The Linden post office opened in 1866, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, Tremley (1884) and Grasselli (1904), opened inside today’s city and later closed.
First census: 1,396 in 18702020 census: 43,738160 years
How historic is Linden?
C+
More historic than 36% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Linden post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Linden’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Linden is more historic than 36% of U.S. towns, #377 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 Linden’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 Linden’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 Linden’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
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.
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.
Linden was originally formed as a township on March 4, 1861, from portions of Elizabeth, Rahway and Union Township. Portions of the township were taken to form Cranford (March 14, 1871), Linden Borough (March 30, 1882) and Roselle (December 20, 1894). Linden was incorporated as a city by an act of the New Jersey Legislature on January 1, 1925, replacing both Linden Township and Linden Borough, based on the results of a referendum held on November 8, 1923. The city's name derives from linden trees brought from Germany.
Passages that mention Linden, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Union County, New Jersey1897 · page 640Read the page →
Read the text
His resignation took effect October ist, 1877. He was here during the dark days of Linden, and when he left, the church was virtually disbanded, but twenty-one souls were added to the membership under his ministry. In October, 1877, the classis of Newark reorganized the church. A new consistory was elected and properly installed ; Rev. Mr.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Union County, New Jersey1897 · page 636Read the page →
Read the text
Linden township was first settled in common with Elizabeth town, of which it originally formed a part. Stephen Crane was among the .
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
Linden, 1866 to 2020
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
The Linden post office opened in 1866, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Linden rank for history?
Linden is more historic than 36% of U.S. towns, #377 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 Linden?
20% of Linden’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 1957.
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 (10), 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, Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress) 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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