The Grammy Museum Experience opened in the fall of 2017 and celebrates music in all forms, famous NJ musicians, and the history of the Grammy Awards.

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Located in the Prudential Center, the Grammy Museum Experience is a museum dedicated to celebrating all forms of music and honors famous musicians from New Jersey including Bruce Springsteen and Queen Latifah. The museum, which also explores the history of the Grammy awards, features interactive exhibits and exhibits dedicated to Springsteen, Ray Charles, and others from the state. Visitors will learn about the creative process and technology behind creating music and can even play instruments and create their own songs. The museum opened in 2017 and is the third Grammy museum in the country. The others are in Los Angeles, Nashville, and Cleveland, Mississippi (not to be confused with Cleveland, Ohio).

Grammy Museum Experience

This begins at the Newark Museum and Military Park and makes a loop around downtown Newark to minimize traffic. Highlights include the New Jersey Historical Society as well as many historic buildings, public spaces, monuments, the Krueger Mansion, Grammy Museum, and historic buildings that were home to key civic organizations such as the Newark Female Charitable Society and the Newark Orphan Asylum.

Highlights of Newark New Jersey Driving Tour 

History of the Museum
The Newark Museum dates back to 1909 and its founder, the renowned John Cotton Dana. As a former library director and librarian in Denver, Springfield, and Newark, Dana felt a need to promote the appreciation, understanding, and enjoyment of the arts and sciences, and he held a preference for American art movements over their European counterparts.&nbsp;In the museum’s early years, when it was located on the fourth floor of the Newark Public Library, Newark Museum specialized in contemporary American commercial products, and by 1915, he curated one of his more popular exhibits, titled, “Clay Products of New Jersey.” Also, Dana started building the now-famed Tibetan collection at this time, and one of the first main attractions of the museum was its Japanese prints, silks, and porcelains provided by a local pharmacist.1
Exhibits and Collection
Both the artistic and the scientific exhibits at the museum hold equal sway in terms of size and depth. One of the more popular exhibits is the 1885 Ballentine House. This early-19th century Victorian house originally featured 27 rooms, and it has been part of the Newark Museum since 1937. Visitors to this wing of the museum can traverse the two-floor gallery titled “House &amp; Home,” which showcases eight period rooms and six thematic galleries. The house was designated as a National Historical Landmark in 1985.2
In addition to the Ballentine House, visitors can discover a myriad of interpretive exhibits and galleries throughout the three-floor museum. After browsing through the antiquities on the first floor or the fire museum in the garden, they can explore the five Asian art exhibits (China, Japan, Korea, South Asian, and Southeast Asian) as well as the Tibetan Art on the third floor.&nbsp;The third floor houses the Victoria Hall of Science Prudential Gallery, which presents the museum’s featured science exhibit, titled “ Dyanmic Earth: Revealing Nature’s Secrets.”3
Alice and Leonard Dreyfuss Planetarium
Museum-goers looking to travel the solar system can visit the Alice and Leonard Dreyfuss Planetarium. Featuring programs on constellations, objects in the solar system, distant galaxies, and the edge of the universe, the 50-seat planetarium emphasizes an interactive learning experience aimed at both adults and children alike.4&nbsp;

Located in the heart of downtown Newark, the Newark Museum carries the proud role of being the largest museum in the entire state in terms of both size and collection. In fact, the museum’s Tibetan galleries have garnered the status of being the best in the world. 

Since 1909, the Newark Museum has collected enough artifacts and works of art to fill three full floors of American art, decorative arts, contemporary art, and the arts of Asia, Africa, the Americas, and the ancient world. 

Considering both scope and importance from antiquity to present day, this museum also displays a fascinating collection of science-focused exhibits that contains over 83,000 objects, from exotic seashells to mastodons.

Newark Museum

AT&amp;T operated a number of subsidiary telephone companies in the early twentieth century, including Delaware Atlantic Telephone &amp; Telegraph. Delaware Atlantic was reorganized in 1927 as New Jersey Bell and acquired the New Jersey properties of New York Bell. To consolidate the three Newark locations, the company bought a parcel to build a headquarters. The head of New Jersey Bell Telephone, Chester Barnard, spoke at the grand opening of the new office building on April 4th 1929, calling the structure a "thing of beauty...built not only for today, but to meet the requirements of the expanding future." The building was designed by architect Ralph Thomas Walker of the New York firm Voorhees, Gmelin and Walker. The New York Times later dubbed Walker the "architect of the century." Walker was a master of the setback-style of architectural design, where the massing of the lower floors was wider than the upper floors; this technique complied with New York City's sunlight law of 1916 and he used it in the design of a half-dozen skyscrapers in Manhattan and Rochester, New York, as well as this Newark building. The steel frame building with concrete footings rises 275 feet above the curbline. The main facade faces Broad St. and is seven bays wide on the ground floor, with the end bays slightly recessed. A decorative floral frieze tops the first story, covered in Glenmont sandstone. The main entrance in the central bay leads to the grand lobby, with 22-foot high ceilings, walls of pink marble with burgundy marble accents, and gray and rose tile floors with bronze accents. The upper floors of the Broad Street side are divided into twelve bays. The elaborate pilasters in the central core are fluted on floors two to four, with massive sandstone relief figures by Edward McCartan representing a telephone lineman, residential customers, an operator, and a repairman. Bronze panels with floral designs are between the pilasters. The nine-bay south elevation faces Lombardy Street; it is less decorative than the main facade but both feature cast stone ornamentation at the parapet level. Several works of art have been preserved on the interior, including a terrazo tile wall mural by Alfred E. Floegel of a naked man holding a telephone handset while cables circle around a globe beneath him. "Telephone Spirit" symbolizes mankind's control of worldwide communication. The basement contained a boiler room and a cafeteria for workers. The first floor held the public offices, a 400-seat auditorium, and telephone displays. Upper floors held non-public offices, a medical floor, and large classrooms. The uppermost floors were executive offices. The building remained under telephone company ownership, which later became Bell Atlantic and then Verizon; up to 3,000 employees worked within the building. Verizon had plans to sell the 440,000 square-foot building overlooking Washington Park for $35 million in 2008; the company decided to stay after receiving millions in tax breaks from the state. L&amp;M Development Partners, a New York City firm, bought the building in 2016 in a partnership with Prudential Financial for over $16 million. The partners, along with Gold man Sachs Urban Investment group, poured $120 million into the renovations. L&amp;M also bought the nearby former Hahne &amp; Company department store building (also a Clio entry), which was redeveloped into residences and commercial spaces including a Whole Foods store. Former Newark Mayor Cory Booker's presidential campaign headquarters opened in this newly-renovated building in 2019.The renovations of the New Jersey Bell Building into Walker House won awards in 2019 from Downtown New Jersey (Excellence in Community Development) and New Jersey Future (Smart Growth). Rental apartments in the renovated Walker House have been very popular and range from studios to three bedrooms. The 211 luxury apartments were over 90 percent leased by August 2020. The top floor holds resident amenities: a fitness center, yoga studio, library lounge, private catering kitchen, and rooftop terrace with outdoor seating. Rents start at about $1,900 per month with one month free on a thirteen-month lease; these are the reduced-rate leases, reserved for those who make roughly half the area's average income; the other 80 percent of the units lease at higher prices.

