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More historic than 12% of U.S. towns · #460 of 468 in New Jersey. What drives it
Most of Beachwood was built recently: 8% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1976. Below: maps from 1888 on and the census since 1920.
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 Beachwood began
When was Beachwood founded?
1917
Beachwood dates its founding to 1917 (Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history agree). The census first counted it in 1920.
First census: 20 in 19202020 census: 10,859109 years
How historic is Beachwood?
D
More historic than 12% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: Wikidata; Wikipedia’s history section gives the same year. First post office: 1918.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Beachwood’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Beachwood is more historic than 12% of U.S. towns, #460 of 468 in New Jersey. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its age pulls it down.
D
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Beachwood’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 Beachwood’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 C−. The pre-1940 share (±2.3 points) is firm at this size. Two sources give 1917.
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 Beachwood’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
What is now the borough of Beachwood dates its settlement to a 1914 plan backed by the publishers of the New-York Tribune, under which 1,763 acres (7.13 km2) of Berkeley Township were purchased and sectioned off as a summer colony called "Beachwood". Buyers paid $19.60 for a plot of land measuring 20 by 100 feet (6.1 m × 30.5 m) and received a six-month subscription to The Tribune as a bonus. The first residents of the community moved in during April 1915, and work on a Club House, the Pier, the Bath House, the Lodge, a dining hall and a railroad station were planned to be completed by the end of May. Other offerings within the development included tennis courts, and facilities along the beach and on the river for canoeing, sailing and swimming. The first "cottages" in the community were constructed during that first summer season.
In 1917, according to Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history of the town. Beachwood’s post office opened in 1918, and the census of 1920 counted 20 people here.
How does Beachwood rank for history?
Beachwood is more historic than 12% of U.S. towns, #460 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.
How old are the homes in Beachwood?
8% of Beachwood’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.3 points), against a typical 15% for a New Jersey town; the median home was built in 1976.
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), 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) 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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