National Historic

Landmarks

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❖ The Historic Preservation Office is committed to enhancing the quality of life for the residents of New Jersey through the preservation andappreciation of our collective past.

❖ Our mission is to assist the residents of New Jerseyin identifying, preserving, protecting and sustainingour historic and archaeological resources throughthe implementation of the state’s historicpreservation program.

❖ We provide assistance through our annualconference, consultation with staff professionals,training workshops, co-sponsorship of history andhistoric preservation-related activities, the HistoricPreservation Planning Bulletin and other freepublications.

Cover Photo: Old Queens, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, Middlesex County, ca. 1948.

Other cover photos identified elswhere.

National Historic

Landmarks (NHL) arebuildings, sites, districts,structures, and objects thathave been determined by the Secretary of the Interiorto be nationally significant inAmerican history and culture.Many of the most renownedhistoric properties in thenation are Landmarks.

Mount Vernon, Pearl Harbor, the Apollo MissionControl Center, Alcatraz, andthe Martin Luther KingBirthplace in Atlanta, Georgiaare Landmarks that illustrateimportant contributions to the nation’s historicaldevelopment.

New Jersey has over 50NHL’s, including CraftsmanFarms, Monmouth Battle-field, Paulsdale, RingwoodManor, Sandy Hook Light-house, and the Walt WhitmanHouse.

Potential Landmarks areidentified primarily throughtheme studies undertaken bythe National Park Service(NPS); these studies providea comparative analysis ofproperties associated with aspecific area of American his-tory, such as Labor or

Women’s History. The historic importance of candi-dates for Landmark desig-nation is evaluated by theNational Park Service andthe National Park SystemAdvisory Board twice yearlyat meetings that are open tothe public. The AdvisoryBoard includes citizens whoare national and communityleaders in the conservation ofnatural, historic and culturalareas. Recommendations bythe Advisory Board are madeto the Secretary of the Inte-rior on potential NationalHistoric Landmarks. Final

National Historic

Landmarks

Sandy HookLighthouse,Monmouth

County,drawing ca.

1790.

decisions regarding NationalHistoric Landmark desig-nation are made by the Secretary of the Interior.

Nominations prepared by other Federal agencies,State Historic PreservationOfficers, and individuals arealso accepted for review and

represent an increasing num-ber of nominations reviewedeach year.

Landmarks that have beenrecognized by the Secretaryof the Interior possessnational significance andhave exceptional value inrepresenting or illustrating animportant theme in the his-tory of the nation. Propertieslisted in the National Regis-ter of Historic Places, need to

demonstrate only State orlocal significance. For exam-ple, many of New Jersey’slighthouses are listed in theNational Register because ofthe key roles they played inthe state’s history. SandyHook Light, however, isnationally significant as theoldest standing lighthouse inthe United States.

All National HistoricLandmarks are included inthe National Register whichis the official list of thenation’s historic propertiesworthy of preservation. Land-marks constitute some 2,100of almost 65,000 entries inthe National Register. Thecriteria, process and proce-dures for listing a property inthe National Register are dif -ferent from that for Land-marks designation.Nominations to the NationalRegister are submitted bythe state historic preservationoffices and include culturalresources of local, state andnational significance. Evalua-tion and final decision restwith the National RegisterOffice. Conversely, propertiesmust be of national signifi -cance to be designated asNational Historic Landmarks.Evaluation is conducted bythe National Park Service’sNational Historic LandmarksSurvey. Nominations are thenreviewed by the NationalPark System Advisory Boardwith designation made by theSecretary of the Interior.

Some properties alreadylisted in the National Regis -ter are subsequently identi-fied by the Survey as

OldQueens,Rutgers

University,Middlesex

County,drawing

1844.

WilliamLivingston

House (LibertyHall),Union

County,drawing,

1844.

nationally significant;others are identified forthe first time duringLandmark theme studiesor other special studies.Both the National His-toric Landmarks and theNational Register pro-grams are administeredby the National ParkService under the Secre-tary of the Interior.

Designation as a NationalHistoric Landmark or listingin the National and New Jer-sey Registers does not gener-ally place restrictions onprivate property owners.Whenever a project is pub -licly funded, however , thereis a measure of protectionafforded to NHL’s. TheNational Park Service mayrecommend to private ownersvarious preservation actions,but owners are not obligatedto carry out these recommen-dations. They are free tomake whatever changes theywish if public funding, licens -ing or permits are notinvolved.

Landmarks owners areprovided with a bronzeplaque to display at the prop-erty. These are available fromthe National Park Service atno cost to the owner.

