Red Bank’s post office opened in 1833, and 32% of its homes were built before 1940
More historic than 90% of U.S. towns · #60 of 468 in New Jersey. What drives it
9 places in town are on the National Register, among them the T. Thomas Fortune House, a National Historic Landmark. 9 places in town are on the National Register, among them the T. Thomas Fortune House, a National Historic Landmark. Below: 4 old photos and papers, maps from 1888 on, and the census since 1870.
Founding year: the first Red Bank post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Red Bank’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Red Bank is more historic than 90% of U.S. towns, #60 of 468 in New Jersey. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its share of homes from before 1940 ranks highest and its National Register listings lowest.
A
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Red Bank’s overall grade.
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 Red Bank’s 7.0 sits near the middle of its state (63% of New Jersey towns have fewer) while its 9 listings outnumber those of 75% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from A− to A. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±5.3 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.
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 →
What stands out about Red Bank’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Red Bank has been occupied by indigenous peoples for thousands of years. The area of modern-day Red Bank was the territory of the Algonquian-speaking Lenape Native Americans, also called the Delaware by the English. The Lenape lived in the area between the Navesink River and the Shrewsbury River in an area they called Navarumsunk. The Native Americans traded freely with European settlers from England and the Dutch Republic in the mid-17th century, who purchased land in the area.
Passages that mention Red Bank, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Monmouth county, New Jersey ..1885 · page 22Read the page →
Read the text
Brick Church, School District No. 43, Marlborough Township, Bricksburg, Masonic lodge instituted at, 1874, Bridge at Red Bank, first, built before 1834, Bridge, Coales', mentioned in 1705 road records. Bridge, Falls River, mentioned in 1705 road records, Bridgewater, Theodore, private. Company I, Twentyninth Regiment, 1862,
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Monmouth county, New Jersey ..1885 · page 44Read the page →
Read the text
chosen freeholder, Shrewsbury Township, 1849, first physician to settle at Red Bank, 1837, corporator Red Bank Steamboat Company, 1852, postmaster at Red Bank, 1841, Conover, John V., member of General Assembly, 126 127 135
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Timeline
Red Bank, 1833 to 1979
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
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.
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.
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.
The Red Bank post office opened in 1833, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Red Bank rank for history?
Red Bank is more historic than 90% of U.S. towns, #60 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 Red Bank?
9 listings: 9 buildings, among them the T. Thomas Fortune House (a National Historic Landmark since 1976) and the Red Bank Passenger Station (listed 1976, the first).
How old are the homes in Red Bank?
32% of Red Bank’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.3 points), against a typical 15% for a New Jersey town; the median home was built in 1958.
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), the Library of Congress (1), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (9), 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, Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress) and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
★ Landmark
1840
2007
2007
2007
