Biohazard and Crime Scene Remediation in Williamstown, NJ

Williamstown is an unincorporated community and census-designated place located within Monroe Township in Gloucester County, not an incorporated municipality of its own.

The community was settled in 1737 as Squankum, a Lenni-Lenape name meaning "place where evil spirits dwell," generally thought to refer to the swarms of mosquitoes bred by the area's low-lying swamps.

Richard Penn sold the land that became Williamstown to his grandson John Williams, who divided and resold it in lots to settlers, and the community was eventually renamed in Williams's honor.

The name was changed to Williamstown in 1842, when the community's first post office was established, because postal regulations prohibited two towns from sharing a name and an older Squankum existed about 60 miles to the northeast.

Monroe Township was incorporated in March 1859, with Williamstown serving as the meeting place where residents voted and held town discussions.

Williamstown's first school was built in 1750 and operated on a pay-as-you-go, largely church-run basis until the 1850s, and the community built its first high school in 1958.

The population remained small until the glass industry sprang up in the early 1830s, beginning with the Free Will Glass Manufacturing company, and the industry thrived until the early 1900s.

The John Sharp Canning Company, a product of Williamstown's boom years, still operates today under the Blue Ribbon name.

The 2020 census counted 15,082 residents in Williamstown living in 5,625 households, down slightly from 15,567 residents in 2010.

The census-designated place covers 7.42 square miles and has a humid subtropical climate.