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Old Queens is the oldest extant building at
Rutgers University Rutgers University (; RU), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a Public university, public land-grant research university consisting of four campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's ...
and is the symbolic heart of the university's campus in
New Brunswick New Brunswick (french: Nouveau-Brunswick, , locally ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. It is the only province with both English and ...
in Middlesex County,
New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...
in the United States. Rutgers, the eighth-oldest college in the United States, was founded in 1766 during the American colonial period as Queen's College. Queen's College was named for
Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (Sophia Charlotte; 19 May 1744 – 17 November 1818) was Queen of Great Britain and of Ireland as the wife of King George III from their marriage on 8 September 1761 until the union of the two kingdoms ...
, the daughter of a German duke who became the queen consort of British king
George III George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 173829 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until the union of the two kingdoms on 1 January 1801, after which he was King of the United Kingdom of Great Br ...
. Old Queens is located on a six-acre hilltop city block bounded by Somerset Street, Hamilton Street, College Avenue and George Street that was previously an apple orchard. Donated to the college in 1807 by James Parker, Jr., this city block become known the Queen's Campus and is the historic core of the university. Because of this, by
metonymy Metonymy () is a figure of speech in which a concept is referred to by the name of something closely associated with that thing or concept. Etymology The words ''metonymy'' and ''metonym'' come from grc, μετωνυμία, 'a change of name' ...
, the name "Old Queens" came to be used as a reference to Rutgers College and is often invoked as an allusive reference to the university or to its administration. Designed by American architect
John McComb Jr. John McComb Jr. (1763 – 1853) was an American architect who designed many landmarks in the 18th and 19th centuries. Between 1790 and 1825, McComb was New York city's leading architect. John McComb Jr. was born on October 17, 1763 in New Yo ...
, who also designed
New York City Hall New York City Hall is the Government of New York City, seat of New York City government, located at the center of City Hall Park in the Civic Center, Manhattan, Civic Center area of Lower Manhattan, between Broadway (Manhattan), Broadway, Park R ...
, the cornerstone of Old Queens was laid in 1809 by the college's third president, the Rev.
Ira Condict Ira Condict (February 21, 1764 – June 1, 1811) was an American Presbyterian and Dutch Reformed minister who served as the third president of Queen's College (now Rutgers University) in New Brunswick, New Jersey. A 1784 graduate of the Colleg ...
. Due to financial constraints, construction was not completed until 1825. In its early days, Old Queens provided instruction space for lectures, student and faculty housing, a college library, and a chapel that was shared by three institutions: the college, its
grammar school A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and other English-speaking countries, originally a school teaching Latin, but more recently an academically oriented secondary school ...
(today,
Rutgers Preparatory School Rutgers Preparatory School (also known as Rutgers Prep or RPS) is a private, coeducational, college preparatory day school established in 1766. The school educates students in pre-kindergarten through twelfth grade, located on a campus along ...
), and the
New Brunswick Theological Seminary New Brunswick Theological Seminary is a Reformed Christian seminary with its main campus in New Brunswick, New Jersey. It was founded in 1784 and is one of the oldest seminaries in the United States. It is a seminary of the Reformed Church in Ame ...
. Today, Old Queens houses the university's administration including the offices of its president and governing boards. Old Queens was added to the
National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...
as a
National Historical Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Only some 2,500 (~3%) of over 90,000 places liste ...
on May 11, 1976 for its significance in architecture and education. It is regarded as a fine example of
Federal architecture Federal-style architecture is the name for the classicizing architecture built in the newly founded United States between 1780 and 1830, and particularly from 1785 to 1815, which was heavily based on the works of Andrea Palladio with several inn ...
on a college campus. With Queen's Campus, including Old Queens, was added to the NRHP on July 2, 1973.


