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Magnolia, NJ former train station, Nov. 2024Photo: Mr. Matté (if there is an issue with this image, contact me using this image's Commons talk page, my Commons user talk page, or my English Wikipedia user talk page; I'll know about it a lot faster) · CC BY-SA 4.0
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History · Magnolia

Magnolia’s post office opened in 1867, and 11% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 26% of U.S. towns · #414 of 468 in New Jersey. What drives it

Below: maps from 1891 on and the census since 1920.

1867first post office
0on the National Register
11%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: Mr. Matté (if there is an issue with this image, contact me using this image's Commons talk page, my Commons user talk page, or my English Wikipedia user talk page; I'll know about it a lot faster) · CC BY-SA 4.0
Quick answers

How Magnolia began

When was Magnolia founded?

1867

The Magnolia post office opened in 1867, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1915.

First census: 1,245 in 19202020 census: 4,352159 years

How historic is Magnolia?

C

More historic than 26% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Magnolia post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1915.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Magnolia’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Magnolia is more historic than 26% of U.S. towns, #414 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 Magnolia’s overall grade.
Founding era1867, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 194010.8% of homes (±5.4) · typical NJ town 14.7% · U.S. 8.4%B−National RegisterNo listings counted · typical NJ town 3.7 per 10,000 · U.S. 2.4C−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 26%
NewerOlder
New Jersey towns of 2,500+ (468)Ahead of 12%

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 Magnolia’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 C+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±5.4 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date; Wikidata gives 1915.

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 Magnolia’s past

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

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Magnolia are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 18917 editions of the USGS map, 1891 to 1994. Watch Magnolia change.Boom and bustPeaked at 5,893 in 1970; 4,352 people lived here in 2020.Old housesHalf of Magnolia’s homes were built before 1961.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Magnolia’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
On the map

Magnolia on the map, 1891 to 1994

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

Magnolia on the 1891 USGS mapMagnolia on the 1920 USGS mapMagnolia on the 1943 USGS mapMagnolia on the 1952 USGS mapMagnolia on the 1967 USGS mapMagnolia on the 1981 USGS mapMagnolia on the 1994 USGS map1891Philadelphia 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 Magnolia.

People over time

Magnolia, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0002,5003,0003,5004,0004,5005,0005,5006,0006,500192019401960198020002020Peak: 5,893

Peaked at 5,893 in 1970; 4,352 people lived here in 2020.

11 censuses, 1920–2020.

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

The story

How Magnolia came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Magnolia.

Read it all →

Magnolia was incorporated as a borough by an act of the New Jersey Legislature on April 14, 1915, from portions of the now-defunct Centre Township, and parts of Clementon, based on the results of a referendum held on May 12, 1915. The borough was named for magnolia trees that grow in the area.

Magnolia has been the site of one of seven remaining single-arch McDonald's signs in the United States, with the bulk of signs in the nation matching the company's trademarked Golden Arches.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Magnolia, 1867 to 1970

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1867Post officeThe Magnolia post office opens
  3. 1867Post officeThe Magnolia post office closes
  4. 1886Post officeThe Magnolia post office opens
  5. 1891On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  6. 20th century
  7. 1970CensusPopulation peaks at 5,893
By decade

Magnolia, decade by decade

Today8 recent
Magnolia, NJ municipal building, Nov. 20242024Magnolia, NJ municipal building, Nov. 2024Magnolia, NJ former train station, Nov. 20242024Magnolia, NJ former train station, Nov. 2024Magnolia, NJ McDonald's, Nov. 20242024Magnolia, NJ McDonald's, Nov. 2024Holy Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church, Magnolia, NJ, Nov. 20242024Holy Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church, Magnolia, N…Christ Episcopal Church, Magnolia, NJ, Nov. 20242024Christ Episcopal Church, Magnolia, NJ, Nov. 2024Albertson Park, Magnolia, NJ, Nov. 20242024Albertson Park, Magnolia, NJ, Nov. 2024Magnolia, NJ McDonalds sign, July 20212021Magnolia, NJ McDonalds sign, July 2021Census Bureau map of2008Census Bureau map ofMap
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners and burying grounds

Magnolia had its own post office from 1867 to 1867.

Magnolia
1867–1867
Magnolia
1886–today
18601940today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Greenland
1cemetery inside Magnolia
Albertson Memorial Park

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.

SomerdaleIts storyDLawnside2 historic placesC+RunnemedeIts storyB+Gloucester Township7 historic placesA−

Questions about Magnolia’s history

What year was Magnolia founded?

The Magnolia post office opened in 1867, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1915.

How does Magnolia rank for history?

Magnolia is more historic than 26% of U.S. towns, #414 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 Magnolia?

11% of Magnolia’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.4 points), against a typical 15% for a New Jersey town; the median home was built in 1961.

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 (8), 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.