Hightstown’s post office opened in 1819, and 39% of its homes were built before 1940
More historic than 96% of U.S. towns · #26 of 468 in New Jersey. What drives it
3 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 75 buildings. Below: 10 old photos and papers, maps from 1885 on, and the census since 1860.
Founding year: the first Hightstown post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).
History grade
What drives Hightstown’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Hightstown is more historic than 96% of U.S. towns, #26 of 468 in New Jersey. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its share of homes from before 1940 ranks highest and its age lowest.
A+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Hightstown’s 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 Hightstown’s 128 sits above most of its state (88% of New Jersey towns have fewer) while its 76 historic buildings outnumber those of 88% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from A to A+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±10.5 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.
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 Hightstown’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Every building
Hightstown, building by building, 1885–1916
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 1
Edition
Sheets
BrickWoodStone
Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
The story so far
Hightstown, in brief
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Hightstown yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Hightstown is a borough in Mercer County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Nestled within the Raritan Valley region, Hightstown is an historic, commercial, and cultural hub of Central New Jersey, along with being a diverse outer-ring commuter suburb of New York City in the New York Metropolitan Area. As of the 2020 United States census, the borough's population was 5,900, its highest decennial count ever and an increase of 406 (+7.4%) from the 5,494 recorded at the 2010 census, which in turn reflected an increase of 278 (+5.3%) from the 5,216 counted in the 2000 census. Hightstown was incorporated as a borough by an act of the New Jersey Legislature on March 5, 1853, within portions of East…
Its first post office opened in 1819. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 5,494 to 5,900 (+7%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Timeline
Hightstown, 1819 to 1990
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
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.
The Hightstown post office opened in 1819, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Hightstown rank for history?
Hightstown is more historic than 96% of U.S. towns, #26 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 Hightstown?
Three places: the Samuel Sloan House (listed 1974), the Stockton Street Historic District (2005) and the Camden and Amboy Railroad Right of Way Site (2016).
How old are the homes in Hightstown?
39% of Hightstown’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±10.5 points), against a typical 15% for a New Jersey town; the median home was built in 1950.
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 (2), the Library of Congress (8), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (3), 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.
1917
1935
1935
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1936