The National Park Servicealso provides technicalpreservation advice to ownersof National Historic Land-marks. Questions regardingpreservation issues are rou-tinely answered by phone orletters, or during on-site visitsby NPS staff. The followingare other forms of assistancethe NPS provides to owners:

1. The National ParkService publishesand distributes infor-mation available toLandmark ownersand administratorson a variety ofpreservation sub-jects. For a catalog ofNPS publicationscontact the NHLprogram manager.

2. From time to time,the National ParkService contactsLandmark ownersabout the conditionof their propertiesand may ask forpermission to visit.The NPS is respon-sible by law formonitoring the con-dition of NationalHistoric Landmarksand to report toCongress those thatare seriously threat-ened or damaged.The annual reportidentifies the natureof the threat anddamage andincludes recom-mendations for pre-serving the endan–gered Landmark.Its purpose is toinform Congress

NassauHall,

College of NJ, nowPrinceton University,

Mercercounty,

drawing,1844.

and the preserva-tion community ofthe endangered sta-tus of these proper-ties and to stimulatepreservation action.A Landmark’sinclusion in thisreport requires nocompliance actionon the part of theowner or the partiescausing the threator damage. How-ever, if the qualitieswhich led to theproperty’s designa-tion have been lost,the Landmark des-ignation will beremoved.

3. Each year, as funding permits,a limited number ofLandmark buildingsmay be selected toreceive indepthproperty assess-ments funded andcoordinated by theNational Park Ser-vice. The purpose ofthese inspections isto analyze the spe-cific condition of theLandmark, identifyand prioritize recom-mended work treat-

ments, and estimatethe costs for carryingout this work. Iffunding permits,information derivedfrom the indepthinspection may becompiled in a build-ing condition assess-ment report whichmay be made avail-able to owners,preservation organi-zations, and inter-ested public andprivate groups. Also,as funding permits,executive sum-maries of conditionassessment reportstitled “Landmarksat Risk” may be pre-pared by theNational Park Ser-vice for selectedLandmarks. Copiesof these reports aremade available toproperty owners,local governments,community organi-zations and visitors.These publicationsare used to raiseawareness of theLandmark’s signifi-cance and preserva-tion needs.

CraftsmanFarms,MorrisCounty,photo1912.

LandmarkAssistance Initiative

The Preservation Initia-tives Branch of HeritagePreservation Service of theNational Park Service coordi-nates the National HistoricLandmark Assistance Initia-tive.

This initiative has threegoals:

1. To preserveNational HistoricLandmarks.

2. To improve serviceand technical assis-tance to the ownersof National Historic Landmarks.

3. To build a con-stituency for cul-tural resourcesthrough educationof the public aboutNational HistoricLandmarks.

As part of thisinitiative, theNational Park Ser-vice will attempt toprovide owners ofNHLs with basicinformation aboutthe program,including sourcesof technical andfinancial assistancefor preservationand to facilitatecommunicationamong owners,State Historic

Preservation Offices and theNational Park Service.

This article was developedfrom information provided bythe National Historic Land-marks Program. For furtherinformation and publicationson National Historic Land-marks please contact:

NHL Program

National Park ServiceNortheast Field Area, U.S. Custom House200 Chestnut Street

Philadelphia, PA 19106 (215) 597-7946.

For specific information onNew Jersey’s National Historic Landmarks,

please contact:

Historic Preservation Office

P.O. Box 404Trenton, NJ 08625-0404

(609) 984-6018

ProspectHouse,MercerCounty,photo1989.

Abbott Farm Historic District

12/08/76TrentonMercer County

All Saints Memorial Church

12/23/87Navesink, Middletown Township Monmouth County

Atlantic CityConvention Hall

02/27/87Atlantic CityAtlantic County

Ballantine(John) House

02/04/85NewarkEssex County

Botto (Pietro &Maria) House

12/17/82Haledon Passaic County

Boxwood Hall11/28/72ElizabethUnion County

Burlington County Prison

06/24/86Mt. HollyBurlington County

Cape May Historic District

05/11/76Cape May County

Clark Thread Co.Historic District

06/02/78East Newark Hudson County

National Historic

Landmarks

Above: Botto(Pietro and Maria

House, PassaicCounty, photo,

1913.

Below: AtlanticCity ConventionHall, AtlanticCounty, photo,

1982.

Cleveland(Grover) Home

06/23/65PrincetonMercer County

Craftsman Farms12/14/90Parsippany-Troy HillsMorris County

Einstein (Albert)House

01/07/76Princeton Mercer County

Factory,Speedwell Village

05/30/74Morristown Morris County

Fort Hancock &Sandy Hook Proving GroundHistoric District

12/17/82Sandy Hook Monmouth County

Fortune (T. Thomas) House

12/08/76Red Bank Monmouth County

Georgian Court(George Jay GouldEstate)02/04/85LakewoodOcean County

Grace Church12/23/87NewarkEssex County

Great Atlantic & Pacific TeaCompany Warehouse

06/02/78Jersey CityHudson County

Great Falls of the PassaicSociety for Useful ManufacturesHistoric District

05/11/76PatersonPassaic County

Hanger #1,Lakehurst-Naval Air Station

05/23/68LakehurstOcean County

Above: BurlingtonCounty Prison,

BurlingtonCounty, drawing,

1844.

