Perth Amboy City Hall and Surveyor General's Office | |
Location | 260 High Street Perth Amboy, New Jersey USA |
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Coordinates | 40°30′23″N74°15′57″W / 40.50639°N 74.26583°W |
Built | 1714 |
Architectural style | Colonial Revival, Second Empire, Italianate |
NRHP reference No. | 81000394 [1] |
NJRHP No. | 1897 [2] |
Significant dates | |
Added to NRHP | January 12, 1981 |
Designated NJRHP | October 3, 1980 |
Perth Amboy City Hall | |
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General information | |
Type | city hall |
Location | Perth Amboy, New Jersey |
Construction started | 1714 |
Completed | 1717 |
Renovated | 1745, 1767, 1826, 1872, 2006 |
References | |
[3] |
City Hall in Perth Amboy, Middlesex County, New Jersey, United States, is a historic building built in the early 18th century. It is now the oldest public building in continuous use in the United States. [4] [3] [5] [6] [7] The Perth Amboy City Hall and the Surveyor General's Office were added to the National Register of Historic Places on January 12, 1981, for their significance in architecture and politics/government. [1] [8]
Construction of the building began in 1714 and was completed in 1717. It served as the local courthouse and jail, and was also used by the Provincial Assembly until 1775. The building has twice been rebuilt after being badly damaged by fire; first in 1731, rebuilt until 1745, and again around 1765 following an arson attack believed to have been committed by a former inmate who was imprisoned on debt charges. It was rebuilt a second time in 1767. [3]
City Hall has undergone three renovations, most recently in 2006, although some of the original structure remains. The building is now Victorian in style. [3]
The two-room Surveyor General's Office was built adjacent to City Hall in 1867, which was used by the General Board of Proprietors of the Eastern Division of New Jersey. [9]
On November 20, 1789, the State of New Jersey became the first to ratify the United States Bill of Rights. [10]
On March 31, 1870 Thomas Mundy Peterson (1824–1904) became the first African American to vote in an election under the just-enacted provisions of the 15th Amendment to the United States Constitution. [11] [12]
On February 22, 1896, the terra cotta statue of George Washington by Nels N. Alling is dedicated in Market Square, next to the City Hall. It was a gift of the Scandinavians of Perth Amboy. [13]
Middlesex County is located in the north-central part of New Jersey, United States, extending inland from the Raritan Valley region to the northern portion of the Jersey Shore. As of the 2020 United States census, the county was the state's third-most populous county with a population of 863,162, its highest decennial count ever and an increase of 53,304 (+6.6%) from the 2010 census count of 809,858, which in turn reflected an increase of 59,696 (8.0%) from the 750,162 counted in the 2000 census. Middlesex is part of the New York metropolitan area. Many communities within the county serve as commuter towns to and from New York City and other points north. The county is part of the Central Jersey region of the state.
Perth Amboy is a city in northeastern Middlesex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, within the New York metropolitan area. As of the 2020 United States census, the city's population was 55,436, its highest decennial count ever and an increase of 4,622 (+9.1%) from the 50,814 recorded at the 2010 census, which in turn had reflected an increase of 3,511 (+7.4%) from the 47,303 counted at the 2000 census. Perth Amboy has a Hispanic majority population. In the 2010 census, the Hispanic population made up 78.1% of the population, the second-highest in the state, behind Union City at 84.7%. Perth Amboy is known as the "City by the Bay", referring to its location adjoining Raritan Bay. The Census Bureau's Population Estimates Program calculated that the city's population was 55,357 in 2021, ranking the city as the 725th-most-populous in the country.
South Amboy is a suburban city in Middlesex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, located on Raritan Bay. As of the 2020 United States census, the city's population was 9,411, an increase of 780 (+9.0%) from the 2010 census count of 8,631, which in turn reflected an increase of 718 (+9.1%) from the 7,913 counted in the 2000 census.
Thomas Mundy Peterson of Perth Amboy, New Jersey, has been claimed to be the first African-American to vote in an election under the just-enacted provisions of the 15th Amendment to the United States Constitution.
Perth Amboy High School is a four-year comprehensive community public high school which serves students in ninth through twelfth grades from Perth Amboy in Middlesex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, operating as the lone secondary school of the Perth Amboy Public Schools. The school has been accredited by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Elementary and Secondary Schools since 1928.
The Eagleswood Military Academy was a private military academy in Perth Amboy, in Middlesex County, New Jersey, United States, which served antebellum educational needs.
Great Beds Light is a sparkplug lighthouse in Raritan Bay, about 1 mile (1.6 km) from South Amboy of Middlesex County, New Jersey, United States. Over the years the lighthouse has become the symbol for the city of South Amboy. Named as Great Beds Light Station, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places on May 29, 2008, for its significance in architecture, engineering, transportation, and maritime history.
