New Brunswick

New Brunswick is a city and the county seat of Middlesex County in the U.S. state of New Jersey. The city is located on the southern banks of the Raritan River, in the heart of the Raritan Valley Region. Centrally located between New York City and Philadelphia along an early thoroughfare known as the King's Highway and situated along the Raritan River, New Brunswick became an important hub for Colonial travelers and traders. Today, the city is known by two informal monikers: due to the concentration of medical facilities in the area, including Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital and medical school, and Saint Peter's University Hospital, New Brunswick is known as both the "Hub City" and the "Healthcare City." As of 2024, the official population of New Brunswick was estimated to be 57,487, having increased from 48,573 residents in 2000, 55,181 in 2010, and 55,266 in 2020. Anchored by the flagship campus of Rutgers University and the world headquarters of Johnson & Johnson, New Brunswick stands as one of Central New Jersey's most significant urban centers.

History

Colonial Origins

During the last half of the 17th century, the area that was to become metropolitan New Brunswick was no more than a Native American village in a dense cedar forest with some swampland along the Raritan River. The first recorded European inhabitant of the area was a man named Daniel Cooper, who resided near the present site of the Albany Street bridge approach. Cooper operated the ferry that was later purchased by John Inian. In 1681, John Inian purchased two lots from the Lenape containing one mile of riverfront and two miles deep, or 1,280 acres.

The first European settlement at the site of New Brunswick was made in 1681. The settlement was called Prigmore's Swamp (1681–1697), then known as Inian's Ferry (1691–1714). In 1724, the town was renamed New Brunswick in honor of King George I, the Duke of Brunswick. New Brunswick, NJ was formed by Royal Charter on December 30, 1730, within other townships in Middlesex County and Somerset County. New Brunswick was incorporated as a city by an Act of the New Jersey Legislature on September 1, 1784.

During the 1730s there was a large Dutch immigration from Albany, New York, settling on what would later be named "Albany Street." New Brunswick became an important crossroads between Philadelphia/Trenton and New York City. In 1792, after a rivalry with Perth Amboy for the construction of a county court house, New Brunswick offered to contribute 300 pounds sterling toward a new building, and thus, New Brunswick became the County seat.

The American Revolution

New Brunswick played a substantial role in the American Revolutionary War, serving as both a strategic military position and a center of colonial political activity. One of the nation's first public readings of the Declaration of Independence took place in New Brunswick on July 9, 1776. In the days following its announcement by the Continental Congress in nearby Philadelphia, the Declaration was brought to New Brunswick by an express rider on horseback, on his way to New York.

The Provincial Congress of New Jersey met in New Brunswick from January 31 to March 2, 1776, at the White Hall Tavern, which was located on Albany Street. During the dramatic retreat of 1776, the retreating Continental Army encamped at New Brunswick from November 29 through December 1, with Washington headquartered at Cochrane's Tavern. On December 1, Alexander Hamilton's artillery battery was positioned at the Raritan River, providing cover for Washington's troops to continue their retreat. Hamilton's battery engaged in an artillery duel with the British who were on the other side of the Raritan River, delaying the British advance and allowing Washington's troops to withdraw. After General Washington and his troops left New Brunswick on December 1, the city was occupied by the British until June 1777.

Washington proclaimed the government's first official celebration of Independence Day on July 4, 1778. The first observance of our nation's birthday took place on the east bank of the Raritan River in New Brunswick. Washington directed 8,000 army men to put green boughs in their hats and ordered a Fourth of July artillery salute.

Industrial Era and Growth

During the Industrial Revolution, the city was vital to America's industry and commerce, utilizing the Raritan River, the Delaware & Raritan Canal, and rail lines. The Camden and Amboy (later the Pennsylvania) Railroad reached New Brunswick in 1838. These transportation connections transformed the city into a manufacturing powerhouse.

The city's preeminence as a pharmaceutical town dates to 1886, when the Johnson brothers launched their innovative startup in an old factory mill in New Brunswick. Johnson & Johnson is now the world's largest healthcare products manufacturer and retains its world headquarters at City Center. New Brunswick has been described as the "most Hungarian city" in the United States, with Hungarian immigrants arriving in the city as early as 1888 and accounting for almost 20 percent of the city's population in 1915. Hungarians were primarily attracted to the city by employment at Johnson & Johnson factories located in the city.

