From Irvington Township’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers
How Irvington Township began
When was Irvington Township founded?
1855
The Irvington Township post office opened in 1855, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, Camptown (1826) and Irvington (1855), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
First census: 1,677 in 18802020 census: 61,176171 years
How historic is Irvington Township?
C+
More historic than 40% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Irvington Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Irvington Township’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Irvington Township is more historic than 40% of U.S. towns, #352 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 Irvington Township’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 Irvington Township’s 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 (±2.8 points) is firm at this size. 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 Irvington Township’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Clinton Township, which included what is now Irvington, Maplewood and parts of Newark and South Orange, was created on April 14, 1834. The area was known as Camptown until the mid-1800s. In 1850, after Stephen Foster published his ballad, Camptown Races, residents were concerned that the activities described in the song would be associated with their community. The town was renamed, Irvingtown, in honor of Washington Irving.
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.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Irvington Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1947Elizabeth sheet · 1:24,000
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Irvington Township.
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.
Retake this viewClintonCemeteryIrvingtonEarlyMap, 1922
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Irvington Township’s page.
The Irvington Township post office opened in 1855, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Irvington Township rank for history?
Irvington Township is more historic than 40% of U.S. towns, #352 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 Irvington Township?
24% of Irvington Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.8 points), against a typical 15% for a New Jersey town; the median home was built in 1960.
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) 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.
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