Originally published in 1939
Some of this information may no longer be current and in that case is presented for historical interest only.
Edited by GET NJ, COPYRIGHT 2003

1. ST. JOHN'S EPISCOPAL CHURCH, 61 Broad St., erected 1860, is of Victorian Gothic design, dull brown brick with stone trim. It stands on a small grassy plot with an adjoining ancient burial ground, between modern business structures. The heavily carved stonework of its 126-foot tower and the contrasting bands of brick and stone have been softened by the dark patina of age. The original church (of which there is a model in the warden's room) was built in 1706, and demolished in 1859 to make way for the present building.

2. The SITE OF SHEPARD KOLLOCK'S PRINTING OFFICE, 39 Broad St., is now occupied by the Regent Theater Building. It was here that Shepard Kollock, an ink-stained Revolutionist, lived and printed one of New Jersey's first newspapers, the New Jersey journal, still being published as the Elizabeth Daily Journal.

   Kollock was born in Delaware in 1751 and learned the printing business in the office of his uncle, William Goddard, editor of the Pennsylvania Chronicle. He resigned from the Continental Army for the more vital task of combating the Tory press of New York City. Kollock printed his first issues in 1779 in Chatham, N. J. In 1785 he moved to Elizabeth and built a combined home, printing office, and bookstore. When he died in 1839 he was buried across the street in the Presbyterian cemetery.

3. The FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, Broad St., S. of Caldwell Pl., dedicated 1786, stands in a level grassy plot dotted with venerable tombstones and weather-beaten sarcophagi. The church is of soft-toned Jersey brick, trimmed sparingly with white wood; the unaltered windows in the facade are finely proportioned. A lean tapering spire rises to crown the well-developed tower at the front. The spire, blown down by a tornado in August 1899, was replaced in 1902. With peculiarly small brick corner quoins, this is one of the most pleasing examples of Georgian Colonial church architecture in the State.

   The first building, a rough frame structure, served as church, courthouse, and meeting place for the first general assembly of 1668. A second church, built in 1724, was burned in 1780 by a British raiding party that crossed on January ice from Staten Island. The following year the pastor, the Rev. James Caldwell (see Springfield, Tour 10), was shot through the heart at Elizabethtown Point by a Continental sentry whose command he had been slow to obey. Upon evidence that he had been bribed to fire the shot, the soldier was hanged.

   Another prominent pastor was Jonathan Dickinson, who became the first president of the College of New Jersey (now Princeton University), which he helped to establish. The college was chartered in October 1746, and classes met on the site of the present Sunday School building. Some of the students boarded at the minister's house on Pearl Street between Race Street and Washington Avenue. When the Rev. Aaron Burr (father of his more famous namesake) became president, following the death of Mr. Dickinson in October 1747, the institution was moved to Newark.

   The PARISH HOUSE, of red brick, was erected 1917 on the Broad Street corner of the property. On this site an academy for young men was built in 1767. Among the students were Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr; Hamilton and his teacher left the school to fight in the Revolution. The academy, converted into a storehouse, was burned by the British in 1780.

4. The UNION COUNTY COURTHOUSE, NW. corner Broad St. and Rahway Ave., is of gray stone in the formal classical manner, designed by Ackerman and Ross. It was erected 1903 on the site of the old borough courthouse burned by the British in 178o. A broad sweep of stone steps leads up to the entrance door within a portico of fluted Corinthian columns, crowned with an entablature and pediment.

   Behind the courthouse is the ANNEX, built 1925-31 from the plans of Oakley and Son. The annex is a square tower, 15 stories high, overornamented by numerous false window openings, Ionic pilasters, and stepped pyramidal roof. The UNION COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY Room (open 2-4:30 Wed.; 9:30-12 Sat.), 4th floor, contains an interesting collection of portraits, books and historical relics.

5. PUBLIC LIBRARY (open 9-9 daily), SW. corner Broad St. and Rahway Ave., was built in 1912; a wing was added in 1929. It is a two-story stone structure of Italian Renaissance style, the work of E. L. Tilden. On this site was a series of famous Colonial and Revolutionary taverns: Nag's Head Tavern, The Marquis of Granby, Red Lion, and, after the Revolution, Indian Queen.

