Van Vorst Park is a neighborhood in the Historic Downtown of

Jersey City Jersey City is the second-most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey, after Newark.Hudson 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 Delawa ...

, centered on a park sharing the same name. The neighborhood is located west of Paulus Hook and Marin Boulevard, north of Grand Street, east of the Turnpike Extension, and south of The Village and Christopher Columbus Drive. Much of it is included in the Van Vorst Park Historical District. The park was a centerpiece of Van Vorst Township, a

township A township is a kind of human settlement or administrative subdivision, with its meaning varying in different countries. Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, that tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, ...

that existed in Hudson County from 1841 to 1851. Van Vorst was incorporated as a township by an Act of the

New Jersey Legislature The New Jersey Legislature is the legislative branch of the government of the U.S. state of New Jersey. In its current form, as defined by the New Jersey Constitution of 1947, the Legislature consists of two houses: the General Assembly and the ...

on April 12, 1841, from portions of Bergen Township. On March 18, 1851, Van Vorst Township was annexed by

Jersey City Jersey City is the second-most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey, after Newark.''The Story of New Jersey's Civil Boundaries: 1606-1968''
Bureau of Geology and Topography; Trenton, New Jersey; 1969. p. 148. Accessed June 26, 2013. The name Van Vorst comes from a prominent family in the area, the first of which arrived in the 1630s as superintendent of the

patroonship In the United States, a patroon (; from Dutch ''patroon'' ) was a landholder with manorial rights to large tracts of land in the 17th century Dutch colony of New Netherland on the east coast of North America. Through the Charter of Freedoms ...

Pavonia, the earliest European settlement on the west bank of the

Hudson River The Hudson River is a river that flows from north to south primarily through eastern New York. It originates in the Adirondack Mountains of Upstate New York and flows southward through the Hudson Valley to the New York Harbor between Ne ...

in the province of

New Netherland New Netherland ( nl, Nieuw Nederland; la, Novum Belgium or ) was a 17th-century colonial province of the Dutch Republic that was located on the east coast of what is now the United States. The claimed territories extended from the Delmarva ...

. His homestead at Harsimus, plus others at

Communipaw Communipaw is a neighborhood in Jersey City in Hudson County, New Jersey, United States. It is located west of Liberty State Park and east of Bergen Hill, and the site of one of the earliest European settlements in North America. It gives its nam ...

, Paulus Hook, Minakwa, Pamrapo were later incorporated into

Bergen Bergen (), historically Bjørgvin, is a city and municipalities of Norway, municipality in Vestland county on the Western Norway, west coast of Norway. , its population is roughly 285,900. Bergen is the list of towns and cities in Norway, secon ...

. His namesake and eighth generation descendant,

Cornelius Van Vorst Cornelius Van Vorst (March 7, 1822 – November 19, 1906) was the twelfth Mayor of Jersey City, serving from 1860 to 1862. Biography The kitchen step of his mansion was known to be the slab of marble that was originally the base of the statue of K ...

, was the twelfth Mayor of Jersey City serving from 1860 to 1862. Like Harsimus Cove and Hamilton Park to the north and Bergen-Lafayette to the southwest, the neighborhood contains nineteenth century

rowhouse In architecture and city planning, a terrace or terraced house ( UK) or townhouse ( US) is a form of medium-density housing that originated in Europe in the 16th century, whereby a row of attached dwellings share side walls. In the United Sta ...

s and

brownstone Brownstone is a brown Triassic–Jurassic sandstone that was historically a popular building material. The term is also used in the United States and Canada to refer to a townhouse clad in this or any other aesthetically similar material. Type ...

s. It is home to the Jersey City Medical Center, James J. Ferris High School (named for the Jersey City citizen who laid the foundation of the

Hudson and Manhattan Railroad Powerhouse The Hudson and Manhattan Railroad Powerhouse, also known as the Jersey City Powerhouse in Jersey City, Hudson County, New Jersey, United States, was built in 1908. The powerhouse made possible the subway system between New Jersey and New York ...

with his firm Stillman, Delehanty and Ferris), and Old Colony Shopping Plaza. Landmarks include

Barrow Mansion The Dr. William Barrow Mansion is located at 83 Wayne Street between Barrow Street and Jersey Avenue in Downtown Jersey City, Hudson County, New Jersey, United States. The mansion was added to the National Register of Historic Places on May 2, 19 ...

and Dixon Mills. The Grove Street PATH station is located nearby to the north and is the Jersey Avenue (HBLR station) to the south.

Park

Van Vorst Park is a two-acre city park bounded by Barrow Street on the east, Montgomery Street on the north, Jersey Avenue on the west and York Street on the south. The park was renovated in 1999 at a cost of two million dollars with money raised by the Friends of Van Vorst Park.

Images

File:Van Vorst Park-JC Main Library.jpg, View northeast to JC Main Library File:Van Vorst Park-Oppenheimer Mansion.jpg, Heppenheimer Mansion at Montgomery and Jersey File:Madison on the Van Vorst Park.jpg, Madison on the Van Vorst Park at York and Barrow File:Water Fountain Van Vorst Park Jersey City.JPG, Water fountain in Van Vorst Park File:Crafts fair Van Vorst Park.JPG, Vendors at Crafts Fair at Van Vorst Park File:Jersey City Library Main.jpg, Jersey City Main Library

References

External links

Neighborhood Association WebsiteVan Vorst Park MapWalking tour of Van VorstFriends of Van Vorst ParkNot Yo Mama's Craft FairVan Vorst Park (2005 Film)Jersey City Main Library
{{NRHP in Hudson County, New Jersey Neighborhoods in Jersey City, New Jersey Historic districts in Hudson County, New Jersey Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in New Jersey National Register of Historic Places in Hudson County, New Jersey Parks in Hudson County, New Jersey Houses in Hudson County, New Jersey New Jersey Register of Historic Places Squares in Jersey City, New Jersey Parks on the National Register of Historic Places in New Jersey

Park

See also

Images

References

External links