Founding year: Wikidata; Wikipedia’s history section gives the same year. First post office: 1850.
History grade
What drives Bass River Township’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Bass River Township is more historic than 37% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
C+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Bass River Township’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 Bass River Township’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 (±5.9 points). Two sources give 1864.
Founding year: Wikidata (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 Bass River Township’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Lost a third of its people between 1880 and 1940, then more than doubled.
16 censuses, 1870–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Bass River Township’s Wikipedia page.
On the map
Bass River Township on the map, 1888 to 1997
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Bass River Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1888Little Egg Harbor 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 Bass River Township.
Places that used to be
Lost post offices, old corners and burying grounds
Another post office, Harrisville, opened and closed inside today’s town.
New Gretna
1850–today
Harrisville
1856–1862
18501940today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Bass RiverCharcoal LandingHarrisvilleLeektownMarthaMerrygoldMunion FieldNew GretnaSim Place
3cemeteries and burying grounds inside Bass River Township
Adams - Leek - McKeenHillsideMiller
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
The story so far
Bass River Township, in brief
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Bass River Township yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Bass River Township is a township at the southeastern tip of Burlington County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. The township bears a shoreline fronting both the Bass River and the Great Bay. As of the 2020 United States census, the township's population was 1,355, a decrease of 88 (−6.1%) from the 2010 census count of 1,443, which in turn had reflected a decline of 67 (−4.4%) from the 1,510 counted in the 2000 census. The township and all of Burlington County is a part of the Philadelphia metropolitan area. Bass River is traversed by the Garden State Parkway. Bass River was incorporated as a township by an act of the New Jersey Legislature on March 30, 1864, from portions of Little Egg Har…
Bass River Township was established in 1864. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 1,443 to 1,355 (-6%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Timeline
Bass River Township, 1850 to 1990
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.
In 1864, according to Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history of the town. Bass River Township’s post office opened in 1850, and the census of 1870 counted 807 people here.
How does Bass River Township rank for history?
Bass River Township is more historic than 37% 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 Bass River Township?
21% of Bass River Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.9 points), against a typical 15% for a New Jersey town; the median home was built in 1975.
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), 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.
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