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B+History
History · Vernon Township

Vernon Township dates to 1793, and 4 of its places are on the National Register

More historic than 69% of U.S. towns · #185 of 468 in New Jersey. What drives it

Most of Vernon Township was built recently: 6% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1977. 4 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 7 buildings. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1891 on, and the census since 1810.

1793founded
4on the National Register
6%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
2famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Vernon Township began

When was Vernon Township founded?

1793

Vernon Township dates its founding to 1793 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1810.

First census: 1,708 in 18102020 census: 22,358233 years

How historic is Vernon Township?

B+

More historic than 69% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1807.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Vernon Township’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Vernon Township is more historic than 69% of U.S. towns, #185 of 468 in New Jersey. Its age holds the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.

B+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Vernon Township’s overall grade.
Founding era1793, from Wikidata: founded 1776–1849, an older era than 75% of U.S. townsA−Homes built before 19405.7% of homes (±1.9) · typical NJ town 14.7% · U.S. 8.4%CNational Register4 listings, 23 historic buildings, 10.2 per 10,000 residents · typical NJ town 3.7 · U.S. 2.4B+
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 69%
NewerOlder
New Jersey towns of 2,500+ (468)Ahead of 61%

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 Vernon Township’s 10.2 sits above most of its state (69% of New Jersey towns have fewer) while its 23 historic buildings outnumber those of 80% 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 (±1.9 points) is firm at this size. Two sources give 1793.

Founding year: Wikidata (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 Vernon Township’s past

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

Lost villages5 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Vernon Township, and 13 old place names are still on the map.A history waiting to be writtenOnly 1 old photo is in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Shrank, then grewLost half of its people between 1850 and 1930, then grew more than tenfold.On the map since 18915 editions of the USGS map, 1891 to 1994. Watch Vernon Township change.
★ What stands out · Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Five other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Vernon
1807–today
Wantage
1830–1837
Glenwood
1868–today
McAfee Valley
1868–1924
Owen
1889–1911
Canisteer
1894–1895
Kampe
1897–1915
McAfee
1924–today
Highland Lakes
1951–today
18001910today
Hamlets and corners on the map
DeKaysGlenwoodHighland LakesIndependence CornerKampeMcAfeeOwensSand HillsVernonVernon ValleyWantageWawayandaWillow Brook
Gone or out of use
Owens Schoolschool
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Vernon Township
CanistearGlenwood

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

Help out

Start Vernon Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Vernon Township’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
People over time

Vernon Township, census by census

05,00010,00015,00020,00025,00018501900195020002,649 in 1850Low: 1,279

Lost half of its people between 1850 and 1930, then grew more than tenfold.

22 censuses, 1810–2020.

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

The story

How Vernon Township came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Vernon Township.

Read it all →

The independent township of Vernon was established on April 8, 1793, from portions of Hardyston Township, and the township was formally incorporated on February 21, 1798. The 68 square miles (180 km2) which marked the town's borders over 200 years ago have not changed since. However, the population of Vernon, which was 1,548 people as recently as 1950, has steadily grown since the 1960s, when the ski industry was introduced to the area. Additional growth has come as home prices have soared in the inner suburbs of New York City and property buyers seek the better values available from real estate developments in the area.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Vernon Township, 1793 to 2000

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

  1. 18th century
  2. 1793
    FoundingVernon Township is established
  3. 1796Born hereRoss Winans is born here
  4. 19th century
  5. 1807Post officeThe Vernon post office opens
  6. 1830Post officeThe Wantage post office opens
  7. 1831Born hereJohn Winans is born here
  8. 1837Post officeThe Wantage post office closes
  9. 1868Post officeThe Glenwood post office opens
  10. 1891On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  11. 20th century
  12. 1934BuiltEvans-Waters Cottage is built
  13. 21st century
  14. 2000CensusPopulation peaks at 24,686
By decade

Vernon Township, decade by decade

Date unknown1 to date
Census Bureau map of Vernon Township, New JerseyDate?Census Bureau map of Vernon Township, New JerseyMap
Today18 recent
Vernon, NJ United Methodist Church, Nov. 20252025Vernon, NJ United Methodist Church, Nov. 2025Vernon Township, NJ Municipal Center, Nov. 20252025Vernon Township, NJ Municipal Center, Nov. 2025Mountain Creek Vernon NJ Ski Lift Summer 22023Mountain Creek Vernon NJ Ski Lift Summer 2Mountain Creek Vernon NJ Ski Lift Summer 12023Mountain Creek Vernon NJ Ski Lift Summer 1EVANS-WATER COTTAGE LAKE WALLKILL, SUSSEX COUNTY NJ2021EVANS-WATER COTTAGE LAKE WALLKILL, SUSSEX COUNTY NJDualies2021DualiesLake Wanda 052016Lake Wanda 05Lake Wanda 042016Lake Wanda 04Lake Wanda 032016Lake Wanda 03Lake Wanda 022016Lake Wanda 02Lake Wanda 012016Lake Wanda 01Catholic Church in2016Catholic Church inLake Wawayanda, Sussex County, New Jersey, by Jasper Francis Cropsey, 1870, oil on canvas - New Britain Museum of Ameri…2013Lake Wawayanda, Sussex County, New Jersey, by Jasper …Black Creek Site area view2013Black Creek Site area viewAnya Dillard Feeding Bill Goates2012Anya Dillard Feeding Bill GoatesThe Appalachian2008The AppalachianVernon twp nj2005Vernon twp njMountain Creek from Kittatinny Mountain2004Mountain Creek from Kittatinny Mountain
On the map

Vernon Township on the map, 1891 to 1994

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

Vernon Township on the 1891 USGS mapVernon Township on the 1903 USGS mapVernon Township on the 1943 USGS mapVernon Township on the 1954 USGS mapVernon Township on the 1994 USGS map1891Greenwood Lake 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 Vernon Township.

On the National Register

4 listings protect 23 historic buildings

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

places listed
4
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
23
each building in a district counts
first listed
1989
High Breeze Farm
High Breeze FarmEvans-Waters Cottage, built 1934Erickson Lakeside CabinHinchman-Rickey Farm
BuildingsDistricts
High Breeze FarmBuilding
Evans-Waters CottageBuilt 1934
Erickson Lakeside CabinBuilding
Hinchman-Rickey FarmDistrict

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

Famous people

2 famous people were born in Vernon Township

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
John WinansAmerican politician · b. 1831
R
Ross WinansInventor, locomotive builder · b. 1796
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Wantage Township2 historic placesA−Hardyston Township3 historic placesA−West Milford Township2 historic placesB+

Questions about Vernon Township’s history

What year was Vernon Township founded?

In 1793, according to Wikidata. Vernon Township’s post office opened in 1807, and the census of 1810 counted 1,708 people here.

How does Vernon Township rank for history?

Vernon Township is more historic than 69% of U.S. towns, #185 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 Vernon Township?

4 listings: 3 buildings, among them the High Breeze Farm (listed 1989, the first), and 1 historic district, the Hinchman-Rickey Farm, with 7 contributing buildings. 23 historic buildings in all.

How old are the homes in Vernon Township?

6% of Vernon Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.9 points), against a typical 15% for a New Jersey town; the median home was built in 1977.

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 (19), the National Register of Historic Places (4), 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.