Founding year: Wikipedia. First post office: 1845.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives North Bergen Township’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, North Bergen Township is more historic than 66% of U.S. towns, #213 of 468 in New Jersey. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
B+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of North Bergen Township’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 North Bergen Township’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.
NoteThe founding year comes from Wikipedia alone; no second source gives 1843.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C+ to A. The pre-1940 share (±2.4 points) is firm at this size.
Founding year: Wikipedia (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 North Bergen Township’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Lost half of its people between 1860 and 1870, then grew more than tenfold.
18 censuses, 1850–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on North Bergen Township’s Wikipedia page.
On the map
North Bergen Township on the map, 1888 to 1995
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of North Bergen Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1888Paterson 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 North Bergen Township.
Places that used to be
Lost post offices, old corners and burying grounds
Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
New Durham
1845–1914
Hudson Heights
1901–1957
North Bergen
1936–today
18401930today
Hamlets and corners on the map
BabbittHudson HeightsNew DurhamNorth Bergen
6cemeteries and burying grounds inside North Bergen Township
At the time of European colonization the area was the territory of Hackensack tribe of the Lenape Native Americans, who maintained a settlement, Espatingh, on the west side of the hills and where a Dutch trading post was established after the Peach War. In 1658, Peter Stuyvesant, then Director-General of New Netherland, repurchased from them the area now encompassed by the municipalities of Hudson County east of the Hackensack River. This is commemorated in a New Deal post off mural entitled Purchase of Territory of North Bergen from the Indians. In 1660 Stuyvesant granted permission to establish the semi-autonomous colony of Bergen, with the main village located at today's Bergen Square, considered to be the first chartered municipality in what would become the state of New Jersey. At the time, the area of North Bergen was heavily forested, traversed by paths used by the indigenous and…
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.
In 1843, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. North Bergen Township’s post office opened in 1845, and the census of 1850 counted 3,578 people here.
How does North Bergen Township rank for history?
North Bergen Township is more historic than 66% of U.S. towns, #213 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 North Bergen Township?
30% of North Bergen Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.4 points), against a typical 15% for a New Jersey town; the median home was built in 1961.
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), 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.
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