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Jersey City Free Books
NEW JERSEY
A Guide To Its Present And Past
Compiled and Written by the Federal Writers' Project of the
Works Progress Administration for the State of New Jersey
American Guide Series
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
New Brunswick
Final Installment
Points Of Interest
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RUTGERS UNIVERSITY
- SITE OF THE WHITE HART TAVERN, NE, corner Albany and Peace Sts., is occupied by a lunchroom that utilizes a few floorboards and beams from the old hostelry in which the Provincial Congress met in 1776. Washington was host to his staff in the White Hart on July 4, 1778, after the Battle of Monmouth. Benjamin Franklin, and Samuel and John Adams, were also entertained here.
Meetings of the New Jersey Medical Society, the State's first medical organization, were held in the tavern. The organization was formed in 1766 at the call of the Rev. Dr. Robert McKean, preacher, teacher and physician. A group of foremost doctors agreed to conduct their practice on the highest ethical standards. The legislature empowered the society to examine all candidates for the degree of M.D. and to confer diplomas. One of the founders was Dr. John Cochran, a member of Washington's staff who was referred to by the General in his lighter moments as "Dear Doctor Bones."
- SITE OF COCHRANE'S TAVERN, SW. corner Albany and Neilson Sts., is occupied by the Public Service building. In the former tavern
General Charles Lee was imprisoned during his trial for insubordination after the Battle of Monmouth in 1778 (see Tour 18A). Colonel Simcoe, the British raider, was also held here. One owner of the tavern was Bernardus Le Grange, most notorious Loyalist of New Brunswick, whose effigy was burned by angry Revolutionists and whose property suffered heavily at the hands of the commissioners of forfeited estates.
- CHRIST P.E. CHURCH, SW. corner Church and Neilson Sts., a simply designed building of white-trimmed brownstone, stands on the site of the original 18th century English Church. The first church, erected 1743, with the exception of the tower, was taken down and rebuilt into the present structure in 1852, all the stone being utilized.
- FIRST REFORMED CHURCH, Neilson St. between Bayard and Paterson Sts., was completed 1812 as the successor to two earlier structures. Of gray stone with brownstone quoins, the church has a white, three-tiered clock tower. In the graveyard are buried many Revolutionary soldiers and members of old New Brunswick families, some of them beneath stones dated as early as 1746. Under the pastoral care of Theodorus Jacobus Frelinghuysen (1720-1748) the church was a powerful influence in New Jersey.
- RUTGERS PREPARATORY SCHOOL, NW. corner College Ave. and Somerset St., was founded as Queens College Grammar School when the college was established. A separate institution, it is one of the 12 oldest schools in the Nation. The recitation rooms are in a compact threestory structure of brick, painted dull yellow with brown trim. Dormitories and the gymnasium are Several blocks. N. on George St. An early advertisement informed parents that if their children were sent here, "the strictest Regard will be paid to their moral Conduct, (and ip a word) to every Thing which may tend to render them a Pleasure to their Friends, and an Ornament to their Species."
- NEW BRUNSWICK THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY, 17 Seminary Pl., consists of three buildings forming an open square known locally as Holy Hill. HERTZOG HALL, the massive, cream-colored central building, is used for classrooms and a dormitory. A tablet on a boulder at the entrance marks the SITE OF A BRITISH REDOUBT (1776-77). At the edge of the hill above the river an American battery under Capt. Alexander Hamilton covered the crossing, while Washington and his troops rested in the city for a few days during the retreat of 1776. SUYDAM HALL (open 2-5 weekdays), of dark red brick, has a Biblical collection of relief maps and coins of the early Christian era, and a number of miniatures and larger figures of gods and goddesses in ivory. SAGE LIBRARY (open 8:305:30 Mon.-Fri.; 8:30-1 Sat.; 7:30-10 Mon.-Thurs. eves.; 8-10 Fri. eve.) contains rare books on religion and art.
- A heroic STATUE OF WILLIAM THE SILENT, Seminary Pl. opposite the Seminary, was presented to the university in 1927 by the Holland Society of New York. The statue, considered the best piece of sculpture in the city, is a duplicate made by Toon Dupuis of The Hague from the original plaster model of Lodewyk Royer, 19th century Dutch sculptor.
- JOHNSON & JOHNSON PLANT (not open to public), 500 George St., consists of 51 red brick buildings along the river, adjoining the Rutgers campus. Founded in 1886, the company has become one of the world's largest makers of surgical and medical supplies, and the city's chief employer of labor.
- BUCCLEUCH PARK, N. end College Ave., is a landscaped tract of 73 acres on high ground overlooking Raritan River, just E. of Landing Lane Bridge. At the base of the slope, across the canal, a footpath (once a towpath) parallels the abandoned Delaware and Raritan Canal. The WHITE HOUSE (open 3-5 Sun. and holidays, May 30 to Labor Day), in the park, near the intersection of College Ave. and George St., is a large clapboard and brick house painted white, of fine Georgian Colonial design. The entrances, doorways and both interior and exterior trim are typical of the excellent craftsmanship of the later Colonial period. It was built in 1729 by Anthony White, whose wife was the daughter of Lewis Morris, Colonial Governor. During Howe's occupation of New Brunswick the house was in British hands. Valuable hand-painted panels in the lower hallway, depicting scenes in India and landmarks of Paris, are said to have been imported from France early in the 19th century. The house has a collection of Colonial furnishings and apparel.
- BIRTHPLACE OF JOYCE KILMER (open 10-10 daily), 17 Codwise Ave., is a simple frame house, now the headquarters of Joyce Kilmer Post of the American Legion. The house contains memorabilia,of the poet, who is best known for Trees (see Literature).
- GUEST HOUSE (open on application at Public Library, adjoining), 60 Livingston Ave., was erected 1760 on another site by Henry Guest, a whaler and tanner. A good example of Colonial architecture, the house has ashlar stone walls and is remarkably free of ornament. Rare laces and shawls are exhibited in the building. Guest's son, Moses, a militia captain, helped capture the notorious British raider, Col. John Graves Simcoe. The most distinguished occupant of the building was Tom Paine, pamphleteer of the Revolution, who hid here from the British during the war.
- E. R. SQUIBB & SONS PLANT (not open to public), Georges Rd., manufactures pharmaceutical supplies, serums, vaccines, antitoxins and proprietaries. The company was established in 1858 by Dr. Edward R. Squibb, United States Navy Surgeon and one of the first experimenters with anesthetics.
POINTS OF INTEREST IN ENVIRONS
Grave of Abraham Clark, 12.7 m., Edison Memorial Tower, 7.8 m. (see Tour 8); Rutgers University Stadium, 2.4 m. (see Tour 13).
The Hudson River Is Jersey City's Arena For Water Sports!