The high-rise Art Deco building at 540 Broad Street was built as the headquarters of the New Jersey Bell Telephone Company in 1929. The 20-story buff brick and sandstone building features decorative pilasters above the entrances. The 14 upper floors were converted into 211 luxury apartments by 2019 after the building was purchased from Verizon. The building is now called Walker House to honor its original architect. The ground floor is leased as commercial space and is slated to hold a local craft brewery, a rock climbing facility, and a coffee shop. Verizon New Jersey, Inc. still leases a few of the office space floors two through five. The New Jersey Bell Headquarters Building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2005 for its significance in architecture and its association with New Jersey Bell.

New Jersey Bell Headquarters Building

Before the Symington House was built, a Dutch colonial farmhouse/ cottage reportedly stood on this spot; a portion of its foundation was incorporated into the front foundation of the 1808 house. Trinity Church was the first Episcopal church in Newark. The parish formed a building committee in 1807 to plan for a new parsonage house/ rectory. The brick, three-story parsonage (later called Symington House) was finished in 1808. Trinity Church had been damaged during the Revolutionary War and the church was rebuilt in 1809. The typical Federal design shows in the house's five-bay-wide symmetry. The central entrance porch at the top of brownstone steps has Corinthian fluted columns supporting a dentilled pediment. The wooden cornice supporting the roof has dentils with brackets and carved rosettes. A pair of chimneys on each side pierce the low-pitched roof. The foundation is brownstone. The cooking fireplace was in the basement of the original design of the house. A banker and member of the Episcopal Church Vestry, Daniel Dodd, bought the house in 1879. Dodd was a widowed 60-year-old bank president in 1880 when the U.S. census was taken. Dodd shared his home at 2 Park Place with his three children: Margaret C. (age 24, no occupation), Mary A. (14) and Daniel (Jr., 18); all were New Jersey natives. Four servants completed the household: nurse Eliza J. Charles (50), cook Mary O'Donnell, waitress Mary Mooney (18) and laundress Katie Dolan (22). Robert B. Symington was born in Scotland in 1852 and emigrated to the U.S. in 1873. His wife, Jeannie, was a Scottish native who was born in 1853 and emigrated to the U.S. in 1878. The couple married in 1878 and only had one child, a son named William C. ("Clark"), who was born in New Jersey in 1879. All three occupied the 2 Park Place home in 1900; Robert was a 48-year-old manufacturer of spool cotton. William, age 20, attended school for nine months of the year. Four servants also lived in the Symington home: Mary Giffney (26), Christine Anderson (52), Mary A. Kyle (17) and John Dunkin (38). Ten years later, the three Symingtons lived in the 2 Park Place home with five new servants; Robert was a spool cotton merchant in 1910 and William was a manufacturer of scales. The Symington household did not appear in the 1920 census. Robert had died by 1940, when William headed the household at 2 Park Place; the 60-year-old manufacturer of instruments was still single, and shared the home with his widowed mother, Jean (88); Jean's widowed sister or a nun, Mary L. O'Malley (90); a lodger, Arthur Honsell Jr. (30); and two servants (a maid and a cook). By 1942, the widowed Jean Symington shared the 2 Park Place home with her son, William, who worked in New York City; and Ruth Symington (presumably William's wife), a nurse at Presbyterian Hospital. The 1947 city directory only lists William at the 2 Park Place residence. Symington House underwent interior renovations after Robert B. Symington purchased the mansion from Dodd in 1888. A new cooking kitchen was added to the basement. The family also replaced the original 6-over-6 windows with single large panes, and removed the exterior window shutters. Some of the first floor windows were replaced with French doors topped by purple stained glass, leading to a cast iron veranda across the home's front. A large carriage house made of brick stands to the rear of the Symington House and was converted into a garage. William (Clark) Symington's widow still owned the house in 1965 when she sold it to the Continental Insurance Company. The firm used the building for additional office space to rent out; the property became known as Continental House. The insurance company had already built a skyscraper adjacent to the house. Additional restorations were made when the building was used as part of the 300th anniversary of Newark celebrations in 1966. The house became the temporary headquarters for the Newark Tercentennial Committee. The mansion later became an office and training center for business leaders. When Symington House was documented for the National register in the late 1970s, only two standing houses in Newark were older: the Plume House and the Sydenham-Henderson House. The Episcopal Diocese of Newark purchased the mansion and it briefly held St. Philip's Academy in the 1990s.

