Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Roosevelt

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 · Roosevelt

52% of Roosevelt’s homes were built before 1940

1 place in town is on the National Register, among them a historic district with 162 buildings. Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1888 on, and the census since 1940.

1on the National Register
52%homes built before 1940
2old photos & papers
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Roosevelt’s archive · credits on each photo

What stands out about Roosevelt’s past

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

A historic districtThe Jersey Homesteads Historic District takes in 162 historic buildings.A history waiting to be writtenOnly 2 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 18888 editions of the USGS map, 1888 to 1981. Watch Roosevelt change.Old housesHalf of Roosevelt’s homes were built before 1938.
★ What stands out · On the National Register

1 listing protects 162 historic buildings

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
162
each building in a district counts
first listed
1983
Jersey Homesteads Historic District
Jersey Homesteads Historic District
Districts
Jersey Homesteads Historic DistrictDistrict

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

Help out

Start Roosevelt’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Roosevelt’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Date a photo1 archive item has no date. Guess the decade.+2Retake an old viewJersey Homesteads aerial photo, 1930s: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
On the map

Roosevelt on the map, 1888 to 1981

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

Roosevelt on the 1888 USGS mapRoosevelt on the 1894 USGS mapRoosevelt on the 1900 USGS mapRoosevelt on the 1918 USGS mapRoosevelt on the 1947 USGS mapRoosevelt on the 1957 USGS mapRoosevelt on the 1970 USGS mapRoosevelt on the 1981 USGS map1888Cassville 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 Roosevelt.

The story

How Roosevelt came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Roosevelt.

Read it all →

Roosevelt was originally called Jersey Homesteads, and was created during the Great Depression as part of President Roosevelt's New Deal, its main purpose being to resettle Jewish garment workers. The town was conceived as an integrated cooperative project, with farming, manufacturing, and retail all on a cooperative basis. The project fell under the discretion of the Resettlement Administration, but was conceived and largely planned out by Benjamin Brown.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Roosevelt, 1888 to 1946

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1888On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  3. 20th century
  4. 1936In the archiveJersey Homesteads aerial photo, 1930s
  5. 1940Post officeThe Jersey Homesteads post office opens
  6. 1945Born hereJoel S. Migdal is born here
  7. 1946Post officeThe Jersey Homesteads post office closes
  8. 1946Post officeThe Roosevelt post office opens
By decade

Roosevelt, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1930s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1930s1 item
Jersey Homesteads aerial photo, 1930s1936Jersey Homesteads aerial photo, 1930s
1940s–1990snothing yet
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.
Add from your album
Date unknown1 to date
Census Bureau map ofDate?Census Bureau map ofMap
Today3 recent
Roosevelt, N.J. School Wall Picture of Benjamin Brown2016Roosevelt, N.J. School Wall Picture of Benjamin BrownBenjamin Brown Gravesite - Roosevelt, N.J2016Benjamin Brown Gravesite - Roosevelt, N.JBenjamin Brown - Burial Site2016Benjamin Brown - Burial Site
Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Jersey Homesteads aerial photo, 1930s
Retake this viewJersey Homesteads aerial photo, 1930s, 1936

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Roosevelt’s page.

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Roosevelt, census by census

02004006008001,00019401960198020002020Peak: 933

Between 698 and 933 people in every census since 1940.

9 censuses, 1940–2020.

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

Places that used to be

Lost post offices

Roosevelt’s post office has been open since 1946. Another post office, Jersey Homesteads, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Jersey Homesteads
1940–1946
Roosevelt
1946–today
19401980today

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Millstone Township2 historic placesB−Upper Freehold Township7 historic placesA

Questions about Roosevelt’s history

What is on the National Register in Roosevelt?

One place: the Jersey Homesteads Historic District (listed 1983).

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 Wikimedia Commons (5), 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.