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19103787 viewsNationalities

Vailsburg circa 18002631 views

1700 Lyons Farm and Woodruff Farm (updated 8/1/06)2593 views

Vanderpool Street2312 views

Concord Street2266 views

19662178 viewsDowntown

Newark 1666 - 17132169 views

Newark Mountain 16962124 views

18812122 viewsMap Legend
(1) Lydia Lindsley's House
Lydia Lindsley's house was built around 1760 A.D. It was a local tradition that George Washington used it as his head quarter's during the Battle of Springfield in 1780 A.D. This house was located on Stuyvesant Avenue near Silver Street. It faced east and was 300' from the Elizabeth River (Brookdale Avenue). Around 1900 A.D. a Mr. Weeder owned this house. He was the old lamp lighter who traveled by horse and wagon throughout the streets of Vailsburg tending the the gaslights. It was torn down in 1965 A.D. and was replaced by a small apartment complex.

In the late 1940's as a young newspaper boy for the Newark Star Ledger I visited this house many times. It was a one story building and the main entrance was around 6 feet above Stuyvesant Avenue. The living room floor was made of 6" wide wooden planks. The kitchen had a large brick oven (used for baking) in it's fireplace.

When it was torn down 37 years ago I tried to salvage portions of it. I retrieved two large beams and a portion of the brick oven. I have a portions of the pegged beams (tendon and mortise) with roman numerals carved on them. The roman numerals were evidently used to identify each beam. I never seen this done before because the beams were made on site. There would be no need to identify them during construction. It's my contention that this house may have been moved to its present location in the early 1700's.

(2) The first school in Vailsburg
The first school in Vailsburg was a one room school house built in 1850 A.D. when this area was still part of South Orange Township. It was called Columbia School. It was located on South Orange Avenue near Boylan Street Pool. The building was used in later years as Charlie's Bike Shop. The building next store to it was ABCO Auto Parts Store.

Another school was built on Alexander Street in 1895 A.D. This building was much larger and could accommodate more students ; however, it soon proved to be to small for a growing population. It was replaced by the present day Alexander Street School. The older building was moved to 128 Brookdale Avenue where it now serves as a two family house.

(3) The First Horse Car Line To Vailsburg
Shortly after the Civil War, Dr. Vail and several of his friends raised $50,000.00 and constructed a a horse car line (a trolley car pulled by a horse) on South Orange Avenue. The Car ran from Boston Street (three blocks up from High Street) to Munn Avenue. Dr. Vail was superintendent of construction and conductor on its maiden trip from Newark. The fair at that time was six cents.

While the Orange Horse Car Railroad was a progressive adventure it turned out to be a financial failure because it was ahead of it's time. James Boylan ( source of the name for Boylan Street ) took over the line and also failed.

It wasn't until John Radel bought it in 1877 A.D. that it proved to be a great success. By then the crowds from the lower portions of Newark had discovered Scheutzen Park (Vailsburg Park) and used the line to visit it frequently. This line was also primarily responsible for the rapid growth and development of Vailsburg. It provided a means of transportation for those who wanted to work in Newark and live in the suburbs. The original horse car stables were still standing in the late 60's. They were opposite Brookwood Street in the rear of a gas station.

(4) Scheutzen Park
Scheutzen Park or Shooting Park was a favorite picnic and outing spot for the people of other portions of Newark. Scheutzen Park which later became Electric Park was one of New Jersey's first and most important amusement parks. Electric Park was located on the present site of Vailsburg Park

(5) Washington Stayed Here
There is a tradition that Washington and some of his men stayed here during the Revolution. In 1797 A.D. (Battle of Springfield). Aaron Baldwin owned this property and willed it to his son Joel. The map at that time, dated September 7,1797 A.D., showed the old house on South Orange Avenue, which at that time made a north -east turn near what is now Munn avenue. The road was much higher than it is now. South Orange Avenue is referred to as "The Road "and Munn Avenue as " the road running from the main road to North Orange ."

In my research I came across this house many times. This area was also called "Dogs Misery ". The house was probably built prior to 1717 A.D. Aaron Baldwin owned slaves ( slaves in Vailsburg). Unfortunately this house was demolished in circa 1960 and replaced by Kravet's Pharmacy.

(6) Dr. Malcolm Vail
Vailsburg was named after Dr. Malcolm Vail. I believe he was a medical doctor. He was the first mayor of the Borough of Vailsburg and he lived on Vail Street near Kenmore Avenue. The area we know as Vailsburg was once part of Clinton Township and later it became part of South Orange Township. From 1895 -1905 A.D. this area became the Borough of Vailsburg. In 1905 A.D. it became part of Newark.

Joshua O. Baldwin's homestead
In 1881 Mr. Albert Smith who later became the Mayor of Vailsburg owned the property on the southeast corner of South Orange and Sandford Avenues. This was the homestead of Joshua O. Baldwin's. This house was built in the latter portion of the 1700's . Around 1900 A.D. It was known as the Raub Homestead. It's wide front porch and broad lawn containing a brook (branch of the Elizabeth River) faced South Orange Avenue. This home was the scene of many annual Fourth of July celebrations. These took place while Vailsburg was a independent borough (1895-1905 A.D. ). It was later remodeled although most of the old time charm remained. I'm sure many of us remember it as Burn's Funeral Home. Today it's a private residence?

