Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 36% of U.S. towns · #374 of 468 in New Jersey. What drives it
Its Register listing is the Caribbean Motel. Below: 3 old photos and papers, maps from 1888 on, and the census since 1910.
The Wildwood Crest post office opened in 1909, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1910.
More historic than 36% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Wildwood Crest is more historic than 36% of U.S. towns, #374 of 468 in New Jersey. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its age pulls it down.
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 Wildwood Crest’s 3.2 sits near the middle of its state (47% of New Jersey towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.
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 →
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Wildwood Crest’s history is told.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Wildwood Crest. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Wildwood Crest.
Peaked at 4,149 in 1980; 3,101 people lived here in 2020.
12 censuses, 1910–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Wildwood Crest’s Wikipedia page.
From Wikipedia’s history of Wildwood Crest.
The motels of Wildwood Crest are characterized by a distinctive "Doo Wop" or Googie style of architecture. Collectively, Wildwood and Wildwood Crest contain the nation's largest collection of mid-century "Doo Wop" resort architecture.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
2017Beaches on the New Jersey shore
2017Beaches on the New Jersey shore
2017Wildwood Crest “Shore is Beautiful” Sign
2012Battle of Turtle Gut Inlet Memorial Park
2011Sailing on Sunset Lake, Wildwood-by-the-Sea, N.J
2011Sailing on Sunset Lake, Wildwood Crest, N. J
2011Sailing on Sunset Lake, Wildwood Crest, N. J
2011Racing on Sunset Lake, Wildwood-by-the-Sea, N.J
2011Biscayne 2 DooWop WCNJ
2009Ara macao, Ara ararauna and Ara militaris
2009Ara macao, Ara ararauna and Ara militaris (cropped)
2008Wildwood Crest arch
2006SunsetNo then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Wildwood Crest’s page.
Retake this view · +15The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Wildwood Crest had its own post office from 1909 to 1913.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
The Wildwood Crest post office opened in 1909, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1910.
Wildwood Crest is more historic than 36% of U.S. towns, #374 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.
One place: the Caribbean Motel (listed 2005).
18% of Wildwood Crest’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.8 points), against a typical 15% for a New Jersey town; the median home was built in 1970.
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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 (13), the Library of Congress (3), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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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