   The New York Gazette of March 176o reported that Elizabeth's library was founded in 1755, had upwards of 300 volumes and expected 70 more. In 1857 the Elizabeth Library Hall Association, incorporated the revious year by State charter, began a new building. The library was move several times before it reached its present home.

6. The OLD MILL SITE, Broad St. at Elizabeth River, adjoins the library. The first mill in Elizabethtown was built here prior to 1669 by John Ogden, one of the city's founders. Before the Revolution the mill was owned by Barnaby Shute, an illiterate oysterman who unexpectedly came into possession of a fortune. The tradition is that Shute essayed the role of public benefactor by building, among other things, an elegant jail for his town. He became insolvent shortly thereafter and was sentenced as a debtor to be the first occupant of the new jail.

7. CARTERET ARMS (open 10-4 weekdays), 16 S. Broad St., is the home of the Woman's Club of Elizabeth. Erected c. 1795, it is a two-andone-half-story building of local brick, with gambrel roof, dormers, and attractive entrance porch. It successively housed an orphan asylum, the public library, and the Elizabeth Historic and Civic Association.

8. CITY HALL, Elizabeth Ave. and W. Scott Pl., built in 1865 on the site of the first schoolhouse and of the old Adelphian Academy, and constructed of raspberry-painted brick, is designed in the baronial-industrial style of architecture so loved by the post-Civil War captains of American industry. It retains a measure of dignity. Half of the ground floor was originally occupied by a public market and the floor above served as drill room for the militia. The city has no deed for the land.

9. SCOTT PARK, E. Jersey St. between E. Scott Pl. and W. Scott Pl., preserves in the heart of Elizabeth some memory of old Elizabethtown. It was named in honor of Lieut. Gen. Winfield Scott of Mexican War fame_ The Thomas Jefferson High School for boys faces the park on the east Scott's house, razed in 1928, stood nearby at 1105 E. Jersey Street. DrWilliam Barnet, a surgeon in the American Army, occupied the house from 1763 to 1790. When his home was plundered by the British in 1781, Dr. Barnet reported: "They emptied my feather beds in the streets, broke in windows, smashed my mirrors and left our pantry and storeroom department bare. I could forgive them all that, but the rascals stole from my kitchen wall the finest string of red peppers in all Elizabeth."

10. The BOUDINOT HOUSE (Boxwood Hall), 1073 E. Jersey St. (private), a home for aged women, is an ample structure with mansard roof, tall chimneys and a massive door with a brass knocker. It was built by Samuel Woodruff, probably as early as 1752.

    On the stone steps in 1781 Elias Boudinot gave a ringing address over the body of James Caldwell, slain pastor of the First Presbyterian Church. After the Revolution the house was owned by Jonathan Dayton, speaker of the House of Representatives and later U. S. Senator, for whom Dayton, Ohio, was named. Lafayette was entertained here in 1824, leaving a touch of Old World romanticism to color the dreams of young ladies who attended Miss Spaulding's fashionable school at the same spot 20 years later.

    Boudinot, a distinguished Revolutionist, was president of the Continental Congress and a signer of the Treaty of Peace with Great Britain. In 1789, as a member of the House of Representatives, he introduced a resolution calling upon President Washington to proclaim a national day of thanksgiving. The President named Thursday, November 26, Thanksgiving Day.

11. BELCHER MANSION (private), 1046 E. Jersey St., stands on the lot granted to John Ogden Jr., son of the early settler. The brick house, well cared for, is thought to have been built before 1742 and possibly before 1722; the Classical Revival porch was added a century later. The cove cornice is unusual. The dignified woodwork inside is richly carved. Jonathan Belcher, Royal Governor of the Province, lived here from 1751 until his death six years later. The Governor was a supporter of the plan for a College of New Jersey, and the house has been called the cradle of Princeton University. Washington, Lafayette, and Hamilton came here in 1778 to attend the wedding of William Peartree Smith's daughter "Caty" to Elisha Boudinot, brother of Elias.

    Gov. Aaron Ogden later acquired the property and entertained Lafayette in 1824. The house was restored in 1899 by the then owner, Warren R. Dix, in time to entertain Lafayette's great-grandson in 1901.

