Newark

“ We expected to meet the steam-boat Queenstown at Newark, in order to proceed to Kingston, on the eastern extremity of Lake Ontario. We missed it, however, and were afterwards informed that it had been obliged to put in at another harbour on account of repairs. We were compelled, therefore, to remain three days at Newark. Newark is a regularly built town, with several handsome houses; it is situated at the outlet of the Niagara into Lake Ontario, between Fort George and Missagua. Fort Missagua is near the lake; Fort George lies south of Newark, and is in ruins. ”

“ Five miles beyond Newark the diminutive Elizabeth River flows down to the Kills, and here is the city of Elizabeth, with fifty thousand people, noted as one of the handsomest of the Jersey towns. Like Newark and Paterson, it is really an outlying suburb of New York, providing homes for much of the overflow of population, who rush into the metropolis for business every morning, and back again every evening. Under the name of Elizabethport it spreads down to the Arthur Kill, and over there are most of its factories and extensive coal-shipping piers. ”

“ Abraham Pierson, their minister, who having in early life preached in Newark, England, gave that name to the new town. Their object seems to have been to establish a Puritan community, to be administered under the laws of God, by members of the church, on strictly democratic principles. The settlers laid out the town plat of Newark, with its spacious streets and parks as they now exist. During the revolution the town was successively occupied by the American and British troops, and was subject to incursions from New York. ”

“ The great glory of Newark is its beautiful church, with that soaring spire which is visible for miles away, before the town itself is glimpsed. Not so tall as Grantham spire, it is as beautiful in its simpler style, and the church is better placed in the town than that of Grantham. Especially striking is the view across the great market-place, the grey Early English and Decorated spire, with its numerous belfry-lights, and the fine windows and bold arcading of the tower forming a splendidly effective contrast with the seventeenth and eighteenth century red-brick houses facing the square. ”

“ Near the ruins a large old timber mill makes another landmark of these watery meadows, overlooked from the north by a bank bearing up the little church of Pyrford, with its faded wall paintings and like hints of antiquity.
Lying some two or three miles by sandy roads from Woking or from Byfleet stations, Newark is perhaps oftener visited by way of Ripley, a mile to the south, a pleasant village about a spacious green, where the “Talbot” and the “Anchor” have taken a new lease through the favour of cyclists. ”

“ Newark at this time had less than one thousand inhabitants, but the country surrounding was amply large to accommodate the crowd which desired to pay their respects to the man whose influence, energy, ability, and perseverance were able to advance civilization, at once, half a century, by the magic wand of public improvements. ”

“ Newark, capital of Essex county, New Jersey, is handsomely built, and finely situated on the west side of Passaic river. It is one of the most beautiful towns in the country. It has extensive manufactures of shoes, leather, coaches, and cabinet work. Morris canal passes through this town. Population, seventeen thousand two hundred and ninety-two.
New Bedford, port of entry in Bristol county, Massachusetts, stands on an arm of Buzzard’s bay, about fifty-two miles south of Boston. ”

“ The city occupies an area of about 181⁄2 square miles on a generally level plain. Toward the west, however, the ground rises, affording the beautiful sites of a popular residential district. Though Newark contains the homes of many business men of New York, it has distinct individuality as a manufacturing city, and many members of its industrial and commercial community find homes in the beautiful surrounding suburbs of the Oranges, Montclair, Caldwell, Irvington, and other places with which the city is connected by a network of electric railways. ”

“ Mary Magdalene, partly rebuilt in the time of Henry VI., and recently restored, is one of the largest and finest churches in the kingdom. Newark has a spacious market place, a town hall, grammar school, public charities, and a large trade in corn, coal, cattle, wool, and especially malt and flour. ”

“ We were offered our choice of several dingy rooms, but a glance at the time-worn furnishings and unattractive beds convinced us that if this were Newark's best hotel we did not care to spend the night in Newark. To the profound disgust of the landlady—nearly all hotels in England are managed by women—we took our car from the garage and sought more congenial quarters, leaving, I fear, anything but a pleasant impression behind us. We paused a few minutes at the castle, which is the principal object of antiquity in Newark. ”

“ So close to Jersey City that we were scarcely aware that it was separated from it by a few fields, we came to Newark, a great town of brick and wood houses, chimneys, factories, and churches, containing more than 120,000 people, and as we ran through the streets we got glimpses of some fine-looking buildings, of which we have nothing more to say. ”

“ Newark, to-day, is among the foremost cities of the Union in intelligent industry. So early as 1676 efforts were made to promote the introduction of manufactures. The nearness of the city to New York, the chief market in the Union, with shipping facilities to every quarter of the globe; with the great iron and coal fields easy of access, and a thrifty and industrious people, Newark drew to her mills and factories abundant capital and skilled workmen. She has contributed more useful inventions to industrial progress than any other American city. ”

“ Fearon made several excursions into the state of New Jersey, situated opposite to that of New York, and on the southern side of the river Hudson. The valleys abound in black oaks, ash, palms, and poplar trees. Oak and hickory-nut trees grow in situations which are overflowed. The soil is not considered prolific. Newark is a manufacturing town, in this province, of considerable importance, and delightfully situated. It contains many excellent houses, and a population of about eight thousand persons, including slaves. ”

“ Port Newark and the unexpected trend of its development due to the war; the war itself, representing the effect of a world event on a city's activities; the 250th Anniversary, a local celebration, but illustrative of Newark's relations with the outside world; and, finally, of the change of city administration to Commission Government—you wonder whether history at close range invariably presents so much of interest, or whether 1904-1919 happens to be a particularly progressive period, or whether Newark, suddenly conscious of its backwardness in many lines, is now making up for lost time. ”

