Town file
Toms River Township, New Jersey
Toms River Township, New Jersey (Ocean County, New Jersey) is the town in one episode of Small Town Murder, the comedy true-crime podcast: episode 437, "Sex, Greed & Vice Principals" (2 November 2023).
- Town
- Toms River Township
- County
- Ocean County
- State
- New Jersey
- Country
- USA
- Episodes
- 437
- Approximate location
- 39.995, -74.188
Episode 437 / 2 November 2023 / 178 min / full
Sex, Greed & Vice Principals
" says they are going to Toms River, New Jersey, technically Toms River Township, in Ocean County." about 0:04:14
The case: Murder of Maria Marshall (September 1984); Murder of Diana Montgomery (1979). Read the case file.
The figures, as told in 2023
- Population
- 95,000 and two
- Median age
- about forty four
- Median household income
- $84,928 a year
- Median home value
- $368,000
- Two-bedroom rent
- about 1,600 bucks a month
- Religious
- about 48%
- Violent crime
- ▼ about half the national average
- Property crime
- right at the national average
History, in brief
- Sources disagree on the town's name: it was either the English captain William Tom or the farmer and ferryman Thomas Lucre, whom people called Tom. about 0:06:18
- In 1992, during the 225th anniversary celebrations, official recognition was granted to Thomas Lucer, the farmer who ran a ferry across Goose Creek, now the Toms River. about 0:06:45
- The Amityville Horror was filmed in Toms River in 1979. about 0:07:05
- Local police and ambulance workers were extras in the film, and the volunteer fire company provided rain by shooting a fire hose into the air. about 0:07:17
- In the mid-1990s state and federal health and environmental agencies found an increased incidence of childhood cancers from 1970 to 1995, blamed on contamination from the Toms River chemical plant, which had operated since 1952. about 0:07:43
- The area was designated an EPA Superfund site in 1983, and an underground plume of toxic chemicals was identified. about 0:08:06
- A discharge pipe was shut down after a sinkhole at the corner of Bay Avenue and Vaughn Avenue showed that it had been leaking. about 0:08:17
- The chemical plant ceased operations in 1996, and childhood cancers fell from 1996 to 2001. about 0:08:27
The reviews read out
5 stars
"A wonderful town on the Jersey shore with nice people, delicious food and many nice beaches; highly recommended."about 0:09:24
4 stars
"A good place to live and a typical Jersey shore town, with lots of tourist traffic, many restaurants, a mall, two movie theatres and almost any business you could want."about 0:10:13
3 stars
"Overpopulated and overpriced, schools only okay, not much going on culturally, the job market competitive, restaurants lacking, though the beaches are nice."about 0:10:41
3 stars
"The reviewer's main complaint is that the town is in the suburbs and they cannot stand being outside a large city."about 0:12:25
Nearest Small Town Murder towns
- Ocean Township, New Jersey14 miles
- Neptune City, New Jersey16 miles
- Ocean Grove, New Jersey18 miles
- Long Branch, New Jersey23 miles
- Fallsington, Pennsylvania36 miles
- Woodbridge Township, New Jersey39 miles
Everything here is as told in the episode, on the date it went out; figures and places may have changed since. Endings are covered: open an episode and use the spoiler switch to read them.