Riverbank Park | |
Nearest city | Newark, New Jersey |
---|---|
Coordinates | 40°43′55″N74°9′9″W / 40.73194°N 74.15250°W Coordinates: 40°43′55″N74°9′9″W / 40.73194°N 74.15250°W |
Area | 10.8 acres (4.4 ha) |
Built | 1907 |
Architect | Olmsted Brothers |
Architectural style | Urban Park |
NRHP reference No. | 98000351 [1] |
NJRHP No. | 60 [2] |
Significant dates | |
Added to NRHP | April 16, 1998 |
Designated NJRHP | October 29, 1999 |
Riverbank Park is a park in the Ironbound section of Newark, Essex County, New Jersey, United States. The park was opened in 1910 [3] and was added to the National Register of Historic Places on April 16, 1998. [4] It is the smallest and one of the most heavily used parks in the Essex County Park System. [5]
The park was designed by the Olmsted Brothers, the firm of Frederick Law Olmsted. [3] The park land was acquired in 1907 and construction finished in 1910. [3] A driving force behind the building of the park was Franklin Murphy (governor) who wanted his workers at the Murphy Varnish Works to have open space. [5]
An expansion took place between 1926 and 1931. [3] The baseball fields are on the former location of the Balbach Smelting & Refining Company, one of the largest metal processing companies in the country, which closed in the 1920s. [5]
In 1996, there was an attempt to build the Newark Bears, Bears & Eagles Riverfront Stadium at the site of the park, demolishing the park. [6] SPARK (Save the Park At RiverbanK) is a community group formed to save the park from destruction. [6] After an unsuccessful attempt to save the park via referendum, they were able to get the park on the National Historic Register. [4]
SPARK's work also resulted in a remediation of contaminated soil in the park, which was completed in 2003. [7]
In August 2011, plans were announced to create Newark Riverfront Park, next door to Riverbank Park along the Passaic River [8] [9] [10] which opened in August 2012. [11] [12] [13] [14] A further extension of parkland along the river was announced in June 2016. [15] [16] Work proceeded in 2017. Eventually it will reach Bridge Street Bridge. [17]
Currently, SPARK hosts programs in the park including a Learning Program with the New Jersey Historical Society and Greater Newark Conservancy, [4] movie nights [18] and Music and Art Day. [19]
Newark is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey and the seat of Essex County and the second largest city within the New York metropolitan area. The city had a population of 311,549 as of the 2020 U.S. census, and was calculated at 307,220 by the Population Estimates Program for 2021, making it the nation's 66th-most populous municipality.
Route 21 is a state highway in northern New Jersey, running 14.35 mi (23.09 km) from the Newark Airport Interchange with U.S. Route 1/9 (US 1-9) and US 22 in Newark, Essex County to an interchange with US 46 in Clifton, Passaic County. The route is a four- to six-lane divided highway known as McCarter Highway on its southern portion in Newark that serves as a connector between the Newark and Paterson areas, following the west bank of the Passaic River for much of its length. It also serves as the main north–south highway through the central part of Newark, connecting attractions in Downtown Newark with Newark Airport. The portion of Route 21 through Newark is a surface arterial that runs alongside the elevated Northeast Corridor rail line through the southern part of the city and continues north through Downtown Newark while the portion north of Downtown Newark is a freeway. Route 21 intersects many major roads including Interstate 78 (I-78), Route 27, and I-280 in Newark, Route 7 in Belleville, and Route 3 in Clifton.
Essex County is located in the northeastern part of New Jersey. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the county's population was 863,728, making it the state's second-most populous county, behind Bergen and Middlesex Counties. Its county seat is Newark, the most populous city in the state. Essex County is one of the centrally located counties in the New York metropolitan area.
Passaic River is a river, approximately 80 miles (130 km) long, in Northern New Jersey. The river in its upper course flows in a highly circuitous route, meandering through the swamp lowlands between the ridge hills of rural and suburban northern New Jersey, called the Great Swamp, draining much of the northern portion of the state through its tributaries. In its lower portion, it flows through the most urbanized and industrialized areas of the state, including along downtown Newark. The lower river suffered from severe pollution and industrial abandonment in the 20th century. In April 2014, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced a $1.7 billion plan to remove 4.3 million cubic yards of toxic mud from the bottom of lower eight miles (13 km) of the river. It is considered one of the most polluted stretches of water in the nation and the project one of the largest clean-ups ever undertaken.
Bears & Eagles Riverfront Stadium, originally simply Riverfront Stadium, was a 6,200-seat baseball park in Newark, New Jersey, United States built in 1999. It was the home of the Newark Bears, who played in the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball, an independent minor baseball league. The Bears played in the stadium from 1999 until 2013 when they announced a move to the Canadian-American Association of Professional Baseball, but the team was folded shortly thereafter.
The Ironbound is a neighborhood in the city of Newark in Essex County, New Jersey, United States. It is a large working-class multi-ethnic community, covering approximately 4 square miles (10 km2) of well maintained streets and homes. Historically, the area was called "Dutch Neck," "Down Neck," or simply "the Neck," due to the appearance of the curve of the Passaic River. The Ironbound is part of Newark's East Ward and is directly east of Newark Penn Station and Downtown Newark, and south and west of the river, over which passes the Jackson Street Bridge, connecting to Harrison and Kearny. The area became a major transmission "hotspot" of the COVID-19 pandemic in late 2020.
