CHRONOLOGY

1800-1899

Combined view of Ballantine Breweries, Malt Houses and Grain Elevator.
The Newark Public Library

1800–1809

1800Newark Aqueduct Co. was incorporated.
1801First Baptist Church was constituted under the Rev. Charles Lahatt. A meeting house was erected in 1804 and rebuilt in 1810.
1802Newark Academy accepted girls.
1803The Newark Female Charitable Society—the oldest of its kind in New Jersey and third oldest in the United States—was founded.
1804The Newark Banking and Insurance company was chartered with capital of $400,000.
1805John Noble Cumming established his brewery in Newark.
1806Orange Township broke away from Newark, taking what is now Orange, East Orange, West Orange and South Orange. The First Methodist Episcopal Society was formed with the Rev. David Bartine in charge.
1807Alexander Macwhorter, distinguished minister of Old First Church, died in Newark.
1808The present building of Trinity church reopened (today this building is Trinity and St. Philip’s Cathedral).
1809Newark had three private schools—Market Street School (1804); Franklin School on Fair Street (1807); and the Union School on New Street (1809).

1810–1819

1810Newark’s population was 6,000; 8,017 in 1826; 10,966 in 1830; and 15,000 in 1833. Newark Fire Insurance Co. founded.
1811The Second Presbyterian Church opened and the Rev. Hooper Cummings was installed as the first pastor.
1812Rally at Gifford’ s Tavern on Broad Street in support of mobilization efforts during the War of 1812.
1813Bloomfield, Montclair and Belleville broke away from old Newark.
1814There were seventy-five free “Negro men among Newark taxpayers with businesses of their own.”
1815Newark’s genius inventor Seth Boyden moved to the city from Foxboro, Mass.
1816Essex County Medical Society founded.
1817The Newark Messenger started, but died in 1819.
1818Boyden perfected a new method for glazing leather.
1819Boyden produces nation’s first patent leather. Newark’s population estimated at 6,507.

1820–1829

1820Peter Ballantine came to Newark from Albany, N.Y., to establish his great brewery.
1821Total amount realized from taxes for the year was $3,184.
1822Sales of patent leather reached $4,521.
1823An act was passed vesting in Newark the title to triangular tracts of ground in the city.
1824Gen. Lafayette paid his first visit to Newark.
1825Boyden built America’s first steam locomotive.
1826St. John’s Roman Catholic Church, the state’s oldest parish, founded. Boyden discovered the process of making malleable iron.
1828Township authorized the purchase of a new cemetery along the old Ferry Road. Water began flowing into the Morris Canal.

1830–1839

1830Newark led all New Jersey towns in population, industry, appearance and growth. Its population was nearly 10,000 or double that of any other municipality.
1831Morris Canal completed from Newark to Phillipsburg.
1832The New Jersey Railroad and Transportation Co., first railroad to enter Newark, received a charter from the State Legislature.
1833A Dutch Reformed Church was established with Rev. Ransford Wells as pastor. Henry Clay visited Newark and stayed at the Park House on Military Park. A Newark-made carriage was given him, which he rode to New York City. President Andrew Jackson attended Newark Jackson Day dinner and had breakfast at the home of William Wright. Congress made Newark a Port of Entry, and Archer Gifford, Esq., was appointed collector.
1834New Jersey Railroad and Transportation Co. opened the railroad from Newark to Jersey City. Newark’s first St. Patrick’s Day celebration included participation by the 76-member Hibernia Provident Society.
1835The locomotive “Newark” ran over the New Jersey Railroad tracks to the foot of Bergen Hill. Horse-drawn cars completed the trip to Jersey City until the Bergen Hill cut was finished in 1838. Newark and Morristown businessmen joined forces to obtain a charter for the Morris and Essex Railroad. Newark’s exports to the southern ports of the United States, South America and the West Indies equaled $8 million. Included were: saddlery and harness, carriages, shoes, hats, coach springs and lams, brass, cutlery, coach lace, patent leather, malleable iron, window blinds and sashes, cabinet ware, jewelry and trunks. The Whaling Co. was incorporated.

1840–1849

1844Louis Trier, Newark’s first known Jewish settler, arrived and founded a tannery on New Jersey Railroad Avenue. An ordinance was passed creating the office of city marshal and prescribed the duties of the mayor, city marshal, constables and watchmen as special police officers.
1845The New Jersey Historical Society was founded in Trenton and the following year moved to Newark. Great Newark Fire.
1846Newark Library Association founded. St. Mary’s Abbey constructed. Newark Gas Light Company began the manufacture of gas. Population reached 17,290.
1847The EntrachtMannergesangVerein was founded and gave its first concert.
1848Samuel Augustus Ward, composer of the music for “America the Beautiful, “ was born in Newark. Certification of incorporation for the “Jewish Religious congregation B’nai Jeshurun.” Isaac Cohen was elected president.
1849Boyden and sons set out for the California Gold Rush.