The Symington House has stood at 2 Park Place since 1808 and is the third oldest house in Newark. It is one of the last of the grand 19th-century mansions in the neighborhood north of Military Park. The three-story brick Federal style townhouse was constructed as a rectory for the neighboring Trinity Church (now Trinity and St. Philip's Cathedral) and also was known as Trinity House. The rectory served as the home of Reverend Matthew H. Henderson for decades, until 1856. The church sold the rectory in 1867 and moved its rectory into the adjacent townhome at 6 Park Place (built in the 1830s and demolished in the 1960s). The Symington family bought the former rectory at 2 Park Place in 1888 and added additions. Continental Insurance Company purchased the mansion in 1965, leading to another new name, Continental House. The Symington House was added to the New Jersey State Register in 1978 and the National Register in 1979. The building was re-purchased by Trinity Church and has held the Newark School of Theology since 2016.

Symington House

Julius Hahne was a pocketbook maker from Germany who opened a toy store in Newark in 1858; the shop was on the corner of Broad St. and Central Avenue. He gradually began adding other commercial goods to his store, across from Military Park, and departmentalized his offerings by the 1870s; he was the first in Newark to do so. Hahne also offered free store deliveries. Hahne died in 1895; his sons were behind the building of the new, larger store in 1901 at the corner of Broad and New Streets. The Hahne brothers - Richard, Albert J. and August - had married Hahne employees. Their brother-in-law, William H Kellner, also was a partner in the company. One of the mottos of Hahne &amp; Company was this, in 1911: "The Most Industrious Store in Newark - the City of Industry." A 1914 motto was "New Jersey's Greatest Store." So why would someone want to shop at Hahne &amp; Company's flagship, also known as "Newark's Store Beautiful"? A 1906 newspaper ad gave seven "good reasons": stocks are enormous, as complete as in the best of New York City stores; styles of goods and services are strictly up-to-date; time is saved by making many purchases under one roof; money is saved by the deals obtained for the large quantity of merchandise bought to stock the store; conveniences and comfort with the store's perfect ventilation, broad, light airy aisles, and ten large elevators; safety in shopping with ease of returning goods and due to the building being fireproof; and local pride. A 1905 newspaper ad touted the company's twelve-acre Newark store and promised that all mail orders would be promptly filled. The store incorporated other draws for shoppers, and ways to keep them in the store longer: a nursery and merry-go-round to keep children occupied, an amusement hall and art gallery, a men's smoking room, a restaurant, a soda fountain that could hold 60 patrons, an escalator ("moving staircase"), and fireproof construction. Why would someone want to work at Hahne &amp; Company? Being a store salesperson was one of the few occupations where women had an advantage over men; women preferred having other women to deal with. The new store took 1,200 employees to staff the huge building, lus its own engineering department. Early in 1914, the head of the company began paying their store employees a percentage of their sales on top of their salary. A few days before Christmas of that year, the company sent out notices of salary increases to one-fourth of the employees. The abandoned building was documented for National register listing in 1993-1994. The four-story building's main facade was 13 bays wide, of brick and stone; the building was trapezoidal in plan and covered about 2.3 acres. Vandals had gained access to the interior of the building and it had been torn apart for its copper and brass pipes and other metal machinery parts. Parts of the grand staircase and grand court skylight remained intact. The building was found to be significant for being associated with the oldest department store in Newark and as the first commercial building in Newark designed to be a department store.

The building at 609 Broad Street once housed the department store Hahne & Company. The store was founded in 1858 and merged with Lord & Taylor in 1988. This building opened in 1901as the company's flagship store. The company's motto was "The Store with the Friendly Spirit." The  business closed in 1986 and the building was vacant for thirty years. The building was listed in the National Register on 1994. After renovations, it reopened in 2017 with a new rear addition facing Halsey Street and underground parking. The main commercial spaces in the "Hahne and Company Building" now hold a Whole Foods grocery store, a Petco pet store, a CityMD walk-in clinic, and a Barnes and Nobel Rutgers bookstore. Residences occupy the upper stories.

Hahne & Company

After the Revolutionary War, the commons was designated a public park. As stated above, it was used for military purposes over its history (including during the War of 1812). By the 1970s, the park was not well maintained and fell into disrepair. Fortunately, the city renovated the park in 2013 after years of planning and construction. This effort helped revitalize the surrounding neighborhood which now features numerous shops and restaurants. <div>The park also features the historic Trinity &amp; St. Philip's Cathedral (built in 1810), which is located on the northern end. There are also a few sculptures, one of which is a bust of John F. Kennedy, and the other is a large one called "Wars of America," which was created by Gutzon Borglum, the sculptor of Mount Rushmore and numerous other statues and monuments around the country.&nbsp;</div><div> </div> &nbsp;

Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the history of this public park dates back to 1666 when the land was set aside as one of three "commons" by the city founders. The triangle-shaped park is bound by Rector Street, Park Place, and Broad Street. For most of its history, the land was used for militia musters and training. The land served as a camp and training ground for troops during the French and Indian War. During the Revolutionary War, officers of the Continental army again used the land as their camp. The U.S. Army recruited troops here during the Civil War, and during WWI, the park once again served as a recruiting station for troops. Today, the park offers visitors a variety of activities, programming, and attractions including sports opportunities, fitness programs, arts and culture, a farmers market, a carousel, and a restaurant called Burg (short for burger). 

Military Park, Newark

The Essex Club building was constructed in 1926 and is an excellent example of English Georgian style architecture on a commercial building. It is the oldest&nbsp;businessmen's club in the state and is also indicative of the prosperous times Newark experienced during the 1920s.&nbsp;

The New Jersey Historical Society was founded in 1845 and is located in the historic former Essex Club building, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Its mission is to preserve the state's rich history for present and future generations. The Society operates a museum in the building as well as a research library. The museum's collection focuses on the 20th century but has older items as well. These include 240 portrait paintings, 3,700 costumes and accessories (and other clothing), 460 pieces of furniture, and many ceramic and glass decorative pieces made with New Jersey clays and sands. The library's collection is impressive as well. It holds 3,200 linear feet of manuscript material that includes ledgers, diaries, personal papers (such as many prominent New Jersey figures), business records, women's organization records, and many other materials. Highlights include the original charter from Charles II deeding the lands that would become New Jersey and the first transatlantic cable that dates to 1825. 

