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Newark was founded in 1666 by Connecticut Puritans led by Robert Treat from the New Haven Colony to avoid losing political power to others not of their own church after the union of the Connecticut and New Haven colonies.
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Newark was founded by conservative Puritans, chiefly from three towns in the New Haven Colony. The increasingly tolerant views of religious freedom (especially tolerance for Quakers, whom Puritans were intolerant), and the merger of the New Haven Colony in 1662 with the more religiously tolerant Connecticut Colony, combined with the English ...
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Newark, city and port, Essex county, northeastern New Jersey, U.S. It lies on the west bank of the Passaic River and on Newark Bay, 8 miles (13 km) west of lower Manhattan Island, New York City. Newark was incorporated as a city in 1836. Pop. (2010) 277,140; Newark-Union Metro Division, 2,147,727; (2020) 311,549; Newark Metro Division, 2,280,061.
Puritans migrating from Connecticut founded Newark in 1666 on land purchased from Delaware Indians. The settlement, first named Pesayak Towne and later New Milford, was probably renamed for the home of the Reverend Abraham Pierson, who went there from Newark-on-Trent, England. Another version holds that the name was of biblical significance (New Ark). Newark became the seat of Essex county (1682) and was chartered as a township in 1693.
After the American Revolution, Newark became (c. 1790) noted for leather tanning, jewelry, and shoe manufacturing. The shoe industry profited greatly from the inventiveness of Seth Boyden, who, regarded by Thomas Edison as one of the greatest American inventors, came to Newark from Massachusetts in 1815 and developed a process for making patent leather (1818). He is credited as the first producer of malleable cast iron (1826) and as a developer of an improved, larger strawberry. There is a statue of him in Washington Park. Newark’s other industrial pioneers included the Reverend Hannibal Goodwin, who patented a flexible film for motion pictures (1887), and Edward Weston, who invented electrical measuring instruments (1888).
Newark’s proximity to New York City places it within the country’s most highly industrialized and populous area. The city is the largest in New Jersey and is a leading industrial centre. Its manufactures are highly diversified and include electronic equipment, leather goods, chemicals, rubber, jewelry, furniture and fixtures, textiles, industrial machinery, and foodstuffs. Printing, publishing, and the insurance business are also significant. Newark is a transportation centre and a major East Coast distributing point. Newark International Airport is one of the world’s busiest, since it serves both Newark and the New York City area. The Port of Newark, started in 1915, is now leased and operated by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.
Located in Newark are the New Jersey Institute of Technology (1881), the Newark campus of Rutgers University, a branch of Seton Hall University (1856; Roman Catholic), Essex County College (1968), and the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (1956). Near the city centre is Military Park, used as a drill ground in colonial times and now the site of a bronze group of figures, The Wars of America, by Gutzon Borglum. Branch Brook, a county park, is noted for its Japanese cherry trees. In front of the county courthouse, designed by Cass Gilbert, is a seated statue of Abraham Lincoln, also by Borglum. Historic buildings include Trinity Cathedral (1733), used as a hospital during the Revolution; House of Prayer (1850), with its older stone rectory, Plume House (1710); and the First Presbyterian Church (1790). Adjacent to and part of the Newark Museum of Art (which has a variety of exhibits) is the Ballantine House (1880s), a restored Victorian mansion. The New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC; 1997), across from Military Park, is a multipurpose venue with fine acoustics and a mix of small and large performance spaces; it is home to the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra. Several blocks away, near City Hall (1908) and the Depression-era Newark Penn Station (which serves Amtrak, subway, and commuter trains), is the Prudential Center (2007), venue for the New Jersey Devils ice-hockey team and host to other sports and entertainment events.
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- The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
Nov 18, 2011 · History of Newark, New Jersey. 1874 bird’s-eye view of Newark. Founded by a group of disciplined Puritans, Newark is often called the City of Churches for the plethora of churches found in the area.
Jul 21, 2023 · The city was founded in 1666. Newark has a rich history, being one of the oldest cities in the United States. It was established in 1666 by Puritans from the New Haven Colony. Newark is known as the “Brick City”. The nickname “Brick City” originated from Newark’s extensive use of bricks in the construction of its buildings.
Whatever the origins, the name was shortened to Newark, although references to the name "New Ark" are found in preserved letters written by historical figures such as David A. Ogden in his claim for compensation, and James McHenry, as late as 1787.
History of New Jersey. In 1982, a group of descendants of early New Jersey colonists joined together to form Descendants of Founders of New Jersey, a society of those associated with the earliest development of our state.
