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C−History
History · Brick Township

2 of Brick Township’s places are on the National Register

More historic than 25% of U.S. towns · #422 of 468 in New Jersey. What drives it

Its Register listings are the Orient Baptist Church and the Beech Street School. Most of Brick Township was built recently: 3% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1976. Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1888 on, and the census since 1850.

2on the National Register
3%homes built before 1940
2old photos & papers
7famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Brick Township’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

About Brick Township’s history

How historic is Brick Township?

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More historic than 25% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Brick Township’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Brick Township is more historic than 25% of U.S. towns, #422 of 468 in New Jersey. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.

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HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Brick Township’s overall grade.
Founding eraNo founding year we can rely on, so the grade uses the other two–Homes built before 19403.3% of homes (±0.8) · typical NJ town 14.7% · U.S. 8.4%C−National Register2 listings, 0.3 per 10,000 residents · typical NJ town 3.7 · U.S. 2.4C+
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 25%
NewerOlder
New Jersey towns of 2,500+ (468)Ahead of 10%

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 Brick Township’s 0.3 sits below most of its state (25% of New Jersey towns have fewer) while its 2 listings outnumber those of 60% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on two of the three inputs, so a change in either one moves the letter more than it would with three. The pre-1940 share (±0.8 points) is firm at this size.

Founding year: our sources. 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 Brick Township’s past

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

Lost villages10 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Brick Township, and 29 old place names are still on the map.A history waiting to be writtenOnly 2 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Shrank, then grewLost two-thirds of its people between 1890 and 1930, then grew more than tenfold.On the map since 18888 editions of the USGS map, 1888 to 1995. Watch Brick Township change.
★ What stands out · Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

10 other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Metedeconk
1838–1959
Osbornsville
1879–1960
Berryville
1883–1884
Burrsville
1884–1914
Herbertsville
1884–1938
Adainston
1900–1959
Laurelton
1914–1959
Normandy Beach
1929–today
Breton Woods
1937–1960
Shore Acres
1948–1960
18301930today
Hamlets and corners on the map
AdamstonArrowhead VillageBay Harbor EstatesBaywoodBreton WoodsBricktownCamp OsborneCedar BridgeCedar Bridge ManorCedarwood ParkCherry QuayGreenbriarHerbertsvilleLake RivieraLaureltonLaurelton GardensMandalayMantoloking EstatesMantoloking ShoresMetedeconkNormandy BeachOsbornsvilleRiviera BeachShore Acres
Gone or out of use
Adamston County AirportairportMantolokingairportWhismanairport
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Brick Township
First Baptist Church of LaureltonGravelly

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Help out

Start Brick Township’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Date a photo2 archive items have no date. Guess the decade.+2Retake an old viewGENERAL VIEW LOOKING SOUTHWEST - Brick …: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
People over time

Brick Township, census by census

020,00040,00060,00080,00018501900195020004,065 in 1890Low: 1,172

Lost two-thirds of its people between 1890 and 1930, then grew more than tenfold.

18 censuses, 1850–2020.

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

The story

How Brick Township came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Brick Township.

Read it all →

The area that would become Brick Township began as a rural community. In 1833, Joseph W. Brick established the Bergen Iron Works. Brick died in 1847, shortly before the township’s creation.

In 1850, the New Jersey State Legislature created Ocean County from portions of Monmouth and Burlington counties. At the same time, Brick Township was formed from parts of Howell and Dover townships. The new township was named for Joseph W. Brick, the owner of Bergen Iron Works and one of the area’s most prominent citizens at the time of its incorporation.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Brick Township, 1838 to 2000

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1838Post officeThe Metedeconk post office opens
  3. 1857BuiltOrient Baptist Church is built
  4. 1879Post officeThe Osbornsville post office opens
  5. 1883Post officeThe Berryville post office opens
  6. 1884Post officeThe Berryville post office closes
  7. 1888On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  8. 20th century
  9. 1959Post officeThe Metedeconk post office closes
  10. 1960Post officeThe Osbornsville post office closes
  11. 1968Born hereJim Dowd is born here
  12. 1971Born hereBill Wiles is born here
  13. 1986Born hereGarrett Graham is born here
  14. 1993Born hereScott Thomsen is born here
  15. 21st century
  16. 2000CensusPopulation peaks at 76,119
By decade

