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CHistory
History · Alpha

Alpha’s post office opened in 1901, and 34% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 32% of U.S. towns. What drives it

Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1890 on, and the census since 1920.

1901first post office
0on the National Register
34%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: Mr. Matté (if there is an issue with this image, contact me using this image's Commons talk page, my Commons user talk page, or my English Wikipedia user talk page; I'll know about it a lot faster) · CC BY-SA 4.0
Quick answers

How Alpha began

When was Alpha founded?

1901

The Alpha post office opened in 1901, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1911.

First census: 2,140 in 19202020 census: 2,328125 years

How historic is Alpha?

C

More historic than 32% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Alpha post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1911.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Alpha’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Alpha is more historic than 32% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its age pulls it down.

C
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Alpha’s overall grade.
Founding era1901, from the first post office: founded 1900–1944, an older era than 9% of U.S. townsDHomes built before 194034.1% of homes (±7.5) · typical NJ town 14.7% · U.S. 8.4%ANational RegisterNo listings counted · typical NJ town 3.7 per 10,000 · U.S. 2.4C−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 32%
NewerOlder

New Jersey towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical New Jersey town has 3.7 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Alpha’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (12% of New Jersey towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from D− to B. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±7.5 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date; Wikidata’s 1911 falls in the same era, so the grade doesn’t depend on which one is used.

Founding year: the first post office (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →

What stands out about Alpha’s past

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

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 1 old photo is in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 18905 editions of the USGS map, 1890 to 1994. Watch Alpha change.Old housesHalf of Alpha’s homes were built before 1956.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Alpha’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Date a photo1 archive item has no date. Guess the decade.+2Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
On the map

Alpha on the map, 1890 to 1994

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

Alpha on the 1890 USGS mapAlpha on the 1932 USGS mapAlpha on the 1943 USGS mapAlpha on the 1953 USGS mapAlpha on the 1994 USGS map1890Easton 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 Alpha.

The story

How Alpha came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Alpha.

Read it all →

Formally known as Vulcanite, Alpha was incorporated on June 26, 1911, but its history can be traced back to a much earlier date. At the time of the Great Blizzard of 1888, there were only seven houses in what is now the corporate limits of Alpha. The exact date on which the first house in Alpha is uncertain. One of the first homes in the community was a two-room log cabin constructed by the Pursel family beside an old Indian Trail on the former property of the Vulcanite Portland Cement Company, now New Brunswick Avenue.

Less than two years after incorporating, the community obtained a continuation of the streetcar line from Phillipsburg and electric street lights were installed.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

From the old history books

What they wrote about Alpha in 1929

Passages that mention Alpha, cut from the printed page as they were published.

Alpha is the newest and the most recently incorporated town in the county. It has a large foreign population, mostly Hungarian. Carl Veit was the first mayor of Alpha, and he still occupies that office, and much of the progress of the town is due to his energetic and tireless efforts.
History and directory of Warren County, New Jersey1929 · page 26Read the page →
Read the text

Alpha is the newest and the most recently incorporated town in the county. It has a large foreign population, mostly Hungarian. Carl Veit was the first mayor of Alpha, and he still occupies that office, and much of the progress of the town is due to his energetic and tireless efforts.

Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.

Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

Timeline

Alpha, 1890 to 1960

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1890On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  3. 20th century
  4. 1901Post officeThe Alpha post office opens
  5. 1960Post officeThe Alpha post office closes
By decade

Alpha, decade by decade

Date unknown1 to date
Census Bureau map ofDate?Census Bureau map ofMap
Today7 recent
St. Mary's Church, Alpha, NJ, Nov. 20242024St. Mary's Church, Alpha, NJ, Nov. 2024Peter and Paul Cemetery, Alpha, NJ, Nov. 20242024Peter and Paul Cemetery, Alpha, NJ, Nov. 2024John Dolak Field, Alpha, NJ, Nov. 20242024John Dolak Field, Alpha, NJ, Nov. 2024Alpha, NJ borough hall, Nov. 20242024Alpha, NJ borough hall, Nov. 2024Alpha, NJ Volunteer Fire Company, Nov. 20242024Alpha, NJ Volunteer Fire Company, Nov. 2024Alpha Mennonite Church, NJ, Nov. 20242024Alpha Mennonite Church, NJ, Nov. 2024Alpha nj2005Alpha nj
People over time

Alpha, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0002,5003,000192019401960198020002020Peak: 2,829

Between 2,117 and 2,829 people in every census since 1920.

11 censuses, 1920–2020.

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

Places that used to be

Lost post offices and burying grounds

Alpha had its own post office from 1901 to 1960.

Alpha
1901–1960
19001960today
1cemetery inside Alpha
Peter and Paul

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Upper PohatcongIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Alpha’s history

What year was Alpha founded?

The Alpha post office opened in 1901, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1911.

How does Alpha rank for history?

Alpha is more historic than 32% of U.S. towns. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.

How old are the homes in Alpha?

34% of Alpha’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±7.5 points), against a typical 15% for a New Jersey town; the median home was built in 1956.

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).

From Wikimedia Commons (8), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.