zoned to Stow Creek Township School District. All students are in the Cumberland Regional School District (for high school). ^[17]

The Stow Creek school district and the Greenwich Township School District have a cooperative agreement in which all students in grade levels Kindergarten through 4 in both school districts attend the Greenwich Township school facility, Morris Goodwin School, while all students in grades 5-8 in both school districts attend the Stow Creek school facility, Stow Creek School. ^[18]

Notable people

See also: Category:People from Hopewell Township, Cumberland County, New Jersey

People who were born in, residents of, or otherwise closely associated with Roadstown include:

• Harris Flanagin (1817–1874), politician and lawyer who served as the 7th governor of Arkansas ^[19]
• Charles Elmer Hires (1851–1937), inventor of root beer and namesake of Hires Root Beer ^{[20] [21]}

References

1. "ArcGIS REST Services Directory". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved October 11, 2022.
2. "Census Population API". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved October 11, 2022.
3. Geographic Codes Lookup for New Jersey, Missouri Census Data Center. Accessed June 9, 2023.
4. U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Roadstown
5. Locality Search Archived 2016-07-09 at the Wayback Machine , State of New Jersey. Accessed December 30, 2014.
6. "Census of Population and Housing". Census.gov. Retrieved June 4, 2016.
7. "2020 Geography Changes". United States Census Bureau.
8. "P2: Hispanic or Latino, and Not Hispanic or Latino by Race – 2020: DEC Redistricting Data (PL 94-171) – Roadstown CDP, New Jersey". United States Census Bureau .
9. Elmer, Lucius Quintus Cincinnatus (1869). History of the Early Settlement and Progress of Cumberland County, New Jersey: And of the Currency of this and Adjoining Colonies. George F. Nixon. pp.  16.
10. Dependahl Waters, Deborah (1979). "Wares and Chairs: A Reappraisal of the Documents". American Furniture and Its Makers. 13. University of Chicago Press: 161–173. JSTOR   1180605.
11. Resnik, Virginia M. (July 2, 1987). "The Hands that Hold an Old Craft". philly.com. Archived from the original on March 3, 2016. Retrieved December 29, 2014.
12. "Cohansey Baptist Church at Roadstown". Cumberland County. Archived from the original on December 29, 2014. Retrieved December 29, 2014.
13. Mollick, Sharon. "Mapping the Dead" (PDF). Cumberland County Department of Planning & Development. Archived (PDF) from the original on December 22, 2014. Retrieved December 29, 2014.
14. "Hopewell Township" (PDF). Hopewell Township. 1998. Archived (PDF) from the original on October 8, 2007. Retrieved December 29, 2014.
15. Gordon, Thomas Francis (1834). The History of New Jersey: From Its Discovery by Europeans, to the Adoption of the Federal Constitution. D. Fenton. pp.  227.
16. Edwards, Richard Edwards (1882). Industries of New Jersey: Essex County Including City of Newark. Historical Publishing Company. p. 120. Archived from the original on September 22, 2022. Retrieved September 10, 2017.
17. Geography Division (January 12, 2021). 2020 CENSUS - SCHOOL DISTRICT REFERENCE MAP: Cumberland County, NJ (PDF) (Map). U.S. Census Bureau. Archived (PDF) from the original on August 6, 2022. Retrieved September 20, 2025. - Text list
18. "About Our Schools". Greenwich-Stow Creek Partnership Schools. Retrieved September 20, 2025. - This is the collective official website of the Greenwich Township and Stow Creek schools.
19. "Arkansas Governor Harris Flanagin". National Governors Association. Archived from the original on December 17, 2014. Retrieved December 29, 2014.
20. Bertram, Mike. "The Bottling Plant At Colonial Springs", Tredyffrin Easttown History Quarterly, Vol. 47, No. 3. Accessed August 28, 2023. "Charles Elmer Hires was born on August 19, 1851, on his family’s farm outside of Roadstown, New Jersey."
21. Bennett, Eileen (June 28, 1998). "Local Historians Argue Over the Root of the Story of How Hires First Brewed Beer that Made Millions". Cumberland County. Archived from the original on December 29, 2014. Retrieved December 29, 2014.