An Encyclopedia of Elizabethtown, New Jersey Street Names and Origins (and Some of the People Who Lived There)
Elizabeth is the oldest permanent settlement in New Jersey and Elizabeth Avenue the oldest street still extant in the state. The study of these streets and native folk encapsulates for the first time in a unique way the entire 350-year history of the city.
The Streets of Elizabeth, New Jersey follows Elizabeth through its transformations: from its founding in 1664 to the Revolution; the arrival of the railroads which brought the arrival of the Irish and Germans; the rise of the Industrial Revolution that attracted the Poles, Italians, Jews after 1880; WWI and the 1918 Epidemic; and the influx of African Americans in the twentieth century leading up to the present. This work touches upon the city’s fields, schools, streets, historical monuments, and hundreds of people who have made it their home.
This work examines the relationship between the origin of street names, the rise in population, and emigration. In 1860, at the onset of the Civil War, 11,500 people lived in the city. By 1960, there were 113,000. The street names shed some light on emigration during those years. The very first map of Elizabethtown at the time of the American Revolution shows only two dozen named streets, all of which are still current. There are at present 397 streets, lanes, terraces, and places in the historic city of Elizabeth. A 1775-1784 map of Elizabeth during the Revolutionary War, a bibliography, and an appendix, which lists the street names alphabetically along with the page number, add to the value of this work.
Tom Fox
2022, 5½x8½, paper, alphabetical, 238 pp.
ISBN: 9780788426230
101-F2623
