Freehold Public Library

Freehold is a borough and the county seat of Monmouth County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Known for its Victorian era homes and rich colonial history, the borough is located in the Raritan Valley region within the New York Metropolitan Area, located about 33 miles (53 km) from Manhattan and 17 miles (27 km) from Staten Island. The borough has grown to become a commuter town of New York City. As of the 2020 United States census, the borough's population was 12,538, an increase of 486 (+4.0%) from the 2010 census count of 12,052, which in turn reflected an increase of 1,076 (+9.8%) from the 10,976 counted at the 2000 census.The Freeholds region, which includes the borough and Freehold Township (which completely surrounds the borough), is a commercial hub for central New Jersey. The borough is located relatively close to the Raritan Bayshore communities to the north, such as The Amboys, Old Bridge, Matawan, Keyport, Keansburg, and Middletown, along with being relatively close to the Tri-City region of Jersey Shore municipalities (and their vicinities) to the east, including Red Bank, Long Branch, and Asbury Park.What is now Freehold Borough was originally incorporated as a town by an act of the New Jersey Legislature on March 25, 1869, from portions within Freehold Township. The town became independent of the township in 1888. On April 15, 1919, Freehold was incorporated as a borough, including all of Freehold and additional portions of Freehold Township, based on the results of a referendum held on July 8, 1919. Additional portions of Freehold Township were annexed on September 7, 1926.The Hispanic and Latino population has been rapidly growing in Freehold Borough for the last 40 years. The Hispanic population making up 4.6% (0.2% Mexican) in the 1980 Census, 11.3% (2.8% Mexican) in the 1990 Census, 28.0% (17.3% Mexican) in 2000, 42.9% (29.6% Mexican) in 2010, and recently in 2020, a majority at 53.0% Hispanic. Meanwhile, the Black or African American population has decreased in recent decades: 17.1% in 1970, 19.8% in 1980, 18.2% in 1990, 15.8% in 2000, 12.6% in 2010 and 9.4% in 2020. In 2021, Freehold Borough became one of few towns in the state (including, Bellmawr, Egg Harbor Township, Montclair and Woodbridge Township) that has authorized the sale of cannabis through authorized dispensaries and for the allowance of cultivators, distributors, wholesalers, and manufacturers.

St. Peter's Episcopal Church is a historic Episcopal church building at 31 Throckmorton Street in Freehold Borough, Monmouth County, New Jersey, United States. The building was constructed in 1771 and features Georgian and Gothic Revival elements. The church was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1998.

The Monmouth County Courthouse is in Freehold, the county seat of Monmouth County, New Jersey. It was designed by James W. Mancusa and built in 1954. The Battle of Monmouth Monument stands before the courthouse.

Freehold High School (sometimes called Freehold Boro, Freehold Borough High School or Boro to distinguish it from Freehold Township High School) is a four-year public high school serving students in ninth through twelfth grades, located within Freehold Borough, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, operating as one of the six secondary schools of the Freehold Regional High School District. Established in 1923, the school serves students from all of Freehold Borough and from portions of Freehold Township. Freehold High School is the home of the Medical Sciences Learning Center, the Computer Science Academy and the Culinary Arts/Hospitality Management Academy. The school has been accredited by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Elementary and Secondary Schools since 1928.As of the 2021–22 school year, the school had an enrollment of 1,411 students and 93.6 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 15.1:1. There were 364 students (25.8% of enrollment) eligible for free lunch and 82 (5.8% of students) eligible for reduced-cost lunch.

The Freehold Jewish Center, also referred to as "Congregation Agudath Achim", is a synagogue in Freehold, New Jersey. Founded in 1911, it completed its first synagogue building by 1916, and its current building in 1957, with an addition to the current building completed in 1973. Eli Fishman was the congregation's rabbi from 1970 to 1997. He was succeeded by Kenneth Greene, who served for 13 years. As of September 2016, the Rabbi is Ira Samuel Grussgott, and the president is Jeffrey Malkin.

