Etymology The area around present-day New Brunswick was first inhabited by the
Lenape Native Americans, whose Minisink Trail intersected the
Raritan River and followed a route that would be taken by later colonial roads. The first European settlement at the site of New Brunswick was made in 1681. The settlement here was called ''Prigmore's Swamp
(1681–1697), then known as Inian's Ferry
(1691–1714). In 1714, the settlement was given the name New Brunswick, after the city of Braunschweig (Brunswick'' in
Low German), in the state of
Lower Saxony, now located in
Germany. Braunschweig was an influential and powerful city in the
Hanseatic League and was an administrative seat for the Duchy of Hanover. Shortly after the first settlement of New Brunswick in colonial New Jersey, George, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg and Elector of Hanover, became
King George I of Great Britain. Alternatively, the city gets its name from King
George II of Great Britain, the
Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg.
Colonial and Early American periods Centrally located between
New York City and
Philadelphia along an early thoroughfare known as the
''King's Highway'' and situated along the
Raritan River, New Brunswick became an important hub for Colonial travelers and traders. New Brunswick was incorporated as a town in 1736 and chartered as a city in 1784. The
Declaration of Independence received one of its first public readings, by
Colonel John Neilson in New Brunswick on July 9, 1776, in the days following its promulgation by the
Continental Congress. A bronze statue marking the event was dedicated on July 9, 2017, in Monument Square, in front of the Heldrich Hotel. The Trustees of Queen's College (now
Rutgers University), founded in 1766, voted by a margin of ten to seven in 1771 to locate the young college in New Brunswick, selecting the city over
Hackensack, in
Bergen County, New Jersey. Classes began in 1771 with one instructor, one sophomore,
Matthew Leydt, and several freshmen at a tavern called the 'Sign of the Red Lion' on the corner of Albany and Neilson Streets (now the grounds of the
Johnson & Johnson corporate headquarters); Leydt would become the university's first graduate in 1774 when he was the only member of the graduating class. The Sign of the Red Lion was purchased on behalf of Queens College in 1771, and later sold to the estate of
Jacob Rutsen Hardenbergh in 1791. Classes were held through the American Revolution in various taverns and boarding houses, and at a building known as
College Hall on George Street, until
Old Queens was completed and opened in 1811. It remains the oldest building on the Rutgers University campus. The Queen's College Grammar School (now
Rutgers Preparatory School) was established also in 1766, and shared facilities with the college until 1830, when it located in a building (now known as
Alexander Johnston Hall) across College Avenue from Old Queens. After Rutgers University became the state university of New Jersey in 1945, the Trustees of Rutgers divested itself of Rutgers Preparatory School, which relocated in 1957 to an estate purchased from
Colgate-Palmolive in
Franklin Township in neighboring
Somerset County. The
New Brunswick Theological Seminary, founded in 1784 in
New York, moved to New Brunswick in 1810, sharing its quarters with the fledgling Queen's College. (Queen's closed from 1810 to 1825 due to financial problems, and reopened in 1825 as Rutgers College.) The Seminary, due to overcrowding and differences over the mission of Rutgers College as a secular institution, moved to a tract of land covering located less than to the west, which it still occupies, although the land is now in the middle of Rutgers University's
College Avenue Campus. New Brunswick was formed by
royal charter on December 30, 1730, within other townships in
Middlesex and
Somerset counties and was reformed by royal charter with the same boundaries on February 12, 1763, at which time it was divided into north and south wards. New Brunswick was incorporated as a city by an act of the
New Jersey Legislature on September 1, 1784. Old Queens, New Brunswick, NJ - looking north, 2014.jpg|
Old Queens, the oldest building at Rutgers University New Brunswick 393262530.jpg|Building the Streetcar line, Raritan River, New Brunswick, New Jersey (1903).jpeg|
Albany Street Bridge, 1903 Aero view of New Brunswick, New Jersey, 1910 (cropped).png|Aerial view of New Brunswick, 1910
African-American community Slavery in New Brunswick The existence of an African-American community in New Brunswick dates back to the 18th century, when racial slavery was a part of life in the city and the surrounding area. Local slaveholders routinely bought and sold African American children, women, and men in New Brunswick in the late-eighteenth and early-nineteenth century. In this period, the Market-House was the center of commercial life in the city. It was located at the corner of Hiram Street and Queen Street (now Neilson Street) adjacent to the Raritan Wharf. The site was a place where residents of New Brunswick sold and traded their goods which made it an integral part of the city's economy. The Market-House also served as a site for regular slave auctions and sales. By the late-eighteenth century, New Brunswick became a hub for newspaper production and distribution.
The Fredonian, a popular newspaper, was located less than a block away from the aforementioned Market-House and helped facilitate commercial transactions. A prominent part of the local newspapers were sections dedicated to private owners who would advertise their slaves for sale. The trend of advertising slave sales in newspapers shows that the New Brunswick residents typically preferred selling and buying slaves privately and individually rather than in large groups. Under the provisions of this law, children born to enslaved women after July 4, 1804, would serve their master for a term of 21 years (for girls) or a term of 25 years (for boys), and after this term, they would gain their freedom. However, all individuals who were enslaved before July 4, 1804, would continue to be slaves for life and would never attain freedom under this law. New Brunswick continued to be home to enslaved African Americans alongside a growing community of free people of color. The
1810 United States census listed 53 free Blacks and 164 slaves in New Brunswick.
African American spaces and institutions in the early 19th century By the 1810s, some free African Americans lived in a section of the city called Halfpenny Town, which was located along the
Raritan River by the east side of the city, near Queen (now Neilson) Street. Halfpenny Town was a place populated by free blacks as well as poorer whites who did not own slaves. This place was known as a social gathering for free blacks that was not completely influenced by white scrutiny and allowed free blacks to socialize among themselves. This does not mean that it was free from white eyes and was still under the negative effects of the slavery era. Records from the April 1828 census, conducted by the New Brunswick Common Council, state that New Brunswick was populated with 4,435 white residents and 374 free African Americans. The enslaved population of New Brunswick in 1828 consisted of 57 slaves who must serve for life and 127 slaves eligible for emancipation at age 21 or 25 due to the 1804 Act for the Gradual Abolition of Slavery. Free and enslaved African Americans accounted for 11% of New Brunswick's population in 1828, a relatively high percentage for New Jersey.
