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Quick answers
How Dayton began
When was Dayton founded?
1866
The Dayton post office opened in 1866, the earliest record of the town by name.
2020 census: 8,138160 years
Founding year: the first Dayton post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).
What stands out about Dayton’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Dayton yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Dayton is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in South Brunswick Township, Middlesex County, New Jersey, in the United States. At the 2020 United States census, the CDP's population was 8,138, up from 7,063 in 2010. Dayton has a post office with its own ZIP Code (08810) that encompasses the entire CDP, as well as some surrounding areas. The community was named for William L. Dayton, a local attorney who later served in the United States Senate, or for Jonathan Dayton, the youngest person to sign the United States Constitution, who later served as a U.S. senator from New Jersey. The area had been known as "Cross Roads" and was renamed in 1866 to avoid confusion with…
Its first post office opened in 1866. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 7,063 to 8,138 (+15%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
From the old history books
What they wrote about Dayton in 1921
Passages that mention Dayton, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Middlesex County, New Jersey, 1664-19201921 · page 433Read the page →
Read the text
Dayton, a village southeast of the center of the township, and on the line of the New York division of the Pennsylvania railroad, was named in honor of William L. Dayton, of Trenton. On October 16, 1869, a Presbyterian church with fifty-eight members, principally from the First and Second Churches of Cranbury, was organized. The church was dedicated in 1870, the first pastor being Rev. J. W. Hubbard. The Baptist church was erected in 1848, and the first service was conducted by Rev. Jacob Gessner. No records of the church are known to exist,
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Middlesex County, New Jersey, 1664-19201921 · page 432Read the page →
Read the text
Along the stage routes, taverns were established at an early date at Rhode Hall, Dayton and Kingston, and about these inns settlements gradually formed until the locality became generally populated. The pioneer landlord at Rhode Hall was David Williamson, from Scotland, who bestowed upon the little settlement the name by which it has since been known. He came about 1730, purchased a large tract of land, and gathered about him a number of families, the majority 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.
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). How TownRatings grades history →
From Wikimedia Commons (2), Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people 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.
2026
2015