Samuel H. Conger's 1666 Town Lots1826 viewsSouth West Section (Upper Left Quadrant)
Lot 1. The Meeting-House
Captain Treat's Extra
Left of Lot 1. John Johnson
Right of Lot 9. The Parsonage Home Lot
Lot 9. John Browne, Sr.
Lot 41. Stephen Bond
Lot 27. Zachariah Burwell
Lot 24. Ephraim Burwell
Left of Lot 24. Thomas Ludington
Lot 14. John Brooks
Lot 23. Thomas Lyon
Above Lot 14. Joseph Johnson
Above, Right of Lot 14. John Treat
Above Lot 24. John Gregory (12)
Lot 8. Henry Lyon
Lot 29. Walter's second division
Below Lot 29. Joseph Walters
Lot 16. Francis Linle (or Lindsley)
Lot 30. Robert Dalglish (or Douglas)
Below Lot 30. Samuel Camfield
Above Lot 3. Matthew Williams

North West Section (Upper Right Quadrant)
Lot 5. Lieutenant Samuel Swaine
Lot 12. Sergeant Richard Harrison
Lot 15. Edward Ball
Lot 32. John Morris, in 1688
Lot 14. John Ward Sr.
Lot 3. Matthew Camfield
Lot 2. Abraham Pierson Jr.
Lot 1. Jasper Crane
Lot 9. Thomas Pierson, Sr.
Right of Lot 9. Benjamin Baldwin
Lot 18. Thomas Huntington
Right of Lot 19. Alexander Munrow
Lot F. The Elder's Lot
Lot 10. John Ward Jr. the turner
Lot 21. Deacon Richard Laurence
Lot 19. Delivered Crane
Lot 31. Hans Albers
Lot 8. Samuel Rose
Lot G. The Miller's Lot
Above Lot 8. Samuel Dod
Above Lots 19,31. Daniel Dod
Right of Lot G. The Corn Mill

South East Section (Lower Left Quadrant)
(Plus Diagonal Row/Upper Left Quadrant)
Lot 1. Captain Robert Treat
Lot 2. Abraham Pierson
Lot 25. Robert Denison
Lot 22. Thomas Johnson
Lot 21. George Day
Lot 26. Nathaniel Wheeler
Lot 40. Joseph Riggs
Lot 28. William Camp
Lot 35. Martin Tichenor
Lot 7. Stephen Freeman
Lot 23. John Curtis
Lot 18. John Baldwin
Left of Lot 18. Thomas Staples
Lot 19. John Baldwin Jr.
Lot 6. Deacon Michael Tompkins
Lot 20. Jonathan Tomkins
Lot 34. Ephraim Pennington
Left of Lot 34. Seth Tomkins
Lot 39. The Tailor's Lot
Lot 9. Thomas Pierson Jr.
Right/Below Lot 36. Samuel Harrison
Lot 36. John Browne Jr.
Lot 12. Edward Riggs
Lot 33. Hugh Roberts

North East Section (Lower Right Quadrant)
Lot 4 (open face). Deacon Lawrence Ward
Lot 11. John Catlin
Lot 4 (closed face). Samuel Kitchell
Lot 7. Josiah Ward
Lot 10. John Rogers
Lot 13. Robert Kitchell
Lot 5. Jeremiah Pecke
Lot 2. Obadiah Bruen
Right of Lots 10,2. The Seaman's Lot
Left/Below Lot 16. Thomas Richards
Lot 16. John Harrison
Lot 20. Aaron Blatchly
Lot 11. Stephen Davis
Lot 6. Samuel Plum
Lot 17. John Crane
Lot 37. The Boatman's Lot
Lot 15. Robert Lymon
Right of Lot 15. John Davis

16661776 viewsStreets and Areas as Known Today
STREETS
1. High Street
2. Washington Street
3. Broad Street
4. Mulberry Street
5. McCarter Highway
6. Spruce Street
7. 15th Avenue (?)
8. Market Street
9. Central Avenue (?)
10. Orange Street
11. Clinton Avenue
12. Court Street (?)
13. Tichenor Street
14. Walnut Street
15. Centre Street
16. South Street (?)
17. Mulberry Place (?)

AREAS
A. Lincoln Park
B. Military Park
C. Washington Park
D. County Court House
E. The Four Corners
F. Penn. Station
G. Ironbound or Down Neck Section
H. City Hall
J. Star Ledger

18531752 views

19041712 viewsAlong So. Orange Ave. from Isabella to Clinton Street, showing Alexander Street School, German Zion Church & West End Hose Co. #2

1670 Newark, lot's of the first settlers. (partial map)1658 views

19951653 viewsThird Ward (NASA photo)

19041647 views

18361626 views

1700 Lyons Farm and Woodruff Farm Narrative1618 views

Ballantine Brewery1596 views

19001594 viewsNorth Newark
Image from Lonna Doyle

West Side Park Plan1541 views

1800 Detailed Map1489 viewsThese maps were created by Charles McGrath, this is his explanation of how he created them:

The attached are two maps of the area of Newark called Vailsburg. The detailed map is what it looked like in the 1700's and early 1800's. The other map is for cross reference and shows what the former roads as they presently exist.