Jail and curfew in the 19th century In 1824, the New Brunswick Common Council adopted a curfew for free people of color. Free African Americans were not allowed to be out after 10 pm on Saturday night. The Common Council also appointed a committee of white residents who were charged with rounding up and detaining free African Americans who appeared to be out of place according to white authorities. Hungarians were primarily attracted to the city by employment at
Johnson & Johnson factories located in the city. Hungarians settled mainly in what today is the
Fifth Ward and businesses were established to serve the needs of the Hungarian community that were not being met by mainstream businesses. The immigrant population grew until the end of the immigration boom in the early 20th century. During the
Cold War, the community was revitalized by the decision to process the tens of thousands of refugees who came to the United States from the failed
1956 Hungarian Revolution at
Camp Kilmer, in nearby
Edison. Even though the Hungarian population has been largely supplanted by newer immigrants, there continues to be a
Hungarian Festival in the city held on Somerset Street on the first Saturday of June each year; the 44th annual event was held in 2019. Many Hungarian institutions set up by the community remain and are active in the neighborhood, including Magyar Reformed Church, Ascension Lutheran Church, St. Ladislaus Roman Catholic Church, St. Joseph Byzantine Catholic Church, Hungarian American Athletic Club, Aprokfalva Montessori Preschool, Széchenyi Hungarian Community School & Kindergarten, Teleki Pál Scout Home, Hungarian American Foundation, Vers Hangja, Hungarian Poetry Group, Bolyai Lecture Series on Arts and Sciences, Hungarian Alumni Association, Hungarian Radio Program, Hungarian Civic Association, Committee of Hungarian Churches and Organizations of New Brunswick, and Csűrdöngölő Folk Dance Ensemble. Several landmarks in the city also testify to its Hungarian heritage. There is a street and a park named after
Lajos Kossuth, one of the leaders of the
Hungarian Revolution of 1848. The corner of Somerset Street and Plum Street, where the first public statue of Cardinal
József Mindszenty was erected, is named Mindszenty Square. A stone memorial to the victims of the 1956 Hungarian Revolution stands nearby.
Latino community In the 2010 Census, about 50% of New Brunswick's population is self-identified as Hispanic, the 14th highest percentage among municipalities in New Jersey. Since the 1960s, many of the new residents of New Brunswick have come from Latin America. Many citizens moved from Puerto Rico in the 1970s. In the 1980s, many immigrated from the Dominican Republic, and still later from Guatemala, Honduras, Ecuador and Mexico.
Demolition, revitalization, and redevelopment under construction of old and new structures New Brunswick is one of nine cities in New Jersey designated as eligible for Urban Transit Hub Tax Credits by the state's
Economic Development Authority. Developers who invest a minimum of $50 million within a half-mile of a train station are eligible for pro-rated
tax credit. New Brunswick contains a number of examples of
urban renewal in the United States. In the 1960s–1970s, the downtown area experienced
urban decay as middle class residents moved to newer suburbs surrounding the city, an example of the phenomenon known as "
white flight." Beginning in 1975,
Rutgers University,
Johnson & Johnson and the city's government collaborated through the
New Jersey Economic Development Authority to form the New Brunswick Development Company (DevCo), with the goal of revitalizing the city center and redeveloping neighborhoods considered to be blighted and dangerous (via demolition of existing buildings and construction of new ones). Johnson & Johnson announced in 1978 that they would remain in New Brunswick and invest $50 million to build a new world headquarters building in the area between Albany Street, Amtrak's Northeast Corridor, Route 18, and George Street, requiring many old buildings and historic roads to be removed. The Hiram Market area, a historic district that by the 1970s had become a mostly
Puerto Rican and
Dominican-American neighborhood, was demolished to build a
Hyatt hotel and conference center, and upscale housing. Johnson & Johnson guaranteed the investment made by Hyatt Hotels, as they were wary of building an upscale hotel in a run-down area. Devco, the hospitals, and the city government have drawn ire from both
historic preservationists, those opposing
gentrification and those concerned with
eminent domain abuses and tax abatements for developers. New Brunswick is home to the main campus of
Rutgers University and
Johnson & Johnson, which in 1983 constructed its new
headquarters in the city. Both work with Devco in a
public–private partnership to redevelop downtown, particularly regarding
transit-oriented development. Boraie Development, a real estate development firm based in New Brunswick, has developed projects using the incentives provided by Devco and the state. , built in 1812, long the tallest building in the city
Tallest buildings Christ Church, originally built in 1742, was the tallest building at the time of construction. A steeple was added in 1773 and replaced in 1803. The six-story
First Reformed Church, built in 1812, was long the city's tallest structure. One of the earliest tall commercial buildings in the city was the eight-story National Bank of New Jersey built in 1908. The four nine-story buildings of the New Brunswick Homes housing project, originally built in 1958, were demolished by
implosion in 2000 and largely replaced by low-rise housing. While there are no buildings over , since the beginning of the new millennium, a number of high-rise residential buildings have been added to the city's
skyline clustered around the
New Brunswick station built in the 1960s. Of the 16 buildings over , nine of them were built in the 21st century; several others are approved or proposed.
Tallest buildings under construction, approved, and proposed ==Geography==