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A−History
History · Hamilton Township

Hamilton Township dates to 1813, and 4 of its places are on the National Register

More historic than 78% of U.S. towns · #135 of 468 in New Jersey. What drives it

Most of Hamilton Township was built recently: 6% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1989. 4 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 259 buildings. Below: maps from 1890 on and the census since 1820.

1813founded
4on the National Register
6%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Hamilton Township began

When was Hamilton Township founded?

1813

Hamilton Township dates its founding to 1813 (Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history agree). The census first counted it in 1820.

First census: 877 in 18202020 census: 27,484213 years

How historic is Hamilton Township?

A−

More historic than 78% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: Wikidata; Wikipedia’s history section gives the same year. First post office: 1806.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Hamilton Township’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Hamilton Township is more historic than 78% of U.S. towns, #135 of 468 in New Jersey. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.

A−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Hamilton Township’s overall grade.
Founding era1813, from Wikidata: founded 1776–1849, an older era than 75% of U.S. townsA−Homes built before 19406.0% of homes (±1.7) · typical NJ town 14.7% · U.S. 8.4%CNational Register4 listings, 261 historic buildings, 92.5 per 10,000 residents · typical NJ town 3.7 · U.S. 2.4A
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 78%
NewerOlder
New Jersey towns of 2,500+ (468)Ahead of 71%

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 Hamilton Township’s 92.5 sits above most of its state (86% of New Jersey towns have fewer) while its 261 historic buildings outnumber those of 95% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from B− to A. The pre-1940 share (±1.7 points) is firm at this size. Two sources give 1813.

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 Hamilton Township’s past

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

A historic districtThe Mays Landing Historic District takes in 259 historic buildings.Lost villages2 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Hamilton Township, and 19 old place names are still on the map.A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Hamilton Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Shrank, then grewLost a third of its people between 1850 and 1870, then grew more than tenfold.
★ What stands out · On the National Register

4 listings protect 261 historic buildings

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

places listed
4
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
261
each building in a district counts
first listed
1979
Richards, Samuel, Hotel
Richards, Samuel, HotelMays Landing Presbyterian Church, built 1841Mays Landing Historic DistrictWeymouth Road Bridge
BuildingsDistrictsStructures
Richards, Samuel, HotelBuilding
Mays Landing Presbyterian ChurchBuilt 1841
Mays Landing Historic DistrictDistrict
Weymouth Road BridgeStructure

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, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

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

Mays Landing
1806–today
Weymouth
1846–1923
McKee City
1890–1942
Mizpah
1892–today
18001910today
Hamlets and corners on the map
CarmantownCatawbaClarkstownClover Leaf LakesEmmelsvilleGigantic CityGravelly RunHarding LakesLaureldaleMays LandingMcKee CityMizpahReegaThelmaThompsontownWalkers ForgeWest Egg HarborWeymouthWilsons Landing
Gone or out of use
Atlantic Blueberry Company AirstripairportDavis Fieldairport
4cemeteries and burying grounds inside Hamilton Township
Holy CrossLincoln Memorial ParkPresbyterianUnion

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

Help out

Start Hamilton Township’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story

How Hamilton Township came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Hamilton Township.

Read it all →

Hamilton Township's origins are directly tied to the Great Egg Harbor River and its tributaries which run through it. George May, after whom the village of Mays Landing was named, built a shipyard and trading post near Babcock Creek in 1756. By the mid 19th century, Mays Landing reached the height of its shipbuilding.

From 1830 to 1880, more than 200 vessels were built along the Great Egg Harbor River with lumber from native forests and iron from Weymouth foundries. Half of them were produced at Mays Landing. But by the end of the century, wood shipbuilding began to disappear due to the lack of suitable timber. Iron was then substituted for hull construction.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

From the old history books

What they wrote about Hamilton Township in 1915

Passages that mention Hamilton Township, cut from the printed page as they were published.

mately that portion northeast of the Camden and Atlantic Railroad. Then Weymouth Township in 1798, which took that portion between the Tuckahoe River and the Great Egg Harbor River. Then Hamilton Township in 1813, which took that portion northwest of Miry Run. Mullica was formed from Galloway in 18…
Early history of Atlantic County, New Jersey1915 · page 86Read the page →
Read the text

mately that portion northeast of the Camden and Atlantic Railroad. Then Weymouth Township in 1798, which took that portion between the Tuckahoe River and the Great Egg Harbor River. Then Hamilton Township in 1813, which took that portion northwest of Miry Run. Mullica was formed from Galloway in 1838, and since, the Cities and Boroughs along the beach and Shore Road, leaving in the Township at the present time the strip of meadow land between Absecon Beach and the Shore

