Editing Marlboro Township, New Jersey (section)

====Township formation====
[[Image:MarlboroNJMcMansions.jpg|thumb|right|New houses under construction off Buckley Road, late 2005]]
Under the direction and influence of John W. Herbert,<ref>[https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-daily-register/104753620/ "John W. Herbert Dead; An Old Republican Leader Passes Away; His Ancestors Came to This County in 1677 - Mr. Herbert's Large Possessions and the Many Public Positions Held by Him"], ''The Daily Register'', April 13, 1898. Accessed January 24, 2025, via [[Newspapers.com]]. "Mr. Herbert was chiefly instrumental in having Marlboro township set off from Freehold township in 1848, and was the first freeholder elected in that township."</ref> Marlboro was established as a township by an act of the [[New Jersey Legislature]] on February 17, 1848, formed from portions of [[Freehold Township, New Jersey|Freehold Township]].<ref name=Story/> The township's name was originally "Marlborough," but was subsequently changed to "Marlboro."<ref>Chang, Kathy; and Kesten, Karen L. [https://archive.centraljersey.com/2009/12/16/birth-of-a-town-9/ "Birth of a town"], ''News Transcript'', December 16, 2009. Accessed May 16, 2023. "Marlboro had been a part of Freehold Township. Early maps show it as Marlborough."</ref> It is not known when the name was officially changed, with maps and other documents in the decades after the township's establishment referring variously to "Marlboro"<ref name=Beers1873>Beers, F.W. [http://www.historicmapworks.com/Map/US/177430/Marlboro+Township/ ''Atlas of Monmouth County NJ'', Plate 39], New York City, NY. 1873</ref> or "Marlborough".<ref name=Raum1877/><ref>Lightfoot 1851 Map of Monmouth County</ref> The first elected freeholder was John W. Herbert.

By 1873, Marlboro had a post office, school, hotel, multiple stores, churches, and a railroad station of the Freehold and Keyport Railroad.<ref>F.W. Beers, Monmouth County, 1873, [http://www.historicmapworks.com/Map/US/177418/Holmdel++Marlboro++Edinburg++Colts+Neck/Monmouth+County+1873/New+Jersey/ p. 29]</ref> In 1882, the population was 102.<ref>{{cite book | title = Industries of New Jersey | url = https://archive.org/details/industriesofnewj03edwa | publisher = Historical Publishing Company | year = 1882 | pages = [https://archive.org/details/industriesofnewj03edwa/page/n78 101]| ol = 24332547M }}</ref>

Marlboro was described in 1939 as having "large frame houses comfortably spaced along the highway".<ref name="NJGPP">{{cite book | title = New Jersey, a Guide to Its Present and Past | publisher = Viking | year = 1939 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=t6wmzEJvTGcC&pg=PP1 | pages = 555| isbn = 9781603540292 }}</ref>{{rp|555}}

Marlboro was [[rural]] and composed mostly of [[dairy]] farms, [[potato]], [[tomato]] and other farms laced with small [[hamlet (place)|hamlets]] with modest inns or taverns.<ref>"A history Rich in Lore - and Soil", ''[[Asbury Park Press]]'', February 9, 2006, Page 87</ref> Before [[World War II]] Marlboro Township was the nation's largest grower of potatoes and also known for a large tomato and egg industry.<ref>Gabrielan, Randall. [https://books.google.com/books?id=UWpvGFRbd-kC&pg=PA21 ''Images of America: Marlboro Township''], p. 21. [[Arcadia Publishing]], 1999. {{ISBN|0738564478}}. Accessed April 20, 2012.</ref> During World War II, egg farms significantly expanded to accommodate military demand.

Following World War II, the state began to significantly build and improve the area transportation infrastructure. As the infrastructure improved, the population started to increase. The 1950s and 1960s saw Marlboro starting to significantly grow. Housing developments started to replace the farm and rural nature as the community expanded. After the early 1970s, Marlboro became a growing [[suburb]] for people working in [[New York City]] and in large nearby corporations. During the 1980s and early 1990s most of the new [[housing development]]s featured four- or five-bedroom houses, but later the trend shifted toward larger estate homes. The building effort became so advanced that Marlboro Township placed restrictions for building around wetlands; called the Stream Corridor Preservation Restrictions to mitigate construction and habitat contamination.

The year 2000 saw continued growth of the housing trend toward larger homes. Towards the end of the decade, housing growth declined due to the [[Great Recession]].{{Citation needed|date=July 2022}}