Brick Township, decade by decade

Date unknown2 to date
GENERAL VIEW LOOKING SOUTHWEST - Brick Plaza, Chambers Bridge Road at State Route 70, Bricktown, Ocean County, NJDate?GENERAL VIEW LOOKING SOUTHWEST - Brick Plaza, Chamber…GENERAL VIEW OF EAST SIDE - Osborn Farmhouse, 610 Herbertsville Road, Herbertsville, Ocean County, NJDate?GENERAL VIEW OF EAST SIDE - Osborn Farmhouse, 610 Her…
Today21 recent
Havens Homestead Museum, Brick Township, NJ, April 20262026Havens Homestead Museum, Brick Township, NJ, April 20…Osbornville Baptist Church, Brick, NJ, July 20252025Osbornville Baptist Church, Brick, NJ, July 2025Brick Township, NJ Municipal Complex, Nov. 20252025Brick Township, NJ Municipal Complex, Nov. 20252025-04-23 11 04 16 View north up Barnegat Bay from Ocean County Route 528 (Mantoloking Bridge) on the border of Mantol…20252025-04-23 11 04 16 View north up Barnegat Bay from O…2025-04-23 11 03 01 View southwest down Barnegat Bay from Ocean County Route 528 (Mantoloking Bridge) on the border of …20252025-04-23 11 03 01 View southwest down Barnegat Bay …2025-04-23 11 02 58 View southwest down Barnegat Bay from Ocean County Route 528 (Mantoloking Bridge) on the border of …20252025-04-23 11 02 58 View southwest down Barnegat Bay …2025-04-23 11 02 56 View southwest down Barnegat Bay from Ocean County Route 528 (Mantoloking Bridge) on the border of …20252025-04-23 11 02 56 View southwest down Barnegat Bay …Pioneer Hose Company, Brick Township, NJ, Dec. 20242024Pioneer Hose Company, Brick Township, NJ, Dec. 2024Gravelly Graveyard site, Brick Township, NJ, Dec. 20242024Gravelly Graveyard site, Brick Township, NJ, Dec. 2024Cedarcroft, Brick Township, NJ, Dec. 20242024Cedarcroft, Brick Township, NJ, Dec. 2024Brick Beach III, NJ beach house, Dec. 20242024Brick Beach III, NJ beach house, Dec. 2024Brick Beach I, NJ, Dec. 20242024Brick Beach I, NJ, Dec. 2024Beaverdam Creek upstream from Beaver Dam Bridge, NJ, Dec. 20242024Beaverdam Creek upstream from Beaver Dam Bridge, NJ, …Beaverdam Creek downstream from Beaver Dam Bridge, NJ, Dec. 20242024Beaverdam Creek downstream from Beaver Dam Bridge, NJ…Bayside Park, Brick Township, NJ, Dec. 20242024Bayside Park, Brick Township, NJ, Dec. 2024Barnegat Bay from Camp Osbourne, Brick, NJ, Dec. 20242024Barnegat Bay from Camp Osbourne, Brick, NJ, Dec. 2024Untitled photo2021Untitled photoNew Jersey National Guard - Flickr - The National Guard (26)2012New Jersey National Guard - Flickr - The National Gua…1933 05 paradise lake bridge220101933 05 paradise lake bridge2Census Bureau map of Brick Township, New Jersey2008Census Bureau map of Brick Township, New JerseyMapBrick twp nj 0292005Brick twp nj 029
On the map

Brick Township on the map, 1888 to 1995

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

Brick Township on the 1888 USGS mapBrick Township on the 1893 USGS mapBrick Township on the 1901 USGS mapBrick Township on the 1947 USGS mapBrick Township on the 1953 USGS mapBrick Township on the 1971 USGS mapBrick Township on the 1989 USGS mapBrick Township on the 1995 USGS map1888Asbury Park 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 Brick Township.

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.

GENERAL VIEW LOOKING SOUTHWEST - Brick Plaza, Chambers Bridge Road at State Route 70, Bricktown, Ocean County, NJ
Retake this viewGENERAL VIEW LOOKING SOUTHWEST - Brick Plaza, Chambers Bridge Road at State Route 70, Bricktown, Ocean County, NJ

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

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

2 historic places in Brick Township

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

places listed
2
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
2
each building in a district counts
first listed
1977
Orient Baptist Church
Orient Baptist Church, built 1857Beech Street School
Buildings
Orient Baptist ChurchBuilt 1857
Beech Street SchoolBuilding

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

Famous people

7 famous people were born in Brick Township

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
J
Jim DowdAmerican ice hockey player · b. 1968
Garrett GrahamAmerican football player · b. 1986
S
Scott ThomsenAmerican soccer player · b. 1993
B
Bill WilesAmerican professional wrestler · b. 1971
J
Joey ZalinskyAmerican soccer player · b. 2003
N
Nick CatoneAmerican martial artist · b. 1981
Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Lakewood Township2 historic placesCWall Township5 historic placesBAllenwoodIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townPoint PleasantIts storyC+Toms River Township11 historic placesB+Leisure Village EastIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townMantolokingIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townHowell TownshipIts storyCRamtownIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townDover Beaches NorthIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Brick Township’s history

How does Brick Township rank for history?

Brick Township is more historic than 25% of U.S. towns, #422 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 Brick Township?

Two places: the Orient Baptist Church (listed 1977) and the Beech Street School (1998).

How old are the homes in Brick Township?

3% of Brick Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 15% for a New Jersey town; the median home was built in 1976.

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).

From Wikimedia Commons (23), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (2), 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.