The Cranbury Township post office opened in 1869, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, Cranberry (1804) and Cranbury Station (1873), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
First census: 1,509 in 18802020 census: 3,842157 years
How historic is Cranbury Township?
B+
More historic than 71% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Cranbury Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Cranbury Township’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Cranbury Township is more historic than 71% of U.S. towns, #174 of 468 in New Jersey. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.
B+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Cranbury 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 Cranbury Township’s 444 sits above most of its state (95% of New Jersey towns have fewer) while its 178 historic buildings outnumber those of 92% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C+ to A−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±5.6 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.
Founding year: the first post office (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 Cranbury 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 Cranbury Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1888Princeton 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 Cranbury Township.
A deed for a sale of land and improvements dated March 1, 1698, is the earliest evidence of buildings constructed in present-day Cranbury. A home in Cranbury was used by Alexander Hamilton and the Marquis de Lafayette as a headquarters during the American Revolutionary War, and they were visited by General George Washington on June 26, 1778. It was during this visit, when George Washington hedged out plans to intercept the British's retreat from Philadelphia to New York City, during the tail end of Britain's Philadelphia campaign. This continued pursuit led to the fated events of the Battle of Monmouth (which took place nearby in modern-day Freehold Township and Manalapan Township, preserved currently as Monmouth Battlefield State Park), a major turning point for the Revolutionary War. As part of orders issued during the presidency of George Washington, maps of Cranbury were made showin…
The Cranbury Township post office opened in 1869, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Cranbury Township rank for history?
Cranbury Township is more historic than 71% of U.S. towns, #174 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 Cranbury Township?
Two places: the Old Cranbury School (listed 1971) and the Cranbury Historic District (1980).
How old are the homes in Cranbury Township?
14% of Cranbury Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.6 points), against a typical 15% for a New Jersey town; the median home was built in 1988.
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 (6), 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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