Van Vorst Park Historic District (Boundary Increase) | |
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| Location | Roughly bounded by Mercer, Wayne, Montgomery, Grove, Bright, Varick and Monmouth Streets,Jersey City, New Jersey |
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| Coordinates | 40°43′7″N74°2′53″W / 40.71861°N 74.04806°W /40.71861; -74.04806 |
| Area | 7.7 acres (3.1 ha) |
| Architectural style | Late 19th And 20th Century Revivals |
| NRHP reference No. | 84000084[1] |
| NJRHP No. | 1540[2] |
| Significant dates | |
| Added to NRHP | October 11, 1984 |
| Designated NJRHP | August 2, 1978 |
Van Vorst Park is a neighborhood in theHistoric Downtown ofJersey City,Hudson County,New Jersey, centered on a park sharing the same name. The neighborhood is located west ofPaulus Hook and Marin Boulevard, north of Grand Street, east of theTurnpike Extension, and south ofThe Village and Christopher Columbus Drive. Much of it is included in the Van Vorst Park Historical District.[3]
The park was a centerpiece ofVan Vorst Township, atownship that existed in Hudson County from 1841 to 1851. Van Vorst was incorporated as a township by an Act of theNew Jersey Legislature on April 12, 1841, from portions ofBergen Township. On March 18, 1851, Van Vorst Township was annexed byJersey City.[4]
The name Van Vorst comes from a prominent family in the area, the first of which arrived in the 1630s as superintendent of thepatroonshipPavonia, the earliest European settlement on the west bank of theHudson River in the province ofNew Netherland. His homestead atHarsimus, plus others atCommunipaw,Paulus Hook,Minakwa,Pamrapo were later incorporated intoBergen. His namesake and eighth generation descendant,Cornelius Van Vorst, was the twelfthMayor of Jersey City serving from 1860 to 1862.[5][6]
LikeHarsimus Cove andHamilton Park to the north andBergen-Lafayette to the southwest, the neighborhood contains nineteenth centuryrowhouses andbrownstones.[7] It is home to theJersey City Free Public Library,James J. Ferris High School (named for the Jersey City citizen who laid the foundation of theHudson and Manhattan Railroad Powerhouse with his firm Stillman, Delehanty and Ferris),[8][9] and Old Colony Shopping Plaza. Landmarks includeBarrow Mansion andDixon Mills.
TheGrove Street PATH station is located nearby to the north and is theJersey Avenue (HBLR station) to the south.
Van Vorst Park is a two-acre city park bounded by Barrow Street on the east, Montgomery Street on the north, Jersey Avenue on the west and York Street on the south. The park was renovated in 1999 at a cost of two million dollars with money raised by the Friends of Van Vorst Park.[10]
40°43′06″N74°02′46″W / 40.7183°N 74.0462°W /40.7183; -74.0462
| Bergen-Lafayette |  | |
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| Downtown | ||
| Greenville | ||
| The Heights | ||
| Journal Square | ||
| Meadowlands | ||
| Upper New York Bay | ||
| West Side | ||
| Historical | ||
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