History


Early history (1766–1808)

Chartered on 10 November 1766, Queen's College was initially a small, private liberal arts college affiliated with the Dutch Reformed church founded "for the education of youth in the learned languages, liberal and useful arts and sciences, and especially in divinity; preparing them for the ministry and other good offices."Frusciano, Thomas J. (University Archivist).
From "Seminary of Learning" to Public Research University: A Historical Sketch of Rutgers University
'. Rutgers University Libraries. Retrieved 17 August 2006.
It is the eighth-oldest college in the United States and one of the nine
Colonial Colleges The colonial colleges are nine institutions of higher education chartered in the Thirteen Colonies before the United States of America became a sovereign nation after the American Revolution. These nine have long been considered together, notably ...
founded before the
American Revolution The American Revolution was an ideological and political revolution that occurred in British America between 1765 and 1791. The Americans in the Thirteen Colonies formed independent states that defeated the British in the American Revolut ...
.Stoeckel, Althea
"Presidents, professors, and politics: the colonial colleges and the American revolution"
''Conspectus of History'' (1976) 1(3):45–56.
Queen's College was named for
Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (Sophia Charlotte; 19 May 1744 – 17 November 1818) was Queen of Great Britain and of Ireland as the wife of King George III from their marriage on 8 September 1761 until the union of the two kingdoms ...
, the daughter of a German duke who became the queen consort of British king
George III George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 173829 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until the union of the two kingdoms on 1 January 1801, after which he was King of the United Kingdom of Great Br ...
. The college first held its classes in a tavern called "The Sign of the Red Lion" on the corner of Nielson and Albany Streets in New Brunswick, and later at a building on George Street in city's current business district, before moving the college to the hilltop where they would begin to build Old Queens in 1809. During the Revolution the hilltop where Old Queens was built was the site of a redoubt where
Alexander Hamilton Alexander Hamilton (January 11, 1755 or 1757July 12, 1804) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first United States secretary of the treasury from 1789 to 1795. Born out of wedlock in Charlest ...
, then an artillery captain commanding sixty men of the
New York Provincial Company of Artillery During the American Revolutionary War, the New York Provincial Company of Artillery was created by the New York Provincial Congress in 1776 to defend New York City from British attack. History Revolution The revolutionary government of the pro ...
, placed his cannons to cover the retreat of George Washington's forces after the British occupation of New York. After the British victory in taking Fort Washington in November 1776, Washington's forces retreated across New Jersey and into Pennsylvania. Hamilton's battery protected the forces as they crossed the
Raritan River Raritan River is a major river of New Jersey. Its Drainage basin, watershed drains much of the mountainous area of the central part of the state, emptying into the Raritan Bay on the Atlantic Ocean. History Geologists assert that the lower Rar ...
and passing through New Brunswick in 1776. British forces commanded by Lieutenant General
Lord Cornwallis Charles Cornwallis, 1st Marquess Cornwallis, (31 December 1738 – 5 October 1805), styled Viscount Brome between 1753 and 1762 and known as the Earl Cornwallis between 1762 and 1792, was a British Army general and official. In the United S ...
under orders from Lieutenant General
William Howe, 5th Viscount Howe William Howe, 5th Viscount Howe, KB PC (10 August 172912 July 1814) was a British Army officer who rose to become Commander-in-Chief of British land forces in the Colonies during the American War of Independence. Howe was one of three brot ...
pursued Washington as far as New Brunswick. The hill belonged to John Parker, a prominent merchant from nearby
Perth Amboy Perth Amboy is a city in Middlesex County, New Jersey. Perth Amboy is part of the New York metropolitan area. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the city's population was 55,436. Perth Amboy has a Hispanic majority population. In the 2010 census, th ...
and was the site of an apple orchard. His heirs, including James Parker, Jr. (1776–1868), a local merchant and political figure, donated this orchard to the trustees of Queen's College (later renamed Rutgers) in 1808. James Parker, Jr., a graduate of Columbia College (A.B. 1793) in New York, was a member of the
New Jersey General Assembly The New Jersey General Assembly is the lower house of the New Jersey Legislature. Since the election of 1967 (1968 Session), the Assembly has consisted of 80 members. Two members are elected from each of New Jersey's 40 legislative districts for ...
, and later became a trustee of Queen's and later Rutgers College starting in 1812 and serving until his death in 1868. The college, which had closed in 1795 due to financial reasons, reopened in 1807 after a long fundraising campaign led by the Rev.
Ira Condict Ira Condict (February 21, 1764 – June 1, 1811) was an American Presbyterian and Dutch Reformed minister who served as the third president of Queen's College (now Rutgers University) in New Brunswick, New Jersey. A 1784 graduate of the Colleg ...
(the school's third president, ''pro tempore'') and the Rev.
John Henry Livingston John Henry Livingston (May 30, 1746January 25, 1825) was an American Dutch Reformed minister and member of the Livingston family, who served as the fourth President of Queen's College (now Rutgers University), from 1810 until his death in 182 ...
(the college's fourth president and founder of the
New Brunswick Theological Seminary New Brunswick Theological Seminary is a Reformed Christian seminary with its main campus in New Brunswick, New Jersey. It was founded in 1784 and is one of the oldest seminaries in the United States. It is a seminary of the Reformed Church in Ame ...
) with direct support from the Dutch Reformed Church's Synod of New York. The funds would be appropriated to build a permanent home for Queen's College, its grammar school (which remained open for the years the college closed), and Livingston's theological seminary which was permanently relocated to New Brunswick from New York.


