Maurice River Township, bounded by its namesake to the west and gently lapped by the Delaware bay to its south, is truly unique. Of its 94.7 square miles, 66 are within New jersey's Pinelands Protection Area, home to many threatened and endangered Pine Barrens plants and animals. Its four Wild and Scenic rivers - the Maurice, the Menantico, the Manumuskin, and the Muskee Creek - boast outstanding beauty and unparalleled recreational opportunities.

Long ago, aboriginal hunters and gatherers lived by our rivers and creeks. A four to six thousand year old village site, discovered on the Maurice near Port Elizabeth, is part of our rich archaeological heritage. The Maurice River (pronounced Morris) took its present name from the Prince Maurice, a Dutch ship which was set ablaze and sunk by Indians below Mauricetown. Settled by Swedes in the early 1700's, Maurice River Township quickly developed grist and sawmills along the tributaries, as well as bog iron furnaces and forges. Riverside farms were created by diking the tidal wetlands with high earthen embankments. In the 19^th century, glass making and shipbuilding became major industries, along with coastal trading and oystering.

Dorchester and Leesburg were developed in the late 1700's, with shipbuilding as their principal industry. Port Elizabeth was established in 1785 by Elizabeth Bodly. A flourishing commercial center, it was designated the port of delivery for its region by an act of Congress in 1789, and remained the hub of the West Indies trade until Philadelphia and New York surpassed it in the early 19^th century. In 1830 Maurice River Township had the largest population of the county's eight municipalities, by 1865 its hayday was over.

Currently, Maurice River Township's major industries are resource extraction and water-based activities. Marinas dot the shoreline of the Maurice from Spring Garden down to Matt's Landing. Commercial and sports fishermen together with recreational boaters share the waters of the rivers and bay, and a shipyard carries on the local boat-building tradition.

In addition, Maurice River Township's unspoiled woods, meadows, creeks and marshes offer outstanding opportunities for passive recreation such as hiking, camping, canoeing, art, photography, and birding. The Delaware bay towns of Moore's Beach, Thompson's Beach and East Point are excellent sites to view the globally significant shore bird migration in the spring. Over 1.5 million birds, some arriving non-stop from South America, congregate to feast on the annual horseshoe crab egg banquet laid out on the sandy beaches of the Bay. In addition, the Maurice River hosts large numbers of bald eagles, in the winter as many as 16 individuals have been counted in one day. According to Birding Cumberland, the second edition of the Birding Guide to Cumberland County, many of the area's richest habitats occur in Maurice River Township, easily accessible by car.