Asbury Park’s post office opened in 1874, and 37% of its homes were built before 1940
More historic than 82% of U.S. towns · #99 of 468 in New Jersey. What drives it
9 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 48 buildings. Below: 6 old photos and papers, maps from 1943 on, and the census since 1900.
Founding year: the first Asbury Park post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Asbury Park’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Asbury Park is more historic than 82% of U.S. towns, #99 of 468 in New Jersey. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its age pulls it down.
A−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Asbury Park’s overall grade.
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 Asbury Park’s 37.3 sits above most of its state (79% of New Jersey towns have fewer) while its 57 historic buildings outnumber those of 86% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from B to A. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±5.3 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.
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 Asbury Park’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
A seaside community, Asbury Park is located on New Jersey's central coast. Developed in 1871 as a residential resort by New York brush manufacturer James A. Bradley, the city was named for Francis Asbury, the first American bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church in the United States. The founding of Ocean Grove in 1869, a Methodist camp meeting to the south, encouraged the development of Asbury Park and led to its being a "dry town".
Passages that mention Asbury Park, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Monmouth county, New Jersey ..1885 · page 21Read the page →
Read the text
original proprietor of Asbury Park, history by, 864 president of Board of Commissioners of Asbury Park, 1874, 866 first postmaster of Asbury Park, 1874, 867 founder of Asbury Park Journal, 1876, Bradley, Mrs. J. A., president of Asbury Park Library Association, 1884, Bradley, Captain William, company of militia, 1812,
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Monmouth county, New Jersey ..1885 · page 84Read the page →
Read the text
helped establish circulating library. Long Branch, 1865, 769 Green, Lewis C, hotel of, at Neptune village, 853 corporator of Asbury Park, 1874, 865 Green, William, corporator. Baptist Church of Middletown, 1793, 531 Green, William, contributor to fund for school Long Branch. 1812, 767
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
Asbury Park, 1874 to 1999
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
The Asbury Park post office opened in 1874, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Asbury Park rank for history?
Asbury Park is more historic than 82% of U.S. towns, #99 of 468 in New Jersey. 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.
What is on the National Register in Asbury Park?
9 listings: 8 buildings, among them the Asbury Park Convention Hall (listed 1979, the first), and 1 historic district, the Asbury Park Commercial Historic District, with 48 contributing buildings. 57 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Asbury Park?
37% of Asbury Park’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.3 points), against a typical 15% for a New Jersey town; the median home was built in 1960.
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 (6), the National Register of Historic Places (9), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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.
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