Alexander Johnston Hall is a historic building located on the corner of Somerset Street and College Avenue,

New Brunswick New Brunswick is a Provinces and Territories of Canada, province of Canada, bordering Quebec to the north, Nova Scotia to the east, the Gulf of Saint Lawrence to the northeast, the Bay of Fundy to the southeast, and the U.S. state of Maine to ...

in Middlesex County,

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 ...

and is the second oldest building on the campus of

Rutgers University Rutgers University ( ), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a Public university, public land-grant research university consisting of three campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's C ...

. It was built in 1830 to handle the expansion of the

Rutgers Preparatory School Rutgers Preparatory School (also known as Rutgers Prep or RPS) is a private, coeducational, college preparatory day school established in 1766. The school educates students in pre-kindergarten through twelfth grade, located on a campus along t ...

and the two literary societies, Philoclean and Peithessophian. The building, described using its historic name, Rutgers Preparatory School, 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 July 18, 1975 for its significance in architecture and education. With

History

Designed by local architect and builder Nicholas Wyckoff in 1830, Alexander Johnston Hall served as the home of the Rutgers College Grammar School, later known as the

. In 1870, the Rutgers College trustees hired architect

Henry Janeway Hardenbergh Henry Janeway Hardenbergh (February 6, 1847 – March 13, 1918) was an American architect, best known for his hotels and apartment buildings, and as a "master of a new building form — the skyscraper." He worked three times with Edward Clark, ...

(1847–1918) to design a two-story addition for the building. It was the first of three commissions Hardenbergh designed for the college—the other two being Geology Hall (1872) and

Kirkpatrick Chapel The Sophia Astley Kirkpatrick Memorial Chapel, known as Kirkpatrick Chapel, is the chapel to Rutgers University, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey and located on the university's main campus in New Brunswick, New Jersey in the United ...

. The Rutgers Preparatory School used this building from 1830 to 1963. The school, which was chartered with Rutgers as "Queen's College" in 1766, is now an independent school located on a 45-acre campus on Easton Avenue in

Somerset, New Jersey Somerset is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) located within Franklin Township, in Somerset County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey.

. In 1964, the university renamed the building to honor 1870 graduate, Alexander Johnston, a historian and classics instructor at the school. Johnston had taught future Rutgers president William H. S. Demarest here.

References

External links

Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey
(official website)
Rutgers Preparatory School
(official website) {{DEFAULTSORT:Alexander Johnston Hall Rutgers University buildings Henry Janeway Hardenbergh buildings National Register of Historic Places in Middlesex County, New Jersey School buildings completed in 1830 Buildings and structures in New Brunswick, New Jersey Italianate architecture in New Jersey Second Empire architecture in New Jersey 1830 establishments in New Jersey New Jersey Register of Historic Places University and college buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in New Jersey

History

See also

References

External links