Four Corners (Newark)

Four Corners Historic District
Looking south at Market and Broad with gold-domed Newark City Hall in distance
Four Corners (Newark) is located in Essex County, New Jersey
Four Corners (Newark)
Four Corners (Newark) is located in New Jersey
Four Corners (Newark)
Four Corners (Newark) is located in the United States
Four Corners (Newark)
LocationRoughly bounded by Raymond Boulevard, Mulberry, Hill, and Washington Streets.
Coordinates40°44′08″N 74°10′20″W / 40.735560°N 74.172172°W / 40.735560; -74.172172
Area85 acres (34 ha)
Architectural styleRenaissance, Italianate, 19th and 20th-century eclectic
NRHP reference No.00001061[1]
NJRHP No.126[2]
Significant dates
Added to NRHPSeptember 8, 2000
Designated NJRHPNovember 18, 1999
The city's tallest buildings north of Market Street

The Four Corners Historic District is the intersection of Broad and Market Streets in Newark, New Jersey. It is the site of the city's earliest settlement and the heart of Downtown Newark that at one time was considered the busiest intersection in the United States.[3] The area that radiates twenty-two square blocks from the crossroads is a state and federal historic district.[4]

The crossing became the center of the town soon after establishment in 1666;[5] the home of founder Robert Treat was located at the southwest corner.[6] During the next centuries it remained the focal point of the city which grew around it. By 1834, the United New Jersey Railroad and Canal Company had established a terminal to the south and in 1869, the Newark and New York Railroad had one to the north. During the period of massive expansion at the start of the 20th century, the district became the city's modern business district, and site of its first skyscraper built by the Firemen's Insurance Company at the southeast corner in 1910.[7][8] The Newark Public Service Terminal on Broad Street opened in 1916. Though faded in its former glory, the Four Corners district remains Newark's traditional center for commerce and business and since the late 2000s, the focus of much interest in revitalizing retail, residential, and restaurant activity downtown.[9][10][11]

  1. ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. March 13, 2009.
  2. ^ "New Jersey and National Registers of Historic Places - Essex" (PDF). New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection - Historic Preservation Office. April 1, 2010. p. 10. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 27, 2009. Retrieved August 8, 2010.
  3. ^ De Poto, Tom (December 19, 2012). "Newark developers to present plan to make historic Four Corners residential". The Star-Ledger. Retrieved July 5, 2013.
  4. ^ "GET NJ - New Jersey - A Guide To Its Present And Past - Newark - Part 1". www.GetNJ.com. Retrieved October 26, 2017.
  5. ^ http://lasur.epfl.ch/revue/A&C%20Vol%204%20No.2/GUBLER.pdf[permanent dead link]
  6. ^ GmbH, Emporis. "Kinney Building, Newark - 121289 - EMPORIS". www.Emporis.com. Archived from the original on April 9, 2013. Retrieved October 26, 2017.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  7. ^ GmbH, Emporis. "Firemen's Insurance Building, Newark - 121311 - EMPORIS". www.Emporis.com. Archived from the original on July 30, 2012. Retrieved October 26, 2017.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  8. ^ "TALLEST BUILDING IN NEW JERSEY; Firemen's Insurance Co.'s New Home in Newark Will Be 205 Feet High" (PDF). New York Times. February 6, 1910. Retrieved July 29, 2010.
  9. ^ "First Major Residential Conversion in 15 Years Rental for Downtown Newark". New York Times. March 3, 2001. Retrieved August 1, 2010.
  10. ^ "Newark blueprint has lofty ambitions". NJ.com. June 2008. Retrieved August 1, 2010.
  11. ^ Read, Philip (September 5, 2010). "Real estate broker revitalizes Newark's downtown landscape | NJ.com". The Star-Ledger. Newark. Retrieved October 26, 2017.