Leonardo

• Official Name — Leonardo, New Jersey • Settlement Type — Census-designated place • Mapsize — 285px • Subdivision Type — Country • Subdivision Name — United States • Subdivision Type1 — State • Subdivision Name1 — New Jersey • Subdivision Type2 — County • Subdivision Name2 — Monmouth • Subdivision Type3 — Township • Subdivision Name3 — Middletown • Named For — Henry and James Leonard • Unit Pref — Imperial • Area Total Km2 — 1.56 • Area Land Km2 — 1.54 • Area Water Km2 — 0.02 • Area Total Sq Mi — 0.60 • Area Land Sq Mi — 0.59 • Area Water Sq Mi — 0.01 • Area Water Percent — 1.38 • Population As Of — 2020 • Population Total — 2549 • Population Density Km2 — 1655.60 • Population Density Sq Mi — 4291.25 • Timezone — Eastern (EST) • Utc Offset — −05:00 • Timezone Dst — Eastern (EDT) • Utc Offset Dst — −04:00 • Elevation M — 5 • Elevation Ft — 16 • Postal Code Type — ZIP Code • Postal Code — 07737 • Area Codes — 732/848 • Blank Name — FIPS code • Blank1 Name — GNIS feature ID • Blank1 Info — 02390059

Leonardo is named for Henry and James Leonard, the first ironmasters of New Jersey. During World War II, the large dock complex of Naval Weapons Station Earle was built to supply ammunition to the forces. Leonardo is known as the site of the only casualties of the US Nike Missile program. On May 22, 1958, an Ajax missile exploded at the Nike missile base in Leonardo, killing six soldiers and four civilians. Since the Project Nike shutdown in 1974, the Leonardo launch base, designated NY-53, has been redeveloped into single-family home sites.

Leonardo is located in northern Monmouth County, on the south shore of Raritan Bay. It is in northern Middletown Township and is bordered to the east by the borough of Atlantic Highlands and to the west by unincorporated Belford. New Jersey Route 36 forms the southern border of the Leonardo CDP; the highway runs east 4 mi to Highlands and west 8 mi to Keyport. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the Leonardo CDP has a total area of 0.600 sqmi, including 0.006 sqmi of water (1.00%).

Leonardo was listed as an unincorporated community in the 1950 U.S. census. The community was not listed in subsequent censuses until the 1990 U.S. census when it appeared as a census designated place.

As of the 2020 census, Leonardo had a population of 2,549. The median age was 43.7 years. 18.7% of residents were under the age of 18 and 16.5% of residents were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 95.5 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 94.7 males age 18 and over. 100.0% of residents lived in urban areas, while 0.0% lived in rural areas. There were 1,000 households in Leonardo, of which 27.6% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 53.8% were married-couple households, 17.5% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 23.8% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 25.8% of all households were made up of individuals and 9.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. There were 1,076 housing units, of which 7.1% were vacant. The homeowner vacancy rate was 2.1% and the rental vacancy rate was 6.3%.

The 2010 United States census counted 2,757 people, 1,001 households, and 742 families in the CDP. The population density was 4636.1 /mi2. There were 1,055 housing units at an average density of 1774.1 /mi2. The racial makeup was 95.47% (2,632) White, 1.02% (28) Black or African American, 0.15% (4) Native American, 1.02% (28) Asian, 0.00% (0) Pacific Islander, 0.91% (25) from other races, and 1.45% (40) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 6.49% (179) of the population. Of the 1,001 households, 31.0% had children under the age of 18; 57.6% were married couples living together; 12.1% had a female householder with no husband present and 25.9% were non-families. Of all households, 20.0% were made up of individuals and 5.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.75 and the average family size was 3.21. 22.8% of the population were under the age of 18, 8.7% from 18 to 24, 25.1% from 25 to 44, 33.0% from 45 to 64, and 10.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40.2 years. For every 100 females, the population had 94.2 males. For every 100 females ages 18 and older there were 95.3 males.

As of the 2000 United States census there were 2,823 people, 987 households, and 753 families living in the CDP. The population density was 1,758.0 /km2. There were 1,017 housing units at an average density of 633.3 /km2. The racial makeup of the CDP was 95.85% White, 0.53% African American, 0.25% Native American, 0.50% Asian, 0.11% Pacific Islander, 0.46% from other races, and 0.89% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 4.85% of the population. There were 987 households, out of which 35.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 61.5% were married couples living together, 10.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 23.7% were non-families. 19.1% of all households were made up of individuals, and 4.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.86 and the average family size was 3.31. In the CDP, the population was spread out, with 25.9% under the age of 18, 7.7% from 18 to 24, 33.3% from 25 to 44, 24.7% from 45 to 64, and 8.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females, there were 100.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 98.8 males. The median income for a household in the CDP was $64,432, and the median income for a family was $66,750. Males had a median income of $49,716 versus $30,400 for females. The per capita income for the CDP was $23,422. About 3.4% of families and 4.1% of the population were below the poverty line, including 5.7% of those under age 18 and 3.8% of those age 65 or over.

The area is served by the Middletown Township Public School District. Leonardo is home to Bayshore Middle School and Leonardo Elementary School. Bayshore Middle School has a population of 623 students and is ranked the 267th middle school out of 745 in the State of New Jersey. Leonardo Elementary school has a population of 285 students. The school is ranked 790th out of 1,360 elementary schools in New Jersey.

New Jersey Transit offers local bus service on the 834 route.

People from Middletown Township, New Jersey People who were born in, residents of, or otherwise closely associated with Leonardo include: • Donald De Lue (1897–1988), sculptor • Billy Devaney (born 1955), former general manager of the St. Louis Rams • Bill Kunkel (1936–1985), Major League Baseball pitcher and umpire • Jeff Kunkel (born 1962) former major-league shortstop Fictional characters associated with Leonardo: • Jay and Silent Bob, characters portrayed by Jason Mewes and Kevin Smith, respectively, in Kevin Smith's View Askewniverse (a fictional universe created and used in most films, comics and television by Kevin Smith) • Randal Graves, a character portrayed by Jeff Anderson, and Dante Hicks, Randal's friend and counterpart, played by Brian O'Halloran. Randal Graves and Dante Hicks, along with Jay and Silent Bob, are the main characters in the View Askewniverse, and have starred in all but three Kevin Smith films.

The community is best known as the site of the Quick Stop convenience store and RST Video store (located at 58 Leonard Avenue, just north of Route 36) that was the main location for the 1994 film Clerks, directed by Kevin Smith, who worked at the store at the time. The same store was also used by Smith in his films Chasing Amy (1997), Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back (2001), Clerks II (2006) and Jay and Silent Bob Reboot (2019), and was part of a deleted scene from his film Mallrats (1995). The location was also used in Kevin Smith's short-lived television show Clerks: The Animated Series (2000), which ran for six episodes on ABC before its abrupt cancellation in mid-2000. The program's character Leonardo Leonardo (voiced by actor Alec Baldwin) was named after the town, and several of the characters resided and/or worked in Leonardo. The video store is now closed and only used for storage.