New Jersey Historical Society

The First National State Bank was chartered in New Jersey in 1812 as State Bank of Newark. Their first bank building, built in the same spot as the current building, resembled a house. The bank became a national bank in 1865. The bank was celebrating its 100th anniversary when the new building opened in 1912. A cornerstone laid on May 3, 1911 contains a time capsule with that day's local newspaper, photos of the bank's officers, and examples of early and modern currency. The entire first floor of the building was still being used as a bank in the mid-1970s, with a second floor overlooking the first. The other upper floors were organized with offices on one side and elevators and a meeting room on the opposite side. The 90,000-square-foot building was designed by Cass Gilbert, known for designing a few other buildings you may have heard of - the U.S. Supreme Court Building in D.C. and the Woolworth Building in N.Y.C. Gilbert was one of the early pioneers of "skeleton construction" as used in the bank building, in which a primary steel frame directly supports exterior brick walls as a non-load-bearing cladding system. The original plans for the bank building on linen have been preserved by the New York Historical Society. The original plans showed that the second floor had originally been a mezzanine overlooking the first floor lobby; the space was later filled with steel and concrete to form a regular second floor. Viewed from the outside, the main block of the building is in three parts: a base (stories 1 and 2), a shaft (stories 3 to 10), and a capital (stories 11 and 12). The building is part of the Four Corners commercial and business district, a neighborhood that has been undergoing renovation. The steel building is clad in concrete slabs; a three-story addition similar to the twelve-story main block predates a more recent four-story rear addition of steel, masonry block and brick holding an elevator and stairwell. To transform the building into a hotel, the developer hired Pennoni Associates Inc. The firm was tasked with designing two more stories atop the three-story addition, a nine-story elevator and stairwell addition to the rear (east) of the main block, and strengthening the roof to support a terrace. The new weight on the roof of the proposed terrace was engineered for by adding additional steel roof support beams between the existing, steel encased-in-concrete beams. In keeping with green building practices, solar panels were added above the roof's copper cornice. New luxury loft suites were built into the twelfth floor with metal floor decks and steel walls The front desk of the Hotel Indigo is made from reclaimed bank teller desks. A glass mosaic tile mural by local artists tells the story of Thomas Edison working in the area to invent the stock ticker. Each of the 108 guest rooms come equipped with an iPad for ordering room service, housekeeping, or controlling the window shades. Exposed brick in the guest rooms helps to connect the building with its past. A coffee brand that has been in Newark for almost 150 years, TM Ward, developed a special blend for the hotel. The Ainsworth Rooftop Lounge in open to guests and locals, with views of the Manhattan skyline as you enjoy drinks or late-night snacks. The Edison Room holds meetings of up to 45 people. Paramount Hotel Group has managed the Hotel Indigo Newark Downtown since 2018. Prior to then, Crestline Hotels &amp; Resorts, Inc. managed the hotel for the owners, The Hanini Group, LLC.

The high-rise building at 810 Broad Street was built as a bank and opened in 1912.  The First National State Bank building is 12 stories and 150 feet tall. The First National State Bank Building was listed in the National Register in 1977. The upper floors were vacant for many years before the building was renovated. The building officially reopened on March 26, 2015 as a Hotel Indigo with 108 guest rooms. The boutique hotel sits at one of the busiest corners in the state, within walking distance of the Prudential Center, home of the New Jersey Devils. The ground floor sports a 4,000-square-foot restaurant where the original bank vault has been converted into a pizza oven! 



First National State Bank

Newark Female Charitable Society was located in a 3-story red brick and terra cotta building that was built in 1886. The Society was founded by the leading women of Newark in 1803. In addition to over a century of charitable work, the building and Society are historically significant as the oldest social service agency in New Jersey and the third oldest in the United States. The Society is now known as the Newark Day Center and functions as a community organization. It still occupies 305 Halsey and 43 Hill, which together house a child development center, a senior center, and other programs that benefit Newark residents.

Newark Female Charitable Society

The parish was founded on Ascension Day in 1837, a result of a catholic revival within the Church of England, later called the Oxford Movement. The architect, Richard Upjohn, was an English emigre, co-founder of the American Institute of Architects, and the designer of scores of churches including Trinity, Wall Street. Much of his work, including this building, reflected a new taste in the New World for Medieval styles which came to be known as Gothic Revival. Grace was built on the site of the old Essex County Courthouse and Jail which had burnt down in 1835. In 1848, an Episcopalian textile maker resident in Newark paid for the weighty, single bell in the tower. The bell still rings and has rung for many occasions, including in 1861 in support of the Federal soldiers defending Fort Sumter. While the lyrics for the patriotic song America the Beautiful were written by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Katharine_Lee_Bates" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color:rgb(11, 0, 128)">Katharine Lee Bates</a>, the music was composed by the church organist and choirmaster of Grace Church, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_A._Ward" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color:rgb(11, 0, 128)">Samuel A. Ward</a>. Bates wrote the words as a poem, America, which was first published in 1895 for the July 4th edition of the church periodical The Congregationalist. Ward had written the tune, "Materna", for the hymn "O Mother dear, Jerusalem" three years earlier in 1882 but it was not published until 1892. Ward's melody combined with the Bates poem was not published until 1910 when it was titled "America the Beautiful". True to its founding in the Oxford Movement, Grace remains known for its high church, sacramental <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liturgy" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color:rgb(11, 0, 128)">liturgy</a>, or order-of-service, at the center of which is the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eucharist" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color:rgb(11, 0, 128)">Eucharist</a>, also known as Holy Communion or the Mass, holding that Christians gain access to the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Logos_(Christianity)" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color:rgb(11, 0, 128)">Mystical Body of Christ</a> through the sacramental worship of the community and are aided by the sequential liturgy, incense, and Eucharistic sacrifice to an <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beatific_vision" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color:rgb(11, 0, 128)">experience of heaven</a>. Incense, lights, and ceremonial vestments are used. Grace Church maintains a strong choral tradition and weekly sings <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gregorian_chant" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color:rgb(11, 0, 128)">Gregorian Chant</a> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gradual" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color:rgb(11, 0, 128)">mass propers</a> from the early, medieval and renaissance eras.

