Roosevelt is a borough in Monmouth County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the borough’s population was 882, reflecting a decline of 51 (-5.5%) from the 933 counted in the 2000 Census, which had in turn increased by 49 (+5.5%) from the 884 counted in the 1990 Census.

The borough was established as Jersey Homesteads by an act of the New Jersey Legislature on May 29, 1937, from portions of Millstone Township. The name was changed to Roosevelt as of November 9, 1945, based on the results of a referendum held three days earlier, in honor of Franklin D. Roosevelt, who had died on April 12, 1945.

Roosevelt was originally called Jersey Homesteads, and was created during the Great Depression as part of PresidentRoosevelt’s New Deal, its main purpose being to resettle Jewish garment workers. The town was conceived as an integrated cooperative project, with farming, manufacturing, and retail all on a cooperative basis. The project fell under the discretion of the Resettlement Administration, but was conceived and largely planned out by Benjamin Brown.

Farmland in Central Jersey was purchased by Jersey Homesteads, Inc., a corporation owned by the federal government but under control of a board of directors selected by Brown. Construction started around 1936. Soon after there were 200 homes and various public facilities in place. The economy of the town consisted of a garment factory and a farm. Objectives of the community were to help residents escape poverty, to show that cooperative management can work, and as an experiment in government intervention.

Roosevelt is a historic landmark and is the subject of the 1983 documentary, Roosevelt, New Jersey: Visions of Utopia. The Jersey Homesteads Historic District was added to the New Jersey Register of Historic Places and to the National Register of Historic Places in 1983, including “all that area within the corporate boundaries of the Borough of Roosevelt”.

As of the 2010 United States Census, there were 882 people, 314 households, and 241.2 families residing in the borough. The population density was 461.8 per square mile (178.3/km²). There were 327 housing units at an average density of 171.2 per square mile (66.1/km²). The racial makeup of the borough was 92.52% (816) White, 0.91% (8) Black or African American, 0.00% (0) Native American, 3.17% (28) Asian, 0.00% (0) Pacific Islander, 1.93% (17) from other races, and 1.47% (13) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 5.90% (52) of the population.

Source: Wikipedia