Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Palermo

We’ll email a one-tap link to publish your post. No password, and nothing is public until you click it.
Already a member? Sign in
–Not graded
History · Palermo

Palermo’s post office opened in 1872, and 1 of its places is on the National Register

Most of Palermo was built recently: 4% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1983.

1872first post office
1on the National Register
4%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Palermo began

When was Palermo founded?

1872

The Palermo post office opened in 1872, the earliest record of the town by name.

2020 census: 3,183154 years
Founding year: the first Palermo post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Palermo’s past

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

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Palermo are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Palermo’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story

How Palermo came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Palermo.

Read it all →

An early settler, Henry Young, arrived in New Jersey aboard a whaling vessel prior to 1700, and established a plantation extending west from Palermo.

The Friendship School in Palermo was built around 1830 and was restored in 1980. It is one of the oldest schools in Upper Township.

The Ocean City Railroad constructed a line through Palermo, and a station was erected there in 1897. The line later became part of the Pennsylvania-Reading Seashore Lines. The line is now abandoned.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

Palermo, decade by decade

Today5 recent
US 9 nb near Osprey Point, NJ, Nov. 20252025US 9 nb near Osprey Point, NJ, Nov. 2025US 9 nb in Palermo, NJ (2), Nov. 20252025US 9 nb in Palermo, NJ (2), Nov. 2025US 9 nb in Palermo, NJ (1), Nov. 20252025US 9 nb in Palermo, NJ (1), Nov. 2025US 9 nb entering Palermo, NJ, Nov. 20252025US 9 nb entering Palermo, NJ, Nov. 2025Second Cape May Baptist Church, Palermo, NJ, Nov. 20252025Second Cape May Baptist Church, Palermo, NJ, Nov. 2025
On the National Register

1 historic place in Palermo

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

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts

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

Famous people

Famous people close to Palermo

Nobody well known was born in Palermo itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
Gregory Goodwin PincusAmerican biochemist · b. 1903
Keith AndesAmerican actor · b. 1920
Peter ErskineAmerican musician · b. 1954
Gay TaleseAmerican writer · b. 1932
Walter TroutAmerican musician · b. 1951
Marla AdamsAmerican actress · b. 1938
Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

MarmoraIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townSeaville1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Palermo’s history

What year was Palermo founded?

The Palermo post office opened in 1872, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

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). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (5) and Wikipedia. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.