Grace Church in Newark, a historic Episcopal Church founded in 1837 in the city's center on Broad Street. Grace, is notable for its liturgical traditionalism, architecture, music, and as the birthplace of the tune "America the Beautiful." Its architect was Richard Upjohn and the design an example of Gothic Revival.  In 1882 the parish organist Samuel A. Ward wrote the tune for "America the Beautiful." Grace Church was listed in the National Register of Historic Places; it is one of over a dozen Newark historic church buildings listed.

Grace Church, Newark

The first reverend of this church was William J.R. Taylor, who served from 1871 to 1890. The front of the massive sandstone church faced what was then known as Clinton Avenue, and the front of the church is inscribed "Clinton Avenue Reformed Church." The spire is near the street corner; the long side of the church, facing Halsey Street, features evenly-spaced large buttresses between large tall, Gothic-arched sanctuary windows. The finely-carved wooden pulpit bore the inscription: "We preach Christ crucified" in gold lettering. Before the church was built, after its organization in 1868, congregants worshipped and Sunday School was held above a butcher shop above West Kinney and Bleecher Streets. Improvements were made to the chancel end of the church interior in 1903 to early 1904 to create a choir loft, in Black walnut and fancy oak. A new organ was built at this time, too. When the church was constructed, the pulpit had been perched behind a platform for the organist. The modifications in 1904 reversed this, with the pulpit closer to the congregants and in front of the organist and choir. If the choir loft wasn't large enough to hold a larger than usual choir, some could be seated in the gallery ends near the choir loft. The Reverend Dr. Daniel H. Martin headed the church during this era. He had remarked, upon the congregation's 25th anniversary celebration in 1893, that he was glad that the church did not have a bell because there was not much love of church in those who had to be rung to attendance; a longing in the heart to worship God was a higher calling. The congregation merged with the First Reformed Church in 1926. The exterior of the brownstone building was restored in 1972, some of the subtle polychromatic stone had been damaged, especially that within easy reach of passers by. Besides its listing in the National and New Jersey Registers in 1972, the church building is part of the Lincoln Park Historic District, listed in the National Register in 1984. The district (map attached) is significant for its architecture and for having the most intact grouping of masonry (mainly brownstone, limestone, and red or orange brick) townhouses and frame Victorian structures in Newark. The district also is unusual in being primarily residential while being so close to the central business district. While most of the buildings are three-story, exceptions were the three churches and the neighboring high-rise to this entry's church, the 19-story medical offices building constructed at 31-33 Lincoln Park in 1927. Gabriel Gonzalez was appointed as reverend of the church in 1984, after the congregation merged with the First Hispanic Reformed Church. By 2001, the church building was called the Iglesia Roca de Salvacion. The property is owned currently by the Iglesia de Dios Pentecostal Roca, who purchased the property in 1993 from the First Hispanic Reformed Church for $300,000. The land and building are now assessed to be worth roughly $1.5 million. The church building appears to be closed as of 2021.

The church building at the corner of Lincoln Park and Halsey Street, across from Lincoln Park, is the Catedral Evangelica Reformada. It was constructed from 1870 to 1872 as the Clinton Avenue Reformed Church. The congregation was formed in 1868 by members of the First Reformed Church. The church building ended up costing $200,000 and is large enough to hold 1,300 worshipers. The Catedral Evangelica Reformada was listed in the New Jersey and National Registers in 1972. It is the final Newark church building that was built in the early Gothic Revival style and was designed by a local architect, Thomas A. Roberts. The church may be vacant currently.

Catedral Evangelica Reformada/ First Reformed Church

As a girl, Effa grew up among the Black community of Philadelphia with her white mother and Black step-father. She met her husband in New York in 1933 at a Yankees game. When they married a year later, they were both listed “colored” on their marriage certificate.&nbsp; Effa Manley served as the business manager of the&nbsp;Newark Eagles and was responsible for scheduling games, public relations, and purchasing uniforms and equipment. The Newark&nbsp;Eagles played baseball until 1948 and produced many well-known African American baseball players, including five who were inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. She was also a leading local philanthropist and civil rights activist.

This is the location of Effa Manley's former home in Newark. The first woman inducted in Major League Baseball's Hall of Fame, Manley oned and managed the Newark Eagles. Effa Manely was a white woman whose husband, African American businessman Abraham Lincoln Manley, acquired the Eagles and she managed the team. She was also a social activist who supported many of the boycotts of white merchants that refused to employ African Americans and also served as the treasurer of the local NAACP chapter. Furthermore, the Newark Eagles donated funds to support important community institutions such as the Booker T. Washington hospital which offered both medical services to the Black community and training for physicians and nurses. 

