Scotch Plains Township’s post office opened in 1804, and 14% of its homes were built before 1940
More historic than 73% of U.S. towns · #162 of 468 in New Jersey. What drives it
6 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 1 buildings. Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1888 on, and the census since 1880.
Founding year: the first Scotch Plains Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Scotch Plains Township’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Scotch Plains Township is more historic than 73% of U.S. towns, #162 of 468 in New Jersey. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its age ranks highest and its share of homes from before 1940 lowest.
B+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Scotch Plains Township’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 Scotch Plains Township’s 2.8 sits near the middle of its state (44% of New Jersey towns have fewer) while its 7 historic buildings outnumber those of 73% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from B to B+. The pre-1940 share (±2.9 points) is firm at this size. 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 Scotch Plains Township’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Scotch Plains Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1888Plainfield 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 Scotch Plains Township.
On the National Register
6 historic places in Scotch Plains Township
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
The Lenape are the ancestral community indigenous to a large chunk of the Mid-Atlantic region, stretching from Eastern Pennsylvania to the Atlantic Ocean, and from Delaware to Southern New York. Scotch Plains and the Mid-Atlantic region was used by the Lenape and their ancestors for roughly 10,000 years. It is suggested that the Lenape used Scotch Plains as a temporary camp in between the highly-utilized Delaware River and mountains to the West, and the Atlantic Ocean to the East.
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.
Old hamlets and crossroads still carry their names on the map.
Hamlets and corners on the map
Goodmans CrossingScotch Plains
Gone or out of use
First Methodist Episcopal ChurchchurchGoodmans Crossing StationlocaleNetherwood Golf CourselocaleScotch Plains Grade SchoolschoolScotch Plains Public School Number 3schoolScotch Plains School Number 1schoolTusselsairport
1cemetery inside Scotch Plains Township
Hillside
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.
The Scotch Plains Township post office opened in 1804, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Scotch Plains Township rank for history?
Scotch Plains Township is more historic than 73% of U.S. towns, #162 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 Scotch Plains Township?
6 listings: 5 buildings, among them the Old Baptist Parsonage (listed 1973, the first), and 1 historic district, the Shady Rest Golf and Country Club, with 1 contributing buildings. 7 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Scotch Plains Township?
14% of Scotch Plains Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.9 points), against a typical 15% for a New Jersey town; the median home was built in 1960.
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 (10), Wikidata (2), the National Register of Historic Places (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 the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
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