“ Besides the churches, the most noteworthy buildings are the custom house, city hall, and several of the banks and insurance buildings. Newark has ample means of communication with New York, Philadelphia, and the surrounding country, railroad trains running to New York every few minutes through the day. The lines are the New Jersey, Newark and New York, Morris and Essex, Newark and Elizabeth, Paterson and Newark, Newark and Bloomfield, Newark and Hudson, Newark and Clinton, and Montclair railroads. ”

“ From hence the road goes extremely strait to Newark between hedge-rows, having the steeple before us as a visto: but, much to their disgrace, it is in very ill repair; nay, in some places they dig the very stone and gravel out of it to mend their streets.
Newark.
Newark was certainly raised from the neighbouring Roman cities, and has been walled about with their remains: the northern and eastern gate, still left, are composed of stones seemingly of a Roman cut; and not improbably the Romans themselves had a town here ”

“ Newark, though now a busy place, for it is the centre of an important agricultural district, and has a noted corn market, besides gypsum and farming implement works and malthouses, still retains several remnants of bygone times, particularly in its ample market-place, where one or two interesting old houses may yet be seen, as well as a curious though much-restored cross, called the Beaumont Cross, at the junction of two of its streets. ”

“ Newark is situated on a branch of the Trent, and is famous in history for its castle, where John died after his army was swamped in the Wash and he had reached Swineshead Abbey with great difficulty. The scene here given is of a lane leading from the great market square to the close round St. Mary Magdalen’s Church, and is very characteristic of an old English town. The roof of the house seems very high to our modern ideas, and the seed-shop on the ground-floor is as singularly low. ”

“ After they had evacuated this position, and were obliged to retreat to the right shore of the Niagara, the commander, I.80 General M‘Clure, burnt the town of Newark, an act for which he has been severely censured by his country. Since this occurred, the village has never properly recovered, and its future increase will also be slow, especially as government is digging a canal to the west of Newark, which is to connect Lake Erie, and Lake Ontario, which will probably hereafter withdraw all the transitory commerce. ”

“ That the hand of man has desecrated it all those who knew its woodlands and waterways twenty-five or more years ago can readily testify, but one of its good points even man cannot reach, and that is its climate, for it is the coolest part of Newark. This in former times was unconsciously testified to by the drivers of the old horse cars, who were in the habit of shedding their coats upon arrival at the cemetery from the north, there to hide them among the bushes, and again resume them on the return trip to Second river. ”

“ Governor Carteret established a village on Newark Bay which still bears the name Elizabeth, which he gave it in honor of the wife of the proprietor, and he made it the capital. There were also immigrants from Scotland and England. But Puritans from Long Island and New England continued to settle round Newark Bay. By virtue either of character or numbers, New Englanders were evidently the controlling element, for they established the New England system of town government, and imposed strict Connecticut laws, making twelve crimes punishable with death. ”

“ The land is clayey in many parts. A pleasant country; a variety of hill and valley; but not that richness which we had so long had under our eye: fields smaller; fewer sheep, [Pg 540] and those not so large, and so manifestly loaded with flesh. The roads always good. Newark is a town very much like Nottingham, having a very fine and spacious market-place; the buildings everywhere good; but it is in the villages that you find the depth of misery. ”

“ Citizens would pledge themselves to speak of Oil City to strangers in the train and when on visits to other towns. The city of Newark, New Jersey, is always recommending its own people and visitors to "Think of Newark." Whenever you enter into conversation with an American you find him suddenly drifting towards telling you the name of a hotel to stay at, or of an establishment where they sell "dandy cream," or he is praising the bricks turned out by the local brick works, or the conditions of the employment of labour in some silk works on which his native town is dependent for prosperity. ”

“ The ruins of Newark Castle are above the confluence of the Ettrick and the Yarrow, on the latter river, and a few miles from Selkirk. Close by is Bowhill, mentioned below, 73. See Prof. Minto’s ‘Lay of the Last Minstrel’ (Clarendon Press) , pp. 122-3. In the days of the ‘last minstrel’ it was appropriate to describe this ‘riven’ relic as ‘Newark’s stately tower.’
line 33. James II built Newark as a fortress.
line 41. The gazehound or greyhound hunts by sight, not scent. ”

“ It is uneven, and is rendered bumpy by the constant road bars. The country grows more hilly, and the towns are beginning to change character. Newark is an attractive little city, standing rather high. "Old Washington" has very old red brick houses, and St. ”

“ Newark and the forthcoming celebration became subjects of national interest and importance. Thousands of people from all over the country entered competitions for the best posters and poems, symbolizing the city's history and industrial progress. The competitions resulted in the spread of information about Newark and brought recognition of the city's standing.
The most notable single feature of the anniversary was the Pageant of Newark, an historic and allegorical review of the growth of the city, presented in Weequahic Park. ”

“ The first perception of this startling fact, according to a newspaper account, came in a very strange, roundabout way to a man living on the outskirts of the vast area of made ground where the great city had spread over what was formerly the Newark meadows and Newark Bay. ”

“ Some of the work in this castle is as recent, according{228} to all appearances, as Henry VII., and there is a beautifully corbelled oriel adjoining a window of this period that dates to the early part of the fifteenth century. A stranger in Newark will hardly fail to be struck with the number of signs that still remain; they are used to distinguish shops, and are hung out in the same manner as public-house signs are in other places. In the civil wars Newark Castle held out very steadily against the Parliamentary armies, and twice successfully resisted Cromwell’s forces. ”