Brick Township is a township in Ocean County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the township had a population of 75,072, making it the state's 13th-largest municipality and the third most populous municipality in Ocean County , having seen a decline of 1,047 residents from its population of 76,119 in the 2000 Census, when it was the state's 12th most-populous municipality.While the 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. 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 and Howell Township. The township was named after Joseph Brick, the owner of Bergen Iron Works located on the Metedeconk River. Portions of the township were taken to form Point Pleasant Beach , Bay Head , Lakewood Township , Mantoloking and Point Pleasant . In 1963, voters rejected a referendum that would have changed the township's name to Laurelton.The Havens Homestead Museum is dedicated to the Havens family that originally settled in the Laurelton/Burrsville section of Brick. The museum is the original Havens home which lies on a small plot of farmland. The museum has a gift shop and runs tours of the property daily.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. Since the year 2000, Brick Township has been the safest city in New Jersey. In 2003 and 2004, Brick Township was ranked as the second safest city in the United States, after Newton, Massachusetts. In 2005, Brick Township had dropped down to the fifth safest city in the United States, before it rebounded to the top in 2006. In 2009, Brick Township ranked No. 6 on Newsmax magazine's list of the Top 25 Most Uniquely American Cities and Towns, a piece written by current CBS News travel editor Peter Greenberg. In determining his ranking, Greenberg cited Brick's consistent nod as a safe city and that its commercial development of big-box stores, department stores, and chain restaurants has made it a shopping destination for much of northern Ocean County.Brick Township has also been in the news for a claimed autism epidemic, in which 40 children out of over 6,000 surveyed were found to be autistic, though Brick's autism rate is statistically near the national average. Many of the children found to be autistic were born in Northern New Jersey and other parts of the country. There is no evidence that the levels of autism are linked to any specific environmental factor in Brick. Parents of children diagnosed with autism have moved to the township in order to make use of the special education programs offered by the school district.Brick has also been home to the heroin epidemic. According to the state's statistics, in 2012 Brick was ranked sixth in the state with 550 reported incidents of heroin or opiate abuse, behind Newark, Jersey City, Paterson, Atlantic City, and Camden. In 2015 Brick was bumped back down to number eight in the state with 407 reported heroin abuse cases. [1] During the December 2010 North American blizzard, Brick Township received 30 inches of snow, the highest accumulation recorded in the state. In October 2012, parts of Brick were devastated by Hurricane Sandy. Barrier island and other waterfront properties were particularly hard hit. Homes and such buildings as the Shore Acres Yacht Club sustained major damage; some buildings had to be demolished.
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