Below: Elias Boudinot, Boxwood Hall,Union County,

portrait byCharles WilsonPeale, ca. 1810

HadrosaurusFoulkii Leidy Site

10/12/94HaddonfieldCamden County

Henry (Joseph)House

01/12/65PrincetonMercer County

Hermitage08/29/70HohokusBergen County

Holland Tunnel11/04/93Jersey CityHudson County, NJ & Lower Manhattan, NY

Hopkinson (Francis) House

07/17/71BordentownBurlington County

Horn Antenna12/20/89HolmdelMonmouth County

LawrencevilleSchool

02/24/86Lawrenceville, Township of Lawrence, Mercer County

Livingston(William) House

11/28/72UnionUnion County

Lucy, the Margate Elephant

05/11/76Margate CityAtlantic County

Maybury Hill11/11/71PrincetonMercer County

Above: Factory,Speedwell

Village, MorrisCounty, photo,

1981.

Below: Georgian Court,Ocean County,

photo, 1978

Minisink ArchaeologicalSite

04/19/93

Delaware Water GapNational Recreation Area,Sussex County, NJ &Pike County, Pa.

Monmouth Battlefield

01/20/61ManalapanMonmouth County

Morven07/17/71PrincetonMercer County

Nassau Hall10/09/60PrincetonMercer County

Nast (Thomas)Home

01/29/64MorristownMorris County

New St. Mary’sEpiscopalChurch

06/24/86BurlingtonBurlington County

Old Barracks11/28/72TrentonMercer County

Old Queens, Rutgers University

05/11/76New BrunswickMiddlesexCounty

Above: Cape MayHistoric District

(ChalfonteHotel), Cape May

County, photo1977.

Left:Hadrousaurous

Foulkii Leidy Site,Camden County,

sketch, 1994.

Below: hermitage, BergenCounty, drawing,

1844.

Palisades Interstate Park

01/12/65AlpineBergen County,NJ and New York

Paulsdale12/04/91Mt. Laurel Township

Burlington County

Presidents House07/17/71PrincetonMercer County

Princeton Battlefield

01/20/61PrincetonMercer County

Prospect02/04/85PrincetonMercer County

Red Bank Battlefield

11/28/72National Park BoroughGloucester County

Ringwood Manor11/13/66Ringwood BoroughPassaic County

Sandy Hook Light01/29/64Sandy HookMonmouth County

Seabright LawnTennis & CricketClub

10/05/92RumsonMonmouth County

Shadow Lawn02/04/85West Long BranchMonmouth County

Above: Cape MayHistoric District

(ChalfonteHotel), Cape May

County, photo1977.

Below: Cartoon, 1871,Thomas Nast, morris County

Stanton (Elizabeth Cady)House

05/15/75TenaflyBergen County

Trent (William)House

04/15/70Trenton, Mercer County

Washington’sCrossing

01/20/61Hopewell Township,Mercer County,NJ & New Hope, Bucks County, Pa.

Whitman (Walt)House

12/29/62CamdenCamden County

Above: Lucy the Margate Elephant,Atlantic County,

patent, 1882

Left: Alice Paul of Paulsdale,

Burlington County,photo, ca. 1930.

Above: Old Barracks, Mercer

County

Right: Walt Whitman at

home, CamdenCounty, ca. 1887photo by Thomas

Eakins.

Below: Trent House in

foreground, Mercer County,

watercolor, 1798.

State of New JerseyNJ Department of Environmental Protection

Natural & Historic ResourcesHistoric Preservation officeP.O. Box 404, Trenton, New Jersey 08625-0404

Tel: (609) 984-0176 Fax: (609) 984-0578

visit our Website at:www.state.nj.us/dep/hpo

This publication has been financed in part with federal funds from the National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior, and administered by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, Historic Preservation Office. The contents and opinions do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the U.S. Department of the Interior. This program receives federal financial assistance for the identification and protection of historic properties. Under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, the U.S. Department of the Interior prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, national origin, or handicap in its federally assisted programs. If you believe that you have been discriminated against in any program, activity, or facility as described above, or if you desire further information, please write to: Office of Equal Opportunity, National Park Service, 1849 C. Street NW (NC200), Washington, D.C. 20240

Rev. 12/08