The area portrayed on both maps is approximately from South Orange east to the Garden State Parkway and from South Orange Avenue south to Springfield Avenue (this area is approximately two square miles).

Long forgotten roads like "Old Road" and forgotten areas like Flaggy Swamp, Brushy Plain, Dogs Misery and North Farms (part of Camp Farms) can be seen on the detailed map.

I began doing research on the history of Vailsburg in the early 1960's. At that time there were no complete maps of Vailsburg from the 1700's and early 1800's I tried to fill this void by generating a map of Vailsburg from that period. The description of land on a deed would contain coordinates, landmarks and the names of adjacent neighbors.

Through extensive research of land deeds at the Essex County Hall of Records I became very familiar with its residents. This was essential because there were no street names or house numbers.

The map was created like someone trying to solve a jigsaw puzzle. The main difference being that the puzzle pieces also had to be made. I would make a jigsaw piece from a known deed to a common scale of 1" = 300'. This piece would be compared with countless others to find it's location on the map. As a result, after many years of research, I developed a map of Vailsburg which reflects the area from the 1700's to the early 1800's.

Each parcel of land on this map has the following information:

The name on the property is that of the grantor (owner) who sold the land to the grantee (buyer).
The year on the property is when the grantor sold it.
Directly below the year is the letter (or prefix) which indicates the Grantor book and the number represents the page in that book.

The above mentioned information was obtained from the Grantor Books at the Essex County Hall of Records. For an example look at the upper left hand portion of the Vailsburg map. The property with road frontage on the west side of the Road to Connecticut Farms (Stuyvesant Avenue) was sold by Doctor Bonnel to Jabez Baldwin in 1811 A.D. In Grantor's Book T, located on page 367. The following is a description of that parcel of land on this map as copied from the above deed:

On the northwest side of the road that leads from Captain Eleazer Hedden's to Connecticut Farms. Beginning at the southeast corner of Jonathan Lindsley's orchard at a white oak stump.

(1) N68 Degrees W 17 chains and 4 links to Nathaniel Tichenor's.

(2) S14 Degrees W 3 chains to a stake.

(3) S65 Degrees E 17 chains and 78 links to the end of a stone fence.

(4) S11 Degrees W 6 chains and 57 links to Denises Gutter.

(5) S44 Degrees E 3 chains and 90 links to a stake at the corner of

Moses Roberts.

(6) N23 Degrees E 5 chains.

(7) S68 Degrees E 6 chains and 86 links.

(8) N27 Degrees E 7 chains and 27 links.

(9) S78 Degrees E 1 chain.

(10) N26 Degrees E 1 chain and 19 links.

(11) N83 Degrees W 70 links.

(12) N21 Degrees W 2 chains.

(13) N5 Degrees E 1 chain and 54 links .

(14) N63 Degrees W 2 chains and 54 links.

(15) N78 Degrees W 2 chains and 79 links.

(16) N62 Degrees W 2 chains and 52 links.

(17) N82 Degrees W 2 chains and 78 links.

(18) S25 Degrees W 2 chains and 33 links to the beginning.

(total area = 19 acres)

Note One chain equals 100 links or 66 feet

Jefferson Street1464 views

16661459 viewsFrom "Harper's New Monthly Magazine"

Passaic Street1431 views

1764 Ball Map of the Newark Mountain Purchase Claim1418 viewsMap from William Johnson

Burial Ground - Franklin Street Methodist Church1373 views

1800 Large Detailed Map1353 views

1892 1320 viewsIronbound Map

Nuttman Street1308 views

1891 Essex County topographical map1293 views

18081291 viewsThe map below was taken from "Narratives of Newark". As you can see, the quality isn't good but I thought that someone may be able to use it to check town expansion and lot size which differs from the 1668 map.

1872 Essex County1213 views

1850 Newark, west to first mountain1200 views

Shoemaker Map 18061189 viewsFrom "Newark in the Public Schools"

1747 Newark and Vicinity1179 views

Halsey Street1178 views

18791170 viewsVery Large - Click on the image.
Some browsers will limit the size of the map automatically. You can adjust this in your browser settings. You can also download the map to view the full size.

Norfolk Street1166 views

18361151 views

19161143 views

East Jersey (including Newark, Elizabeth, Woodbridge & Piscataway Townships)1141 views

South Orange Avenue1118 views

18061093 views

1800 Cross Reference1077 views

1800 Deed1070 viewsAaron Baldwin
to
Jabez B. Baldwin
Lying in West Farms lying west of Dennis Patent
__________
Coordinates
_________
37 acres
__________
Fourteenth day of April in the twentieth year of American Independence
and in
the year of our lord Christ one thousand seven hundred and ninety six.

signed
Aaron Baldwin