George Taylor House is in Freehold Borough, Monmouth County, New Jersey, United States on the corner of Broadway and Dutch Lane Road across from Freehold High School. The house was built in circa 1870 by George Taylor, the son of John G. Taylor and Cary Conover Taylor. John G. Taylor was of Scottish ancestry, while Cary Conover was of Dutch ancestry. John G. Taylor was the proprietor of Taylors Mills (in nearby Manalapan, where its namesake continues today), a successful family business that George continued to run in his father's footsteps. The grist mill was successful during the mid-late 19th century, as new markets were opening up with the advent of extensive railroad networks.Well prior to the Taylors building this house in the 1800s, the property in which the house occupied had been established as early as the 1680s, when English, Dutch, and Scottish settlers began to inhabit the region. The Monmouth Tract was a patent granted by Colonel Richard Nicolls in 1665 to twelve men, most of whom were religious dissenters from Long Island and New England. In 1693, along with Middletown and Shrewsbury, Freehold was established by act of legislature as one of the three original townships in Monmouth County. The name of the township comes from the word freehold, an English legal term describing fee simple property ownership. Early records show that John Bowne was the first to have the deed to the 1,000-acre property, which was granted to him by Deputy-Governor Gawen Lawrie. The land was then sold to six Dutchmen in 1699, Garrett Stoothoff, Garrett Wyckoff, John Wyckoff, Derrick von Sutvant, Peter Couwenhoven, and Jacob Tysen (hence the namesake of Dutch Lane Road, where the house is located).By the Revolutionary period, the property where the house would eventually occupy had experienced some heavy action during the war. It was on William Wyckoff's holding of the property, which was where he had established a farmstead in the location where the George Taylor House would eventually be constructed, was where the first shots were fired in the much larger Battle of Monmouth. While much of the action took place where Monmouth Battlefield currently is, the area where the house occupied was where the British had placed batteries (near the greater "Briar Hill" region).George Taylor purchased the property from his father in 1865, a 48 1/2 parcel of land by that point. The house was built in the second-empire architecture of its day. With the home having three stories, the building structure allows for the exterior of the house to have a three-bay facade with flanking bay windows, a slightly distorted symmetrical layout in the rear, French style doors on the side of the house (including by the porch), full cellar and brick foundational walls, extensive brickwork, and other exquisite features from that era that has allowed the home to standout in the community. The historical significance of the property and the beautiful aesthetic nature of the home itself, led to the home being listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1994. The home has been in private ownership, from the Taylors to the ownership of William Hunt DuBois and Ellie DuBois from 1897 to 1906, Frank Pierce Jones and Ida Jones from 1906 to 1943 (whom operated a successful farmstead through the agricultural crash of the 1920s and 1930s), Clifford Hance from 1943 to 1951 (a descendant of John Hance from Shrewsbury, a prominent family in Monmouth County since the colonial period), among other owners. However, during the mid 20th century the home began to be neglected, due to rapid suburban development in the surrounding area and simultaneous urban decay (in large part due to the A & M Karagheusian rug mill's closure in the 1960s). However, in the 1980s homeowners Gary and Deborah Duerksen began to restore the home to its pristine appearance from the time period it originated. As of now, while the home continues to be privately owned, it now offers a great glimpse into the borough's Victorian era past.

The Freehold Borough Schools are a community public school district that serves students in pre-kindergarten through eighth grade from Freehold Borough in Monmouth County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2018–19 school year, the district, comprising three schools, had an enrollment of 1,698 students and 140.0 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 12.1:1.The district is classified by the New Jersey Department of Education as being in District Factor Group "B", the second lowest of eight groupings. District Factor Groups organize districts statewide to allow comparison by common socioeconomic characteristics of the local districts. From lowest socioeconomic status to highest, the categories are A, B, CD, DE, FG, GH, I and J.Students in public school for ninth through twelfth grades attend Freehold High School, as part of the Freehold Regional High School District or may apply to attend the district's specialized programs housed in other high schools in the FRHSD. As of the 2018–19 school year, Freehold Borough High School had an enrollment of 1,422 students and 103.8 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 13.7:1. The Freehold Regional High School District also serves students from Colts Neck Township, Englishtown, Farmingdale, Freehold Township (which also has some students at Freehold Borough High School), Howell Township, Manalapan Township and Marlboro Township.Freehold Borough was awarded a research grant in 2004 by the National Institute of Justice, a research branch of the United States Department of Justice. The $360,000 grant was entitled "Teacher-Parent Authentication Security System II: The Next Generation of Iris Recognition Technology in Schools" and was awarded to the Freehold Borough Board of Education.