Effa Manley's House 

James J. ("J.J.") Dickerson, the leather manufacturer who first owned the brick and brownstone mansion, built outside the core of the city, where new streetcar lines allowed an easy commute. By the turn of the twentieth century, High Street contained homes of some of the town's wealthiest industrialists, merchants and brewers, on a ridge overlooking the Passaic River and the Manhattan skyline. A two-story brick carriage house was built at the rear of the property leading to an alley. When the property was studied for the National Register in 1991, the carriage house featured an apartment on the second floor and a stable and space for a carriage on the ground floor. The Dickerson household in 1880 included New Jersey native J.J. (age 50); his wife, Augusta M. (45); his widowed mother-in-law, Mary J. Sears (66); Eliza B. Winans (55, widowed, possibly his sister); and two female servants. The Coe family was involved in the steel and heavy hardware industries in Newark; they owned James A. Coe &amp; Company. The Coe family gave the house the name "Glencoe." James A. married Mary L. around 1868; by 1900, James (53) and Mary (48) had six children, all living in the High Street home with them. There were three Coe sons, aged 16 to 24, and three daughters, aged 21 to 26; the eldest daughter, Laura Penner, was a widow. A seventh Coe child was no longer living; all the Coes had been born in New Jersey. Two Black servants also lived at the Glencoe mansion: Howard Bryant (24) and Delilah Arnold (23). The carriage house contained the household of Robert Allen, a 29-year-old Black servant. Robert's wife, Emma (29) also was a servant; there were four Allen children, aged 5 to 10. The Coes enclosed the open two-story rear porch at the southeast corner of the mansion to create a billiard room and additional bedrooms in the early twentieth century. James Coe died in 1933 but his family continued living there until 1947; Benjamin Kulper was the new owner. The house continued to be privately owned, except for twenty years when a social service agency owned the house but did not occupy it. Cory Booker, a former Mayor of Newark, rented a room in the Coe Mansion once for $400 per month; by the late twentieth century, the neighborhood had become run down. While running for the Democratic nomination for U.S. President in 2019, Booker was interviewed in front of the house by Jake Tapper for Cable News Network (CNN). Booker told Tapper that he had some of his belongings stolen while he and a friend were moving his items inside; when they returned outside to the street, the items were gone. Later, Booker moved to apartments across the street, the former Brick Towers complex, now redeveloped as Ashton Heights. The site plan for adaptation of the house and reuse as fifteen apartments while respecting the property's historic exterior was created by a firm called 698 MLK Blvd, LLC. The plans were approved in 2019 by Newark's Landmark and Historic Preservation Commission and by the Newark Planning Board. The property was owned in 2019 by FDF 3, LLC, a firm with a Ramsey address that matches other firms that had been buying Newark properties for adaptive reuse.

The High Victorian Italianate style house at 698 Martin Luther King Boulevard is known as Glencoe or the Coe Mansion. The house was built in 1871 for a local leather merchant, James Dickerson, on the east side of what was then High Street. The home was purchased in 1886 by local steel and iron merchant James Coe and stayed in the family until 1947. The house once served as the home of Cory Booker, the New Jersey politician and former Mayor of Newark, who rented a room in the mansion when he first moved to Newark. Glencoe was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1991 and is significant for its architecture and its association with the industrialist, James Coe. Now vacant and boarded up, plans to renovate the building and create fifteen apartments inside were approved in 2019.

Glencoe/ Coe Mansion

Gottfried Krueger lived in the mansion until 1914 but it remained in the family until shortly after World War I. A construction company bought it in 1925 and later it became a Masonic temple. In 1958, Louise Scott, who is believed to be the city's first African American millionaire, bought the mansion and opened a beauty school inside. The city assumed ownership in 1982 after her heirs failed to pay property taxes. Unfortunately, the city did not take care of the mansion and it fell into disrepair and a barb-wire fence has surrounded the building ever since. In 2017, a development company proposed a plan to renovate the mansion as well as revive the neighborhood with new apartment buildings, and urban farm, and shops and restaurants.&nbsp;&nbsp;

The Krueger Mansion is one Newark's most iconic landmarks, situated prominently at the corner of Court Street and Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. It is a beautiful example of Late Victorian architecture and one of most ornate buildings in the city. Its appearance has been compared to a Bavarian castle. It was built by Gottfried Krueger (1837-1926) in 1888, founder of Gottfried Krueger Brewing Company one of Newark's beer barons of the late 19th and early 20th centuries (he was a judge and elected official). The mansion features 40 rooms, a five-story conical tower, and wrap-around porch. Today, the City of Newark owns the mansion and there are plans to renovated it as well as revive the neighborhood.

Krueger Mansion

The courthouse originally housed all the county administration offices as well as other functions such as the Sherriff's office. In 1929, some of these offices moved to a new building which freed up space for additional courtrooms.

This Renaissance style government building was constructed in 1908 and served as Essex County's seat of government for over six decades. Notable American architect Cass Gilbert, who designed many other structures in the country including the U.S. Supreme Court and the Woolworth Building in New York City, designed the courthouse. The building is five-stories tall and features a large central Tiffany stained-glass skylight dome and two smaller domes. The building also features paintings, murals, and sculptures created by noteworthy artists of the early 20th century. The former courthouse, which now serves as the home of the Essex County Bar Association, was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1975.

Essex County Bar Association; Former Essex County Courthouse (1908)

The Newark Orphan Asylum was founded on November 5, 1847 by a group of Christian women who were concerned for the welfare of the children of Newark. The Asylum was established as a home for&nbsp; boys and girls whose families for what ever reason were unable to take care of them.&nbsp; The children at the Asylum were either boarding their or candidates for adoption.&nbsp; For a hundred and one years the Newark Orphan Asylum provided a valuable service for the city of Newark. In 1948 the Newark Orphan Asylum&nbsp; merged with the Protestant Foster Home Society.&nbsp; This merger created the Newark Home For Foster Care.<div> </div>

Eberhardt Hall, originally the Newark Orphan Asylum, is the oldest building at the New Jersey Institute of Technology. It was built in 1856 and served as the Newark Orphan Asylum until the early 20th century. When it was first opened, the building that is now Eberhardt Hall was a technology marvel of its time, being equipped with modern conveniences including gaslight, steam heat and hot-and-cold running water, amenities that were rare even in the most affluent homes of the period. The building was later home to the South Park Calvary Presbyterian Church and the St. James A.M.E. Church before becoming part of NJIT. 

Eberhardt Hall (Newark Orphan Asylum)

