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CHistory
History · Cliffside Park

Cliffside Park was first counted by the census in 1900, and 28% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 29% of U.S. towns · #407 of 468 in New Jersey. What drives it

Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1897 on, and the census since 1900.

1900first census
0on the National Register
28%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Cliffside Park began

When was Cliffside Park founded?

1900

Cliffside Park first appears in the census in 1900. Another post office, Grantwood (1906), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

First census: 968 in 19002020 census: 25,693126 years

How historic is Cliffside Park?

C

More historic than 29% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first census.
History grade

What drives Cliffside Park’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Cliffside Park is more historic than 29% of U.S. towns, #407 of 468 in New Jersey. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its age pulls it down.

C
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Cliffside Park’s overall grade.
Founding era1900, from the first census: founded 1900–1944, an older era than 9% of U.S. townsDHomes built before 194028.0% of homes (±4.1) · typical NJ town 14.7% · U.S. 8.4%A−National RegisterNo listings counted · typical NJ town 3.7 per 10,000 · U.S. 2.4C−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 29%
NewerOlder
New Jersey towns of 2,500+ (468)Ahead of 13%

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 Cliffside Park’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 B−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±4.1 points).

Founding year: the first census (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 Cliffside Park’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 1 old photo is in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 18977 editions of the USGS map, 1897 to 1995. Watch Cliffside Park change.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Cliffside Park’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Cliffside Park’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 viewCharles Lindauer in the Palisadian of C…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
On the map

Cliffside Park on the map, 1897 to 1995

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

Cliffside Park on the 1897 USGS mapCliffside Park on the 1900 USGS mapCliffside Park on the 1947 USGS mapCliffside Park on the 1956 USGS mapCliffside Park on the 1966 USGS mapCliffside Park on the 1979 USGS mapCliffside Park on the 1995 USGS map1897Harlem 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 Cliffside Park.

The story so far

Cliffside Park, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Cliffside Park yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Cliffside Park is a borough in Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the borough's population was 25,693, an increase of 2,099 (+8.9%) from the 2010 census count of 23,594, which in turn reflected an increase of 587 (+2.6%) from the 23,007 counted in the 2000 census. Cliffside Park was formed based on the results of a referendum held on January 15, 1895, from portions of Ridgefield Township. The borough was formed during the "Boroughitis" phenomenon then sweeping through Bergen County, as one of two boroughs created in 1895 after 26 boroughs were formed in the county in 1894 alone. The borough was named for its location as a "Park by the Cliffs…

Its first post office opened in 1900. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 23,594 to 25,693 (+9%).

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

Timeline

Cliffside Park, 1897 to 1931

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1897On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  3. 20th century
  4. 1906Post officeThe Grantwood post office opens
  5. 1923In the archiveCharles Lindauer in the Palisadian of Cliffside Park, New Jersey on 6 April 1923
  6. 1931Post officeThe Grantwood post office closes
  7. 1931Post officeThe Cliffside Park post office opens
By decade

Cliffside Park, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1920s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1920s1 item
Charles Lindauer in the Palisadian of Cliffside Park, New Jersey on 6 April 19231923Charles Lindauer in the Palisadian of Cliffside Park,…
1930s–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
Cliffside Park, NJ Municipal Complex, Nov. 20252025Cliffside Park, NJ Municipal Complex, Nov. 2025Midtown Manhattan as seen from Weehawken2014Midtown Manhattan as seen from WeehawkenWarren Abbott Chabod presch Cliffside Pk jeh2009Warren Abbott Chabod presch Cliffside Pk jehCliffside Pk Sharon Plz jeh2009Cliffside Pk Sharon Plz jehCliffside Pk Sch 3 cupola jeh2009Cliffside Pk Sch 3 cupola jehCliffside Pk HS fall jeh2009Cliffside Pk HS fall jehCliffside Pk ELC jeh2009Cliffside Pk ELC jehCliffside Park HS jeh2008Cliffside Park HS jehCensus Bureau map of2008Census Bureau map ofMap
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.

Charles Lindauer in the Palisadian of Cliffside Park, New Jersey on 6 April 1923
Retake this viewCharles Lindauer in the Palisadian of Cliffside Park, New Jersey on 6 April 1923, 1923

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

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Cliffside Park, census by census

05,00010,00015,00020,00025,000190019201940196019802000202025,693

Grew from 968 people in 1900 to 25,693 in 2020, more than tenfold.

13 censuses, 1900–2020.

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

Places that used to be

Lost post offices and old corners

Cliffside Park’s post office has been open since 1931. Another post office, Grantwood, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Grantwood
1906–1931
Cliffside Park
1931–today
19001960today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Grantwood

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.

Edgewater6 historic placesB−FairviewIts storyC+Ridgefield1 historic placeB

Questions about Cliffside Park’s history

What year was Cliffside Park founded?

The Cliffside Park post office opened in 1900, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Cliffside Park rank for history?

Cliffside Park is more historic than 29% of U.S. towns, #407 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 Cliffside Park?

28% of Cliffside Park’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.1 points), against a typical 15% for a New Jersey town; the median home was built in 1970.

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), 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.