Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Stanhope

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
B+History
History · Stanhope

Stanhope’s post office opened in 1825, and 18% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 72% of U.S. towns · #169 of 468 in New Jersey. What drives it

Its Register listing is the Plaster Mill. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1886 on, and the census since 1910.

1825first post office
1on the National Register
18%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Stanhope began

When was Stanhope founded?

1825

The Stanhope post office opened in 1825, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1904.

First census: 1,031 in 19102020 census: 3,526201 years

How historic is Stanhope?

B+

More historic than 72% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Stanhope post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1904.
History grade

What drives Stanhope’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Stanhope is more historic than 72% of U.S. towns, #169 of 468 in New Jersey. Its age holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.

B+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Stanhope’s overall grade.
Founding era1825, from the first post office: founded 1776–1849, an older era than 75% of U.S. townsA−Homes built before 194017.9% of homes (±7.1) · typical NJ town 14.7% · U.S. 8.4%B+National Register1 listing, 2.8 per 10,000 residents · typical NJ town 3.7 · U.S. 2.4B−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 72%
NewerOlder
New Jersey towns of 2,500+ (468)Ahead of 64%

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 Stanhope’s 2.8 sits near the middle of its state (44% of New Jersey towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from B to A−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±7.1 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date; Wikidata gives 1904.

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 Stanhope’s past

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

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 1 old photo is in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 18888 editions of the USGS map, 1888 to 1995. Watch Stanhope change.Mapped building by building5 fire insurance maps, 1886 to 1920, drew every building in Stanhope.Deep rootsA post office since 1825: 201 years of Stanhope.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Stanhope’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Date a photo1 archive item has no date. Guess the decade.+2Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
On the map

Stanhope on the map, 1888 to 1995

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

Stanhope on the 1888 USGS mapStanhope on the 1894 USGS mapStanhope on the 1905 USGS mapStanhope on the 1943 USGS mapStanhope on the 1954 USGS mapStanhope on the 1970 USGS mapStanhope on the 1981 USGS mapStanhope on the 1995 USGS map1888Lake Hopatcong 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 Stanhope.

Every building

Stanhope, building by building, 1886–1920

Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.

Stanhope fire insurance map, 1886, sheet 11886Sheet 1 of 1
Edition
Sheets
BrickWoodStone

Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

The story so far

Stanhope, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Stanhope yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Stanhope is a borough located in the southernmost portion of Sussex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the borough's population was 3,526, a decrease of 84 (−2.3%) from the 2010 census count of 3,610, which in turn reflected an increase of 26 (+0.7%) from the 3,584 counted in the 2000 census. Stanhope was formed by an act of the New Jersey Legislature on March 24, 1904, from portions of Byram Township.

Its first post office opened in 1825. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 3,610 to 3,526 (-2%).

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

By decade

Stanhope, decade by decade

Date unknown1 to date
Census Bureau map ofDate?Census Bureau map ofMap
Today8 recent
Stanhope, NJ municipal building, March 20252025Stanhope, NJ municipal building, March 2025Phillips 66 gas pump in2025Phillips 66 gas pump inFirst Presbyterian Church, Stanhope, NJ, March 20252025First Presbyterian Church, Stanhope, NJ, March 20252022-09-09 17 19 34 UTC minus 4 Aerial view of Netcong (lower left), Stanhope (left), Hopatcong (upper left), Mount Arl…20222022-09-09 17 19 34 UTC minus 4 Aerial view of Netcon…Stanhope, NJ - Morris Canal section2020Stanhope, NJ - Morris Canal section45 Main Street202045 Main StreetStanhope nj2005Stanhope njStanhope boro nj2005Stanhope boro nj
On the National Register

1 historic place in Stanhope

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

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts
first listed
1977
Plaster Mill
Plaster Mill
Buildings
Plaster MillBuilding

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

People over time

Stanhope, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0002,5003,0003,5004,000192019401960198020002020Peak: 3,638

Between 1,031 and 3,638 people in every census since 1910.

12 censuses, 1910–2020.

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Mount Olive Township2 historic placesCNetcong2 historic placesB+Byram Township1 historic placeA−Byram CenterIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townRoxbury Township8 historic placesAPort MorrisIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townHopatcongIts storyC−

Questions about Stanhope’s history

What year was Stanhope founded?

The Stanhope post office opened in 1825, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1904.

How does Stanhope rank for history?

Stanhope is more historic than 72% of U.S. towns, #169 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 Stanhope?

One place: the Plaster Mill (listed 1977).

How old are the homes in Stanhope?

18% of Stanhope’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±7.1 points), against a typical 15% for a New Jersey town; the median home was built in 1967.

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).

From Wikimedia Commons (9), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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 Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.