Raymond Boulevard is a major thoroughfare in Newark, New Jersey. The eastern portion of the road acts as the westbound member of a one-way pair; eastbound traffic uses Market Street and Ferry Street. Raymond Boulevard carries eastbound and westbound traffic west of Market Street, passing through Newark Penn Station and intersecting with McCarter Highway, Broad Street, Halsey Street, Washington Street, among others.
Mountain Station is a New Jersey Transit station in South Orange, Essex County, New Jersey, United States, along the Morris and Essex. The station, built in 1915, was designed by Frank J. Nies. It has been listed in the New Jersey Register of Historic Places and National Register of Historic Places since 1984 and is part of the Operating Passenger Railroad Stations Thematic Resource.
The Lenape Trail is a trail through Essex County, connecting many county parks and reservations, wooded spaces, and historical sites. It begins in Newark, New Jersey and ends in Millburn, New Jersey. It was established in 1982. It is the fifth longest trail in the state behind the Delaware and Raritan Canal Trail, the Appalachian Trail, the completed section of the Highlands Trail in the state and the Batona Trail. The Lenape trail traverses Newark and its suburbs, as well as the Watchung Mountains and Passaic Meadows. Because of the steepness of the Watchung Mountains and the flood-prone nature of the Passaic Meadows, the former basin of Glacial Lake Passaic, these areas have remained much less developed than the rest of the northeastern part of the state. This trail therefore offers hikers an opportunity to see cultural and historical sites of an urban trail, as well as large natural and undeveloped areas. The trail's proximity to New York City and the various ridges it traverses, including Forest Hill, Orange Mountain, and Second Watchung Mountain, offer many views of the skyline. The Lenape Trail forms a segment of the Liberty-Water Gap Trail and incorporates the West Essex Trail, the Lenape Trail's only rail-to-trail section. The Lenape Trail also connects with Morris County's Patriots Path trail system on its western terminus.
West Hudson is the western part of Hudson County, New Jersey comprising the contiguous municipalities of Kearny, Harrison and East Newark, which lies on the peninsula between the Hackensack River and Passaic River.
Bridge Street Bridge is a swing bridge over the Passaic River connecting Newark and Harrison, New Jersey. It is the 10th bridge from the river's mouth at Newark Bay and is 5.7 miles (9.2 km) upstream from it. Carrying vehicular traffic, the roadway is designated County Route 508.
Dock Bridge is a pair of vertical lift bridges crossing the Passaic River at Newark, Essex County and Harrison, Hudson County, New Jersey, United States, used exclusively for railroad traffic. It is the seventh crossing from the river's mouth at Newark Bay and is 5.0 miles (8.0 km) upstream from it. Also known as the Amtrak Dock Vertical Lift, it carries Amtrak, NJ Transit, and PATH trains. It is listed on the state and federal registers of historic places.
The Newark and New York Railroad was a passenger rail line that ran between Downtown Newark and the Communipaw Terminal at the mouth of the North River in Jersey City, bridging the Hackensack River and Passaic River just north of their mouths at the Newark Bay in northeastern New Jersey. The Central Railroad of New Jersey operated it from its opening in 1869. Though operations ended in 1946; portions remained in use until 1967.
The Penn Plaza East complex takes its name for its location near Penn Station in Newark, New Jersey. Fronting Raymond Boulevard on the banks of the Passaic River, the two office buildings were constructed during a period in the late 1980s and early 1990s when they and numerous postmodern skyscrapers were built near the station and Gateway Center. While others went up between the station and traditional Downtown Newark, Penn Plaza East is on the Ironbound, or east, side of the major transportation hub. As of 2010, the buildings are occupied by the corporate headquarters of New Jersey Transit, JOC Group, and Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey, which owns their building.
Oak Island Yard is a freight rail yard located north of Port Newark-Elizabeth Marine Terminal and Newark International Airport in an industrial area of Ironbound, Newark, New Jersey at 91 Bay Ave., United States. The sprawling complex includes engine house, classification yard, auto unloading terminal, and maintenance facilities. It has ten reception tracks, an automated hump, 30 relatively short classification tracks, and nine departure tracks. In 1999, it classified 800 to 1000 cars per day.
The Jackson Street Bridge is a bridge on the Passaic River between Newark and Harrison, New Jersey. The swing bridge is the 6th bridge from the river's mouth at Newark Bay and is 4.6 miles (7.4 km) upstream from it. Opened in 1903 and substantially rehabilitated in 1991 it is listed on the New Jersey Register of Historic Places (ID#1274) and is eligible for the National Register of Historic Places. The bridge was re-lamped in 2012.
Newark Riverfront Park is a park and promenade being developed in phases along the Passaic River in Newark, New Jersey, United States. The park, expected to be 3 miles (4.8 km) long and encompass 30.5 acres (12.3 ha), is being created from brownfield sites along the river, which itself is a Superfund site due to decades of pollution. It will follow the river between the Ironbound section along Raymond Boulevard and Downtown Newark along McCarter Highway. Announced in 1999, a groundbreaking took place in 2008, and the first phase of the park opened in 2012. It was the first time residents of the largest city in New Jersey have ever had public access to the river. Other segments of the park have subsequently opened, while others are being developed. The East Coast Greenway uses paths and roads along the park.
First Landing Party of the Founders of Newark is a marble monument with bas-relief and inscription by sculptor Gutzon Borglum (1867–1941) near the New Jersey Performing Arts Center in Newark, New Jersey. It was dedicated in 1916. It was listed on the New Jersey Register of Historic Places in 1990 and the National Register of Historic Places in 1994 as part of the Public Sculpture in Newark, New Jersey Multiple Property Submission.