In 1664, the Duke of York (later James II & VII) granted a patent to Sir George Carteret to develop the area.

In 1685, Scottish Presbyterians from Scotland, along with English Baptists and Quakers from New England fleeing religious persecution at home, became the first to settle within the area.

[33] The name of the township comes from the word freehold, an English legal term describing fee simple property ownership.

Reid's offer to sell the property to the Board of Chosen Freeholders at a heavily discounted price may have been the deciding factor in choosing Freehold—rather than Middletown or Shrewsbury—as the site of the county seat.

[36] Freehold was officially designated as the seat of the Monmouth County government, and a court house was commissioned to be built on the land purchased from John Reid.

A number of homes and commercial businesses also sprang up in the village, including a blacksmith, a general store, a bank, a hotel, and saloon.

[39] In modern Freehold, many important streets bear the name of early colonial families, including Barkalow, Applegate, Rhea, Throckmorton, and Schanck.

Nathanael Greene, Alexander Hamilton, "Mad" Anthony Wayne, the Marquis de Lafayette and Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben also fought at the Battle of Monmouth for the Continental Army.

[47] Colonel Tye, was an escaped slave formerly named Titus, and the leader of a prominent loyalist guerrilla force, which conducted several raids in and around Freehold.

In one famous incident Joshua Huddy was captured and hung by British Loyalists under the direction of Richard Lippincott and Colonel Tye.

[49] At the end of the war, the community was deeply divided and nearly 120 loyalist families left Freehold, fearing retribution from their neighbors.

[55] At the beginning of the 20th century, Freehold was an increasingly divided community regarding the issue of local tax dollars used as funding for public works and infrastructure projects.

[57] After contentious public debate, a referendum was held to on the future of Freehold, and voters overwhelmingly decided to split the town into two separate municipalities.

[58] Freehold Township, the farming communities that surrounded the courthouse, set up a new town hall complex on Schanck Road.

Brockway Glass Company built their initial facility off Center Street in 1955, which was expanded in subsequent decades before it ceased operations in 1991.

[67] As the township grew, Route 33, which ran through the heart of Freehold, became increasingly congested, in which studies suggested the construction of a new freeway.

[72][73] In May 2020, the township adopted an ordinance to help in simplifying the process for restaurant owners to obtain permits for seasonal outdoor dining.

[86] Due to the township's location in New Jersey, it is the home of numerous headwaters for various important rivers, brooks, and streams that flow throughout the state.

The township is also closely tied to the Jersey Shore region, being located about 16 miles (26 km) west of Asbury Park.

[133] iPlay America is an indoor family entertainment and event center that opened in November 2011, offering rides, arcade and carnival games, along with Topgolf, music venues, laser tag, shops, bars, and restaurants.

Freehold Township and Borough began to grow in commercial and industrial manufacturing of goods during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

[144] The park features a vast landscape of orchards, fields, woods, and wetlands, with miles of trails for hiking and horseback riding.

The park features over 9 miles (14 km) of trails, an archery range, playgrounds, soccer fields, and various picnic grounds.

The park also has seasonal campgrounds, complete with laundry facilities, hot-water bathrooms, and RV electric & water hook-ups.

The commission's responsibilities include the formulating of plans for the development, improvement, maintenance and use of township-owned public park and playground lands.

[152] The park is popular for freshwater fishing, paddle boating, and canoeing on the lake, along with its picturesque nature trails, playgrounds, outdoor calisthenics, and open fields.

The southernmost segment of the Henry Hudson Trail starts in Freehold Borough and runs northeast through the township, to the Raritan Bayshore region.

[3][158][159][160][161] In January 2020, the Township Committee appointed Alan C. Walker to fill the seat expiring in December 2020 that had become vacant following the resignation of David M.

The district was added to the National Register of Historic Places on October 15, 1966, for its significance in military history and for the remaining settlement of colonial architecture and agriculture akin to the fated events of the Battle of Monmouth.

Serving parts of Monmouth, Ocean, Middlesex, and Mercer counties in central New Jersey,[240] the hospital is a partner of Atlantic Health System and is affiliated with Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School.