Visual story

Boroughitis

New Jersey has 564 municipalities, more for its size than almost any state, and most of the split happened in one burst. In the 1890s a law let any neighbourhood that wanted its own school district become a borough, and hundreds did: 48 boroughs in that decade alone, 23 towns in 1894. Each dot is a town, at the year it was incorporated, coloured by what it became.

BoroughTownshipCityTown or village

Boroughs incorporated, by decade

1860s4
1870s4
1880s20
1890s48
1900s32
1910s34
1920s27
1930s1

Incorporation dates: Wikidata’s inception for each municipality (CC0), the date it was incorporated or set off from another, which for a colonial township can be the date it was first named. 134 towns have no date recorded and are not drawn; 181 of the 430 drawn are boroughs. Types are today’s, from the Census Bureau’s names, so a town that became a city later is drawn as a city. Years before 1660 are gathered at the left edge. More visual stories →