Executive Board Meeting

The Executive Board met on August 18 in the Hanson House at 2:00 pm where plans were made for the coming year. Among them were the dates of activities for that year and a slate of officers for the election in October. Plans for the Society picnic on September 8 were finalized, and arrangements were also made for the October 6 meeting to be held at the Reeves-Reed Arboretum at 165 Hobart Avenue in Summit, New Jersey. This was a rather unusual departure from the Society’s earlier planned schedule.

Picnic Details

The September 8 picnic was scheduled to be held in the rear of the Hanson House at 2 pm. Members were advised that the picnic would be held rain or shine, with indoor accommodations available if necessary. As usual, the Society would provide hot dogs, hamburgers, and soda, with members asked to bring other picnic food. Guests and lawn chairs were welcome. Any necessary Society business would be taken up with as little interruption as possible, including the introduction of the new slate of officers.

The Changing Scene

Elizabeth, New Jersey has been around for more than three hundred fifty-five years and has seen many changes during that time. Only a very few of its original buildings still stand to remind us of where it all began, and even they have undergone change. Boxwood Hall, the former home of Elias Boudinot, has lost all of its outbuildings and for many years served as the Old Ladies Home. Nearby stands the Bonnell House, built in 1682. Across the street is the Belcher-Ogden House, the home of two early governors of New Jersey and perhaps the oldest building of its type in the state. A short distance away is the Old St. John’s Parsonage, part of which was built in 1697 as the home of Andrew Hamton and his wife Margaret. Many church buildings have come and gone, with First Presbyterian Church on Broad Street being the third church on that site. Originally built in 1784, it replaced one burned by the British during the American Revolution and was rebuilt again after a disastrous fire in 1946. The oldest original church in Elizabeth is the Second Presbyterian Church on East Jersey Street.

Historic Buildings in Elizabeth

On the west side of First Presbyterian Church once stood a large Victorian-style brick building. In 1924 it was lifted from its foundation and moved backward nearly one hundred feet, where it still stands today. On the other side of the church once stood the home of Hannah Arnett, who persuaded wavering townsmen to defy the British in 1776. John Ogden’s sawmill stood on Broad Street at the edge of the river for nearly two hundred years, surviving many changes of ownership. Across the street, Carteret Arms—once a tavern and later the home of the Elizabeth Public Library—was torn down in 1940 and replaced by stores. The Hersh Building on Broad Street, once a tall structure with a pointed green-copper roof, was later reduced to only two stories. Just beyond East Broad Street on Jefferson Avenue is Jefferson Park, which once featured a beautiful fountain with water spraying into the air and falling back into a circular pool, while gargoyles around the base spouted water into the basin.

Pictures From Our Files

Historic view of Broad Street in Elizabeth, New Jersey circa 1887, showing the First Presbyterian Church, cemetery, and street activity
Broad Street, Elizabeth, circa 1887, showing First Presbyterian Church, its cemetery, and the former Union County Court House, with a horse-car running along the street.

This image shows Broad Street in Elizabeth about 1887, including First Presbyterian Church, its cemetery, and the Parish Hall. To the left of the church stands the former Union County Court House, while a horse-car rides the rails in the center of the street. This church is the third such structure built on the site and replaced the building of 1724 that was burned by the British in 1780 during the American Revolution. The original meeting house was constructed late in 1664 by settlers shortly after purchasing the land.

Memories

The cemetery surrounding First Presbyterian Church is one of the oldest in the country and contains the graves of early settlers as well as many patriots of the American Revolution. Among them is Moses Ogden, leader of the twelve sentries who alerted Elizabethtown to the British invasion of June 6, 1780. Nearby lies Hannah Caldwell, killed the following day after the Battle of Connecticut Farms, and her husband, the Reverend James Caldwell, known as the “fighting parson,” who was murdered in November 1781. Memories of Elizabeth also include its once-busy movie theaters such as the Ritz, Regent, and Liberty. One night the Regent Theater’s ceiling collapsed during a showing of In Old Chicago. Gone as well are the voices of junkmen, scissor-grinders, and the whistles of steamships in the Staten Island Sound. As Bill Frolich recalled, a gallon of gasoline once sold for just 8.9 cents.

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