12. NATHANIEL BONNELL HOUSE (private 1045 E. Jersey St., is believed to be the oldest house in the city. It was built prior to 1682 by Nathaniel Bonnell, who had been allotted 6 acres of land for a homestead in the late 166o's. The faded, two-story clapboard structure is in disrepair.

13. SITE OF THE ISAAC ARNETT HOUSE, 1155 E. Jersey St., is occupied by the Elizabeth Carteret Hotel. It was called the Isaac Arnett House but it is remembered now for Isaac Arnett's wife Hannah, the Revolutionary Barbara Frietchie of Elizabeth. After Cornwallis had driven Washington from New York in 1776, he offered amnesty to all who would swear allegiance to the Crown within 60 days. The offer was tempting to some citizens of Elizabeth who shared the general despondency of the Colonists, and a group met at the Arnett house to discuss the proposition. In an adjoining room sat Hannah, knitting and listening. When she could stand it no longer, she flounced into the debate, ignoring her husband's efforts to keep his wife in her place. "We may be poor and weak and few," Hannah said. "England may have her limitless resources. But we have something that England has not. God is on our side. Every volley from our muskets is an echo of His voice. Shame upon you cowards!" The amnesty was refused.

14. The ELIZABETH DAILY JOURNAL PLANT (open for group tours by appointment), 295 N. Broad St., is a modern red brick building. The newspaper, oldest in the State, was founded in 1779 by Shepard Kollock.

15. The WILLIAMSON HOUSE, 21 Westfield Ave., is now the Elks Home. Built in 18o8 by Isaac H. Williamson (Governor 1817-29), it has a hand-carved stair rail and trim. The building was heightened one story when it was taken over by the Elks, and a large porch was added.

16. AMERICAN TYPE FOUNDERS PLANT (open for group tours upon written application), 200 Elmora Ave., is the work of Day and Klauder, architects. In both plan and elevation the three-story red brick building is an admirable example of functional design. Kelly automatic printing presses are manufactured here as well as type, casts, and printing supplies and machinery of all kinds.

17. GALLOPING HILL MONUMENT, Galloping Hill and Colonia Rds., is a block of Barre granite with a bronze tablet, occupying a triangular plot. At this point the invading British army from Staten Island, marching through old Elizabethtown to Connecticut Farms and Springfield for the two battles of June 1780, turned into Galloping Hill Road. The invaders were constantly harried by militia under Major Generals Greene and Dickinson.

18. The CRANE HOUSE (private), 556 Morris Ave., is of New England Colonial type, having white-painted siding, second-story dormer windows and half-windows below the eaves, as well as the customary oneand-one-half-story ell that served as the service wing. Built before the Revolution, the house has been continuously occupied by the Crane family; the first of the Cranes was Stephen, who settled in Elizabethtown in 1665. An old-fashioned garden around the original well has some of the oldest and finest red hollyhocks in Elizabeth. Seeds from these plants have produced blossoms almost black.

19. The OLD CHATEAU (private), 408 Rahway Ave., is a large, grayish brick building with two wings ; quoins and keystones over the windows are of brownstone. Erected c. 1760, the house, surrounded by trees, stands well back from the road on unkempt grounds. It was the main building on the estate of Cavalier Jouet, grandfather of the late Chancellor Benjamin Williamson, and himself the grandson of Mayor Daniel Jouet of Angers, France. The Old Chateau and its lands were confiscated during the Revolution because the Cavalier remained loyal to King. George III, who had allowed his forefathers to settle in England when they were exiled from France. 20. STATUE OF THE MINUTE MAN, 1st Ave. and High St., stands in Union Square. The sculptor, Carl Conrads, German-born Civil War veteran whose statue of Daniel Webster is in Washington, created a typical militiaman: shirt open at the neck, sleeves rolled up from brawny arms, one fist gripping the muzzle of his musket, and the head alert, as if straining for sight of invading British.

    The statue commemorates Colonial resistance to British invaders in June 1780. On the night of June 7 Major General Knyphausen ferried 6,000 men across from Staten Island for a surprise attack. The troops marched up King's Highway (now Elizabeth Avenue) and met an outpost of 12 pickets at Union Square. After a first volley that mortally wounded General Stirling the pickets prudently gave way.