Construction (1808-1825)

The trustees hired New York architect
John McComb Jr. John McComb Jr. (1763 – 1853) was an American architect who designed many landmarks in the 18th and 19th centuries. Between 1790 and 1825, McComb was New York city's leading architect. John McComb Jr. was born on October 17, 1763 in New Yo ...
(1763–1853) to design and oversee the construction of Old Queens. McComb was known for his designs of the
Cape Henry Light The Cape Henry Lighthouses are a pair of lighthouses at Cape Henry, the landform marking the southern entrance to Chesapeake Bay in the U.S. state of Virginia. The location has long been important for the large amount of ocean-going shipping tra ...
(1792) in Chesapeake Bay, and for
Montauk Point Lighthouse The Montauk Point Light, or Montauk Point Lighthouse, is a lighthouse located adjacent to Montauk Point State Park, at the easternmost point of Long Island, in the hamlet of Montauk in the Town of East Hampton in Suffolk County, New York. The ...
(1796) and Station Eatons Neck Lighthouse (1798) at the eastern end of Long Island, and for several New York City landmarks including
Gracie Mansion Archibald Gracie Mansion (commonly called Gracie Mansion) is the official residence of the Mayor of New York City. Built in 1799, it is located in Carl Schurz Park, at East End Avenue and 88th Street in the Yorkville neighborhood of Manhattan. T ...
(1799),
Hamilton Grange Hamilton Grange National Memorial, also known as The Grange or the Hamilton Grange Mansion, is a National Park Service site in St. Nicholas Park, Manhattan, New York City, that preserves the relocated home of U.S. Founding Father Alexander Hamil ...
(1802),
New York City Hall New York City Hall is the Government of New York City, seat of New York City government, located at the center of City Hall Park in the Civic Center, Manhattan, Civic Center area of Lower Manhattan, between Broadway (Manhattan), Broadway, Park R ...
(1803), and St. John's Chapel (1803, demolished 1918). He would subsequently design Lower Manhattan's
Castle Clinton Castle Clinton (also known as Fort Clinton and Castle Garden) is a circular sandstone fort within Battery Park at the southern end of Manhattan in New York City. Built from 1808 to 1811, it was the first American immigration station, predating ...
(1808) and
Alexander Hall Alexander Hall (January 11, 1894 – July 30, 1968) was an American film director, film editor and theatre actor. Biography Hall acted in the theatre from the age of four through 1914, when he began to work in silent movies. Following his milit ...
at
Princeton Theological Seminary Princeton Theological Seminary (PTSem), officially The Theological Seminary of the Presbyterian Church, is a private school of theology in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1812 under the auspices of Archibald Alexander, the General Assembly of ...
(1815). The cornerstone for Old Queens was laid on 27 April 1809 by Queen's College's president, the Rev. Ira Condict. Construction was overseen by Abraham Blauvelt, publisher of the local newspaper "''The Guardian, or, New Brunswick Advertiser''." Some the actual physical construction work was done by enslaved persons, including a man named Will who was owned by longtime New Brunswick physician Dr. Jacob Dunham. In recent years, scholarship on the relationship between enslavement and universities has become significantly more publicized. Rutgers has since erected a sign honoring Will’s work and named the brick pathway to the building “Will’s Walk”. This effort acknowledges that slavery was a real part of life in New Brunswick through the nineteenth century. Due to the young college's financial difficulties, the building was not completed until 1825. Classes began within the completed portions of the building as early as 1811 for Queen's College (now Rutgers University), Queen's College Grammar School (now Rutgers Preparatory School), and the
New Brunswick Theological Seminary New Brunswick Theological Seminary is a Reformed Christian seminary with its main campus in New Brunswick, New Jersey. It was founded in 1784 and is one of the oldest seminaries in the United States. It is a seminary of the Reformed Church in Ame ...
. The New Brunswick Theological Seminary moved in 1856 to a new campus less than one-half mile away, as a result of overcrowding. The Grammar School had moved across the street several years earlier in 1830. In 1825, Colonel
Henry Rutgers Henry Rutgers (October 7, 1745 – February 17, 1830) was a United States Revolutionary War hero and philanthropist from New York City. Rutgers University was named after him, and he donated a bond which placed the college on sound financial f ...
, an American Revolutionary War Hero and philanthropist from
New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
gave the fledgling Queens College a $5,000 bond and a bell. The Trustees renamed the institution in honor of Colonel Rutgers. The bell, known as the Old Queens Bell, was hung in the cupola of Old Queens to chime the passing of classes. It remains there today, and is rung on special occasions, such as at Commencement exercise in May and in recognition of athletic teams who have won national conferences.Tradition at www.scarletknights.com
, accessed on 10 September 2006.
The cupola was donated by Stephen Van Rensselaer in 1825.


