The Bayonne Community Museum is located in the

Bergen Point Bergen Point is a point of land that lends its name to the adjacent neighborhood in Bayonne in Hudson County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. The point is located on the north side of Kill van Kull at Newark Bay. It is the section of the cit ...

section of

Bayonne Bayonne () is a city in southwestern France near the France–Spain border, Spanish border. It is a communes of France, commune and one of two subprefectures in France, subprefectures in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques departments of France, departm ...

Hudson County Hudson County is a List of counties in New Jersey, county in the U.S. state of New Jersey, its smallest and most densely populated. Lying in the northeast of the state and on the west bank of the North River (Hudson River), Hudson River, the No ...

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

, United States.

History

Beaux-Arts architecture Beaux-Arts architecture ( , ) was the academic architectural style taught at the in Paris, particularly from the 1830s to the end of the 19th century. It drew upon the principles of French neoclassicism, but also incorporated Renaissance and ...

. The general contractor for the building was Wells & Marvin of New York, and the granite work was done by the George Brown Company. Construction began on May 1, 1912, with a budget of $100,000, but it cost $150,000 when completed. The bank opened on November 8, 1913. The Commercial Trust Company, its first occupant, was dissolved in 1948, and the building was sold to the

United Jersey Bank Summit Bancorp was a bank based in Summit, New Jersey, that operated in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Connecticut. In 2001, it was acquired by FleetBoston Financial. History The bank was organized in 1899. In 1909, the bank was reorganized as Th ...

. It was subsequently owned by Summit Bank and Fleet National Bank.

FleetBoston Financial FleetBoston Financial was a Boston, Massachusetts–based bank created in 1999 by the merger of Fleet Financial Group and BankBoston. In 2004 it merged with Bank of America; all of its banks and branches were converted to Bank of America. Histo ...

, which merged with

Summit Bancorp Summit Bancorp was a bank based in Summit, New Jersey, that operated in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Connecticut. In 2001, it was acquired by FleetBoston Financial. History The bank was organized in 1899. In 1909, the bank was reorganized as Th ...

in 2001, sold the bank building to the city on December 19, 2001. The building was added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

on August 8, 2006. Until its purchase by the City of Bayonne, the building had been used as a bank, which has contributed to the preservation of its architectural integrity. The bank was remodeled in the 1970s. The remodeling involved adding drop ceilings that covered up three stained glass windows. The original bronze doors were replaced with double doors of contemporary glass and bronze oxidized aluminum in 1979. The two-story Vermont granite-clad structure features paired, fluted Ionic columns flanking the front door, with segmented arch windows over the doorway. The entrance is in a pediment portico. The stone lintel over the door has the engraving "Incorporated 1902." The original four-riser granite stairs to the entrance are in good condition as is the contemporary wrought iron railing, which is not original to the building. A large gilt lamp adorns each side of the entrance.

Museum

Fleet Bank FleetBoston Financial was a Boston, Massachusetts–based bank created in 1999 by the merger of Fleet Financial Group and BankBoston. In 2004 it merged with Bank of America; all of its banks and branches were converted to Bank of America. Hist ...

donated the building to the city of Bayonne in October 2002. The building is now known as the Bayonne Community Museum. planned to open after the completion of the renovation of the facility and installation of its first exhibition. The non-profit organization is creating a collection which contains variety of artifacts and other donated objects. In September 2010 the museum received $240,000 from

for continued realization of the redevelopment of the building. While the project has exceeded the original $3.1 million projected costs, work proceeds, including the restoration of the

terrazzo Terrazzo is a composite material, poured in place or precast, which is used for floor and wall treatments. It consists of chips of marble, quartz, granite, glass, or other suitable material, poured with a cementitious binder (for chemical bind ...

floor. In January 2012, the Bayonne City Council authorized $175,000 contract for the installation of a HVAC system. While the building has not opened to the public on a regular basis it is available for use for public and private events.

References

External links

Bayonne Community MuseumPicture of Bayonne Trust Company in 1923.View of Bayonne Trust Company
via

Google Street View Google Street View is a technology featured in Google Maps and Google Earth that provides interactive panoramas from positions along many streets in the world. It was launched in 2007 in several cities in the United States, and has since expa ...

{{NRHP in Hudson County, New Jersey Bayonne, New Jersey Museums in Hudson County, New Jersey Bank buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in New Jersey Commercial buildings completed in 1912 Beaux-Arts architecture in New Jersey National Register of Historic Places in Hudson County, New Jersey 2002 establishments in New Jersey New Jersey Register of Historic Places Buildings and structures in Bayonne, New Jersey

History

Museum

See also

References

External links