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History · Raritan

Raritan’s post office opened in 1856, and 56% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1918 on and the census since 1860.

1856first post office
0on the National Register
56%homes built before 1940
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Photo: Mitchazenia · CC BY-SA 4.0
Quick answers

How Raritan began

When was Raritan founded?

1856

The Raritan post office opened in 1856, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 42 in 18602020 census: 102170 years
Founding year: the first Raritan post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Raritan’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Raritan are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of Raritan’s homes were built before 1938.Boom and bustPeaked at 206 in 1970; 102 people lived here in 2020.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Raritan’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Raritan’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
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The story

How Raritan came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Raritan.

Read it all →

Raritan was founded by settlers of Dutch Reformed Church who originated from Raritan, New Jersey.

"In the southeast corner of Henderson county, the village of Raritan began in 1856 when a group of immigrants of the Dutch Reformed denomination from New Jersey came to what was then called Bedford Precinct. Since many of the settlers came from New Jersey towns located along the Raritan River, it was only natural for them to name their new community after the land they left behind."

ChaptersFounding of the village

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

People over time

Raritan, census by census

0100200190019502000Peak: 206

Peaked at 206 in 1970; 102 people lived here in 2020.

9 censuses, 1860–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Raritan’s Wikipedia page.

Timeline

Raritan, 1856 to 1970

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1856Post officeThe Raritan post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1918On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  5. 1970CensusPopulation peaks at 206
By decade

No old photos in the archives yet

Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.

Be the first to add onePhotograph a print flat, in daylight, no flash.
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On the map

Raritan on the map, 1918 to 1974

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Raritan. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Raritan on the 1918 USGS mapRaritan on the 1974 USGS map1918La Harpe sheet · 1:62,500

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Raritan.

Famous people

Famous people close to Raritan

Nobody well known was born in Raritan itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
Emma Smith DeVoeAmerican suffragette · b. 1848
H
Helen NielsenAmerican author and script writer · b. 1918
Hi WestAmerican baseball player · b. 1884
W
Worth RyderAmerican artist · b. 1884
Larry BurrightAmerican baseball player · b. 1937
C
Charles FletcherAmerican composer · b. 1884

Questions about Raritan’s history

What year was Raritan founded?

The Raritan post office opened in 1856, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.