3 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 226 buildings. Below: 12 old photos and papers, maps from 1888 on, and the census since 1900.
Founding year: the first Beach Haven post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1890.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Beach Haven’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Beach Haven is more historic than 69% of U.S. towns. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.
B+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Beach Haven’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 Beach Haven’s 2,161 sits above most of its state (99% of New Jersey towns have fewer) while its 228 historic buildings outnumber those of 94% 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 (±2.7 points) is firm at this size. The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date; Wikidata’s 1890 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 Beach Haven’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Beach Haven, known as the "Queen City," is a late 19th-century beachfront resort originally established in 1873 to house wealthy summer residents from Philadelphia. Although some of the major structures, including several hotels and a boardwalk, were lost to storms in the 1940s including the Great Atlantic Hurricane of 1944, a large portion of the town retains its Victorian and Edwardian character. The Beach Haven Historic District listed in the New Jersey and the National Register of Historic Places in the early 1980s, encompasses the most intact buildings at the core of the resort.
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.
Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.
The Beach Haven post office opened in 1874, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1890.
How does Beach Haven rank for history?
Beach Haven is more historic than 69% 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.
What is on the National Register in Beach Haven?
Three places: the Beach Haven Historic District (listed 1983), the Converse Cottage (1983) and the Dr. Edward H. Williams House (1983).
How old are the homes in Beach Haven?
11% of Beach Haven’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.7 points), against a typical 15% for a New Jersey town; the median home was built in 1980.
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 (9), the Library of Congress (3), the National Register of Historic Places (3), 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 Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
1898
1905
1905
1908
1908
1935
1935