REVOLUTIONARY WAR SITES IN PERTH AMBOY, NEW JERSEY

Proprietary House
149 Kearny Avenue
Map / Directions to Proprietary House
Map to all Perth Amboy Revolutionary War Sites

Proprietary House Website
732-826-5527

Hours:
Wednesday 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.
Or by appointment

A plaque on the house explains:
"This is Governor's House - built by the Colonial Proprietors of East Jersey in 1762, with bricks which were brought from England. Occupied first by Frederick Smyth, Chief Justice of the Colony. Then in 1774, by William Franklin [son of Benjamin Franklin] who was appointed by the crown." [1]

St. Peter's Episcopal Church
183 Rector Street
Map / Directions to St. Peter's Episcopal Church
Map to all Perth Amboy Revolutionary War Sites

St. Peters Website
(732) 826-1594

A plaque on the house explains:
"St. Peter's is the oldest parish in the state founded in 1698 when the bishop of London sent the Rev. Edward Portlock to be its minister. chartered in 1718 by King George. Used as a barracks for British Troops in 1776." [2]

The Bluff
Water St. near Lewis St.
Map / Directions to the Bluff
Map to all Perth Amboy Revolutionary War Sites

A marker at the Bluff explains its Revolutionary War Era significance: [3]

• July of 1776: There was an exchange of fire between the colonists on the shore and a British ship anchored in the harbor. The British return fire caused to tombstone damage in the St. Peter's Church cemetery.

• September 11, 1776: Benjamin Franklin, John Adams and Edward Rutledge were rowed in a boat to the Billop House. The Continental Congress had sent them to confer with Admiral Lord Howe and his brother, General William Howe.

• July 22, 1804, Aaron Burr, shortly after he mortally wounded Alexander Hamilton in their Weehawken duel, landed on this beach. He sought help from Commodore Thomas Truxton. Because the Commodore was observing the Sabbath, he insisted Burr spend the entire Sunday in Perth Amboy before seeing him off to Philadelphia. The Truxton House was demolished in 1935.

A plaque at the arch explains:
"The "Bill of Rights Arch" erected and dedicated November 20, 1989, is in tribute to the importance of New Jersey, as the first state to ratify the Bill of Rights, and also the proud role the city of Perth Amboy as the first Capital of New Jersey, has as the designated place in which the Bill of Rights was first ratified in the old Court House (present City Hall).
"The Bill of Rights Arch, which is built on the site of The Public Square, is an authentic reconstruction of the south portal entry to the original market building, which was a roof covered open air structure that measured approximately 20 feet wide by 100 feet long ... which was erected because... fairs and market days were stipulated for, by the Proprietaries ... and that in the Act of Incorporation granted the city in 1718 was a clause directing two market days weekly throughout the year, on Tuesdays and Saturday .. in the market place near the Court-house or City Hall, and nowhere else ... and that two fairs were also authorized to be held annually... in May and November ... and that the market building was known to have been erected much earlier and that during the Revolution this Market-house was closely boarded up and transformed into a barrack for the troops... It stood on November 20, 1789 at the same time as the General Assembly of New Jersey met in the adjacent Courthouse for the purpose of Ratifying the Bill of Rights.

"The "Arch" was chosen to symbolically represent the true spirit of life and purpose in our nation's history: its simplistic form is a powerful statement." [4]

The public square also has a statue of George Washington, and a reproduction of the Liberty Bell.