    Continuing their march through Elizabeth, the British were halted by militia at Galloping Hill Road at Connecticut Farms (Union). During the night most of the British returned to Staten Island. A small force managed to hold the Elizabeth shore of Arthur Kill after a sharp encounter with the pursuing Colonials the following morning. About two weeks later Sir Henry Clinton resumed the attack with 5,000 troops. He proceeded to Springfield where he drove off an inferior force of militia and burned the town. Later the British retired to Staten Island.

20. CITY MARKET (open 8-3 Tues., Thurs., Sat.), High St. W. of Elizabeth Ave., has authentic farm flavor. Truck gardeners and commission men back their trucks up to the curb in a solid row that extends around the corner on 2nd Avenue and display their produce on wooden tables, often under canvas shelters. The market is thronged with women shoppers who leisurely make their way through a gantlet of sales cries: "Feel those oranges -- look at that juice -- 10 for a quarter!" "Lady, them are lovely berries. I'll show you the bottom. They're perfect!" Promptly at 3 o'clock a street-cleaning crew arrives and opens a fire hydrant to flush the littered street.

21. OLD FERRY SITE, SE. end Elizabeth Ave. on the Arthur Kill, is now merely a rotting municipal wharf with a railroad crane, an excellent view and 250 years of history. Beside it is the terminal of the ElizabethStaten Island Ferry, operating two single-deck, turtle-shaped boats that are the smallest and funniest vehicular ferries in New York Harbor. Almost a stone's throw across the channel is Staten Island, part of New York City, but desolate marshland here, except for the large Procter and Gamble soap factory in the background. Westward is a fine silhouette of the high cantilever span of Goethals Bridge (see Tour 17); below is the small swing span of the Baltimore and Ohio R.R. bridge, little used, yet the only rail connection for freight traffic between New Jersey and New York City. Eastward, beyond the junction of Newark Bay with the Kill van Kull, is the graceful steel arch of Bayonne Bridge (see BAYONNE). Along the Elizabeth shore are several oil depots, lumberyards, coal-shipping docks, a shipyard, and sand and gravel yards.

    At this point sailboat ferries to New York docked as early as 1679. Washington stepped aboard a gaily decorated barge here for his trip up the harbor to the inaugural in New York. Steam service was begun in 1808. When rail connections with Philadelphia were completed in 1834, Elizabeth was the transfer point for New York passengers; but construction of the New Jersey Central's bridge across Newark Bay, establishing through service to Jersey City, made the water route obsolete in the sixties. Today little breaks the stillness except the chug of passing towboats, the ferry company's mechanical turtles thumping their way across the channel, the blast of a siren as the Elizabeth River drawbridge is raised, and the drone of transport planes making for Newark Airport.

22. ST. PATRICK'S CATHEDRAL, 213 Court St., of Victorian Gothic design, is constructed of light gray stone. Its tall spires are conspicuous landmarks. The cathedral, erected 1887, is opposite Jackson Park, one of the half-dozen green squares in Elizabeth and reputedly the site of an Indian burying ground. Adjoining is St. Patrick's High School, oldest Catholic secondary school of the State.

23. SINGER SEWING MACHINE PLANT (open for group tours upon written application), SE. end Trumbull St., is the largest industry of Elizabeth. Tall, many-windowed brick buildings are weathered and well covered with vines. In 1851 Isaac M. Singer placed on the market his first sewing machine, intended to be set up and operated on the packing case in which it was delivered, and propelled by a wooden treadle and pitman. By 1873 the demand for the machines was so great that the few small factories in New York were combined and moved to Elizabethport, where about 7,000 persons are now employed.

24. NEW JERSEY PRETZEL PLANT (open weekdays), 816 Livingston St., employs deaf mutes hired through the State Department of Institutions and Agencies. The pretzel bending done by these workers is one of the few old handicrafts defying the machine age, since no one has succeeded in inventing a machine to put the twist in a pretzel.

General Motors plant, Linden, 3.8 m. (see Tour 1); Edison Memorial Tower, Menlo Park, 9.7 m. (see Tour 8); Liberty Hall, former home of Governor Living- ston, 1 m., Springfield Presbyterian Church, Revolutionary landmark, 6.1 m. (see Tour 10).

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