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C+History
History · Northfield

Northfield’s post office opened in 1905, and 14% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 36% of U.S. towns · #371 of 468 in New Jersey. What drives it

Its Register listing is the Jeremiah II or Edward Risley House. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1890 on, and the census since 1910.

1905first post office
1on the National Register
14%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Northfield’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Northfield began

When was Northfield founded?

1905

The Northfield post office opened in 1905, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Bakersville (1882), opened inside today’s city and later closed.

First census: 866 in 19102020 census: 8,434121 years

How historic is Northfield?

C+

More historic than 36% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Northfield post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).
History grade

What drives Northfield’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Northfield is more historic than 36% of U.S. towns, #371 of 468 in New Jersey. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its age pulls it down.

C+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Northfield’s overall grade.
Founding era1905, from the first post office: founded 1900–1944, an older era than 9% of U.S. townsDHomes built before 194014.3% of homes (±4.4) · typical NJ town 14.7% · U.S. 8.4%BNational Register1 listing, 3 historic buildings, 3.5 per 10,000 residents · typical NJ town 3.7 · U.S. 2.4B
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 36%
NewerOlder
New Jersey towns of 2,500+ (468)Ahead of 21%

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 Northfield’s 3.5 sits near the middle of its state (48% of New Jersey towns have fewer) while its 3 historic buildings 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 (±4.4 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.

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 Northfield’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 Northfield change.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Northfield’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewScene along Atlantic City and Shore Rai…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
On the map

Northfield on the map, 1890 to 1994

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

Northfield on the 1890 USGS mapNorthfield on the 1942 USGS mapNorthfield on the 1952 USGS mapNorthfield on the 1972 USGS mapNorthfield on the 1989 USGS mapNorthfield 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 Northfield.

The story so far

Northfield, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Northfield yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Northfield is a city in Atlantic County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the city's population was 8,434, a decrease of 190 (−2.2%) from the 2010 census count of 8,624, which in turn reflected an increase of 899 (+11.6%) from the 7,725 counted in the 2000 census. Northfield was founded by Jeremiah Leeds; he has a gravestone at Oxford Circle, but it is not certain that he was buried there. Northfield was incorporated as a city by an act of the New Jersey Legislature on March 21, 1905, from portions of Egg Harbor Township. A portion of Egg Harbor Township was transferred to Northfield in 1931, and then reverted to Egg Harbor Township in 1933. The city cal…

Its first post office opened in 1905. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 8,624 to 8,434 (-2%).

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

Timeline

Northfield, 1882 to 1912

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1882Post officeThe Bakersville post office opens
  3. 1890On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  4. 20th century
  5. 1905Post officeThe Bakersville post office closes
  6. 1905Post officeThe Northfield post office opens
  7. 1912In the archiveScene along Atlantic City and Shore Railroad, between Atlantic City and Ocean City - Nort…
  8. 1912Born hereWalter Fifield Snyder is born here
By decade

Northfield, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1910s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1910s1 item
Scene along Atlantic City and Shore Railroad, between Atlantic City and Ocean City - Northfield Golf Links1912Scene along Atlantic City and Shore Railroad, between…
1920s–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
Northfield City Hall42024Northfield City Hall4Northfield City Hall32024Northfield City Hall3Northfield City Hall22024Northfield City Hall2Northfield City Hall12024Northfield City Hall1JEREMIAH II OR EDWARD RISLEY HOUSE, ATLANTIC COUNTY, NJ2008JEREMIAH II OR EDWARD RISLEY HOUSE, ATLANTIC COUNTY, …
Every building

Northfield, building by building, 1924

Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a sheet.

Northfield fire insurance map, 1924, sheet 11924Sheet 1 of 8
BrickWoodStone

Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

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.

Scene along Atlantic City and Shore Railroad, between Atlantic City and Ocean City - Northfield Golf Links
Retake this viewScene along Atlantic City and Shore Railroad, between Atlantic City and Ocean City - Northfield Golf Links, 1912

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

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

1 historic place in Northfield

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

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
3
each building in a district counts
first listed
1991
Jeremiah II or Edward Risley House
Jeremiah II or Edward Risley House
Buildings
Jeremiah II or Edward Risley HouseBuilding

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

People over time

Northfield, census by census

02,0004,0006,0008,000192019401960198020002020Peak: 8,646

Between 866 and 8,646 people in every census since 1910.

12 censuses, 1910–2020.

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

Places that used to be

Lost post offices

Northfield’s post office has been open since 1905. Another post office, Bakersville, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Bakersville
1882–1905
Northfield
1905–today
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 placeBBargaintownIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townLinwood2 historic placesB

Questions about Northfield’s history

What year was Northfield founded?

The Northfield post office opened in 1905, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Northfield rank for history?

Northfield is more historic than 36% of U.S. towns, #371 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 Northfield?

One place: the Jeremiah II or Edward Risley House (listed 1991).

How old are the homes in Northfield?

14% of Northfield’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.4 points), against a typical 15% for a New Jersey town; the median home was built in 1965.

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 (6), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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 Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.