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255 Ridge Road, Frenchtown, NJPhoto: Zeete · CC BY-SA 4.0
AHistory
History · Kingwood Township

Kingwood Township dates to 1746, and 16% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 87% of U.S. towns · #81 of 468 in New Jersey. What drives it

Its Register listings are the Locktown Baptist Church, the Old Stone Presbyterian Church and the Thatcher House. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1943 on, and the census since 1790.

1746founded
3on the National Register
16%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Kingwood Township began

When was Kingwood Township founded?

1746

Kingwood Township dates its founding to 1746 (Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history agree). It appears in the first U.S. census, 1790.

First census: 2,446 in 17902020 census: 3,802280 years

How historic is Kingwood Township?

A

More historic than 87% 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: 1822.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Kingwood Township’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Kingwood Township is more historic than 87% of U.S. towns, #81 of 468 in New Jersey. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its age ranks highest and its share of homes from before 1940 lowest.

A
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Kingwood Township’s overall grade.
Founding era1746, from Wikidata: founded before 1776, an older era than 96% of U.S. townsA+Homes built before 194015.6% of homes (±7.8) · typical NJ town 14.7% · U.S. 8.4%BNational Register3 listings, 7.8 per 10,000 residents · typical NJ town 3.7 · U.S. 2.4B+
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 87%
NewerOlder
New Jersey towns of 2,500+ (468)Ahead of 83%

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 Kingwood Township’s 7.8 sits above most of its state (66% of New Jersey towns have fewer) while its 3 listings outnumber those of 65% 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 is a Census survey estimate (±7.8 points). Two sources give 1746.

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 Kingwood Township’s past

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

Lost villages3 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Kingwood Township, and 8 old place names are still on the map.A history waiting to be writtenOnly 1 old photo is in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Shrank, then grewLost half of its people between 1840 and 1920, then grew 3-fold.Older than the countryEstablished in 1746, 30 years before the Declaration of Independence.
★ What stands out · Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners and places now gone

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

Baptistown
1822–today
Kingwood
1827–1909
Barbertown
1888–1909
Idell
1888–1909
18201920today
Hamlets and corners on the map
BaptistownBarbertownByramIdellKingwoodMilltownPoint BreezeTumble Falls
Gone or out of use
FormicaairportIndependence Schoolschool

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

Help out

Start Kingwood Township’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Date a photo1 archive item has no date. Guess the decade.+2Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
People over time

Kingwood Township, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0002,5003,0003,5004,000180018501900195020002,947 in 1840Low: 1,160

Lost half of its people between 1840 and 1920, then grew 3-fold.

23 censuses, 1790–2020.

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

The story

How Kingwood Township came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Kingwood Township.

Read it all →

Kingwood Township is one of the westernmost townships of Hunterdon County. Kingwood was originally established around 1746 when it was created from Bethlehem Township, though the exact details are uncertain. Kingwood was incorporated by Act of the New Jersey Legislature on February 21, 1798, as one of New Jersey's initial group of 104 townships. Portions of the township were taken to form Franklin Township on April 7, 1845. Frenchtown borough acquired portions of the township in 1876.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Kingwood Township, 1746 to 2010

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

  1. 18th century
  2. 1746
    FoundingKingwood Township is established
  3. 1754BuiltOld Stone Presbyterian Church is built
  4. 1765BuiltThatcher House is built
  5. 19th century
  6. 1819BuiltLocktown Baptist Church is built
  7. 1822Post officeThe Baptistown post office opens
  8. 1827Post officeThe Kingwood post office opens
  9. 1888Post officeThe Barbertown post office opens
  10. 20th century
  11. 1909Post officeThe Kingwood post office closes
  12. 1909Post officeThe Barbertown post office closes
  13. 1943On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  14. 21st century
  15. 2010CensusPopulation peaks at 3,845
By decade

Kingwood Township, decade by decade

Date unknown1 to date
Census Bureau map of Kingwood Township, New JerseyDate?Census Bureau map of Kingwood Township, New JerseyMap
Today4 recent
Kingwood Township, NJ municipal building, May 20232023Kingwood Township, NJ municipal building, May 2023Oak Summit School, Kingwood Township, NJ2018Oak Summit School, Kingwood Township, NJFarm house in Frenchtown, NJ2013Farm house in Frenchtown, NJKingwood twp 019 nj2005Kingwood twp 019 nj
On the map

Kingwood Township on the map, 1943 to 1997

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

Kingwood Township on the 1943 USGS mapKingwood Township on the 1955 USGS mapKingwood Township on the 1968 USGS mapKingwood Township on the 1973 USGS mapKingwood Township on the 1997 USGS map1943Point Pleasant sheet · 1:31,680

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Kingwood Township.

On the National Register

3 historic places in Kingwood Township

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

places listed
3
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
3
each building in a district counts
first listed
1974
Locktown Baptist Church
Locktown Baptist Church, built 1819Old Stone Presbyterian Church, built 1754Thatcher House, built 1765
Buildings
Locktown Baptist ChurchBuilt 1819
Old Stone Presbyterian ChurchBuilt 1754
Thatcher HouseBuilt 1765

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Delaware Township20 historic placesA+Frenchtown1 historic placeA+Alexandria Township5 historic placesA+Franklin Township4 historic placesA

Questions about Kingwood Township’s history

What year was Kingwood Township founded?

In 1746, according to Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history of the town. Kingwood Township’s post office opened in 1822, and the first U.S. census counted 2,446 people here in 1790.

How does Kingwood Township rank for history?

Kingwood Township is more historic than 87% of U.S. towns, #81 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 Kingwood Township?

Three places: the Locktown Baptist Church (listed 1974), the Old Stone Presbyterian Church (2018) and the Thatcher House (2020).

How old are the homes in Kingwood Township?

16% of Kingwood Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±7.8 points), against a typical 15% for a New Jersey town; the median home was built in 1976.

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 (5), the National Register of Historic Places (3), Wikipedia, 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.