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.
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.
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.
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.
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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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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).
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!
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.
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).
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.
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.
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.
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.
This Tour is a Driving or Biking Tour.
Get a QR Code for this tour
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.
