Tuckerton is a borough in Ocean County, New Jersey, on the Jersey Shore, situated between the Pine Barrens and the waters of Little Egg Harbor near the Barnegat Bay region. With a population of about 3,600, it is a small, historically rich community whose identity is tied to the sea and the surrounding Pinelands. The borough was settled in 1699 by Quakers and originally known as Clamtown or Fishtown, reflecting the shellfishing economy of its earliest days. It was renamed Tuckerton in 1789 for Ebenezer Tucker, a Revolutionary War veteran and privateer. Tuckerton thrived as a seaport during the 18th and early 19th centuries, its wharves and shipyards serving the bay trade, but the opening of the Erie Canal in 1825 drew commerce away, and the community gradually declined before reinventing itself around tourism after the Civil War. The borough's maritime character endures today in its creek, its waterfront, and its festivals. Today Tuckerton is best known as the home of the Tuckerton Seaport and Baymen's Museum, a 40-acre maritime village along Tuckerton Creek with 17 historic and recreated buildings, a boardwalk, a wetlands nature trail, a decoy gallery, and a recreated Tucker's Island Lighthouse. The borough's elementary students attend the Tuckerton School District, while secondary students go to the Pinelands Regional School District, which also serves Little Egg Harbor, Eagleswood, and Bass River Township. Located along U.S. Route 9 and near a Garden State Parkway interchange, Tuckerton offers convenient access to the wider Shore and to the forests and trails of the Pine Barrens. For homebuyers, it provides a quiet, bay-oriented Shore community with deep history, natural surroundings, and easy reach of Long Beach Island's ocean beaches.