The Court Street School is located in Freehold Borough, Monmouth County, New Jersey, United States. The building was built in 1921 and was added to the National Register of Historic Places on August 4, 1995.

The Monmouth County Plank Road was a plank road in New Jersey, running north from Freehold to Keyport by way of Matawan. Its path is now roughly followed by New Jersey Route 79. The Monmouth County Plank Road was chartered February 20, 1850 to run from Freehold to Keyport.

Freehold Raceway is a half-mile (0.80 km) racetrack in Freehold Borough, New Jersey, and is the oldest racetrack in the United States. Horseraces have been taking place at Freehold Raceway since the 1830s. The Monmouth County Agricultural Society was formed on December 17, 1853, and in 1854 they began holding an annual fair with harness racing at Freehold RacewayFrom 1998 to 2010, Freehold Raceway was the home of the Cane Pace, a harness horse race run annually since 1955. In 1956 the race joined with the Little Brown Jug and the Messenger Stakes to become the first leg in the Triple Crown of Harness Racing for Pacers. In 1984, an electrical fire destroyed the main building. Racing was then held under tents until the new building was completed in 1986. In 1990, the Freehold Raceway Mall opened up across the street, and was, until 2007, decorated with harness racing motif. In 1998, Freehold was acquired by a joint venture of Penn National Gaming (now Penn Entertainment) and Greenwood Racing (owner of Parx Casino and Racing).In 2005, Freehold was also the temporary home of the Yonkers Trot, part of the Triple Crown of Harness Racing for Trotters, while renovations took place at Yonkers Raceway. Freehold Raceway has two meets per year. They race from New Years Day until the end of May, then reopen in September and race until the middle of December. There are two harness tracks in New Jersey, Freehold Raceway and The Meadowlands. There are several farms and training centers located near Freehold Raceway which stable hundreds of standardbred racehorses.

Lake Topanemus is a 71-acre (29 ha) suburban park located in Freehold Township, New Jersey, but owned and operated by Freehold Borough, New Jersey. The park's pond was originally the site of Forman's Mill in the 1800s. The pond's attractions, include freshwater fishing, paddle boating, and canoeing. The park is also known for its picturesque nature trails, playgrounds, outdoor calisthenics, and open fields. The lake is located on the course of McGellairds Brook, which drains to Matchaponix Brook.

Covenhoven House is located in Freehold Borough, Monmouth County, New Jersey, United States. The house was built in 1752–53 by William and Elizabeth Covenhoven. The builder of the historic Old Tennent Church was retained for the job, and began work right after the completion of the church. In 1778, General Henry Clinton occupied this house as his headquarters from June 26 to the morning of June 28th, prior to the Battle of Monmouth that day. Clinton chose the house because it was clearly the finest home in the area. When he arrived there, he realized that Mrs. Covenhoven had already prepared for their visit. The house was devoid of the fine furnishings one would expect in such a home. The valuables had been hidden away in the woods, and the silver and china had been buried in the yard under some rose bushes. Clinton convinced Mrs. Covenhoven that her fine things would not be safe in the woods. If she returned them to the home, he said, they would be under the protection of the British army. She finally acquiesced, and the hidden wagon load was brought back to the house. According to a complaint she filed with the courthouse, she stated that once the wagon arrived, she was not allowed to bring anything inside the home. By the morning, the entire wagon had been picked over, and everything was stolen except for a few small trifles. One small mercy that was done for her by Clinton was that he did not destroy the home, as the army had burned down several homes in the immediate area. Covenhoven House added to the National Register of Historic Places on May 1, 1974. The house is one of several houses owned and operated as a historic house museum by the Monmouth County Historical Association. It is open Friday-Sun from 1-4 pm. Admission is $5 for adults, $2.50 for children and seniors.