City Hall in

Perth Amboy Perth Amboy is a city in Middlesex County, New Jersey. Perth Amboy is part of the New York metropolitan area. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the city's population was 55,436. Perth Amboy has a Hispanic majority population. In the 2010 census, th ...

, Middlesex 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 ...

, United States, is a historic building built in the early 18th century, listed on

New Jersey Register of Historic Places The New Jersey Register of Historic Places is the official list of historic resources of local, state, and national interest in the U.S. state of New Jersey. The program is administered by the New Jersey's state historic preservation office with ...

and the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

. It is now the oldest public building in continuous use in the United States.

History

Construction of the building began in 1714 and was completed in 1717. It served as the local

courthouse A courthouse or court house is a building that is home to a local court of law and often the regional county government as well, although this is not the case in some larger cities. The term is common in North America. In most other English-spe ...

and jail, and was also used by the

Provincial Assembly Provincial may refer to: Government & Administration * Provincial capitals, an administrative sub-national capital of a country * Provincial city (disambiguation) * Provincial minister (disambiguation) * Provincial Secretary, a position in Can ...

until 1775. The building has twice been rebuilt after being badly damaged by fire; first in 1731, rebuilt until 1745, and again around 1765 following an arson attack believed to have been committed by a former inmate who was imprisoned on debt charges. It was rebuilt a second time in 1767. City Hall has undergone three renovations, most recently in 2006, although some of the original structure remains. The building is now Victorian in style. A two-room surveyor's office was built adjacent to City Hall in 1867, which was used by the General Board of Proprietors of the Eastern Division of New Jersey.

Notable events

On November 20, 1789, the State of New Jersey became the first to ratify the

United States Bill of Rights The United States Bill of Rights comprises the first ten amendments to the United States Constitution. Proposed following the often bitter 1787–88 debate over the ratification of the Constitution and written to address the objections ra ...

. On March 31, 1870 Thomas Mundy Peterson (1824–1904) became the first

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

vote Voting is a method by which a group, such as a meeting or an electorate, can engage for the purpose of making a collective decision or expressing an opinion usually following discussions, debates or election campaigns. Democracies elect holde ...

in an

election An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has operat ...

under the just-enacted provisions of the 15th Amendment to the

United States Constitution The Constitution of the United States is the supreme law of the United States of America. It superseded the Articles of Confederation, the nation's first constitution, in 1789. Originally comprising seven articles, it delineates the natio ...

.African-American Firsts Remembered – Newark Public Library
at www.npl.org

References

{{Reflist

External links

Landmark Hunter: Perth Amboy City Hall and Surveyor General's Office
* ttps://www.flickr.com/photos/bobindrums/sets/72157621244854118/detail/ Flickr: Perth Amboy African-American history of New Jersey Perth Amboy, New Jersey City and town halls on the National Register of Historic Places in New Jersey Colonial government in America Pre-statehood history of New Jersey Tourist attractions in Middlesex County, New Jersey City and town halls in New Jersey Government buildings completed in 1718 National Register of Historic Places in Middlesex County, New Jersey New Jersey Register of Historic Places 1718 establishments in New Jersey

History

Notable events

See also

References

External links