Photo: C. Karnoutsos, 2005
Courtesy, The New Jersey Room, Jersey City Free Public Library
Detail of the portrait of Alexander Hamilton by John Trumbull
Source: Metropolitan Museum of Art Collections
Photo: C. Karnoutsos, 2005
Photo: C. Karnoutsos, 2005
Photo: C. Karnoutsos, 2005
Photo: C. Karnoutsos, 2005
Photo: C. Karnoutsos, 2005
Photo: C. Karnoutsos, 2005
Photo: C. Karnoutsos, 2005
Hamilton Park Historic District Map
Detail from the Douglas Map of Jersey City and Van Vorst Township (1841) showing the location of Hamilton Park.
Courtesy, Jersey City Free Public Library.
Postcard view of Hamilton Park circa 1910.
Courtesy, Jersey City Free Public Library.
Advertisement of lots surrounding Hamilton Park to be sold (1866).
Courtesy, Jersey City Free Public Library
Postcard view of St. Michael's Roman Catholic Church circa 1910.
Courtesy, Jersey City Free Public Library
Map of lots surrounding Hamilton Park to be sold (1866).
Courtesy, Jersey City Free Public Library
Postcard view of St. Francis Hospital circa 1910.
Courtesy, Jersey City Free Public Library
Postcard view of St. Francis Hospital circa 1910.
Courtesy, Jersey City Free Public Library
Postcard view of St. Francis Hospital circa 1910.
Courtesy, Jersey City Free Public Library
Detail from the Dripps Map (1850) showing the location of Hamilton Park.
Courtesy, Jersey City Free Public Library
Courtesy, The New Jersey Room, Jersey City Free Public Library
Courtesy, The New Jersey Room, Jersey City Free Public Library
Courtesy, The New Jersey Room, Jersey City Free Public Library
Courtesy, The New Jersey Room, Jersey City Free Public Library
Courtesy, The New Jersey Room, Jersey City Free Public Library
Hamilton Park is the centerpiece of the Hamilton Park Historic District in downtown Jersey City in the vicinity of the Hamilton Square Condominiums, the former Saint Francis Hospital complex (east), the Newport Mall (east), and the Holland Tunnel entrance (north). Tree-lined streets and Victorian brownstone homes border the 5.4-acre "residential square" and give the neighborhood its picturesque streetscape.
The park is named after Alexander Hamilton. He served as General George Washington's aide-de-camp during the Revolutionary War, President Washington's first secretary of the treasury, and the Federalist Party leader. On July 11, 1804, Hamilton lost his life in a duel with Aaron Burr, President Thomas Jefferson's first vice president, at Weehawken, NJ,
After the now-famous duel, John B. Coles, a New York Federalist, proposed naming a public park in Jersey City for Hamilton. A flour merchant, Coles was in the New York Senate (1799-1802) and one of 35 investors in the Associates of the Jersey Company. In 1804, he purchased the northern half of Harsimus Island for the park. Coles' original map and survey of his property reveal the grid plan design seen in today's streets and residential blocks.
Coles' Hamilton Park plans were delayed after his death. Several local changes seemed to impact the project. In 1840, Hudson County separated from Bergen County. In 1841, a large section of Harsimus separated from Bergen Township and was incorporated as Van Vorst Township. And neighboring Jersey City (the Paulus Hook area) became an independent municipality in 1843.
By 1848, the economic outlook for the area improved and drove up real estate values. The heirs of John Coles came forward and claimed the park property for their personal use. The Coles family heirs held that the Van Vorst Township had neither the deed to the property nor verification of acceptance of the park property from Coles.
Advised by legal counsel to show some possession of the property, township officials planted four trees and built a wooden fence around the site. When the Coles family heirs continued to press for control, the township's attorney brought the case to court and secured the public testimony of two elderly associates of John B. Coles (Grundy 35). They corroborated that in 1804 Coles wished for the development of a park for public use. Their testimony resolved the dispute, and the park was conveyed to the township. However, by the time of the decision, Van Vorst Township was no longer a separate political unit. It had joined the new municipality of Jersey City in March of 1851.
Saint Francis Hospital's complex on the park was founded in 1864 when the Society of the Sisters of St. Francis purchased a house on East Hamilton Square and, in 1870, began construction for a hospital building. In January 2005, the Bon Secours Health System sold the hospital property rehabilitated into condominiums.
Today, the park remains a memorial to Alexander Hamilton and a testament to Coles' contribution to Jersey City for passive and active recreation. It lies within the boundaries of the Hamilton Park Historic District formed by Sixth Street, Bay Street, Manila Avenue (formerly Grove Street), and Coles Street. It includes McNair Academic High School and Cordero Elementary School.
The Hamilton Park Neighborhood Association, founded in 1975, oversaw a $3.2 million renovation of the park in 2010 that included the gazebo, Victorian-style lighting, water fountains, and new park benches.
Hayes, Melissa. "Jersey City's Hamilton Park Reopens after $3.2 Million Renovation." Jersey Journal 7 June 2010.
"Laying of the Corner-Stone of a Roman Catholic Hospital in Jersey City." New York Times 5 September 1870.
McLean, Alexander. The History of Jersey City, N.J. Jersey City, NJ: F.T. Smiley and Co., 1895.
Grundy, J. Owen. The History of Jersey City, 1609-1976. Jersey City, NJ: Progress Printing Co., Inc. 1976.
