Featured Archives - The Historical Society of Elizabeth

The Living Memorial Project

by Aaron Socci | Sep 8, 2021

Living memorials honor the lives of departed loved ones by emphasizing life via plants and...

The Elizabeth Legend of George Washington

by thsenj | Sep 5, 2021

For many years historical enthusiasts have sustained a legend about George Washington’s visit to the Belcher-Ogden Mansion, a wonderful Georgian residence in Elizabeth NJ. The building’s owners remodeled the structure in the 1750s to house the royal governor, Jonathan...

Elizabeth Mayors 1739-1854

by thsenj | Sep 3, 2021

In 1739/40 New Jersey, governed by the governor of NY since 1702, received a separate charter as an autonomous colony. Its new Governor, Lewis Morris, then appointed Elizabeth’s first mayor. Joseph Bonnell (1739 –1748) “first mayor of the Borough” Hatfield p372...