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History · Longport

Longport’s post office opened in 1884, and 2 of its places are on the National Register

Most of Longport was built recently: 9% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1975. Its Register listings are the Church of the Redeemer and the Great Egg Coast Guard Station. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1890 on, and the census since 1900.

1884first post office
2on the National Register
9%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Longport’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Longport began

When was Longport founded?

1884

The Longport post office opened in 1884, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1898.

First census: 80 in 19002020 census: 893142 years
Founding year: the first Longport post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1898.The full story ↓

What stands out about Longport’s past

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

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 1 old photo is in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 18906 editions of the USGS map, 1890 to 1994. Watch Longport change.Boom and bustPeaked at 1,249 in 1980; 893 people lived here in 2020.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Longport’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewSmedley Butler, Longport, New Jersey, 1…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
On the map

Longport on the map, 1890 to 1994

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

Longport on the 1890 USGS mapLongport on the 1942 USGS mapLongport on the 1952 USGS mapLongport on the 1972 USGS mapLongport on the 1989 USGS mapLongport on the 1994 USGS map1890Great Egg Harbor 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 Longport.

People over time

Longport, census by census

02004006008001,0001,2001900192019401960198020002020Peak: 1,249

Peaked at 1,249 in 1980; 893 people lived here in 2020.

13 censuses, 1900–2020.

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

The story

How Longport came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Longport.

Read it all →

James Long, an absentee owner, purchased a parcel in 1857 that grew over the years as sand accumulated and as additional property was purchased. Acquired by M. Simpson McCullough in 1882, the community was named Longport in honor of Long.

Longport was incorporated as a borough by an act of the New Jersey Legislature on March 7, 1898, from portions of Egg Harbor Township.

In 2014, residents of Seaview Harbor, located across Beach Thorofare, submitted a petition to join neighboring Longport, citing lack of access to the rest of Egg Harbor Township and high taxes. In November 2016, the Township Committee voted to deny the secession plan. The plan has been brought before an appeals judge and the outcome is pending.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Longport, 1884 to 1980

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1884Post officeThe Longport post office opens
  3. 1890On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  4. 1897In the archiveSmedley Butler, Longport, New Jersey, 1897
  5. 20th century
  6. 1954Post officeThe Longport post office closes
  7. 1980CensusPopulation peaks at 1,249
By decade

Longport, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1890s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1890s1 item
Smedley Butler, Longport, New Jersey, 18971897Smedley Butler, Longport, New Jersey, 1897
1900s–1990snothing yet
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.
Add from your album
Today5 recent
Longport lifeguard races, 20132013Longport lifeguard races, 2013Longport NJ house2011Longport NJ houseGreat Egg NJ Coast Guard St2011Great Egg NJ Coast Guard StLongport11thAve2008Longport11thAveCensus Bureau map of2008Census Bureau map ofMap
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.

Smedley Butler, Longport, New Jersey, 1897
Retake this viewSmedley Butler, Longport, New Jersey, 1897, 1897

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Longport’s page.

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

2 historic places in Longport

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

places listed
2
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
2
each building in a district counts
first listed
1992
Church of the Redeemer
Church of the RedeemerGreat Egg Coast Guard Station
Buildings
Church of the RedeemerBuilding
Great Egg Coast Guard StationBuilding

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

Famous people

Famous people close to Longport

Nobody well known was born in Longport itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
Gregory Goodwin PincusAmerican biochemist · b. 1903
Keith AndesAmerican actor · b. 1920
R
Robert EttingerAmerican academic, trans humanist and cryonics … · b. 1918
Allan KaprowAmerican artist · b. 1927
B
Benjamin BurnleyAmerican rock musician · b. 1978
N
Norman Joseph WoodlandInventor of the barcode · b. 1921
Places that used to be

Lost post offices

Longport had its own post office from 1884 to 1954.

Longport
1884–1954
18801950today

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Egg Harbor Township1 historic placeBOcean City6 historic placesB+

Questions about Longport’s history

What year was Longport founded?

The Longport post office opened in 1884, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1898.

What is on the National Register in Longport?

Two places: the Church of the Redeemer (listed 1992) and the Great Egg Coast Guard Station (2005).

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), the National Register of Historic Places (2), 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.