Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 39% of U.S. towns · #356 of 468 in New Jersey. What drives it
Most of Point Pleasant was built recently: 7% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1970. Below: 4 old photos and papers, maps from 1888 on, and the census since 1930.
The Point Pleasant post office opened in 1834, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, West Point Pleasant (1881), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
More historic than 39% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Point Pleasant is more historic than 39% of U.S. towns, #356 of 468 in New Jersey. Its age 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 Point Pleasant’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: the first post office (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 Point Pleasant’s history is told.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Point Pleasant. 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 Point Pleasant.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
In the archiveLeighton Hotel, Point Pleasant, NJ 1914-18
Born hereDiamond Dallas Page is born here
Born hereTodd Frazier is born hereFrom Wikipedia’s history of Point Pleasant.
Around 1500, the area that included the future Point Pleasant was the ceremonial meeting place of the Lenape Native Americans, who called it the "Land of Tall Timber". In approximately 1665, the first European settlers arrived in the area, mainly fishermen, farmers and boat builders.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
One decade in the archive so far: the 1910s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
No 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 Point Pleasant’s page.
Retake this view · +15Between 2,058 and 19,306 people in every census since 1930.
10 censuses, 1930–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Point Pleasant’s Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Point Pleasant had its own post office from 1834 to 1956. Another post office, West Point Pleasant, opened and closed inside today’s town.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
The Point Pleasant post office opened in 1834, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Point Pleasant is more historic than 39% of U.S. towns, #356 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.
7% of Point Pleasant’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.5 points), against a typical 15% for a New Jersey town; the median home was built in 1970.
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 (6), 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.
1917
1917
1917
2009
2005