The third (top) floor and basement of the 1810 former courthouse for Essex County contained prison cells. This former building was located south of Broad Street and burned down in 1835; Grace Church stands there now, and the basement dungeon remains. When a new courthouse was designed in the mid-1830s for a spot near the north end of Market Street (demolished ca. 1901), the same architect also created plans for a new jail at the current location of the county jail complex ruins (this Clio entry). The original architect of the jail, the Englishman John Haviland, also designed the infamous Eastern State Penitentiary in Philadelphia and the New Jersey State Prison in Trenton. The jail's design was influenced by the prison reform movement, where prisoners were isolated and rehabilitated to encourage penitence over punishment; skylights and large, barred windows brought in natural light. The original complex consisted of the Warden's House and a single cellblock, surrounded by a 12-foot tall wall; all were made from locally-quarried sandstone. Over time, a power plant, hospital, laundry, and garage were added to the prison complex, which expanded to cover 1.5 acres. The jail complex featured electricity, running water and sewer, and heat in the nineteenth century when many jails did not have such luxuries. The complex once held a greenhouse that inmates with a history of good behavior could enjoy, along with a courtyard and walking paths. The warden and his family lived and worked in the complex, too. The environment in the latter half of the nineteenth century was not all that pleasant, however, with the noxious odors from the nearby tanning and leather industries along the Morris Canal. The addition of three more wings in the 1890s and early twentieth century gave the stone and brick complex behind the towering stone walls an overall plan resembling a pinwheel. The Old Essex County Jail was the subject of a HABS photographic study in 1967, while it was still the county's main jail complex. A newer jail was built elsewhere in the county and opened in 1970. The Essex County Narcotics Bureau used the former prison complex to interview informants, so they would not be seen entering the courthouse. Some confidential records were left behind in storage when the building was finally abandoned in 1989; confiscated gambling machines were left here, too. The complex is still owned by the City of Newark, 30 years later. The warden's house has collapsed from abandonment and neglect, and the roofs of the other structures have gaping holes. Some have called for the litter and debris-filled buildings to be demolished; a science park was going to take its place in 2010 but the plans were not approved. Rutgers U. Law students have applied for the complex to be removed from the National Register. Adaptive reuse plans have been proposed by Columbia University graduate students in recent years as part of a 2018 course taught by architects Belmont Freeman and Bryony Roberts. The historical and architectural research plus proposals by the eleven students in the Graduate School of Architecture, Planning &amp; Preservation are part of an online exhibit (linked below). One of the plans called for institutional reuse of the complex by the neighboring New Jersey Institute of Technology's School of Art &amp; Design. That plan would preserve the skeleton of the existing buildings in the complex to be adapted into new buildings while adding a new, eight-story building; the outdoor spaces would become exhibit spaces for sculpture. Another proposal was to turn the complex into housing as a hostel. Steel cells in the jail's North and East Wings would become guest rooms or be combined to form apartments; masonry cells in the West Wing would be removed to create reception space, a lounge, and a cafe. The engineering room would become a gym and the Warden's House would be office and exhibit space for the Newark Landmarks organization.

The overgrown area behind the stone walls northeast of the intersection of New Street and Newark Street was once the Essex County Jail.  The oldest building in the complex was designed by the well-known architect, John Haviland, and built in 1837. The complex grew in the 1890s to 1909 to hold 300 prison cells. The complex was Essex County's main jail until a new building opened in 1970. Some of the buildings have not survived and those that remain are being reclaimed by vegetation, neglect, and vandalism since the complex was abandoned entirely in 1989. The Old Essex County Jail was listed in the National Register in 1991 and represented the oldest government building in the county. Part of the Spike Lee film "Malcolm X" was filmed here in 1991. The city-owned, severely dilapidated complex is unsafe, is frequented by criminals, and trespassing is not allowed.

Old Essex County Jail

The Church of Saint Lucy is considered one of the central landmarks and a veritable nucleus of the Old First Ward, which was formerly known as Newark’s “Little Italy.” The Church is listed on both the State and National registers of historic places, and is also designated by the Roman Catholic Church as the national shrine of Saint Gerard Majella, with a feast celebrated every year with a festival and street processions with the saint’s statue.&nbsp;The establishment of the church came as a result of the first waves of Italian immigrants that began arriving in the 1880s. In order to serve these new arrivals, the Archdiocese of Newark supported the founding of a number of parishes in Newark that would administer to the Italian population. The first was Our Lady of Mt. Carmel, located in Newark’s Ironbound section (and still active today like St. Lucy’s). St. Lucy’s opened shortly after, with the cornerstone being laid on December 13th, 1891, the feast day of Saint Lucy of Syracuse, for whom the church is named (Saint Lucy was an early-Christian martyr from Sicily, who was blinded and martyred during the Diocletian persecution, after refusing to give up her vow of chastity and marry a pagan in an arranged marriage. She is the patron saint of the blind).&nbsp;There have been two iterations of St. Lucy’s church. The earliest structure (begun in 1891) was a wooden building, situated slightly to the side of where the current church stands. The current stone building was erected between 1925-1926. Designed by architect Neil Convery, it is an impressive structure that incorporates various architectural and artistic elements that are stylistically renaissance and baroque in character. Impressive murals are prominently displayed in the church, particularly on the ceilings above the nave, transept, and sanctuary. These were painted by Gonippo Raggi, who also participated in the decoration of the Cathedral-Basilica of the Sacred Heart (also in Newark).&nbsp; The real prominence of this church has come not from its use solely as neighborhood parish, but as the National Shrine to St. Gerard Majella. A large percentage of the Italians that settled in Newark’s Old First Ward were from the province of Avellino, close to Naples. St. Gerard was also born in, and ministered to, the people of this area during his short life as a Redemptorist brother. St. Gerard’s intercession is associated with expectant mothers, healthy pregnancies, the unborn, and difficulty in conception and childbirth. A tradition that the Southern Italians brought with them from the old world is the procession of a saint’s statue through the streets on their feast day, often accompanied by the adorning of the statue with offerings. In Newark, an annual procession with the statue of St. Gerard has become perhaps the most iconic tradition of the First Ward. During his feast in October, the saint’s statue is carried from the church and processed throughout the neighboring streets. Accompanied by a band playing traditional music, the saint is carried from street to street, stopping at certain points, where large blankets made of money (and also smaller offerings made by individual faithful) are pinned directly to the statue. Besides being a visible manifestation of faithful’s belief in the intercession of St. Gerard, the money raised during the feast was (and remains) a greatly needed source of income for the church to both keep the doors open and continue the feast year after year. The combination of the annual procession and popular devotion to St. Gerard led to the designation of St. Lucy’s as the national shrine of St. Gerard in 1977.&nbsp;Unfortunately, in the early 1950s, plans by Newark’s leadership for urban renewal ended up tearing the First Ward apart. At that point, Newark’s First Ward boasted a population of about 30,000, with most people living with their extended families in houses and tenements constructed around the turn of the century. In fact, this marked Newark as the American city with the fifth largest Italian population at the time. While the neighborhood was incredibly vibrant and full of shops, social clubs, and restaurants, city planners in the post-war era designated this neighborhood as a slum. City leadership proposed to convert what had been 15 small blocks into what would become 3 large-scale blocks, building high-rise towers, demolishing many homes, and displacing at least 1,500 families. Lawsuits by residents against the Newark Housing Authority had failed by 1953, and thus the way was clear for the city to begin the implementation of these plans. While St. Lucy’s church and a few other notable structures were saved from the destruction, the large scale displacement of the First Ward’s residents and many problems and tensions associated with the new high-rise housing projects forever changed the area.&nbsp;However, even though the area has changed so profoundly over the past decades, the constant presence of this particular church has served as an anchor for those who have personal and ancestral ties to the First Ward, and also still continues to administer to a congregation made up of the neighborhood's current residents. Each year for the feast and procession, thousands of people descend on 7th&nbsp;Avenue. Some come from all over North America seeking the intercession of St. Gerard. Many are former residents of the First Ward and their descendants, who see St. Lucy’s as an integral part of their heritage and identity as Americans of Italian descent. They come, by-and-large, not only to venerate the saints, but to remember past family, friends, and personal experiences accrued over nearly a century and a quarter of history. Many of these personal memories are now enshrined in a museum dedicated to the old First Ward located in the&nbsp;church’s basement. It is full of photographs and exhibits about the earliest foundations of the neighborhood, what life was like spanning generations, innumerable family photographs, and a great deal of items such as banners and medals related to the annual feast. And of course, the feast of St. Gerard is still ongoing every October. For more information about the church and the annual feast, one can consult the official website of St. Lucy’s.&nbsp;

