Saddle River’s post office opened in 1852, and 22 of its places are on the National Register
More historic than 52% of U.S. towns · #296 of 468 in New Jersey. What drives it
Most of Saddle River was built recently: 4% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1983. 22 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 43 buildings. Below: maps from 1910 on and the census since 1900.
Founding year: the first Saddle River post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Saddle River’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Saddle River is more historic than 52% of U.S. towns, #296 of 468 in New Jersey. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
B−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Saddle River’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 Saddle River’s 260 sits above most of its state (92% of New Jersey towns have fewer) while its 88 historic buildings outnumber those of 89% 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 (±3.0 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 Saddle River’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
European settlement of the area that is now Saddle River traces back to 1675, when the Lenape Native Americans sold a stretch of land along the Saddle River to Albert Zabriskie. Saddle River was incorporated as a borough by an act of the New Jersey Legislature on November 22, 1894, from portions of Orvil Township, based on the results of a referendum held three days earlier. The borough was formed during the "Boroughitis" phenomenon then sweeping through Bergen County, in which 26 boroughs were formed in the county in 1894 alone. Saddle River's referendum passed on November 19, one day before the referendum passed for the formation of the neighboring borough of Upper Saddle River. Upper Saddle River and Saddle River share a zip code of 07458. An additional portion of Orvil Township was annexed in 1903.
Passages that mention Saddle River, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Bergen county, New Jersey1900 · page 211Read the page →
Read the text
This township was incorporated in 1885, and was formed out of the southerly part of Hohokus and the westerly part of Washington. In 1894, owingto troubles growingout of the school law, three boroughs, namely, Saddle River, Upper Saddle River and Allendale, were taken off the township. The borough of Saddle River was taken off the eastern part of Orvil; Upper Saddle River was formed out of part of Orvil and part of Washington, and Allendale borough comprised the northwest part of Orvil, part of Hohokus and part of Franklin town-
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Bergen county, New Jersey1900 · page 175Read the page →
Read the text
been established through eight generations between the subject of this sketch and David Demarest the first of that name to settle in Bergen county and who emigrated in the year 1663. Cornelius V. B. Demarest purchased a home in Garfield, Saddle River township, in 1888. In 1891 he was elected Tax collector of Saddle River township and re-elected in 1895, having served with entire satisfaction in that capacity for seven years. His constituency elected him in 1897, to the county board of Chosen Freeholders. He was defeated for Assembly a few years since
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
Saddle River, 1745 to 1989
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
The Saddle River post office opened in 1852, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Saddle River rank for history?
Saddle River is more historic than 52% of U.S. towns, #296 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 Saddle River?
22 listings: 21 buildings, among them the Achenbach House (listed 1979, the first), and 1 historic district, the Saddle River Center Historic District, with 43 contributing buildings. 88 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Saddle River?
4% of Saddle River’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.0 points), against a typical 15% for a New Jersey town; the median home was built in 1983.
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 Wikidata (6), the National Register of Historic Places (22), 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.
