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First Presbyterian Church, Branchville, NJ - 2024Photo: Zeete · CC BY-SA 4.0
–Not graded
History · Branchville

Branchville’s post office opened in 1824, and 49% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: 3 old photos and papers, maps from 1920 on, and the census since 1900.

1824first post office
0on the National Register
49%homes built before 1940
3old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Branchville’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Branchville began

When was Branchville founded?

1824

The Branchville post office opened in 1824, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1898.

First census: 526 in 19002020 census: 791202 years
Founding year: the first Branchville post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1898.The full story ↓

What stands out about Branchville’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 3 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of Branchville’s homes were built before 1948.Deep rootsA post office since 1824: 202 years of Branchville.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Branchville’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Branchville’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
2 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewLake Ocquittunk, Stokes State Forest, n…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story

How Branchville came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Branchville.

Read it all →

Branchville was established by settlers from Connecticut in the 18th century. It grew quickly and in the 1820s the town was divided into building lots. By the year 1844, it was a well-established community with 32 dwellings, mills, blacksmiths, an academy, a church and a variety of other factories and businesses.

The addition of two water-powered mills and a dam in 1855 furthered the community's prosperity. Energy would later be harnessed from this dam and a second one that was built to supply Branchville with electricity and its own power company.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Branchville, 1824 to 1943

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1824Post officeThe Branchville post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1900In the archiveLake Ocquittunk, Stokes State Forest, near Branchville, N.J
  5. 1910In the archiveRegisterd Holsteins, Brookdale Farm
  6. 1943On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Branchville, decade by decade

2 decades in the archive, from the 1900s to the 1910s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1900s–1910s3 items
Lake Ocquittunk, Stokes State Forest, near Branchville, N.J1900Lake Ocquittunk, Stokes State Forest, near Branchvill…Registerd Holsteins, Brookdale Farm1910Registerd Holsteins, Brookdale FarmUntitled photo1917Untitled photo
1920s–1990snothing yet
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.
Add from your album
Today9 recent
Branchville, New Jersey2011Branchville, New JerseyBranchville, New Jersey2011Branchville, New JerseyBranchville, New Jersey2011Branchville, New JerseyBranchville, New Jersey2011Branchville, New JerseyBranchville, New Jersey2011Branchville, New JerseyBranchville, New Jersey2011Branchville, New JerseyBranchville, New Jersey (2011)2011Branchville, New Jersey (2011)Census Bureau map of2009Census Bureau map ofMapBranchville nj2005Branchville nj
On the map

Branchville on the map, 1943 to 1971

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Branchville. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Branchville on the 1943 USGS mapBranchville on the 1954 USGS mapBranchville on the 1971 USGS map1943Culvers Gap sheet · 1:31,680

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Branchville.

Every building

Branchville, building by building, 1920

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 sheet.

Branchville fire insurance map, 1920, sheet 11920Sheet 1 of 2
BrickWoodStone

Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Lake Ocquittunk, Stokes State Forest, near Branchville, N.J
Retake this viewLake Ocquittunk, Stokes State Forest, near Branchville, N.J, 1900

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Branchville’s page.

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Branchville, census by census

02004006008001,0001900192019401960198020002020Peak: 963

Between 526 and 963 people in every census since 1900.

13 censuses, 1900–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Branchville’s Wikipedia page.

Questions about Branchville’s history

What year was Branchville founded?

The Branchville post office opened in 1824, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1898.

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

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). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (10), the Library of Congress (2), Wikipedia, 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.