Ridgefield’s post office opened in 1875, and 21% of its homes were built before 1940
More historic than 55% of U.S. towns · #278 of 468 in New Jersey. What drives it
Its Register listing is the Dutch Reformed Church in the English Neighborhood. Below: 6 old photos and papers, maps from 1892 on, and the census since 1900.
The Ridgefield post office opened in 1875, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1892. Two smaller post offices, English Neighborhood (1833) and Morsemere (1912), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
First census: 584 in 19002020 census: 11,501151 years
How historic is Ridgefield?
B
More historic than 55% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Ridgefield post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1892.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Ridgefield’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Ridgefield is more historic than 55% of U.S. towns, #278 of 468 in New Jersey. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its age pulls it down.
B
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Ridgefield’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 Ridgefield’s 1.7 sits near the middle of its state (40% of New Jersey towns have fewer) while its 2 historic buildings outnumber those of 60% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C to B+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±5.2 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date; Wikidata’s 1892 falls in the same era, so the grade doesn’t depend on which one is used.
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 Ridgefield’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
At the time of European colonization, the area was home to the Hackensack tribe of the Lenape Native Americans, who maintained a large settlement to the north on Overpeck Creek. Their name is an exonym taken from the territory and is translated as place of stony ground which describes the diminishing Hudson Palisades as they descend into the Meadowlands becoming the ridgefield that is part of Hackensack River flood plain.
Passages that mention Ridgefield, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Bergen county, New Jersey1900 · page 490Read the page →
Read the text
Creek, a navigable arm of the Hackensack, also attracted settlers quite as early in this direction. Overpeck Creek is navigable for small vessels as far up as the nothern boundary of the township. Originally the township of Ridgefield included the villages of Fairview, Ridgefield, Palisades Park, Leonia, Nordhoff, Shady Side, Edgewater, Fort Lee, Taylorsville, Coytesville, Ridgefield Park and Bogota, but now the boroughs of Undercliff, Palisades Park, Bogota, Leonia, Fairview, Ridgefield and the village of Ridgefield Park and Overpeck
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Bergen county, New Jersey1900 · page 524Read the page →
Read the text
Among the names of those who have become identified with the growth and prosperity of the village of Ridgefield Park, is that of Albert Ravekes, which stands prominent among the first of those, in this part of Ridgefield township. Mr. Ravekes is a native of New York city where he was born fifty-six years ago. He attended school in that city until eleven years of age, and then began a business career. In 1857 he became apprenticed to the carpenter trade, an occupation which he has successfully followed ever since, having had his offices at one
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
Ridgefield, 1833 to 1996
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.
The Ridgefield post office opened in 1875, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1892.
How does Ridgefield rank for history?
Ridgefield is more historic than 55% of U.S. towns, #278 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 Ridgefield?
One place: the Dutch Reformed Church in the English Neighborhood (listed 1998).
How old are the homes in Ridgefield?
21% of Ridgefield’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.2 points), against a typical 15% for a New Jersey town; the median home was built in 1957.
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 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), the USGS Geographic Names Information System 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.
1909
1917
1927