New Brunswick Historical Society New Jersey

New Brunswick Historical Society New Jersey Page by New Brunswick Historical Society, NJ. Promoting the history of our City and beyond.

This small marker is situated in Monument Square, New Brunswick, NJ, on the George Street side. The inscription commemor...
06/07/2026

This small marker is situated in Monument Square, New Brunswick, NJ, on the George Street side. The inscription commemorates College Hall, the second home of Rutgers U, before the move to Old Queens. It states that the building was at the end of George Street while Rutgers U was using it in 1791, meaning the section of our City east of Monument Square wasn’t built yet. The marker mentions the “grammar school,” now Rutgers Preparatory School, but not the New Brunswick Theological Seminary, even though they were also affiliated with Rutgers U while College Hall was in use. Since it is dated 1930, we believe it was installed as part of our City’s Bicentennial celebrations that year. Modern photo of marker by post author, along with photo of building before it was demolished supplied by community member M. A. S. Fischer.
http://www.nbfplarchive.org/nbrevitalization/files/nb_images/belvin_photos/schools/lancastrian_school_chronicles_of_new_brunswick_1667_1931_wall_john_p_179_184.pdf?fbclid=IwAR0zErK0UrbYnGRNG71K1fIzHYY17w5UBCbQzyqErvo1HMuN4n3TMwerXhg_aem_th_ARLCnKTHVeMG16R_hIwJYh7FCe6Fv-_09K5N1hO0xTyq7Z8_LvNf-Wnk4l3NhdwmUjY&mibextid=Zxz2cZ

June 6, 1944, 82 years ago today, the allied forces land in Normandy, France. Code named Operation Overlord, commonly kn...
06/06/2026

June 6, 1944, 82 years ago today, the allied forces land in Normandy, France. Code named Operation Overlord, commonly known as D-Day, it is the biggest seaborne invasion in history, and laid the foundation for victory over the N***s. Thank you to all our veterans for their service.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Normandy_landings?wprov=sfti1 https://maps.apple.com/?ll=49.333333,-0.566667&q=Normandy%20landings&_ext=EiQpJoKjqqqqSEAxYEPsIyIi4r85JoKjqqqqSEBBYEPsIyIi4r8%3D

June 5, 1776, 250 years ago today, General George Washington and a small staff stop at the White Hall Tavern in New Brun...
06/05/2026

June 5, 1776, 250 years ago today, General George Washington and a small staff stop at the White Hall Tavern in New Brunswick, NJ for the night. They are en route from Philadelphia, PA where Washington has met with the Continental Congress, on their way back to their headquarters in NYC. The stop in our City is not well known as it is only referenced in Washington’s request for reimbursement of $16 he paid to the tavern owner Minert Voorhees (about $532 today). This covered the meals and lodging for Washington, his staff, and their horses. Portrait of Washington from life by Charles Willson Peale, 1776 via link. Research through the National Archives online:
https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Washington/03-04-02-0298 -03-04-02-0298-sn
https://www.mountvernon.org/george-washington/artwork/life-portraits-of-george-washington/

June 4, 1929, 97 years ago today, Margaret Mack of New Brunswick, NJ receives US Patent 1716179 for her invention of a “...
06/04/2026

June 4, 1929, 97 years ago today, Margaret Mack of New Brunswick, NJ receives US Patent 1716179 for her invention of a “utensil for cooking ranges”. This metal plate with attached coil would be placed on the stovetop to distribute the heat more evenly. It also helped keep the food on the stovetop warm for longer. This approach was meant as an addition to the wood or coal cooking stoves of the day. Her invention as described wasn’t used for long due to evolving appliance design incorporating natural gas and electricity. However Ms. Mack’s coil design for even heat distribution was used in the burners of many electric cooktops during the 20th century. See the full patent filing online:
https://patentimages.storage.googleapis.com/29/95/7d/05630222bba432/US1716179.pdf

June 3, 1925, 101 years ago today, this sterling silver trowel was used during the ceremony for the laying of the corner...
06/03/2026

June 3, 1925, 101 years ago today, this sterling silver trowel was used during the ceremony for the laying of the cornerstone of Elks Hall 324 at the corner of Livingston Avenue and New Street, New Brunswick, NJ. It is engraved with the names of several prominent figures in our City’s history, including the President of the building committee, Theo. Cohn, and local architects for the project, William H. Boylan and Alexander Merchant. Unfortunately this building is slated to be demolished by request of the Elks. The trowel is held in the archives of the Jewish Historical Society of Central Jersey, Temple Anshe Emeth, and is viewable by appointment.
https://www.jewishgen.org/jhscj/index.html
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This c. 1914 view of the New Brunswick, NJ Boat Yard shows a portion of our City’s Raritan River maritime industries. Th...
06/02/2026

This c. 1914 view of the New Brunswick, NJ Boat Yard shows a portion of our City’s Raritan River maritime industries. The yard performed maintenance and repair of small boats that travelled along the Delaware and Raritan Canal. From the book “The Delaware and Raritan Canal: A Pictorial History“ by William J. McKelvey Jr. from the Franklin Township Public Library Reference Department, viewable by appointment. Post updated to include what we believe to be an original version of the photo submitted by a community member.

New Brunswick Historical Society has passed 9000 followers! We appreciate all the support. We will continue to share int...
06/01/2026

New Brunswick Historical Society has passed 9000 followers! We appreciate all the support. We will continue to share interesting stories about our City’s history and diverse community. Please share our page with friends and family who will enjoy the history of New Brunswick.

This excerpt of a map from 1888 shows New Brunswick, NJ and the surrounding area. The complete map is titled “A Topograp...
06/01/2026

This excerpt of a map from 1888 shows New Brunswick, NJ and the surrounding area. The complete map is titled “A Topographical Map of the Vicinity of Trenton, New Brunswick, and Bordentown.” It was drawn by George H. Cook while he served as Geologist for the State of NJ. The map shows contours and heights, and includes details related to roads, railroads, marshes, swamps, cranberry bogs, quarries, etc. It covers parts of Burlington, Mercer, Middlesex, Monmouth and Somerset counties from original surveys. Cook is now probably better known in our area because of the Rutgers U campus named for him that houses the School of Environmental and Biological Sciences (SEBS). See the entire map online for better close up viewing:
https://www.davidrumsey.com/ll/thumbnailView.html?startUrl=%2F%2Fwww.davidrumsey.com%2Fluna%2Fservlet%2Fas%2Fsearch%3Fos%3D0%26bs%3D10%26lc%3DRUMSEY~8~1%26q%3DNew%2520Brunswick%2520nj%2520George%2520cook #?xywh=2020%2C-4506%2C5535%2C9011

The Rutgers-Princeton Cannon War has been going on since at least 1875. Rutgers U, New Brunswick, NJ students have been ...
05/31/2026

The Rutgers-Princeton Cannon War has been going on since at least 1875. Rutgers U, New Brunswick, NJ students have been attempting to capture a Revolutionary War era cannon and install it at Old Queens to replace a replica since the real one was returned to Princeton U in the 1870s. In one case, the students tore a car in half attempting to get the cannon out of the ground. Another time, students dug a hole next to the cannon and covered it with the dirt from the hole, faking for a short time that it had been stolen. Another attempt, referenced in the photo, used forged papers but Princeton U caught on in time to stop the thieves. Since the cannon is so hard to move, Rutgers U students settle for periodically painting it scarlet. See a short film about it online:
https://vimeo.com/35066902
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rutgers%E2%80%93Princeton_Cannon_War?wprov=sfti1

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