Use

Initially, Old Queens housed the entire College functionality. The first floor of Old Queens served as classrooms where recitation was held and the second floor housed the college's chapel and library. The wings on each side of the structure served as living quarters for the faculty of the College. At the time, with no dormitories (until the construction of Winants Hall 1890), students at Rutgers found housing within boarding houses and other off-campus locations throughout New Brunswick. Today, Old Queens houses the offices of the university president and other top administration. As Rutgers expanded, Old Queens has remained the flagship structure of the University. It houses the highest administrative offices and conference spaces. Old Queens is frequently used as the face of the University in its media and advertising, paying tribute to its architectural and academic significance.


Architecture

Constructed of ashlar brownstone in the front and sides and of local field stone in the rear, the façade of Old Queens incorporates symmetry and balance typical of Federal style architecture, and classical motifs such as
Doric Doric may refer to: * Doric, of or relating to the Dorians of ancient Greece ** Doric Greek, the dialects of the Dorians * Doric order, a style of ancient Greek architecture * Doric mode, a synonym of Dorian mode * Doric dialect (Scotland) * Doric ...
pilasters In classical architecture, a pilaster is an architectural element used to give the appearance of a supporting column and to articulate an extent of wall, with only an ornamental function. It consists of a flat surface raised from the main wall ...
, and low-height
pediment Pediments are gables, usually of a triangular shape. Pediments are placed above the horizontal structure of the lintel, or entablature, if supported by columns. Pediments can contain an overdoor and are usually topped by hood moulds. A pedimen ...
s (or tympanum or
gable A gable is the generally triangular portion of a wall between the edges of intersecting roof pitches. The shape of the gable and how it is detailed depends on the structural system used, which reflects climate, material availability, and aesth ...
s) resembling those on ancient
Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
and
Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...
temples typical to the Early American period. The regularized brownstone on the facade is the most expensive style of New Jersey Dutch tradition. Old Queens boasts its original handmade glass windowpanes. The lower floor windows are 12x8, with 16x12 on the second and 12x12 third floors. In each of the gables, circular windows, typical to Federal architecture are present. A
cupola In architecture, a cupola () is a relatively small, most often dome-like, tall structure on top of a building. Often used to provide a lookout or to admit light and air, it usually crowns a larger roof or dome. The word derives, via Italian, from ...
erected in 1825, topped by a
weathervane A wind vane, weather vane, or weathercock is an instrument used for showing the direction of the wind. It is typically used as an architectural ornament to the highest point of a building. The word ''vane'' comes from the Old English word , m ...
, houses the Old Queens Bell donated by Colonel
Henry Rutgers Henry Rutgers (October 7, 1745 – February 17, 1830) was a United States Revolutionary War hero and philanthropist from New York City. Rutgers University was named after him, and he donated a bond which placed the college on sound financial f ...
. Its exterior maintains almost entirely the same appearance it had at its construction. The facade of Old Queens remains recognizable to Rutgers students from the nineteenth century through today.