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

Hamilton Township, 1806 to 2020

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1806Post officeThe Mays Landing post office opens
  3. 1813
    FoundingHamilton Township is established
  4. 1841BuiltMays Landing Presbyterian Church is built
  5. 1846Post officeThe Weymouth post office opens
  6. 1890Post officeThe McKee City post office opens
  7. 1890On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  8. 20th century
  9. 1923Post officeThe Weymouth post office closes
  10. 1942Post officeThe McKee City post office closes
  11. 21st century
  12. 2020CensusPopulation peaks at 27,484
By decade

Hamilton Township, decade by decade

Today17 recent
Atlantic County, NJ 4-H Center, Sept. 20252025Atlantic County, NJ 4-H Center, Sept. 2025Cologne, NJ fire department, Dec. 20242024Cologne, NJ fire department, Dec. 20242021-05-05 07 34 50 Two mature Canadian geese and over two dozen goslings in a parking lot along Atlantic County Route …20212021-05-05 07 34 50 Two mature Canadian geese and ove…2021-05-05 07 34 46 Two mature Canadian geese and over two dozen goslings in a parking lot along Atlantic County Route …20212021-05-05 07 34 46 Two mature Canadian geese and ove…2021-05-05 07 34 35 Two mature Canadian geese and over two dozen goslings in a parking lot along Atlantic County Route …20212021-05-05 07 34 35 Two mature Canadian geese and ove…IamYoungHitta May 20202020IamYoungHitta May 2020Hamilton Township, NJ, USA2015Hamilton Township, NJ, USAHamilton Township, NJ, USA - panoramio (5)2015Hamilton Township, NJ, USA - panoramio (5)Hamilton Township, NJ, USA - panoramio (4)2015Hamilton Township, NJ, USA - panoramio (4)Hamilton Township, NJ, USA - panoramio (3)2015Hamilton Township, NJ, USA - panoramio (3)Hamilton Township, NJ, USA - panoramio (2)2015Hamilton Township, NJ, USA - panoramio (2)Hamilton Township, NJ, USA - panoramio (1)2015Hamilton Township, NJ, USA - panoramio (1)Weymouth furnance chimney (2014)2014Weymouth furnance chimney (2014)Weymouth furnace (2014)2014Weymouth furnace (2014)Weymouth UMC (2014)2014Weymouth UMC (2014)Historic Weymouth Furnace by New Jersey Artist, Frank E. Cook, Sr2012Historic Weymouth Furnace by New Jersey Artist, Frank…Hamilton twp nj 0012005Hamilton twp nj 001
On the map

Hamilton Township on the map, 1890 to 1995

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

Hamilton Township on the 1890 USGS mapHamilton Township on the 1942 USGS mapHamilton Township on the 1955 USGS mapHamilton Township on the 1972 USGS mapHamilton Township on the 1989 USGS mapHamilton Township on the 1995 USGS map1890Great Egg Harbor 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 Hamilton Township.

People over time

Hamilton Township, census by census

05,00010,00015,00020,00025,00030,00018501900195020002,015 in 1850Low: 1,271

Lost a third of its people between 1850 and 1870, then grew more than tenfold.

21 censuses, 1820–2020.

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Egg Harbor Township1 historic placeBWeymouth Township1 historic placeBMays Landing3 historic placesnot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townGalloway Township1 historic placeBEstell Manor3 historic placesC+Buena Vista TownshipIts storyC−RichlandIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townMullica Township1 historic placeB

Questions about Hamilton Township’s history

What year was Hamilton Township founded?

In 1813, according to Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history of the town. Hamilton Township’s post office opened in 1806, and the census of 1820 counted 877 people here.

How does Hamilton Township rank for history?

Hamilton Township is more historic than 78% of U.S. towns, #135 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 Hamilton Township?

4 listings: 2 buildings, among them the Richards, Samuel, Hotel (listed 1979, the first), 1 historic district, the Mays Landing Historic District, with 259 contributing buildings, and 1 structure. 261 historic buildings in all.

How old are the homes in Hamilton Township?

6% of Hamilton Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.7 points), against a typical 15% for a New Jersey town; the median home was built in 1989.

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 (17), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (4), Wikipedia, 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.