New Jersey State House
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The New Jersey State House is located in Trenton and is the seat of government for the U.S. state of New Jersey. After the Maryland State Capitol in Annapolis, it is the second oldest state house in continuous legislative use in the United States. The building is currently home to the New Jersey Senate, New Jersey General Assembly, as well as offices for the Governor of New Jersey and several state government departments.
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[edit] History
After the New Jersey Legislature was moved to Trenton from Perth Amboy in 1790, a new state house was constructed in 1792 by Philadelphia-based architect Jonathan Doane. Subsequent additions were made to the building throughout the 19th century. Architects who helped to contribute to the New Jersey State House in the 19th century include John Notman (1845 created office wing on North side) who was a Philadelphia architect and Samuel Sloan (1871 designed new wings) who was also a Philadelphia architect. On March 21, 1885, a large fire caused the destruction of the State Street wing. Lewis Broome, from Jersey City helped to redesign the building.
Merchantville architect Arnold Moses reconstructed the Senate wing to fit the American Renaissance style.
The state house reached its present size in 1911, and received no major changes besides the modernization of the main corridor in 1950. A plan was called for to destroy the building in 1960, but was never executed.
[edit] Renovation
Starting in 1987, a renovation project occurred with the New Jersey State House. The renovation project helped to restore the legislative section of the building. It also worked on the issues of several deficiencies of the State House.
[edit] Design
The New Jersey state house is unusual among state capitol buildings in the United States, the majority of which are modelled in one way or another after the United States Capitol Building. The original building is shaped like a sideways H, with a small dome over the cross-bar of the H. To the rear of the building, a number of architecturally dissimilar, unusually-shaped additions have been added, which were later subject to attempts at renovation in order to match the style of the original wing. Furthermore, the state house is set not on a park-like campus, as are many state houses, but crowded between numerous other legislative buildings, which surround it closely on several sides. The only "scenic" view the building affords is from its rear, near the river, which is dominated by the quilt of additions; viewed from the front, the dome is scarcely visible and there is little sense of the scale or design of the building.
[edit] External links
- NJ Legislature - Welcome to the State House
- State House Virtual Tour
- Maps and aerial photos
- Street map from Google Maps or Yahoo! Maps
- Topographic map from TopoZone
- Aerial image or topographic map from TerraServer-USA
- Satellite image from Google Maps or Microsoft Virtual Earth
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State of New Jersey Trenton (capital) |
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| Regions |
Central Jersey | Delaware Valley | Jersey Shore | Meadowlands | North Jersey | Pine Barrens | Shore Region | Skylands Region | South Jersey | New York metro area | Tri‑State Region |
| Cities |
Atlantic City | Bayonne | Camden | Cherry Hill | Clifton | East Orange | Edison | Elizabeth | Hackensack | Hoboken | Jersey City | Linden | Long Branch | New Brunswick | Newark | Passaic | Paterson | Perth Amboy | Plainfield | Princeton | Toms River | Trenton | Union City | Vineland |
| Counties |
Atlantic | Bergen | Burlington | Camden | Cape May | Cumberland | Essex | Gloucester | Hudson | Hunterdon | Mercer | Middlesex | Monmouth | Morris | Ocean | Passaic | Salem | Somerset | Sussex | Union | Warren |
