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Highland LakePhoto: Kritzolina · CC BY-SA 4.0
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History · Highland Lakes

Highland Lakes’ post office opened in 1951

Most of Highland Lakes was built recently: 8% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1966. Below: maps from 1891 on and the census since 1980.

1951first post office
0on the National Register
8%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: Kritzolina · CC BY-SA 4.0
Quick answers

How Highland Lakes began

When was Highland Lakes founded?

1951

The Highland Lakes post office opened in 1951, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 2,888 in 19802020 census: 4,81675 years
Founding year: the first Highland Lakes post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Highland Lakes’ past

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

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Highland Lakes are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 18915 editions of the USGS map, 1891 to 1994. Watch Highland Lakes change.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Highland Lakes’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Highland Lakes’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
On the map

Highland Lakes on the map, 1891 to 1994

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

Highland Lakes on the 1891 USGS mapHighland Lakes on the 1903 USGS mapHighland Lakes on the 1943 USGS mapHighland Lakes on the 1954 USGS mapHighland Lakes on the 1994 USGS map1891Greenwood Lake 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 Highland Lakes.

The story

How Highland Lakes came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Highland Lakes.

Read it all →

The community was mistakenly referred to as Highland Lake (missing the plural "s") by the United States Census Bureau from the 1990 to 2010 censuses

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

Highland Lakes, decade by decade

Today6 recent
Sonnenaufgang am Highland Lake, NJ 022016Sonnenaufgang am Highland Lake, NJ 02Sonnenaufgang am Highland Lake, NJ 012016Sonnenaufgang am Highland Lake, NJ 01Highland Lakes 022016Highland Lakes 02Highland Lakes 012016Highland Lakes 01Highland Lake2016Highland LakeHighland lake cdp nj 0372005Highland lake cdp nj 037
People over time

Highland Lakes, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0002,5003,0003,5004,0004,5005,0005,500198020002020Peak: 5,051

Between 2,888 and 5,051 people in every census since 1980.

5 censuses, 1980–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Highland Lakes’ Wikipedia page.

Questions about Highland Lakes’ history

What year was Highland Lakes founded?

The Highland Lakes post office opened in 1951, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

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). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (6), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps and U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.