Founding year: the first Hasbrouck Heights post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1894.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Hasbrouck Heights’ History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Hasbrouck Heights is more historic than 37% of U.S. towns, #365 of 468 in New Jersey. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
C+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Hasbrouck Heights’ 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 Hasbrouck Heights’ 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.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from D to B−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±5.6 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date; Wikidata’s 1894 falls in the same era, so the grade doesn’t depend on which one is used.
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 Hasbrouck Heights’ past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Hasbrouck Heights. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1888Paterson 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 Hasbrouck Heights.
The area that would become the borough had been known as Corona from the mid-1800s and grew up around the two local railroad stations. The name "Hasbrouck" was chosen in 1889 to honor Jacob Dillon Hasbrouck (1842–1918), general manager of the New Jersey and New York Railroad. In the face of local opposition, the name change was promoted as improving the community's public perception and avoiding confusion with the Corona, Queens neighborhood, while "Heights" was added to avoid confusion with a similarly named community in upstate New York.
Passages that mention Hasbrouck Heights, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Bergen county, New Jersey1900 · page 404Read the page →
Read the text
In 1894 Hasbrouck Heights separated from the township, holding an election July 31st, of the same year. The people by their ballot carried the election for incorporation, and the Borough was incorporated August 12th. The first election for Borough officials was held September 11th with the following results : John H. Garrison, Mayor; G. W. Selleck, S. P. Ferdon, R. F. Taggart, John W, Charlton, Andrew McCabe and 'Will D. Crist, Councilmen. These officers served until March 12th 1895, when another election was held with the following
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
Hasbrouck Heights, 1888 to 2001
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
The Hasbrouck Heights post office opened in 1889, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1894.
How does Hasbrouck Heights rank for history?
Hasbrouck Heights is more historic than 37% of U.S. towns, #365 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.
How old are the homes in Hasbrouck Heights?
21% of Hasbrouck Heights’ 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 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), 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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