Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 44% of U.S. towns · #339 of 468 in New Jersey. What drives it
Below: maps from 1888 on and the census since 1880.
The Dunellen post office opened in 1870, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1887.
More historic than 44% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Dunellen is more historic than 44% of U.S. towns, #339 of 468 in New Jersey. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
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 Dunellen’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.
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 →
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Dunellen’s history is told.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Dunellen. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Dunellen.
Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.
1905Sheet 1 of 3Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
From Wikipedia’s history of Dunellen.
The earliest inhabitants of the area that would become Dunellen were the Lenape Native Americans; several Lenape sites in Dunellen were identified as part of a comprehensive survey in 1915. European settlers were drawn to the area as early as 1682, attracted by the productive agricultural land.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Dunellen, cut from the printed page as they were published.
One of the oldest schools in the township occupied the site of what is now known as the Whittier school in Dunellen. The earliest record of it is 1800, when Ransom Downs, a New England peddler, was the teacher. The school house was rebuilt in 1841, and in 1875 a fine brick building, of two stories, was erected. The New Brooklyn (South Plainfield) school was among the first established, and James Fullerton, who lived in the Short Hills, near Plainfield, is said to have taught here, and in other portions of the county. Neil Campbell, who is buried in the
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.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
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2008Census Bureau map ofMapGrew from 817 people in 1880 to 7,637 in 2020, 9 times over.
15 censuses, 1880–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Dunellen’s Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
The Dunellen post office opened in 1870, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1887.
Dunellen is more historic than 44% of U.S. towns, #339 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.
30% of Dunellen’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±8.3 points), against a typical 15% for a New Jersey town; the median home was built in 1955.
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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 (12), 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.
