Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 98% of U.S. towns · #19 of 468 in New Jersey. What drives it
1 place in town is on the National Register, among them a historic district with 550 buildings. Below: 10 old photos and papers, maps from 1885 on, and the census since 1860.
More historic than 98% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Flemington is more historic than 98% of U.S. towns, #19 of 468 in New Jersey. All 2 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its National Register listings ranks highest and its share of homes from before 1940 lowest.
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 Flemington’s 1,123 sits above most of its state (97% of New Jersey towns have fewer) while its 550 historic buildings outnumber those of 97% of U.S. towns.
Founding year: our sources. 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 country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Flemington. 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 Flemington.
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.
1885Sheet 1 of 2Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
From Wikipedia’s history of Flemington.
Before European settlement, the land that comprises Flemington, as was all of Hunterdon County, was the territory of the Lenni Lenape Native Americans. In 1712, as part of a land parcel of 9,170 acres (37.1 km2), the Flemington area was acquired by William Penn and Daniel Coxe.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
In the archiveFlemington (Village); Flemington Business Notices
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
In the archiveCover Switzerland 1895 registered front
Born hereDick Foran is born here
In the archiveDETAIL, SOUTHEAST REAR, SHOWING MANSARD-ROOFED TOWER - William E. Emery House, 3 East Mai…
Born hereDanny Federici is born here
In the archiveFebruary 1963 WEST ELEVATION - John G. Reading House, 151-153 Main Street
In the archiveItalianate - Flemington, NJ - Main Street (No. 146) (1)
Born hereBrian White is born here5 decades in the archive, from the 1870s to the 1980s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Flemington’s page.
Retake this view · +15Grew from 1,174 people in 1860 to 4,876 in 2020, 4 times over.
17 censuses, 1860–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Flemington’s Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Flemington’s post office has been open since 1795.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.
Flemington is more historic than 98% of U.S. towns, #19 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.
One place: the Flemington Historic District (listed 1980).
25% of Flemington’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 1959.
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 (10), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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 Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
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