ABOUT You are here: Home / About Downe Township provides a tranquil rural setting for raising a family, developing a business and relaxing and enjoying Nature. Natural, undisturbed beauty of nature right here in the northeast corridor. Downe Township is located in a tranquil setting nestled in the southern-most part of Cumberland County, New Jersey. It is off the beaten path, an angler’s paradise. It is rural and that’s the way residents and visitors like it. Downe includes vast stretches of undisturbed woodlands and wetlands. The beauty and pristine nature of its natural areas are the most spectacular in the Northeast United States, particularly in the urban corridor between Washington and Boston. Prime bird watching and hiking venues are found in Downe Township including the Edward G. Bevan Fish and Wildlife Management Area and the Turkey Point Fish and Wildlife Management Area. Amazingly, Downe Township is just 90 minutes from Philadelphia and within three and ½ hours drive to New York and Washington. Yet it offers residents and visitors an abundance of nature’s beautiful wildlife, trees, flowers, plants, wetlands and waterways, providing excellent opportunities for fun and relaxation. Downe Township’s strength lies in its rural nature. Fishing, boating and sand mining are important industries. There are also a number of ecotourism related businesses in the Township. There is space and a market for additional expansion in the marine and aquaculture fields as well as in tourism and recreation enterprises. Birding is a growing, multimillion dollar industry in Southern New Jersey. Much of the future growth of this facet of ecotourism will be in Downe Township. Thanks to its location along the Delaware Bay, the Downe Township village of Fortescue has become a fishing and boating mecca. The NJ State Marina and other marinas provide docks for private boats and for charter boats which carry hundreds of visitors to fishing adventures of the Delaware Bay and the Atlantic Ocean. Fortescue is also host to one of the East Coasts most popular fishing tournaments. People looking for a great place to raise a family or to live after retirement or to visit in the summer, are discovering Downe Township. All in all, Downe Township provides a relaxed, exquisite and scenic community in which you can live, work and play. Much of Downe Township is located within the New Jersey Coastal and Heritage Trail which highlights the regions historical, ecological and cultural sites along the shores of the Delaware Bay. Downe Township is located in the southern section of Cumberland County, in Southern New Jersey. It is home to several historic mixed use villages such as Dividing Creek, Newport, Moneys Island and Fortescue. Commercial and recreational fishing and boating are an important part of the way of life here, in fact, Downe and Fortescue are known as the “weakfish capital” of the world. What is now Downe Township was formed as a by Royal Charter on January 19, 1748, as Downes Township, from portions of Fairfield Township. Downe Township was incorporated as one of New Jersey’s initial 104 townships by an Act of the New Jersey Legislature on February 21, 1798. Downe Township values its rural way of living, its educational system and its residents and its businesses, public marinas, fishing and growing eco-tourism are some of its key industries. Downe Township is also home to thousands of acres of permanently preserved open space that not only serves the Township but provides abundant open space for all of New Jersey’s residents. Copyright Downe Township, NJ Website by J2 Technology SOLUTIONS, LLC