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AHistory
History · Haddon Township

Haddon Township dates to 1681, and 25% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 88% of U.S. towns · #69 of 468 in New Jersey. What drives it

Its Register listings are the Newton Union Schoolhouse, the Ritz Theatre and the Westmont Theatre. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1891 on, and the census since 1870.

1681founded
3on the National Register
25%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Haddon Township’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Haddon Township began

When was Haddon Township founded?

1681

Haddon Township dates its founding to 1681 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1870.

First census: 1,926 in 18702020 census: 15,407345 years

How historic is Haddon Township?

A

More historic than 88% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1889.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Haddon Township’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Haddon Township is more historic than 88% of U.S. towns, #69 of 468 in New Jersey. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its age ranks highest and its National Register listings lowest.

A
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Haddon Township’s overall grade.
Founding era1681, from Wikidata: founded before 1776, an older era than 96% of U.S. townsA+Homes built before 194025.0% of homes (±3.9) · typical NJ town 14.7% · U.S. 8.4%A−National Register3 listings, 1.9 per 10,000 residents · typical NJ town 3.7 · U.S. 2.4B−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 88%
NewerOlder
New Jersey towns of 2,500+ (468)Ahead of 85%

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 Haddon Township’s 1.9 sits near the middle of its state (41% of New Jersey towns have fewer) while its 3 listings outnumber those of 65% of U.S. towns.

NoteThe founding year comes from Wikidata alone; no second source gives 1681.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from B+ to A+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±3.9 points).

Founding year: Wikidata (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 Haddon Township’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 1 old photo is in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Shrank, then grewLost half of its people between 1870 and 1890, then grew more than tenfold.On the map since 18917 editions of the USGS map, 1891 to 1994. Watch Haddon Township change.Older than the countryEstablished in 1681, 95 years before the Declaration of Independence.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Haddon Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Haddon Township’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old view1950 Census Enumeration District Maps -…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
People over time

Haddon Township, census by census

05,00010,00015,00020,000188019001920194019601980200020201,926 in 1870Low: 888

Lost half of its people between 1870 and 1890, then grew more than tenfold.

16 censuses, 1870–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Haddon Township’s Wikipedia page.

On the map

Haddon Township on the map, 1891 to 1994

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Haddon Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Haddon Township on the 1891 USGS mapHaddon Township on the 1920 USGS mapHaddon Township on the 1949 USGS mapHaddon Township on the 1967 USGS mapHaddon Township on the 1973 USGS mapHaddon Township on the 1984 USGS mapHaddon Township on the 1994 USGS map1891Philadelphia sheet · 1:62,500

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Haddon Township.

The story

How Haddon Township came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Haddon Township.

Read it all →

The township's first European settlers settled in the area of Newton Creek in 1681. In 1701, Elizabeth Haddon Estaugh, the daughter of John Haddon, arrived in the American colonies to oversee his large landholdings, which included areas that are now Collingswood, Haddon Township, and Haddonfield. Contemporary Newton Township included land that later became part of Audubon, Audubon Park, Camden, Collingswood, Gloucester City, Haddon Heights, Haddonfield, Oaklyn, and Woodlynne.

ChaptersSaddlertown

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Haddon Township, 1681 to 1970

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 17th century
  2. 1681
    FoundingHaddon Township is established
  3. 19th century
  4. 1880In the archive1950 Census Enumeration District Maps - New Jersey (NJ) - Camden County - Haddon Township…
  5. 1889Post officeThe Westmont post office opens
  6. 1891On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  7. 1892Post officeThe West Collingswood post office opens
  8. 20th century
  9. 1907Post officeThe West Collingswood post office closes
  10. 1916Post officeThe Westmont post office closes
  11. 1970CensusPopulation peaks at 18,192
By decade

Haddon Township, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1880s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1880s1 item
1950 Census Enumeration District Maps - New Jersey (NJ) - Camden County - Haddon Township - ED 4-97 to 10918801950 Census Enumeration District Maps - New Jersey (N…
1890s–1990snothing yet
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.
Add from your album
Today11 recent
Ritz Theater2025Ritz TheaterPhiladelphia skyline from Camden CR 636 bridge over Cooper River Lake2025Philadelphia skyline from Camden CR 636 bridge over C…Haddon Township, NJ Municipal Building, Feb. 20252025Haddon Township, NJ Municipal Building, Feb. 2025Cooper River Lake west of Camden CR 6362025Cooper River Lake west of Camden CR 636Westmont Station - August 20222022Westmont Station - August 2022NJ168 Black Horse Pike and Nicholson Road Aerial - Facing South2016NJ168 Black Horse Pike and Nicholson Road Aerial - Fa…Platform view at Westmont PATCO station, April 20152015Platform view at Westmont PATCO station, April 2015Cairn memorial2014Cairn memorialWestmont Theater2013Westmont TheaterNewton Union Schoolhouse Camden County NJ 812013Newton Union Schoolhouse Camden County NJ 81RitzTheatreSmall2005RitzTheatreSmall
Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

1950 Census Enumeration District Maps - New Jersey (NJ) - Camden County - Haddon Township - ED 4-97 to 109
Retake this view1950 Census Enumeration District Maps - New Jersey (NJ) - Camden County - Haddon Township - ED 4-97 to 109, 1880

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Haddon Township’s page.

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

3 historic places in Haddon Township

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

places listed
3
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
3
each building in a district counts
first listed
1988
Newton Union Schoolhouse
Newton Union SchoolhouseRitz TheatreWestmont Theatre
Buildings
Newton Union SchoolhouseBuilding
Ritz TheatreBuilding
Westmont TheatreBuilding

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

Places that used to be

Lost post offices and old corners

Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Westmont
1889–1916
West Collingswood
1892–1907
18801950today
Hamlets and corners on the map
HaddonHaddon HillsWest CollingswoodWest Collingswood HeightsWestmont

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Westmont2 historic placesnot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townCollingswood6 historic placesAHaddonfield6 historic placesA+Golden TriangleIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townCherry Hill Township5 historic placesB−Gloucester City1 historic placeAAudubonIts storyB−Camden44 historic placesA+Mount EphraimIts storyC−Oaklyn1 historic placeA

Questions about Haddon Township’s history

What year was Haddon Township founded?

In 1681, according to Wikidata. Haddon Township’s post office opened in 1889, and the census of 1870 counted 1,926 people here.

How does Haddon Township rank for history?

Haddon Township is more historic than 88% of U.S. towns, #69 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 Haddon Township?

Three places: the Newton Union Schoolhouse (listed 1988), the Ritz Theatre (2002) and the Westmont Theatre (2010).

How old are the homes in Haddon Township?

25% of Haddon Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.9 points), against a typical 15% for a New Jersey town; the median home was built in 1955.

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

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), the National Register of Historic Places (3), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.