Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 40% of U.S. towns · #353 of 468 in New Jersey. What drives it
Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1890 on, and the census since 1900.
Penns Grove dates its founding to 1894 (Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history agree). The census first counted it in 1900.
More historic than 40% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Penns Grove is more historic than 40% of U.S. towns, #353 of 468 in New Jersey. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
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 Penns Grove’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.
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 →
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Penns Grove’s history is told.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Penns Grove. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Penns Grove.
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 year, then a sheet.
1897Sheet 1 of 3Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
From Wikipedia’s history of Penns Grove.
The area was long primarily agricultural. Penns Grove was incorporated as a borough by an act of the New Jersey Legislature on March 8, 1894, from portions of Upper Penns Neck Township (now Carneys Point Township), based on the results of a referendum held two days earlier. It began to industrialize around this time. The borough's name comes from William Penn.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
In the archive1950 Census Enumeration District Maps - New Jersey (NJ) - Salem County - Penns Grove - ED…
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
Born hereJohn Forsythe is born here
Born herePaul Foster is born here
Born hereDon Bragg is born here
Born hereMyles Martin is born hereOne decade in the archive so far: the 1880s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
2025River Church, Penns Grove, NJ, Feb. 2025
2025Penns Grove, NJ post office, Feb. 2025
2025Penns Grove, NJ Middle School, Feb. 2025
2025Penns Grove, NJ Elks Club building, Feb. 2025
2025Penns Grove, NJ Borough Hall (2), Feb. 2025
2025Penns Grove, NJ Borough Hall (1), Feb. 2025
2025New Hope United Methodist Church, Penns Grove, NJ, Fe…
2024Delaware River from
202020201008 09 Penns Grove, New Jersey (2)
202020201008 08 Penns Grove, New Jersey (2)
2004Map of Salem County highlighting Penns Grove BoroughMapNo then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Penns Grove’s page.
Retake this view · +15Peaked at 6,669 in 1950; 4,837 people lived here in 2020.
13 censuses, 1900–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Penns Grove’s Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
In 1894, according to Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history of the town. Penns Grove’s post office opened in 1844, and the census of 1900 counted 1,826 people here.
Penns Grove is more historic than 40% of U.S. towns, #353 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.
24% of Penns Grove’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.3 points), against a typical 15% for a New Jersey town; the median home was built in 1955.
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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), 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.
