Founding year: the first Cresskill post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1894.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Cresskill’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Cresskill is more historic than 55% of U.S. towns, #279 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 Cresskill’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 Cresskill’s 7.6 sits above most of its state (65% of New Jersey towns have fewer) while its 7 historic buildings outnumber those of 73% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C+ to B+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±3.6 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date; Wikidata’s 1894 falls in the same era, so the grade doesn’t depend on which one is used.
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 Cresskill’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Cresskill was incorporated as a borough by an act of the New Jersey Legislature on May 8, 1894, from portions of Palisades Township. The borough was formed during the "Boroughitis" phenomenon then sweeping through Bergen County, in which 26 boroughs were formed in the county in 1894 alone. A portion of the borough was annexed by Alpine in 1904.
Passages that mention Cresskill, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Bergen county, New Jersey1900 · page 665Read the page →
Read the text
About five years later Simeon Westervelt built his carpenter shop in the village, since which time with a force of men constantly employed he has constructed a great number of houses in Cresskill, being one of the largest contractors in this part of the county. The Manhattan Optical Company in the vicinity of Cresskill began operations a few years ago, manufacturing cameras, lenses, etc. F. and E. M. Shafer are largely interested in this plant and in 1894 erected a building fifty-two by one hundred feet. They employ a large force of
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Timeline
Cresskill, 1808 to 1956
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
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.
The Cresskill post office opened in 1863, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1894.
How does Cresskill rank for history?
Cresskill is more historic than 55% of U.S. towns, #279 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 Cresskill?
4 listings: 4 buildings, among them the Benjamin P. Westervelt House (listed 1983, the first). 7 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Cresskill?
12% of Cresskill’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.6 points), against a typical 15% for a New Jersey town; the median home was built in 1964.
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 (9), the Library of Congress (3), Wikidata (2), the National Register of Historic Places (4), 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), the USGS Geographic Names Information System, Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress) and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
1913–1916
1913–1916
1913–1916
1913–1916
1913–1916
1913–1916
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2023
2008