Meadows Foundation

Founded in 1976, the Meadows Foundation was created to become the steward of the Van Wickle House and to save it from being razed by developers. Built circa 1722, the house is an early Dutch homestead in Franklin Township in Middlesex County. In subsequent years, the Foundation acquired other historic Dutch houses, including the Hageman Farm (circa 1861-1876); the Wychkoff-Garretson farm (1730-1805); and the Van Liew-Suydam house (1875). Through creative stewardship arrangements and utilizing state and other financial support, the Foundation has helped preserve several important homes in Central New Jersey.

THE HISTORICAL COMMISSION WINS NATIONAL RECOGNITION! NJHC was named recipient of a 2007 Merit Award from the American Association for State and Local History, "for excellence in programming and outreach." The Commission's work, the AASLH noted, is distinguished by "its exemplary high standards of scholarship fostered within the public sphere. Through conferences, symposia, publications, a grants program, and programs for teachers, the commission has set the very highest standards for all who benefit from its work." Click here to view the award.

New Jersey History, founded as the Proceedings of the New Jersey Historical Society in 1845 and published under the direction of the Society until 2005, will be re-launched under the editorial direction of historians at the New Jersey Historical Commission, Kean University, and the Society. This peer-reviewed journal will be published twice annually. The editorial staff invites scholars, students, and writers to submit scholarly articles aimed at a non-specialized audience for its forthcoming issues. We welcome papers from all disciplines—for example, law, literature, political science, anthropology, archaeology, material culture, cultural studies, and social and political history—bearing on any aspects of New Jersey’s history. We are also interested in documents, photographs, and other primary source material that could be published with annotations. Click here for further details or email peter.mickulas@sos.state.nj.us

Looking for a quick look at New Jersey's rich history? Here's a version that will give you some of this state's most significant events. Click here: A Brief History of New Jersey, by Professor Paul  G. E. Clemens of Rutgers University.

August 1, 1665 - Philip Carteret arrived at Elizabethtown to become New Jersey's 1st governor

August 13, 1844 NJ Constitution of 1844 approved

August 23, 1748 - Charter established College of NJ (Princeton University)