Newark is a borough on the Passaic River, and is the seat of Essex County. Newark is New Jersey's largest city, with a population of around 280,000.
The city was founded in 1666 by Puritans from the New Haven Colony. The community was slow to grow until the Moris Canal was built to connect the coal-producing regions of Pennsylvania with access to the Delaware River to New York City and the industrial towns of northern New Jersey.
In the mid-1800s, Newark became the country's leather-producing center. The city also was a major producer of iron and plastics during this time. The insurance industry created white-collar jobs, and Newark was second only to Hartford, Connecticut, as the insurance center of the United States.
As commercial activity in Newark increased leading up to World War II, residents moved into the suburbs and surrounding towns. The exodus of middle-class families left only the poor in many neighborhoods of Newark, and the city went into decline. Despite convincing insurance companies to stay in Downtown Newark after World War II, numerous housing projects gave Newark a bad reputation as a poor city. Riots in 1967 accellerated the flight of middle-class families from Downtown and other neighborhoods, and Newark became the poster child for economic woes.
Today, Downtown Newark is seeing a revitalization with the addition of venues such as a performing arts center, arena, and baseball stadium. Some highrises were built in the 1980s, and in the 1990s and 2000s, other highrises were converted into condominiums. New buildings have been planned in Downtown as the neighborhood becomes a center of activity again.
City Hall, on Broad Street. The public structure was built in 1908.
Old First Presbyterian Church, on Broad Street. The congregation was founded in 1666 and the church was built in 1791. On the left is the National State Bank Building, built in 1926.
Buildings on Broad Street. The building cloaked in scaffolding is the Fireman's Insurance Company Building, completed in 1910. In the center is the Kinney Building, built in 1913.
The National Newark Building, from Market Street. The skyscraper is the tallest building in Newark.
The National Newark Building was built in 1931 and is 465 feet tall.
Newark's two tallest buildings. The National Newark Building on the left, and Lefcourt Newark Building, now known as Eleven 80, is on the right.
The Prudential Center, on Mulberry Street. The arena is home of the New Jersey Devils of the NHL, and is the temporary home of the New Jersey Nets. The Prudential Center was built in 2007.
The Gateway Center, on Mulberry Street. The office complex was built in 1984.
Buildings on Market Street. In the center is the Paramount Theater, which opened in 1895 as the Newark Theater and was remodeled in 1932 when it came under Paramount management.
Buildings at the "Four Corners", where Market Street intersects Broad Street. The crossing was once considered the busiest intersection in the world in the early 1900s, when hundreds of thousands of pedestrians would cross the intersection amongst the thousands of cars and trolleys.
Businesses on Market Street.
Buildings on Market Street.
The old Essex County Courthouse, at Market Street & Springfield Avenue. The courthouse was built in 1907.
The Essex County Hall of Records, on Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard. The structure was built in 1927.
The Essex County Veterans Courthouse, on Market Street. The county courthouse was built in 1970.
The Gibraltar Building, from Washington Street. The highrise was built in 1927 and was originally part of Prudential's office complex. It is now the Wilentx Justice Complex and is home to the Superior Court of New Jersey.
Rowhouses on Warren Street.
Rowhouses on Linden Street.
St. Patrick's Pro-Cathedral, on Washington Street. The Pro-Cathedral was built in 1849 and served as the seat of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Newark until Sacred Heart Cathedral was completed in 1954 in another neighborhood.
The Ballantine House, on Washington Street. The house was built in 1885 by the brewer John Ballantine, and is the last of a collection of Victorian homes that faced Washington Park. The house is now part of the Newark Museum.
American Insurance Company Building, on Washington Street.
The highrise is 326 feet tall and was built in 1930. The building is now home to the Rutgers School of Law-Newark.
Buildings on Broad Street. Little Theatre, one of the last adult theaters in New Jersey, is on the left. The First Baptist Peddie Memorial Church, built in 1890, is on the right.
Highrises on Broad Street. The old New Jersey Bell Telephone Company Building, constructed in 1929, is on the right. The old Mutual Benefit Life Insurance Company Building, constructed in 1957, is on the left.
Trinity & St. Philip's Cathedral, on Broad Street. The cathedral is the seat of the Episcopal Diocese of Newark, and was built in 1746. All of the church except for the base of the steeple was rebuilt in 1810 after a fire. The church was made the seat of the Diocese of Newark in 1942, and in 1966, Trinity Cathedral was united with St. Philip's Episcopal Church to create the current congregation.
Buildings on Park Place. The Home Office Building, built in 1928 for the Firemen's Insurance Company, is in the center.
Looking south from Military Park. On the left is the Military Park Building, completed in 1926 and 265 feet tall. Eleven 80 and National Newark Building are at the center and right.
Buildings on Broad Street at New Street. The Griffith Building, built in 1928, is on the right.
The Wars of America monument, in Military Park. The sculpture was dedicated in 1926 originally to Americans killed in World War I, but was broadened to include all of the nation's war dead. The monument was sculpted by Gutzon Borglum, who also sculpted the faces of the Presidents on Mount Rushmore.
Newark's two tallest buildings. The old Lefcourt-Newark Building, built in 1930 and 449 feet tall, is on the left. The Lefcourt Newark Building is now known as Eleven 80. On the right is the National Newark Building.
The old Kresge's Department Store, on Broad Street. The store was built in 1926. The Prudential Plaza Building, built in 1960, is on the left.
Old buildings on Broad Street.
Bears & Eagles Riverfront Stadium, on Broad Street. The stadium was built in 1999 and is home to the Newark Bears of the independent Can-Am League, as well as to the baseball teams for the Rutgers University-Newark campus, and the New Jersey Institute of Technology.
