Atlantic Highlands’ post office opened in 1882, and 27% of its homes were built before 1940
More historic than 64% of U.S. towns · #225 of 468 in New Jersey. What drives it
Its Register listings are the ALEXANDER HAMILTON (steamship) and the Towers, The. Below: 6 old photos and papers, maps from 1888 on, and the census since 1890.
Founding year: the first Atlantic Highlands post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1887.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Atlantic Highlands’ History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Atlantic Highlands is more historic than 64% of U.S. towns, #225 of 468 in New Jersey. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its age pulls it down.
B
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Atlantic Highlands’ 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 Atlantic Highlands’ 4.5 sits near the middle of its state (55% of New Jersey towns have fewer) while its 2 listings outnumber those of 60% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C+ to A−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±7.0 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date; Wikidata’s 1887 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 Atlantic Highlands’ past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Atlantic Highlands. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1888Sandy Hook 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 Atlantic Highlands.
The town overlooks where the Atlantic Ocean and Raritan Bay meet at Sandy Hook, and its hills mark the highest point on the eastern seaboard of the U.S. south of Maine.
For hundreds of years, the original inhabitants were the Lenape, who lived in and along the cliffs and creeks of Atlantic Highlands. The Lenape traded with the Europeans and sold a group of English settlers an area that covered the entire peninsula that was named Portland Poynt. The area was laid out with 10 lots in 1667, making them the first European residents of present-day Atlantic Highlands.
Passages that mention Atlantic Highlands, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Monmouth county, New Jersey ..1885 · page 191Read the page →
Read the text
between Atlantic Highlands and Point Comfort, known after 1854 as Port Monmouth, home of Leonard family, so called in 1670; later part of Atlantic Highlands, schoolhouse, 1807, Shockalear, Albertus. private. Continental Army, 1776, Shole (Shoal) Harbour, mentioned in 1708 road records.
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
Atlantic Highlands, 1882 to 1992
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 Atlantic Highlands post office opened in 1882, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1887.
How does Atlantic Highlands rank for history?
Atlantic Highlands is more historic than 64% of U.S. towns, #225 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 Atlantic Highlands?
Two places: the ALEXANDER HAMILTON (steamship) (listed 1977) and the Towers, The (2012).
How old are the homes in Atlantic Highlands?
27% of Atlantic Highlands’ homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±7.0 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 (12), the National Register of Historic Places (2), 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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