Founding year: the first Fair Haven post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1912.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Fair Haven’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Fair Haven is more historic than 55% of U.S. towns, #279 of 468 in New Jersey. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its age pulls it down.
B−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Fair Haven’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 Fair Haven’s 3.2 sits near the middle of its state (47% of New Jersey towns have fewer) while its 2 listings outnumber those of 60% 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 (±6.2 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date; Wikidata gives 1912.
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 Fair Haven’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Fair Haven's first permanent settlement dates to a structure built in 1816 at the Navesink River near today's Fair Haven Road. By the mid-19th century, steamboats stopped at "Chandler's Dock" on a route between Red Bank and New York City, bringing visitors to the area and local oysters to the city. Fisk Chapel was rebuilt in 1882 to accommodate the borough's African American population.
The steamship "Albertina" is depicted on the Borough seal. It was built in 1882 by Lawrence & Foulks.
Passages that mention Fair Haven, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Monmouth county, New Jersey ..1885 · page 71Read the page →
Read the text
hold Methodist circuit, 1843, Mills, grist mill, Manasquan, 1884, Presbyterian Church, account of, Fair Haven, history of. Dock Company, incorporated 1866, School District, No. 73, first schoolhouse built 1878, Fairplay School District, No. 24, Millstone Township,
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Monmouth county, New Jersey ..1885 · page 61Read the page →
Read the text
ninth Regiment, 1862, house of, on site of first grocery store at Fair Haven, Doughty, Charles, corporator Fair Haven Dock Company, 1866, Doughty, Christopher, justice of the peace, 1856, opened grocery at Fair Haven, 1833, Doughty, Thomas, taxed in Upper Freehold, in 1731,
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
Fair Haven, 1874 to 1991
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
The Fair Haven post office opened in 1874, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1912.
How does Fair Haven rank for history?
Fair Haven 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 Fair Haven?
Two places: the Fisk Chapel (listed 1975) and the Players Boat Club (2019).
How old are the homes in Fair Haven?
19% of Fair Haven’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.2 points), against a typical 15% for a New Jersey town; the median home was built in 1955.
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, 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 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.
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