Education

New Brunswick is home to one of the nation's most historically significant universities. The Trustees of Queen's College (now Rutgers University), founded in 1766, voted by a margin of ten to seven in 1771 to locate the young college in New Brunswick, selecting the city over Hackensack, in Bergen County, New Jersey. Classes began in 1771 with one instructor, one sophomore, Matthew Leydt, and several freshmen at a tavern called the 'Sign of the Red Lion' on the corner of Albany and Neilson Streets (now the grounds of the Johnson & Johnson corporate headquarters); Leydt would become the university's first graduate in 1774 when he was the only member of the graduating class.

Rutgers University, founded here in 1766, was the eighth college to be founded in the colonies and the only state university to have existed before the Revolutionary War. Rutgers University was founded there as Queen's College in 1766 and was made the state university in 1945.

New Brunswick Theological Seminary (founded 1784), the oldest theological school in the United States, has been in the city since 1810.

On November 6, 1869, New Brunswick was the scene of the first intercollegiate football game, between Rutgers and Princeton. Rutgers University and its New Jersey neighbor, Princeton, played the first game of intercollegiate football on November 6, 1869, on a plot of ground where the present-day College Avenue Gym in New Brunswick now stands.

In addition to the more than 50,000 students, faculty, and staff who learn and work at Rutgers-New Brunswick, the university's discoveries have fueled the innovation economy, its construction investments have created thousands of jobs, and its commitment to working in partnership with political leaders has built an economic foundation unlike any other in New Jersey.

Economy and Healthcare

City Hall has promoted the nickname "The Health Care City" to reflect the importance of the healthcare industry to its economy. The city is home to the world headquarters of Johnson & Johnson, along with several medical teaching and research institutions.

The corporate headquarters and production facilities of several global pharmaceutical companies are situated in the city, including Johnson & Johnson and Bristol Myers Squibb. The city has five nationally-recognized hospitals, global biotechnology and pharmaceutical corporations, internationally-recognized medical research facilities, and is part of the country's largest medical school. Rutgers University brings more federal research dollars to the state than all other New Jersey colleges and universities combined. Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey, the only National Cancer Institute in the state, is one of many examples of New Brunswick's prominence in healthcare.

Portions of the city are part of an Urban Enterprise Zone (UEZ), one of 32 zones covering 37 municipalities statewide. New Brunswick was selected in 2004 as one of two zones added to participate in the program.

Today, New Brunswick, NJ is a vibrant city of over 50,000 residents, a number that triples during the business day with college students, corporate and business employees, hospital and health care workers, and visitors.

Arts, Culture, and Diversity

New Brunswick was an important center for avant-garde art in the 1950s–1970s, with several artists such as Allan Kaprow, George Segal, George Brecht, Robert Whitman, Robert Watts, Lucas Samaras, Geoffrey Hendricks, Wolf Vostell, and Roy Lichtenstein; some of whom taught at Rutgers University.

The New Brunswick Performing Arts Center opened in 2019. The city is also home to three professional theaters: Crossroads Theatre, George Street Playhouse, and the State Theatre. The New Brunswick Performing Arts Center is a world-class facility that hosts four companies in a state-of-the-art 24-story building that features two theaters, three rehearsal stages, and 207 apartments in the heart of the city.

New Brunswick is the site of the Zimmerli Art Museum at Rutgers University (founded in 1966), Albus Cavus, and the Rutgers University Geology Museum (founded in 1872).

New Brunswick is noted for its deep ethnic heritage. New Brunswick is noted for its ethnic diversity. At one time, one-quarter of the Hungarian population of New Jersey resided in the city, and in the 1930s one out of three city residents was Hungarian. There is a street and a park named after Lajos Kossuth, one of the leaders of the Hungarian Revolution of 1848. The corner of Somerset Street and Plum Street, where the first public statue of Cardinal József Mindszenty was erected, is named Mindszenty Square. A stone memorial to the victims of the 1956 Hungarian Revolution stands nearby.

New Brunswick became a notorious city for slave hunters, who sought to enforce the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850. Strategically located on the Raritan River, the city was also a vital hub for New Jersey's Underground Railroad. For runaway slaves in New Jersey, it served as a favorable route for those heading to New York and Canada.

New Brunswick has a lively music scene, especially for punk rock and indie rock. Many bands that became famous, like The Smithereens and Bon Jovi, started here.

Transportation

The New Brunswick station is a major stop for NJ Transit on the Northeast Corridor rail line, 33 miles (53 km) southwest of New York Penn Station in Midtown Manhattan. The New Brunswick Train Station is located on the Northeast Corridor Line, the busiest train line in the country, with multiple daily departures to New York City and Newark International Airport.

Its location places it within easy reach of major highways such as Route 18, the New Jersey Turnpike (I-95), and U.S. Route 1. Local bus service is provided by NJ Transit, and there is also a large Rutgers Campus bus network.