The church of St. Lucy was erected between 1925-1926 to serve the huge numbers of Italian immigrants who arrived in Newark beginning around the late 1880s. The building is a beautiful example of Italian renaissance and baroque architecture, and was designed by architect Neil Convery. The church interior also boasts incredible murals painted by Gonippo Raggi, who also worked on the Cathedral-Basilica of the Sacred Heart (also in Newark). The Church, which is still active, is listed on both the State and National Registers of Historic Places. It is also designated by the Roman Catholic Church as the national shrine of Saint Gerard Majella. 

A museum dedicated to the old First Ward is located in the church’s basement. It is full of photographs and exhibits about the earliest foundations of the neighborhood, what life was like spanning generations, innumerable family photographs, and a great deal of items such as banners and medals related to the annual feast of St. Gerard. 

St. Lucy's Church

In 1859, a Bishop by the name of Bayley proposed the
construction of a new Cathedral in the city of Newark. It was not until 1898,
however, that construction actually began on the proposed Cathedral.
Construction spanned for a great deal of time, however, and was stalled further
in 1902 when creative visions between those involved clashed. The feuding
became so great that by 1908, construction on the Cathedral had ceased
completely. The conflicts were settled by 1910, resulting in some
deconstruction of the Cathedral, but nevertheless, construction was back
underway. More issues arose and stalled construction, but the Cathedral opened
for worship amidst these troubles on May 1, 1928.

As worship and construction continued, the Cathedral was
finally completed and dedicated on October 19, 1954. The Cathedral found much
use among its attendees, but in 1995, a greater honor was bestowed upon the
Cathedral of the Sacred Heart. The Pope John Paul II visited the United States
at this time, and during his travels, he visited the Cathedral. Aside from
honoring the Cathedral with a visit, he also bestowed upon the Cathedral the
title of Basilica, changing it to the Cathedral Basilica of the Sacred Heart.
Today, the Cathedral Basilica continues to welcome those who would walk through
its doors with open arms.

A classic French Gothic cathedral resembling the great cathedral at Rheims, France, its construction was first proposed in 1896. In 1899, the cornerstone was laid, and the church was completed in 1954. Its towers soar 323 feet, and the cathedral covers some 45,000 square feet, comparable to Westminster Abbey. Sacred Heart is the fifth largest cathedral in North America, and it was granted minor basilica status by Pope John Paul II during his visit to Newark in October 1995. It features a heavy use of stained glass, including three rose windows; vaulted ceilings; a variety of wood paneling; imported and domestic marble; and crystal, silver, and bronze chandeliers.

Cathedral Basilica of the Sacred Heart

The idea for the museum originated from former Board President Joseph Selzer who visited the Jewish Museum of Florida (which was also housed in a synagogue) and recognized that Newark, which has the fourth largest Jewish population in the country, needed a museum as well.&nbsp; The congregation was established in 1905 and grew to become one the city's 50 Jewish congregations.

The Jewish Museum of New Jersey serves as an important center for Jewish cultural life in Newark. Founded in 2003 and opened in 2007, it is housed in the Ahava Shalom synagogue, the oldest continuously active synagogue in the city. The museum is the state's first centralized museum devoted to Jewish history. It features permanent, rotating and traveling exhibits that explore various topics of Jewish history including Jewish immigration to the state, the role New Jersey Jews played in the Civil Rights Movement, and the stories of local Holocaust survivors. The museum also offers inter-faith programming that promotes cultural understanding and tolerance. A highlight of the synagogue itself is its beautiful carved mahogany ark, which is the oldest in the state. The synagogue was built 1923 and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. 

Jewish Museum of New Jersey

On November 25, 1910, a fire destroyed a factory at this location. 26 factory workers, mostly young women, died as a result of unsafe practices. Six of the workers were consumed by the fire while another twenty jumped to their death rather than share their fate. The factory produced a number of products from explosives to wooden boxes and clothing. Officials in neighboring New York City warned that they were likely to endure a similar tragedy unless they did something to prevent unsafe factories in their city. Tragically, the city failed to learn from the Newark fire. Four months later, the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire took the lives of 146 workers in New York. Like the 1910 New Jersey fire, most of the victims were women. 

Highlights of Newark New Jersey Driving Tour

Grammy Museum Experience

Introduction

Images

Sources

Additional Information