Portrait of Place: Paintings, Drawings and Prints of New Jersey, 1761–1898

Designed & Erected by John Haviland Archt. | E. Brown Jr. del. | N. Currier’s Lith. N.Y.

1837–38. artist: Eliphalet M. Brown, Jr. lithographer: Nathaniel Currier. Lithograph. 8¾ x 11¾ in.

When the old county courthouse burned in 1835, architect John Haviland was commissioned to design and build a new courthouse for Essex County, combined with a jail and a city hall for the town of Newark. Haviland (1792–1852) was an English-born architect and a leading figure in American neo-classical architecture. Among his many important commissions were the original Franklin Institute, the Walnut Street Theatre, and the Eastern State Penitentiary, all in Philadelphia; the Hall of Justice (“The Tombs”) in New York; and the New Jersey State Prison in Trenton. The new courthouse, in Haviland’s favored Egyptian revival style, was completed by the end of 1837, at which time the architect probably had this view produced to show off his work.

The building remained in use as the county courthouse until 1907, when a new Essex County courthouse was erected. The jail continued to be used until about 1970. The structure survives today in Newark at the corner of Newark and New Streets, abandoned and hopelessly derelict. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1991, although nothing has been done to preserve it.

The artist, Eliphalet M. Brown, Jr. (1816–1886), was a Massachusetts native who was working in New York by the late 1830s. He was both a lithographer as well as an artist, and some of his earliest work was done in association with Nathaniel Currier. Currier (1813–1888), also a native of Massachusetts, served his apprenticeship in Boston with the Pendleton lithography firm before setting up business on his own in New York in 1835. In 1857 he joined with James M. Ives in the famous partnership of Currier & Ives, which flourished into the early years of the twentieth century.

1867 or 1868. artist: unidentified. Lithograph, with added hand coloring. 12 x 16⅜ in.

Couples and families stroll or sit at tables eating ice cream in a garden-like setting with sculpture, a fountain, and swings. Surrounding the garden are about a dozen small shed-like structures where, presumably, patrons could eat their ice cream out of the sun’s heat.

James A. Crump was born in England about 1820. In the tax lists of 1865 and 1866 he is recorded as selling soda water at 190 Broad Street, Newark. In the 1867–68 Newark directory, Crump is listed as “Ice cream garden & ladies’ dining rooms, 190 Broad.” In that same directory the ice cream garden at 190 Broad Street is also included under the name of Peter Tracy & Company. By the next year’s directory, 1868–69, Tracy is gone and the ice cream garden is under the sole management of James A. Crump. Crump’s business does not appear to have been a success, as the next year he is the superintendent of a rink, and by 1873 he is associated with the Sunday Call newspaper. By 1876 he is operating a boarding stable.

1887 or before. artist: unidentified (signed lower left, C[illegible]). Oil on board. 7 x 9⅝ in.

Turkey Ridge was a sparsely settled area atop the Palisades on the New Jersey-New York border. In the second half of the nineteenth century it was home to an African-American community known as Skunk Hollow. Some of the land was later taken for the Palisades Interstate Parkway, and the remainder is included within the present Borough of Alpine, Bergen County.

On the back of the board the artist has painted “Turkey hill N J. | Top of palisades.” Glued to the back of the board is an oval white paper label on which is written, in pen and ink, “Ww Unger | Decr 31 1887.” Unger has not been identified. The artist’s signature is precisely under the edge of the frame’s rabbet and it has worn off and is now illegible. The first letter is a “C” or possibly a “G.”

1896. artist: Oakley Hoopes Bailey. lithographer and publisher: O. H. Bailey & Co. Toned lithograph. 21¾ x 28⅛ in.

The second published birdseye view of Hackensack, Bergen County. Street names are indicated. Above and below the view are thirty-five vignettes of private homes, schools, churches, and commercial structures. In the bottom margin are eight columns listing churches, public buildings, and businesses, some of which are keyed by letter or number to the view. Oakley Hoopes Bailey (1843–1947) was a native of Ohio and a resident of Cambridge, Massachusetts. He traveled around the country, producing in all some 375 views of cities and towns before his death at age 104.

1850–53. artist: Detlef Lienau. lithographer: A. Delessard. Toned lithograph. 19 x 15⅞ in.

Grace Church Van Vorst, Jersey City, was founded in 1847 and takes its name both from the township in which it was then located and from the Van Vorst family, who donated the land on which the church was built. Construction of the church began in 1850 and the building was consecrated in 1853. The architect was Detlef Lienau. This lithograph, with its distinctly European flavor, may possibly have been produced from a drawing of the proposed structure made by Lienau before the church was built. Robert Cochran Bacot, who is also named on the lithograph as architect, was a sometime architect and fulltime Jersey City civil engineer and surveyor. Enlarged in 1864 and with a tower added in 1912, the church is in daily use today. It is the oldest surviving Episcopal church in Jersey City.

Detlef Lienau (1818–1887) was born in Denmark in an area that later became a part of Germany. In 1848 he came to the United States. Having trained as an architect at L’Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris, he is generally credited with having introduced the French style to American building construction, notably the mansard roof. His first commission in Jersey City was a house for his brother, Michael, completed in 1849. Lienau himself lived in Jersey City and was married in the church he designed. He died in New York. Robert Cochran Bacot (1818–1901) was born in Charleston and came to Jersey City about 1838. For the next fifty years he was the dominant figure in the civil engineering of the rapidly growing Jersey City.

A manuscript presentation inscription is in the lower margin: “For the Rev. Dr. Hale with the affectionate regards of D.H.Mc.” The recipient may have been George Hale, D.D., longtime pastor of the Presbyterian church in Pennington. The writer has not been identified.

1870s. artist: unidentified. lithographer: George H. Walker & Co. Toned lithograph. 18½ x 22¾ in.

The cornerstone of St. Patrick’s Roman Catholic Church was laid in November 1870 and the church was completed and dedicated nearly seven years later, in August 1877. The architect was Patrick Charles Keely (1816–1896), who designed nearly 600 Catholic churches in the second half of the nineteenth century. The Reverend Patrick Hennessy (1834–1896) was the priest throughout the period of construction and for almost twenty years after. The church is in use today and stands at the intersection of Ocean and Bramhall Avenues and Grand Street. It is the largest church in Jersey City. It is difficult to determine whether this lithograph was done from an architect’s rendering prior to construction or from life after the building was completed.