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History · Williamstown

Williamstown dates to 1737, and 2 of its places are on the National Register

Most of Williamstown was built recently: 8% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1981.

1737founded
2on the National Register
8%homes built before 1940
1famous people
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Photo: Jerrye & Roy Klotz, MD · CC BY-SA 3.0
Quick answers

How Williamstown began

When was Williamstown founded?

1737

Williamstown dates its founding to 1737 (Wikidata).

2020 census: 15,082289 years
Founding year: Wikidata.The full story ↓

What stands out about Williamstown’s past

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

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Williamstown are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Older than the countryEstablished in 1737, 39 years before the Declaration of Independence.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Williamstown’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
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The story

How Williamstown came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Williamstown.

Read it all →

Before the community's settlement in 1737, Williamstown was inhabited by the Lenni-Lenape tribe of Native Americans, from whom the town derived its original name, "Squankum", for "place where evil spirits dwell". The name was changed to Williamstown when the town's first post office was established in 1842, due to postal regulations that prohibited two towns from having the same name and there was an older Squankum located 60 miles (97 km) northeast. It is generally thought that 'evil spirits' referred to the abundance of mosquitoes in the area, a by-product of the low-lying swamps that characterized the area during that time period. In the early eighteenth century, Richard Penn sold what eventually became Williamstown to his grandson, John Williams, who divided and resold the land in lots to settlers and for whom the town was eventually renamed. The town was officially incorporated as …

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

Williamstown, decade by decade

Today6 recent
2018-09-11 10 12 07 View east along Gloucester County Route 536 (Main Street) just west of Garwood Avenue in Monroe Tow…20182018-09-11 10 12 07 View east along Gloucester County…2018-08-26 14 18 54 View west along U.S. Route 322 and Gloucester County Route 536 (Glassboro-Williamstown Road) just w…20182018-08-26 14 18 54 View west along U.S. Route 322 an…2018-08-26 13 43 39 View east along U.S. Route 322 and Gloucester County Route 536 Spur (Sicklerville Road) just east o…20182018-08-26 13 43 39 View east along U.S. Route 322 an…Free Library Monroe twp2010Free Library Monroe twpIRELAND HOFER HOUSE2007IRELAND HOFER HOUSEWilliamstown cdp nj 0152005Williamstown cdp nj 015
On the National Register

2 historic places in Williamstown

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

places listed
2
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
2
each building in a district counts

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Winslow TownshipIts storyCMonroe Township3 historic placesCSicklervilleIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Williamstown’s history

What year was Williamstown founded?

In 1737, according to Wikidata.

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). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (6), Wikipedia and Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.