Mantoloking is a borough in Ocean County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the borough had a total population of 296, reflecting a decline of 127 (-30.0%) from the 423 counted in the 2000 Census, which had in turn increased by 89 (+26.6%) from the 334 counted in the 1990 Census. The borough has an estimated summer population of approximately 5,000.

As of the 2000 Census, Mantoloking was the wealthiest community in the state of New Jersey with a per capita money income of $114,017 as of 1999, an increase of 29.8% from the $87,830 recorded in 1989. In the Forbes magazine 2012 rankings of “America’s Most Expensive ZIP Codes”, the borough was ranked 139th, with a median price of $1,403,349.

Mantoloking was incorporated as a borough by an act of the New Jersey Legislature on April 10, 1911, from portions of Brick Township. The name Mantoloking is derived from the Unami language of the Lenni Lenape Native Americans who once inhabited New Jersey. Various meanings have been attributed to the community’s name including “frog ground” or “sand place”.

The borough is a Jersey Shore community situated on the Barnegat Peninsula, also known as Barnegat Bay Island, a long, narrow barrier island that separates Barnegat Bay from the Atlantic Ocean. The town is linked to the New Jersey-mainland via the Mantoloking Bridge, linking the town with Brick Township across the Barnegat Bay. Mantoloking is home to the Olympic-champion producing Mantoloking Yacht Club. Some old “summer cottages” in the borough were designed by architect Stanford White of McKim, Mead & White. Together with Bay Head to the north, Mantoloking is considered part of the Jersey Shore’s “Gold Coast”. It is a dry town where alcohol cannot be sold.

During Hurricane Sandy in 2012, storm surge damaged about 90% of the properties in Mantoloking with the largest damage occurring when a breach was formed between the Barnegat Bay and the Atlantic Ocean in the vicinity of Herbert Street (CR 528).

When Hurricane Sandy made landfall in New Jersey on October 29, 2012, the effects of Hurricane Sandy in New Jersey were severe, and Mantoloking was especially hard hit, with more than 50 homes requiring demolition, accounting for almost 10% of the housing units in the borough as of the 2010 Census. Verizon Communications announced in July 2013 that it won’t rebuild its copper-wire based plain old telephone service to Mantoloking residents, instead providing them with its Voice Link wireless service, an effort that brought protests from the AARP. Residents have complained that many calls don’t go through when dialed, that fax transmissions cannot be made, that 911 calls may be affected by network bottlenecks and that power outages would result in the loss of service.

As of the 2010 United States Census, there were 296 people, 162 households, and 103 families residing in the borough. The population density was 767.9 per square mile (296.5/km²). There were 535 housing units at an average density of 1,387.9 per square mile (535.9/km²). The racial makeup of the borough was 94.93% (281) White, 1.69% (5) Black or African American, 0.34% (1) Native American, 0.34% (1) Asian, 0.00% (0) Pacific Islander, 2.36% (7) from other races, and 0.34% (1) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2.36% (7) of the population.

Source: Wikipedia