Vineland’s post office opened in 1861, and 14% of its homes were built before 1940
More historic than 46% of U.S. towns · #326 of 468 in New Jersey. What drives it
3 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 2 buildings. Below: 6 old photos and papers, maps from 1886 on, and the census since 1870.
The Vineland post office opened in 1861, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, North Vineland (1866) and South Vineland (1866), opened inside today’s city and later closed.
First census: 7,077 in 18702020 census: 60,780165 years
How historic is Vineland?
B−
More historic than 46% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Vineland post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Vineland’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Vineland is more historic than 46% of U.S. towns, #326 of 468 in New Jersey. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its age pulls it down.
B−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Vineland’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 Vineland’s 0.7 sits below most of its state (28% of New Jersey towns have fewer) while its 4 historic buildings outnumber those of 68% 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 (±1.9 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 Vineland’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Every building
Vineland, building by building, 1886–1919
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.
Charles K. Landis purchased 30,000 acres (47 mi2) of land in 1861 and an additional 23,000 acres (36 mi2) in 1874, near Millville, along what would become the West Jersey and Seashore Railroad line, which provided service between Camden and Cape May. He intended to establish an alcohol-free, utopian community based on agriculture and progressive ideals. The first houses were constructed in 1862, and rail service connected the settlement to Philadelphia and New York City. The population reached approximately 5,500 by 1865 and grew to 11,000 by 1875.
Passages that mention Vineland, cut from the printed page as they were published.
The founder's own story of the founding of Vineland, New Jersey1903Read the page →
Read the text
I then went to Vineland for permanent business, and engaged rooms of Andrew Sharp at his place on the corner of Main Road and what is now Park Avenue. I had the room in the northeast corner, and the rooms opposite I had for my maps, and business table, and the draughting board of the surveyor. I began soon to get letters which I would answer, and to all correspondents also I sent the Vineland Rural.
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
Vineland, 1850 to 2000
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
The Vineland post office opened in 1861, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Vineland rank for history?
Vineland is more historic than 46% of U.S. towns, #326 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 Vineland?
Three places: the Vineland High School (listed 1995), the Landis Theatre-Mori Brothers Building (2000) and the Siloam Cemetery (2020).
How old are the homes in Vineland?
14% of Vineland’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 1971.
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), the National Register of Historic Places (3), 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, Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress) 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.
1867
1876
1876
