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BurlingtonNJ HighStreet 02Photo: User:Magicpiano · CC BY-SA 4.0
AHistory
History · Burlington Township

Burlington Township dates to 1677, and 4 of its places are on the National Register

More historic than 87% of U.S. towns · #80 of 468 in New Jersey. What drives it

Most of Burlington Township was built recently: 9% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1991. 4 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 58 buildings. Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1947 on, and the census since 1850.

1677founded
4on the National Register
9%homes built before 1940
2old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Burlington Township’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Burlington Township began

When was Burlington Township founded?

1677

Burlington Township dates its founding to 1677 (Wikipedia’s history). The census first counted it in 1850.

First census: 4,536 in 18502020 census: 23,983349 years

How historic is Burlington Township?

A

More historic than 87% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: Wikipedia. First post office: 1888.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Burlington Township’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Burlington Township is more historic than 87% of U.S. towns, #80 of 468 in New Jersey. Its age holds the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.

A
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Burlington Township’s overall grade.
Founding era1677, from Wikipedia: founded before 1776, an older era than 96% of U.S. townsA+Homes built before 19409.2% of homes (±3.1) · typical NJ town 14.7% · U.S. 8.4%C+National Register4 listings, 66 historic buildings, 27.4 per 10,000 residents · typical NJ town 3.7 · U.S. 2.4A−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 87%
NewerOlder
New Jersey towns of 2,500+ (468)Ahead of 83%

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 Burlington Township’s 27.4 sits above most of its state (77% of New Jersey towns have fewer) while its 66 historic buildings outnumber those of 87% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from B+ to A+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±3.1 points). Two sources give 1677.

Founding year: Wikipedia (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 Burlington Township’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 2 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Older than the countryEstablished in 1677, 99 years before the Declaration of Independence.A historic districtThe Dennisville Historic District takes in 58 historic buildings.Lost villages1 post office opened and closed inside today’s Burlington Township, and 6 old place names are still on the map.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Burlington Township’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewSpring flower polka - Wagner & McGuigan…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Timeline

Burlington Township, 1677 to 1970

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

  1. 17th century
  2. 1677
    FoundingBurlington Township is established
  3. 19th century
  4. 1852In the archiveSpring flower polka - Wagner & McGuigans Lith Stream Press
  5. 1888Post officeThe Stevens post office opens
  6. 20th century
  7. 1901Post officeThe Stevens post office closes
  8. 1947On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  9. 1970In the archiveBURLINGTON COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY MUSEUM
On the National Register

4 listings protect 66 historic buildings

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

places listed
4
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
66
each building in a district counts
first listed
1982
Green Hill Farm
Green Hill FarmDennisville Historic DistrictSpringside Public SchoolWest Hill
BuildingsDistricts
Green Hill FarmBuilding
Dennisville Historic DistrictDistrict
Springside Public SchoolBuilding
All 4 listings
West HillBuilding · listed 2013

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

The story

How Burlington Township came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Burlington Township.

Read it all →

The council of West Jersey Proprietors purchased roughly 30 miles (48 km) of riverfront land in 1676 from the Lenape Native Americans. Burlington was founded on part of that land by English settlers (primarily Quakers) in 1677. It served as the capital of the province until 1702, when West Jersey and East Jersey were combined into a single Crown Colony.

Burlington takes its name (including the county name) from the town of Bridlington, England of which Burlington was a district. It is now amalgamated into the larger Bridlington town.

Chapters18th century19th century20th century

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

Burlington Township, decade by decade

2 decades in the archive, from the 1850s to the 1970s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1850s1 item
Spring flower polka - Wagner & McGuigans Lith Stream Press1852Spring flower polka - Wagner & McGuigans Lith Stream …
1970s1 item
BURLINGTON COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY MUSEUM1970BURLINGTON COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY MUSEUM
1980s–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
Today8 recent
NJT RiverLine near a freight yard 22025NJT RiverLine near a freight yard 2NJT RiverLine in a freight yard2025NJT RiverLine in a freight yardNJT RiverLine in2025NJT RiverLine inBoudinot - Bradford House2025Boudinot - Bradford House20140526 51 NJ Transit River Line @201420140526 51 NJ Transit River Line @20140526 50 NJ Transit River Line @201420140526 50 NJ Transit River Line @20080603 32 NJT Camden Trenton River Line @200820080603 32 NJT Camden Trenton River Line @Map of Burlington County highlighting2004Map of Burlington County highlightingMap
On the map

Burlington Township on the map, 1947 to 1981

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

Burlington Township on the 1947 USGS mapBurlington Township on the 1981 USGS map1947Bristol sheet · 1:24,000

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

Spring flower polka - Wagner & McGuigans Lith Stream Press
Retake this viewSpring flower polka - Wagner & McGuigans Lith Stream Press, 1852

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

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Burlington Township, census by census

02,0004,0006,0008,00010,00012,00014,0001850190019502000Peak: 12,687

Between 4,536 and 12,687 people in every census since 1850.

18 censuses, 1850–2020.

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

Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners and burying grounds

Another post office, Stevens, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Hamlets and corners on the map
DeaconsOrchard ViewPlaza ParkSpringsideStevensTown Estates
3cemeteries and burying grounds inside Burlington Township
HaysMasonicOdd Fellows

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Springfield Township6 historic placesAWestampton Township2 historic placesC+Willingboro Township2 historic placesBBurlington8 historic placesA+Florence Township3 historic placesA−Edgewater Park Township3 historic placesB−

Questions about Burlington Township’s history

What year was Burlington Township founded?

In 1677, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Burlington Township’s post office opened in 1888, and the census of 1850 counted 4,536 people here.

How does Burlington Township rank for history?

Burlington Township is more historic than 87% of U.S. towns, #80 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 Burlington Township?

4 listings: 3 buildings, among them the Green Hill Farm (listed 1982, the first), and 1 historic district, the Dennisville Historic District, with 58 contributing buildings. 66 historic buildings in all.

How old are the homes in Burlington Township?

9% of Burlington Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.1 points), against a typical 15% for a New Jersey town; the median home was built in 1991.

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 (10), Wikidata (2), the National Register of Historic Places (4), 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.