Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Pleasantdale

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 · Pleasantdale

16% of Pleasantdale’s homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1888 on.

0on the National Register
16%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory

What stands out about Pleasantdale’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 Pleasantdale are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 18888 editions of the USGS map, 1888 to 1995. Watch Pleasantdale change.Old housesHalf of Pleasantdale’s homes were built before 1953.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Pleasantdale’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Pleasantdale’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
On the map

Pleasantdale on the map, 1888 to 1995

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

Pleasantdale on the 1888 USGS mapPleasantdale on the 1894 USGS mapPleasantdale on the 1906 USGS mapPleasantdale on the 1947 USGS mapPleasantdale on the 1954 USGS mapPleasantdale on the 1970 USGS mapPleasantdale on the 1981 USGS mapPleasantdale on the 1995 USGS map1888Morristown 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 Pleasantdale.

The story so far

Pleasantdale, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Pleasantdale yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Pleasantdale is a census-designated place (CDP) located in West Orange Township, Essex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 census, Pleasantdale had a population of 2,329. It is in the northwest part of the township, bordered to the north by Eagle Rock Avenue, to the east by Pleasant Valley Way, to the south by Interstate 280, and to the west by Livingston Township and the borough of Roseland. The boundaries of the CDP may differ from local understanding of the community's extent. Crestmont Country Club atop Second Watchung Mountain occupies the western side of the CDP.

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

By decade

No old photos in the archives yet

Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.

Be the first to add onePhotograph a print flat, in daylight, no flash.
Add from your album
Famous people

Famous people close to Pleasantdale

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

See all →
Grover Cleveland22nd & 24th President of the United States (188… · b. 1837
Richard ThalerAmerican economist · b. 1945
Jared KushnerAmerican businessman and real estate investor · b. 1981
Joshua LederbergAmerican molecular biologist · b. 1925
Lauryn HillAmerican singer and rapper · b. 1975
Dionne WarwickAmerican singer · b. 1940

Questions about Pleasantdale’s history

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 U.S. Geological Survey historical maps. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.