Old Queens is the oldest extant building at Rutgers University-New Brunswick and is the symbolic heart of the university's campus in New Brunswick in Middlesex County, New Jersey in the United States. Rutgers, the eighth-oldest college in the United States, was founded in 1766 during the American colonial period as Queen's College. Queen's College was named for Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, the daughter of a German duke who became the queen consort of British king George III. Old Queens is located on a six-acre hilltop city block bounded by Somerset Street, Hamilton Street, College Avenue and George Street that was previously an apple orchard. Donated to the college in 1807 by James Parker, Jr., this city block become known the Queen's Campus and is the historic core of the university. Because of this, by metonymy, the name "Old Queens" came to be used as a reference to Rutgers College and is often invoked as an allusive reference to the university or to its administration.
Perth Amboy is a station on NJ Transit's North Jersey Coast Line, located in Perth Amboy, New Jersey. The station is located in a cut between Elm Street and Maple Street and between Smith Street and Market Street in downtown Perth Amboy, and has two low side platforms.
Proprietary House in Perth Amboy, New Jersey, United States, is the only proprietary governor's mansion of the original Thirteen Colonies still standing. Overseen by architect and builder John Edward Pryor, construction began in 1762 and was completed in 1764.
The Simpson United Methodist Church is a historic church located at the intersection of High and Jefferson Streets in the city of Perth Amboy in Middlesex County, United States. Completed in 1867, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places on April 6, 1979, for its significance in architecture, communication, and religion.
St. Peter's Episcopal Church is a historic church at Rector and Gordon Streets in Perth Amboy, Middlesex County, New Jersey. It is the oldest Episcopal parish in New Jersey and contains the oldest extant gravestone in New Jersey. The church building, built from 1849 to 1852 in Gothic style, was added to the National Register of Historic Places on May 12, 1977, for its significance in religion.
The Road Up Raritan Historic District is a 69-acre (28 ha) historic district located along River Road in the township of Piscataway in Middlesex County, New Jersey. It is north of Raritan Landing, once an important inland port on the Raritan River during the 18th and 19th centuries. The name is taken from an earlier colonial era name for what was once a Lenape path, Assunpink Trail that became a main road parallel to the river. Piscataway Township itself was formed on December 18, 1666 as one of the first seven townships in East Jersey, and is one of the oldest municipalities in the state. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places on September 18, 1997, for its significance in architecture, military history, and exploration/settlement. The district includes nine of fourteen historic homes along an approximately 1.2-mile (1.9 km) stretch of River Road. The Metlar-Bodine House and the Cornelius Low House are also in the immediate vicinity.
The Perth Amboy Ferry Slip, located on the Arthur Kill in Perth Amboy, Middlesex County, New Jersey, United States, was once a vital ferry slip for boats in New York Harbor. It was added to the New Jersey Register of Historic Places and National Register of Historic Places in 1978. The ferry slip was restored in 1998 to its 1904 appearance. A replica of the ticket office has been constructed and is used as a small museum.
The Kearny Cottage is a historic home in Perth Amboy, Middlesex County, New Jersey, United States. It is open to the public as a historic house museum and is operated by Kearny Cottage Historical Society.
Laing House of Plainfield Plantation is a historic house located at 1707 Woodland Avenue in the township of Edison in Middlesex County, New Jersey, United States. It was built in the early 18th century when the region was being settled by Scottish Quakers in the late 17th and early 18th century, as recalled in the name of The Plainfields and Scotch Plains. The region was part of the colonial era Elizabethtown Tract and later part of Piscataway Township. It is not certain whether the name derives from the plain clothing worn by the founders or is a reference to the landscape. The house was added to the National Register of Historic Places on October 27, 1988, for its significance in exploration and settlement.
The Perth Amboy Public Library is the free public library in the city of Perth Amboy, New Jersey, located at 196 Jefferson Street.
The United States Post Office and Courthouse (1932) and the Mitchell H. Cohen United States Courthouse (1994) house the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey in Camden, New Jersey. The back-to-back buildings are joined by a second story enclosed skyway.
Old Bridge, also known as the Historic Village of Old Bridge, is an unincorporated community located within East Brunswick in Middlesex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is on the South River, a tributary of the Raritan River. The community is named after the first bridge built here to cross the river, the South River Bridge. After other bridges were built crossing the river, it became known as the Old Bridge. The Old Bridge Historic District, encompassing much of the village, is listed on the state and national registers of historic places.
The first black man to vote in America, Thomas Mundy Peterson, was a member of St. Peter's and is buried in its graveyard. He voted in the Perth Amboy mayoral election of March 31, 1870, one day after adoption of the 15th Amendment to the United States Constitution.