Queen's Campus

Old Queens is the oldest building and the centerpiece of the six extant building which constitute the ''Queen's Campus''. The historic core of the university, it contains the university's oldest buildings. While the Old Queens building obtained a discrete separate listing on the National Register of Historic Places for landmark status in 1976, the entire six-acre campus with these six remaining buildings was included together as one historic site on the
New Jersey Register of Historic Places The New Jersey Register of Historic Places is the official list of historic resources of local, state, and national interest in the U.S. state of New Jersey. The program is administered by the New Jersey's state historic preservation office within ...
on January 29, 1973, and on the
National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...
on July 2, 1973. These six buildings are: * Old Queens (built 1809–1825) * Van Nest Hall (1845) * Daniel S. Schanck Observatory (1865) *
Geology Hall Geology Hall (also Geological Hall) is a historic building on the Queens Campus of Rutgers University, in New Brunswick, New Jersey. It was built from April 1871 to June 1872 to house various science classes and the Rutgers Geology Museum. Th ...
(1872) *
Kirkpatrick Chapel The Sophia Astley Kirkpatrick Memorial Chapel, known as Kirkpatrick Chapel, is the chapel to Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey and located on the university's main campus in New Brunswick, New Jersey in the United States. Kirkpatrick ...
(1873) * Winants Hall (1890) A seventh building, the former "President's House" (built in 1841), was demolished in 1948 after damage sustained during a hurricane. Used as the residence of the college's president in the nineteenth century, it was later used as a fine arts building before it was razed. The Old Queens campus is accessed through four gateways, the ''Henry Rutgers Baldwin Gateway'' (erected 1901) on College Avenue, named for Henry Rutgers Baldwin (Class of 1849), the ''Class of 1883 Memorial Gateway'' (erected in 1904) at the corner of George and Somerset Streets, the ''Class of 1882 Gateway'' (erected 1907) at the corner of Somerset Street and College Avenue, and the ''Class of 1902 Memorial Gateway'' (erected in 1904) on Hamilton Street leading to the
Voorhees Mall Voorhees Mall is a large grassy area with stately shade trees on a block (sometimes known as "Voorhees Campus") of about 28 acres (0.11 km²) located on the College Avenue Campus of Rutgers University near downtown New Brunswick, New Jersey. ...
and the academic buildings on Rutgers University's College Avenue Campus. It is through this last gate that graduating seniors walk during Commencement exercises in May. Located in front of Old Queens, the ''Class of 1877 Cannon'' commemorates both the Rutgers-Princeton Cannon War and several alumni who have served in the United States military. As a tradition during commencement, those graduating break clay pipes over the
cannon A cannon is a large- caliber gun classified as a type of artillery, which usually launches a projectile using explosive chemical propellant. Gunpowder ("black powder") was the primary propellant before the invention of smokeless powder ...
as a symbol of breaking ties with their "pipe dreams" of youth and embarking into adulthood.


References


Books and printed materials

* Demarest, William Henry Steele. ''History of Rutgers College: 1776-1924.'' (New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers College, 1924). * ''History of Rutgers College: or an account of the union of Rutgers College, and the Theological Seminary of the General Synod of the Reformed Dutch Church. Prepared and published at the request of several trustees of the College, by a trustee.'' (New York: Anderson & Smith, 1833). * McCormick, Richard P. ''Rutgers: a Bicentennial History''. (New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 1966). * Schmidt, George P. ''Princeton and Rutgers: The Two Colonial Colleges of New Jersey''. (Princeton, NJ: Van Nostrand, 1964). * White, Fuentes, Deborah, Marisa (December 20, 2016). Scarlet and Black : Slavery and Dispossession in Rutgers History.


External links


Rutgers University
{{NRHP in Middlesex County, New Jersey Rutgers University buildings National Historic Landmarks in New Jersey Queens Campus, Rutgers University University and college buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in New Jersey New Jersey Register of Historic Places Buildings and structures in New Brunswick, New Jersey School buildings completed in 1825 John McComb Jr. buildings Individually listed contributing properties to historic districts on the National Register in New Jersey