Founding year: the first Roselle post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Roselle’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Roselle is more historic than 46% of U.S. towns, #327 of 468 in New Jersey. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
B−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Roselle’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 Roselle’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.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from D to B. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±4.4 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 Roselle’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
On January 19, 1883, the world's first electric lighting system employing overhead wires began service in Roselle. It had been built by Thomas Edison to demonstrate that an entire community could be illuminated by electricity. This success encouraged the installation of electric lighting in numerous other villages and cities. The First Presbyterian Church, located on the corner of West 5th Avenue and Chestnut Street, was the first church in the United States to be lit by electricity, and the second in the world after the City Temple church in London.
Passages that mention Roselle, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Union County, New Jersey1897 · page 636Read the page →
Read the text
Roselle and L/inden are thriving villages, the former being a station on the Central Railroad of New Jersey, two miles from Elizabeth city. All the way trains from Newark and Elizabeth center here, making some one hundred and fifty-two connections daily. It has a population of nine hundred and ninety-six people, and is becoming a place of considerable importance.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Union County, New Jersey1897 · page 641Read the page →
Read the text
The birthplace of the First Presbyterian church, of Roselle, was in the little school house on the side of North avenue, just west of Walnutstreet bridge, and the birthday was June 12, 1868. Thirty -six persons united in mernbership under a covenant. John Seaton and Aaron D.
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
Roselle, 1870 to 1966
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.
The Roselle post office opened in 1870, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Roselle rank for history?
Roselle is more historic than 46% of U.S. towns, #327 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.
How old are the homes in Roselle?
32% of Roselle’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.4 points), against a typical 15% for a New Jersey town; the median home was built in 1955.
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 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.
1887
2010
2009
2005
