Montvale’s post office opened in 1871, and 12% of its homes were built before 1940
More historic than 48% of U.S. towns · #316 of 468 in New Jersey. What drives it
Its Register listings are the Holdrum-Van Houten House, the Eckerson House and the Forshee-Van Orden House. Below: maps from 1910 on and the census since 1900.
Founding year: the first Montvale post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1894.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Montvale’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Montvale is more historic than 48% of U.S. towns, #316 of 468 in New Jersey. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.
B−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Montvale’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 Montvale’s 3.4 sits near the middle of its state (47% 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 C+ to B. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±6.7 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date; Wikidata’s 1894 falls in the same era, so the grade doesn’t depend on which one is used.
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 Montvale’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Montvale was incorporated as a borough on August 31, 1894, from portions of Orvil Township and Washington Township. The borough was formed during the "Boroughitis" phenomenon then sweeping through Bergen County, in which 26 boroughs were formed in the county in 1894 alone. On February 15, 1896, Montvale acquired part of Orvil Township. In 1906, Montvale added further land from Orvil and Washington townships, and in 1912, Montvale added territory from Upper Saddle River. On May 20, 1959, portions of Montvale were passed to River Vale, and on December 9 and 14, 1965, territories were exchanged between Montvale and Upper Saddle River. The borough's name is derived from its topography.
Passages that mention Montvale, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Bergen county, New Jersey1900 · page 298Read the page →
Read the text
Pascack was the name given to the northern part of the township which embraced what are now the villages of Woodcliff, Park Ridge, and Montvale. It is a settlement full of tradition and history antedating by a century or more, the beginning of the villages, whose existence were brought about chiefly by the building of the railroad in 1870. The Demarests, the Perrys, the Ackermans or Eckersons, the Westervelts, the Blauvelts, the Herings and others. Garret Ackerson, a native of Holland, settled at Old Tappan in Bergen county a long time prior to the
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Bergen county, New Jersey1900 · page 289Read the page →
Read the text
Hohokus and Ridge wood. The New Jersey and New York Railroad runs through the township in nearly a northerly direction with stations at Etna, Westwood, Hillsdale Manor, Woodcliff, Park Ridge and at Montvale. The borough fever attacked this township in 1894, and soon after each of the above named places, with one or two exceptions, became the capital of a borough formed within its precincts. First came the formation of the boroughs of Westwood, Woodcliff, Park Ridge, Mont-
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
Montvale, 1871 to 1982
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
The Montvale post office opened in 1871, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1894.
How does Montvale rank for history?
Montvale is more historic than 48% of U.S. towns, #316 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 Montvale?
Three places: the Holdrum-Van Houten House (listed 1983), the Eckerson House (1983) and the Forshee-Van Orden House (1984).
How old are the homes in Montvale?
12% of Montvale’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.7 points), against a typical 15% for a New Jersey town; the median home was built in 1968.
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 (12), the National Register of Historic Places (3), 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 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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