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C−History
History · Monroe Township

1 of Monroe Township’s places is on the National Register

More historic than 22% of U.S. towns · #435 of 468 in New Jersey. What drives it

Its Register listing is the Holmes-Tallman House. Most of Monroe Township was built recently: 2% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1995. Below: 3 old photos and papers, maps from 1888 on, and the census since 1840.

1on the National Register
2%homes built before 1940
3old photos & papers
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Monroe Township’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

About Monroe Township’s history

How historic is Monroe Township?

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More historic than 22% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Monroe Township’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Monroe Township is more historic than 22% of U.S. towns, #435 of 468 in New Jersey. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.

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HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Monroe Township’s overall grade.
Founding eraNo founding year we can rely on, so the grade uses the other two–Homes built before 19402.0% of homes (±0.8) · typical NJ town 14.7% · U.S. 8.4%C−National Register1 listing, 2 historic buildings, 0.4 per 10,000 residents · typical NJ town 3.7 · U.S. 2.4C+
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 22%
NewerOlder
New Jersey towns of 2,500+ (468)Ahead of 7%

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 Monroe Township’s 0.4 sits below most of its state (26% of New Jersey towns have fewer) while its 2 historic buildings outnumber those of 60% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on two of the three inputs, so a change in either one moves the letter more than it would with three. The pre-1940 share (±0.8 points) is firm at this size.

Founding year: our sources. 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 Monroe Township’s past

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

Lost villages2 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Monroe Township, and 27 old place names are still on the map.A history waiting to be writtenOnly 3 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Shrank, then grewLost a third of its people between 1870 and 1900, then grew more than tenfold.On the map since 18887 editions of the USGS map, 1888 to 1981. Watch Monroe Township change.
★ What stands out · Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

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

Prospect Plains
1859–1956
Applegarth
1888–1907
18501940today
Hamlets and corners on the map
ApplegarthClearbrookClearbrook ParkConcordiaEncore at MonroeForsgateGravel HillHalf AcreHoffmanJamesburg GardensMatchaponixMiddlesex DownsMonroe ManorMounts MillsOutcaltProspect PlainsRegency at MonroeRenaissance at MonroeRossmoorShore Road EstatesSpotswood ManorStonebridgeTexasThe Ponds
Gone or out of use
Township School Number 1schoolTownship School Number 2school
3cemeteries and burying grounds inside Monroe Township
Hoffman HillHoly TrinitySaint James the Less

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

Help out

Start Monroe Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Monroe 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 photo3 archive items have no date. Guess the decade.+2Retake an old viewFcc2: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
People over time

Monroe Township, census by census

05,00010,00015,00020,00025,00030,00035,00040,00045,00050,00018501900195020003,253 in 1870Low: 1,829

Lost a third of its people between 1870 and 1900, then grew more than tenfold.

19 censuses, 1840–2020.

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

The story

How Monroe Township came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Monroe Township.

Read it all →

The earliest settlers in what would become Monroe Township were the Lenape Native Americans. Monroe Township was founded in April 1838 and named in honor of the fifth President of the United States, James Monroe.

For many decades, the township area was largely a farming community. After parts of the township grew into the more densely populated neighborhoods of Helmetta, Jamesburg, and Spotswood in the late 19th century, they seceded. Railroads came into Monroe from just about the very beginning, starting with the Camden and Amboy Rail Road in the 1830s and 1840s.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Monroe Township, 1859 to 2020

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1859Post officeThe Prospect Plains post office opens
  3. 1860BuiltHolmes-Tallman House is built
  4. 1888Post officeThe Applegarth post office opens
  5. 1888On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  6. 20th century
  7. 1907Post officeThe Applegarth post office closes
  8. 1956Post officeThe Prospect Plains post office closes
  9. 1995Born hereGordon Ryan is born here
  10. 21st century
  11. 2020CensusPopulation peaks at 48,594
By decade

Monroe Township, decade by decade

Date unknown3 to date
Census Bureau map of Monroe Township, Middlesex County, New JerseyDate?Census Bureau map of Monroe Township, Middlesex Count…MapFcc2Date?Fcc2Side entrance to concordiaDate?Side entrance to concordia
Today18 recent
Hightstown Industrial Track in disuse at Prospect Plains Road in Monroe Township2025Hightstown Industrial Track in disuse at Prospect Pla…Belmont Court, Monroe, NJ 088312025Belmont Court, Monroe, NJ 088312025-09-15 16 08 20 Aerial view of Interstate 95 (New Jersey Turnpike) near the border of South Brunswick, East Brunswi…20252025-09-15 16 08 20 Aerial view of Interstate 95 (New…Hightstown Industrial Track looking southwest from Prospect Plains Road in Monroe Township2024Hightstown Industrial Track looking southwest from Pr…Hightstown Industrial Track looking northeast from Prospect Plains Road in Monroe Township2024Hightstown Industrial Track looking northeast from Pr…Berry Global manufacturing facility in Monroe Township New Jersey2024Berry Global manufacturing facility in Monroe Townshi…Abandoned siding of Hightstown Industrial Track in Monroe Township2024Abandoned siding of Hightstown Industrial Track in Mo…Monroe Twp. Municipal Complex2021Monroe Twp. Municipal ComplexDrainage canal for Manalapan Brook in2021Drainage canal for Manalapan Brook inYouth of Monroe at a track meet2020Youth of Monroe at a track meetConstruction in2020Construction in55+ community in202055+ community inGravel Hill, NJ2015Gravel Hill, NJConcordia Golf Course, NJ2015Concordia Golf Course, NJWhite Oak Tree, Monroe, NJ - May 27, 20132013White Oak Tree, Monroe, NJ - May 27, 2013Monroe Twp Tower 20052007Monroe Twp Tower 2005Monroe Township, New Jersey2007Monroe Township, New JerseyMonroe-twp-nj2006Monroe-twp-nj
On the map

Monroe Township on the map, 1888 to 1981

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

Monroe Township on the 1888 USGS mapMonroe Township on the 1893 USGS mapMonroe Township on the 1901 USGS mapMonroe Township on the 1942 USGS mapMonroe Township on the 1953 USGS mapMonroe Township on the 1970 USGS mapMonroe Township on the 1981 USGS map1888New Brunswick 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 Monroe 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.

Fcc2
Retake this viewFcc2

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

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

1 historic place in Monroe Township

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

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
2
each building in a district counts
first listed
1979
Holmes-Tallman House
Holmes-Tallman House, built 1860
Buildings
Holmes-Tallman HouseBuilt 1860

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.

Old Bridge Township1 historic placeB−Helmetta1 historic placeA−Spotswood1 historic placeBManalapan Township1 historic placeCTwin RiversIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townEast Windsor TownshipIts storyCCranbury Township2 historic placesB+Millstone Township2 historic placesB−South Brunswick Township4 historic placesBRenaissance at MonroeIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Monroe Township’s history

How does Monroe Township rank for history?

Monroe Township is more historic than 22% of U.S. towns, #435 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 Monroe Township?

One place: the Holmes-Tallman House (listed 1979).

How old are the homes in Monroe Township?

2% of Monroe Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 15% for a New Jersey town; the median home was built in 1995.

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 (21), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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.