Nutley Township’s post office opened in 1887, and 31% of its homes were built before 1940
More historic than 72% of U.S. towns · #172 of 468 in New Jersey. What drives it
3 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 10 buildings. Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1888 on, and the census since 1880.
From Nutley Township’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers
How Nutley Township began
When was Nutley Township founded?
1887
The Nutley Township post office opened in 1887, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, Avondale (1873) and Nutley (1887), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
First census: 1,617 in 18802020 census: 30,143139 years
How historic is Nutley Township?
B+
More historic than 72% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Nutley Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Nutley Township’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Nutley Township is more historic than 72% of U.S. towns, #172 of 468 in New Jersey. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its age pulls it down.
B+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Nutley 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 Nutley Township’s 4.0 sits near the middle of its state (52% of New Jersey towns have fewer) while its 12 historic buildings outnumber those of 77% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from B− to A. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±3.8 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 Nutley Township’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Nutley 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 Nutley Township.
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.
Avondale
1873–1905
Nutley
1887–1907
18701950today
Hamlets and corners on the map
AvondaleNutley
Gone or out of use
Yountakah Golf Courselocale
1cemetery inside Nutley Township
Vincent
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Nutley grew slowly as Newark developed. The first European settler in the area, recorded in the minutes of a Newark town meeting in 1693, was a Dutch planter named Bastian Van Giesen. His son had a home constructed after inheriting the property in 1751 and is now known as Vreeland Homestead. It still stands today on Chestnut Street and was the location of the Nutley Women's Club from 1912 until 2012 when it was sold to the township. The Van Riper House is another building from the era. During the revolutionary war, the Continental Army, under the command of General George Washington, retreated from New York through Essex County and what is now Nutley.
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.
The Nutley Township post office opened in 1887, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Nutley Township rank for history?
Nutley Township is more historic than 72% of U.S. towns, #172 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 Nutley Township?
Three places: the Enclosure Historic District (listed 1974), the Kingsland Manor (1978) and the Vreeland Homestead (1994).
How old are the homes in Nutley Township?
31% of Nutley Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.8 points), against a typical 15% for a New Jersey town; the median home was built in 1953.
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 (11), Wikidata (1), 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) 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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