Historical Places In New Jersey

New Jersey is full of places where historical events have occurred. One of these places is Journal Square, which is located in Jersey City, NJ. Its history starts when the Lenni Lenape Indians first settled there. In the 1650s, General Peter Stuyvesant had everyone under his rule. Two years later, Stuyvesant engineered the purchase of most of present-day Hudson County from the Indians in return for materials. On November 1660, the Dutch moved in and claimed Bergen Square (now known as Journal Square) to be their place of settlement. A wall was built to help protect their community from any dangers that may occur from the outside world. The Dutch settlers strictly spoke Dutch. The community was preserved that way until the 1920s. Bergen Square …show more content…
It is located at 510 Summit Avenue, where is was purchased by a Dutch immigrant whose family bought several lots in Bergen Township. His name was Mattheus Newkirk. The house has been in the ownership of the family for over 200 years. It was later converted into an orphanage by the Queens Day Nursery Association in 1899. It was later purchased in 1979 and renovated into a restaurant. Another historical house in Journal square is Van Wagenen Homestead, also known as the Apple Tree House. It was built on what is now known as 298 Academy Street. It was constructed in two separate sections. The first section of the house was built back in the 1600s by the Dutch settlers. The property also housed a cider press and apple orchard which helped the house achieve its nickname. Since it was built on a hilltop, the place was used as a lookout and became an unofficial headquarter for military operations during the Revolutionary War. It has been said that the house was once a meeting spot for George Washington and Marquis de Lafayette to discuss war matters and strategies in 1779. The house stayed under the rule of the Van Wagenen family for 259 before they sold it to Lawrence and Mary Quinn in 1947. In 1999, the City of Jersey City purchased the Apple Tree House and is currently being …show more content…
Dickinson High School, which was originally called Jersey City High School is located at 2 Palisade Avenue. It was the first public high school in Jersey City. It was named after a local teacher, principal, and Hudson County National Bank Director William Livert Dickinson. He made a deal with Mayor Frank Fagen to purchase the property. The school opened on September 6, 1906 and at the time, it was considered to be state of the art and was tuition-free. In 1912, the school was expanded due to the amount of students that were coming from all around the United States and Europe. But before the property was used as a school campus, it was a real estate. It was also another spot where George Washington and Marquis de Lafayette kept an eye on British Troops moving around Paulus Hook, lower Manhattan, and the Hudson River during the Revolutionary War. During the war of 1812, the federal government purchased the land in 1804. An arsenal was built on the west side of the lot to protect New York Harbor and was used again during the Civil War as a barracks and a hospital for Union soldiers. Another historical part of Dickinson High School was the auditorium. It hosted important people and events such as Helen Keller and political rallies for Presidents William Taft, Woodrow Wilson, and Franklin D. Roosevelt. In 1913, it was renamed after William Dickinson and was used as a training post for the army during World Wars l and