1850–1859

1850Albert and Edward Lister came from England to build a major fertilizer plant along the Passaic River.
1851The Newark Sacred Music Association was founded.
1852Paving of Broad Street began and was completed about a year later. Louis Kossuth, famous Hungarian patriot, visited Newark, arriving at the Center Street Station.
1853The Newark Zeitung, one of the city’s early German-language newspapers, was started by Fritz Anneke.
1854Young Men’s Catholic Association organized by the Rev. McQuaid, pastor of St. Patrick’s Cathedral.
1855Newark Academy purchased land for a larger home at High and Shipman streets. George A. and William Clark were sent to Newark from Scotland to establish the great Clark Thread Mills. The first recorded news of baseball activity in Newark, when five clubs formed an inter-city league.
1856Methodists completed their huge new “showplace” at Broad and Marshall streets for $78,248, as illustrated in Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper of New York City.
1857The beginning of the Newark Police Department.
1858Congregation B’nai Jeshurun built a temple at Washington and William streets, the first in the city.

1860–1869

1860William Pennington of Newark was selected as the speaker of the House of Representatives for the 36th Congress. The Newark Aqueduct Board was created.
1861Jewish Children’s Home was established under name of “Manner WohltatigkietVerein.” Mayor Bigelow welcomed President Abraham Lincoln to Newark.
1862A trial trip for the first horse cars made on the road to Orange.
1863Newark’s population decreased to 68,000 from 71,941 in 1860.
1864Editor of the Newark Journal, Edward Fuller, was strongly opposed to President Lincoln, calling him a “smutty joker.”
1865The Passaic Boat Club was organized in Newark.
1866Newark celebrated 200th anniversary of its founding with church services and parades. St. Michael’s Hospital was chartered.
1868Newark Board of Trade founded. New Jersey State Association of Baseball Players organized in Newark.
1869Richard Watson Gilder and Newton H. Crane began publication of the Newark Morning Register. The Boys’ Lodging House and the Children’s Aid Society were organized.

1870–1879

1870Electric fire alarm signal system installed in Newark with 60 alarm boxes. Seth Boyden, genius inventor of patent leather and malleable iron, died at age of 82. Newark census at 105,059.
1871James Coe built his home Glencoe at 698 High St. (now Martin Luther King Boulevard). St. Michael’s Hospital incorporated and opened. Stephen Crane, novelist, journalist and short story writer, was born in Newark.
1872Author Albert Payson Terhune was born in Newark. Horace Greeley visited the Newark Industrial Exposition to state, “This far famed city of Newark has done well. The excellency of your manufacture is working a large influence on the importation of foreign manufacturers.”
1874The Passaic River Amateur Rowing Association was founded.
1876Progress Club founded. The Prince Hall Grand Lodge F&AM was founded.
1877First national convention of the Socialist Labor Party of North America was held in Newark.
1878The Institute Boat Club organized in Newark. YMHA founded.
1879In July, the Newark Salvage Corps was organized.

1880–1889

1880Newark was home to 26 breweries with an annual output of 420,000 barrels of beer. Little Sisters of the Poor incorporated. Sir Arthur Sullivan conducted a Newark performance of “The Pirates of Penzance” The statue of Civil War Maj. Gen. Philip Kearny was unveiled in Military Park.
1881The Newark City Coffee and Spice Mills were opened by Newarkers David Blackwood and John Coykendall. The Newark Electric Light and Power Company was incorporated.
1882St. Benedict’s College received its charter in Newark.
1883The first edition of the Newark Evening News was published under the direction of Wallace M. Scudder.
1884The Roseville Athletic Association was founded.
1885Newark Technical School, forerunner of New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT), opened.
1887Carteret’s Society Letter reported that society girls who have been criticized for wearing “sleeveless dresses” are justifying them by referring to the Constitution of the United States, “which expressly gives them rights to bear arms.” Hannibal Goodwin applied for a patent for flexible film.
1888Carteret’s Social Letter indicated the only real social events of the Newark season were the Ballantine Cotillion and the Orange Assembly. The Public Library Board of Trustees was established and a building on West Park Street was leased for its first home.

1890–1899

1890’sThe compilation of modern health statistics began. Society column “Carteret Letter” reported that “Newark society had abandoned the ballroom for the dining table.” Newark purchased a new plant for water supply. Louis Bamberger purchased Hill and Cragg department store, the nucleus of Bamberger’s department store. The number of political wards was reduced to nine. The office of police superintendent was abolished and replaced by the chief of police. The Second police precinct station opened at Summer and Seventh avenues. Movement for purification of the Passaic River was started by the Newark Board of Trade. Newark’s first real movie house opened at Market and Washington streets with admission a dime. Photographic film was patented by Newark’s Rev. Hannibal Goodwin. Essex County Park Commission purchased a site for Weequahic Park. Barringer High School opened. Cornerstone of The Newark Public Library was laid. The first electrified car in Newark ran from Market Street up Court House Hill.