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B+History
History · Pittsgrove Township

Pittsgrove Township dates to 1769, and 10% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 71% of U.S. towns · #175 of 468 in New Jersey. What drives it

Its Register listing is the Moshe Bayuk House. Below: maps from 1890 on and the census since 1810.

1769founded
1on the National Register
10%homes built before 1940
2famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Pittsgrove Township began, and where its name came from

When was Pittsgrove Township founded?

1769

Pittsgrove Township dates its founding to 1769 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1810.

First census: 1,991 in 18102020 census: 8,777257 years

How did Pittsgrove Township get its name?

Pittsgrove Township was named after the Alliance Israélite Universelle of Paris and was funded by the Hebrew Emigrant Aid Society of New York and Philadelphia and the Baron De Hirsch Fund.

How historic is Pittsgrove Township?

B+

More historic than 71% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1844. Name: Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Pittsgrove Township’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Pittsgrove Township is more historic than 71% of U.S. towns, #175 of 468 in New Jersey. Its age holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.

B+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Pittsgrove Township’s overall grade.
Founding era1769, from Wikidata: founded before 1776, an older era than 96% of U.S. townsA+Homes built before 194010.3% of homes (±3.9) · typical NJ town 14.7% · U.S. 8.4%B−National Register1 listing, 1.1 per 10,000 residents · typical NJ town 3.7 · U.S. 2.4C+
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 71%
NewerOlder
New Jersey towns of 2,500+ (468)Ahead of 63%

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 Pittsgrove Township’s 1.1 sits below most of its state (33% of New Jersey towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.

NoteThe founding year comes from Wikidata alone; no second source gives 1769.
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 (±3.9 points).

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 Pittsgrove Township’s past

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

Lost villages3 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Pittsgrove Township, and 10 old place names are still on the map.A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Pittsgrove Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Shrank, then grewLost half of its people between 1840 and 1850, then grew 7-fold.On the map since 18905 editions of the USGS map, 1890 to 1994. Watch Pittsgrove Township change.
★ What stands out · Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Three other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Centreton
1844–1953
Palatine
1865–1911
Alliance
1888–1917
Norma
1888–today
18401930today
Hamlets and corners on the map
AllianceBrotmanvilleCentertonGreenvilleLawrence CornerNormaOlivetPalatineSix PointsWillow Grove
Gone or out of use
HCD Vickers FieldairportHIGairport
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Pittsgrove Township
AllianceOlivet

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Help out

Start Pittsgrove Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Pittsgrove Township’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
People over time

Pittsgrove Township, census by census

02,0004,0006,0008,00010,00018501900195020002,390 in 1840Low: 1,151

Lost half of its people between 1840 and 1850, then grew 7-fold.

22 censuses, 1810–2020.

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

The story

How Pittsgrove Township came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Pittsgrove Township.

Read it all →

The Alliance Colony was a Jewish agricultural community that was founded on May 10, 1882, in Pittsgrove Township. It was named after the Alliance Israélite Universelle of Paris and was funded by the Hebrew Emigrant Aid Society of New York and Philadelphia and the Baron De Hirsch Fund. The Moshe Bayuk House is the last remaining structure at the site of the colony.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Pittsgrove Township, 1769 to 2010

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

  1. 18th century
  2. 1769
    FoundingPittsgrove Township is established
  3. 1794Born hereMatthew Newkirk is born here
  4. 19th century
  5. 1844Post officeThe Centreton post office opens
  6. 1865Post officeThe Palatine post office opens
  7. 1888Post officeThe Alliance post office opens
  8. 1890On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  9. 20th century
  10. 1911Post officeThe Palatine post office closes
  11. 1917Post officeThe Alliance post office closes
  12. 1953Post officeThe Centreton post office closes
  13. 1978Born hereKevin Jackson is born here
  14. 21st century
  15. 2010CensusPopulation peaks at 9,393
By decade

Pittsgrove Township, decade by decade

Today4 recent
Rainbow Lake, Pittsgrove Twp., NJ, Dec. 20242024Rainbow Lake, Pittsgrove Twp., NJ, Dec. 2024Pittsgrove Township, NJ municipal building, Sept. 20242024Pittsgrove Township, NJ municipal building, Sept. 2024Bayuk House2013Bayuk HouseMap of Salem County highlighting2004Map of Salem County highlightingMap
On the map

Pittsgrove Township on the map, 1890 to 1994

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

Pittsgrove Township on the 1890 USGS mapPittsgrove Township on the 1948 USGS mapPittsgrove Township on the 1953 USGS mapPittsgrove Township on the 1972 USGS mapPittsgrove Township on the 1994 USGS map1890Glassboro 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 Pittsgrove Township.

On the National Register

1 historic place in Pittsgrove Township

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
first listed
2012
Moshe Bayuk House
Moshe Bayuk House
Buildings
Moshe Bayuk HouseBuilding

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

Famous people

2 famous people were born in Pittsgrove Township

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
K
Kevin JacksonAmerican soccer player · b. 1978
Matthew NewkirkAmerican businessman, civic leader · b. 1794
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Vineland3 historic placesB−Upper Pittsgrove Township1 historic placeA−Elmer1 historic placeADeerfield Township1 historic placeB+Upper Deerfield Township2 historic placesC−Franklin TownshipIts storyC

Questions about Pittsgrove Township’s history

What year was Pittsgrove Township founded?

In 1769, according to Wikidata. Pittsgrove Township’s post office opened in 1844, and the census of 1810 counted 1,991 people here.

How does Pittsgrove Township rank for history?

Pittsgrove Township is more historic than 71% of U.S. towns, #175 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 Pittsgrove Township?

One place: the Moshe Bayuk House (listed 2012).

How old are the homes in Pittsgrove Township?

10% of Pittsgrove Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.9 points), against a typical 15% for a New Jersey town; the median home was built in 1976.

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 (4), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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.