Middlesex County, New Jersey
Perth Amboy
Perth Amboy looks like a small Raritan Bay city, but its streets contain an unusually concentrated American story: colonial government, a royal governor's residence, New Jersey's Bill of Rights ratification, Thomas Mundy Peterson's historic 1870 vote, centuries of ferry travel, architectural terra cotta, heavy industry and the bridge age. This guide follows how the port repeatedly changed its job without losing the layers underneath.
Stories in Perth Amboy
- Historic Ferry Slip: The Water Crossing Before the Bridge
- City Hall: A Small Building with an Oversized Political History
- Thomas Mundy Peterson: What the Fifteenth Amendment Looked Like in Practice
- St. Peter’s: A Colonial Congregation in a Changing Port
- Proprietary House: Benjamin Franklin’s Son Chooses the Crown
- Surveyor General’s Office: Before New Jersey Was Fully Public Land
- Kearny Cottage: A Family House Survives the Port City
- The Carnegie Library: Public Knowledge for an Immigrant Industrial City
- Terra Cotta: Perth Amboy Decorated American Cities
- The Industrial Waterfront: Prosperity Left a Cleanup Bill
- Outerbridge Crossing: The Bridge That Is Actually Named Outerbridge