Place:Newark, Essex, New Jersey, United States


NameNewark
Alt namesMilfordsource: USGS, GNIS Digital Gazetteer (1994) GNIS34004856
New Milfordsource: Encyclopædia Britannica (1988) VIII, 652
Pesayak Townesource: Encyclopædia Britannica (1988) VIII, 652
Vailsburgsource: Family History Library Catalog
Youngs Pointsource: USGS, GNIS Digital Gazetteer (1994) GNIS34004856
TypeCity
Coordinates40.733°N 74.167°W
Located inEssex, New Jersey, United States     (1666 - )
source: Getty Thesaurus of Geographic Names
source: Family History Library Catalog


the text in this section is copied from an article in Wikipedia

Newark is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey and the seat of Essex County and part of the New York metropolitan area. As one of the nation's major air, shipping, and rail hubs, the city had a population of 311,549 in 2020,[1] making it the nation's 62nd-most populous municipality,[2] after being ranked 73rd in the nation in 2010.

Settled in 1666 by Puritans from New Haven Colony, Newark is one of the oldest cities in the United States. Its location at the mouth of the Passaic River (where it flows into Newark Bay) has made the city's waterfront an integral part of the Port of New York and New Jersey. Today, Port Newark–Elizabeth is the primary container shipping terminal of the busiest seaport on the U.S. East Coast. Newark Liberty International Airport was the first municipal commercial airport in the United States, and today is one of its busiest.[3]

Several leading companies have their headquarters in Newark, including Prudential, PSEG, Panasonic Corporation of North America, Audible.com, IDT Corporation, Manischewitz and AeroFarms. A number of important higher education institutions are also in the city, including the Newark campus of Rutgers University (which includes law and medical schools and the Rutgers Institute of Jazz Studies); University Hospital (formerly the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey which included the schools of medicine and dentistry now under Rutgers University); the New Jersey Institute of Technology; and Seton Hall University's law school. The U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey sits in the city as well. Local cultural venues include the New Jersey Performing Arts Center, Newark Symphony Hall, the Prudential Center and The Newark Museum of Art.

Newark is divided into five political wards (East, West, South, North and Central) and contains neighborhoods ranging in character from bustling urban districts to quiet suburban enclaves. Newark's Branch Brook Park is the oldest county park in the United States and is home to the nation's largest collection of cherry blossom trees, numbering over 5,000.

History

the text in this section is copied from an article in Wikipedia

Newark was settled in 1666 by Connecticut Puritans led by Robert Treat from the New Haven Colony. It was conceived as a theocratic assembly of the faithful, though this did not last for long as new settlers came with different ideas. On October 31, 1693, it was organized as a New Jersey township based on the Newark Tract, which was first purchased on July 11, 1667. Newark was granted a royal charter on April 27, 1713. It was incorporated on February 21, 1798, by the New Jersey Legislature's Township Act of 1798, as one of New Jersey's initial group of 104 townships. During its time as a township, portions were taken to form Springfield Township (April 14, 1794), Caldwell Township (February 16, 1798; now known as Fairfield Township), Orange Township (November 27, 1806), Bloomfield Township (March 23, 1812) and Clinton Township (April 14, 1834, remainder reabsorbed by Newark on March 5, 1902). Newark was reincorporated as a city on April 11, 1836, replacing Newark Township, based on the results of a referendum passed on March 18, 1836. The previously independent Vailsburg borough was annexed by Newark on January 1, 1905. In 1926, South Orange Township changed its name to Maplewood. As a result of this, a portion of Maplewood known as Ivy Hill was re-annexed to Newark's Vailsburg.

The name of the city is thought to derive from Newark-on-Trent, England, because of the influence of the original pastor, Abraham Pierson, who came from Yorkshire but may have ministered in Newark, Nottinghamshire.[4] But Pierson is also supposed to have said that the community reflecting the new task at hand should be named "New Ark" for "New Ark of the Covenant" and some of the colonists saw it as "New-Work", the settlers' new work with God. 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 Ogden in his claim for compensation, and James McHenry, as late as 1787.

During the American Revolutionary War, British troops made several raids into the town. The city saw tremendous industrial and population growth during the 19th century and early 20th century, and experienced racial tension and urban decline in the second half of the 20th century, culminating in the 1967 Newark riots.

The city has experienced revitalization since the 1990s. In 2018, the city passed protectionist legislation with the aim to combat rising home prices, though many such policies have resulted in exacerbating the housing problem by not addressing the source of the problem, the construction and supply of new housing failing to meet demand.

Research Tips


This page uses content from the English Wikipedia. The original content was at Newark, New Jersey. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with WeRelate, the content of Wikipedia is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

The Liber defunctorum (Book of the Dead), for Saint Mary's Roman Catholic Parish, founded to serve the German-speaking in 1842, listing parishioners who died between 1858 and 1937, with the date of death and place of burial, and often parents' names and places of birth, is available online through the Archives of the Benedictine Abbey of Newark website. [1]