The story
Read it all →How Brentford came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of Brentford.
The town took its name after Brentford, in England, the native home of a railroad official.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
–Not graded
History · Brentford
Brentford’s post office opened in 1906, and 22% of its homes were built before 1940
Below: maps from 1895 on and the census since 1920.
1906first post office
0on the National Register
22%homes built before 1940
Quick answers
How Brentford began
When was Brentford founded?
1906
The Brentford post office opened in 1906, the earliest record of the town by name.
First census: 132 in 19202020 census: 88120 years
Founding year: the first Brentford post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
What stands out about Brentford’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
★ What stands out · Help out
Start Brentford’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Brentford’s history is told.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.On the map
Brentford on the map, 1895 to 1985
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Brentford. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1895Aberdeen sheet · 1:125,000U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Brentford.
People over time
Brentford, census by census
Peaked at 174 in 1930; 88 people lived here in 2020.
11 censuses, 1920–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Brentford’s Wikipedia page.
Timeline
Brentford, 1895 to 1930
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
- 19th century
- 1895
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey - 20th century
- 1906Post officeThe Brentford post office opens
- 1930CensusPopulation peaks at 174
By decade
Brentford, decade by decade
Today1 recent
2004Famous people
See all →Famous people close to Brentford
Nobody well known was born in Brentford itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Stories next door
History across the town line
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
Questions about Brentford’s history
What year was Brentford founded?
The Brentford post office opened in 1906, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Memory lane
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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 (1), Wikipedia, 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.