Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Peapack and Gladstone

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
Moses Craig Lime Kilns, Peapack-Gladstone, NJPhoto: Zeete · CC BY-SA 4.0
BHistory
History · Peapack and Gladstone

Peapack and Gladstone dates to 1912, and 32% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 56% of U.S. towns · #268 of 468 in New Jersey. What drives it

Its Register listings are the Gladstone Station and the Craig, Moses, Limekilns. Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1891 on, and the census since 1920.

1912founded
2on the National Register
32%homes built before 1940
2old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Peapack and Gladstone’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Peapack and Gladstone began

When was Peapack and Gladstone founded?

1912

Peapack and Gladstone dates its founding to 1912 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1920.

First census: 1,226 in 19202020 census: 2,558114 years

How historic is Peapack and Gladstone?

B

More historic than 56% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1823.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Peapack and Gladstone’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Peapack and Gladstone is more historic than 56% of U.S. towns, #268 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 Peapack and Gladstone’s overall grade.
Founding era1912, from Wikidata: founded 1900–1944, an older era than 9% of U.S. townsDHomes built before 194032.0% of homes (±8.8) · typical NJ town 14.7% · U.S. 8.4%ANational Register2 listings, 7.8 per 10,000 residents · typical NJ town 3.7 · U.S. 2.4B
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 56%
NewerOlder
New Jersey towns of 2,500+ (468)Ahead of 43%

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 Peapack and Gladstone’s 7.8 sits above most of its state (66% of New Jersey towns have fewer) while its 2 listings outnumber those of 60% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C to A−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±8.8 points). Two sources give 1912.

Founding year: Wikidata (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 Peapack and Gladstone’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 2 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 18916 editions of the USGS map, 1891 to 1995. Watch Peapack and Gladstone change.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Peapack and Gladstone’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Peapack and Gladstone’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Date a photo1 archive item has no date. Guess the decade.+2Retake an old viewChurch Window by Carroll Jones III: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
On the map

Peapack and Gladstone on the map, 1891 to 1995

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

Peapack and Gladstone on the 1891 USGS mapPeapack and Gladstone on the 1905 USGS mapPeapack and Gladstone on the 1943 USGS mapPeapack and Gladstone on the 1954 USGS mapPeapack and Gladstone on the 1970 USGS mapPeapack and Gladstone on the 1995 USGS map1891Somerville 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 Peapack and Gladstone.

The story

How Peapack and Gladstone came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Peapack and Gladstone.

Read it all →

In 1912, the communities of Peapack and Gladstone found themselves in conflict with the rest of Bedminster. Residents of the two communities wanted electric lights, telephones and fire hydrants and resented being forced to pay for rural roads elsewhere in the township. Residents petitioned the state legislature for the creation of the borough and the Legislature voted to do so on April 23, 1912.

Peapack is believed to have been derived from "Peapackton,” a Lenape Native American term meaning "marriage of the waters", a reference to the confluence of the Peapack Brook and Raritan River in the area. Gladstone was named in honor of William Ewart Gladstone, who served as British Prime Minister several times between 1868 and 1894.

ChaptersFormationVillage namesNatirar

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Peapack and Gladstone, 1823 to 1975

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1823Post officeThe Peapack post office opens
  3. 1860BuiltCraig, Moses, Limekilns is built
  4. 1886Post officeThe Gladstone post office opens
  5. 1890BuiltGladstone Station is built
  6. 1891On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  7. 20th century
  8. 1912
    FoundingPeapack and Gladstone is established
  9. 1975In the archiveChurch Window by Carroll Jones III
By decade

Peapack and Gladstone, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1970s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1970s1 item
Church Window by Carroll Jones III1975Church Window by Carroll Jones III
1980s–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
Date unknown1 to date
Census Bureau map of Peapack-Gladstone, New JerseyDate?Census Bureau map of Peapack-Gladstone, New JerseyMap
Today5 recent
Peapack Reformed Church, Peapack-Gladstone, NJ2023Peapack Reformed Church, Peapack-Gladstone, NJMunicipal Complex and Public Library, Peapack-Gladstone, NJ2023Municipal Complex and Public Library, Peapack-Gladsto…Peapack Gladstone NJ2018Peapack Gladstone NJFarming2016FarmingPeapack and gladstone nj 0352005Peapack and gladstone nj 035
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.

Church Window by Carroll Jones III
Retake this viewChurch Window by Carroll Jones III, 1975

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

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

2 historic places in Peapack and Gladstone

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

places listed
2
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
2
each building in a district counts
first listed
1984
Gladstone Station
Gladstone Station, built 1890Craig, Moses, Limekilns, built 1860
BuildingsStructures
Gladstone StationBuilt 1890
Craig, Moses, LimekilnsBuilt 1860

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

People over time

Peapack and Gladstone, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0002,500192019401960198020002020Peak: 2,582

Between 1,226 and 2,582 people in every census since 1920.

11 censuses, 1920–2020.

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

Places that used to be

Old corners and places now gone

Old hamlets and crossroads still carry their names on the map.

Peapack
1823–today
Gladstone
1886–today
18201920today
Hamlets and corners on the map
GladstonePeapack
Gone or out of use
Iron Minemine

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.

Far Hills2 historic placesnot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townBernardsville5 historic placesA−Bedminster Township3 historic placesB

Questions about Peapack and Gladstone’s history

What year was Peapack and Gladstone founded?

In 1912, according to Wikidata. Peapack and Gladstone’s post office opened in 1823, and the census of 1920 counted 1,226 people here.

How does Peapack and Gladstone rank for history?

Peapack and Gladstone is more historic than 56% of U.S. towns, #268 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 Peapack and Gladstone?

Two places: the Gladstone Station (listed 1984) and the Craig, Moses, Limekilns (2019).

How old are the homes in Peapack and Gladstone?

32% of Peapack and Gladstone’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±8.8 points), against a typical 15% for a New Jersey town; the median home was built in 1970.

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 (7), Wikidata (2), the National Register of Historic Places (2), Wikipedia, 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.