Berkeley Township dates to 1875, and 2 of its places are on the National Register
More historic than 34% of U.S. towns · #386 of 468 in New Jersey. What drives it
Most of Berkeley Township was built recently: 3% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1980. 2 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 11 buildings. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1888 on, and the census since 1880.
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1842.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Berkeley Township’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Berkeley Township is more historic than 34% of U.S. towns, #386 of 468 in New Jersey. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
C
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Berkeley 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 Berkeley Township’s 2.7 sits near the middle of its state (44% of New Jersey towns have fewer) while its 12 historic buildings outnumber those of 77% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C− to C+. The pre-1940 share (±1.3 points) is firm at this size. Two sources give 1875.
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 Berkeley Township’s 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 Berkeley Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1888Barnegat 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 Berkeley Township.
Army officer Lt. Edward Farrow began buying up woodland in the 1880s with the idea of building a retirement community for former Army and Navy officers. Farrow built a railroad station, shops and even a resort hotel called The Pines with the idea of attracting people. But only 11 people ever built houses in what Farrow called "Barnegat Park," and eventually he went bankrupt.
In the 1920s, Benjamin W. Sangor purchased the area, intending to create a resort town catering to wealthy urban vacationers. Between 1928 and 1929, about 8,000 lots were sold in Pinewald, a "new-type, residential, recreational city-of-the sea-and-pines." It was to contain a golf course, recreation facilities, and estate homes.
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 1875, according to Wikidata. Berkeley Township’s post office opened in 1842, and the census of 1880 counted 683 people here.
How does Berkeley Township rank for history?
Berkeley Township is more historic than 34% of U.S. towns, #386 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 Berkeley Township?
Two places: the Double Trouble Historic District (listed 1978) and the Manitou Park School House (2005).
How old are the homes in Berkeley Township?
3% of Berkeley Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.3 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 (12), the National Register of Historic Places (2), Wikipedia, 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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