Events
May - the seminal month of the year for historic preservation.
A profound period when the municipality's architectural monuments are opened wide to the populace, when antiquitous archives almost always off-limits are brought forward - and when threatened landmarks largely overlooked and endangered are instead highlighted, acclaimed and defended.
Over three decades ago, the National Trust for Historic Preservation, a Washington, D.C.-based historic preservation organization that advocates for landmarks across the country, initiated National Preservation Week. The event, consisting of tours, lectures, workshops and festivals, evolved over the years into a month-long celebration - a reflection of preservation’s popularity and adoption as a practice and philosophy.
Now in its twelfth year of celebrating National Preservation Month, the Jersey City Landmarks Conservancy - formed as a non-profit in 1999 by activists to answer threats facing Jersey City’s historic sites, objects and districts - will be partnering with local historians, scholars, educators, neighborhood groups and community organizers to create an extended cultural experience. Our exciting schedule of tours and events is posted on this page.
JC Landmarks will culminate Preservation Month in Jersey City by hosting its annual JCLC Preservation Awards Ceremony at the Landmark Loew's Jersey Theatre in Journal Square. The ceremony, which is made affordable to the public and features buffet, wine, live music and a tour of the historic movie palace, highlights those builders, homeowners, institutions, community advocates, scholars and others who have helped build the community of preservation in Jersey City.
Tickets for the Thursday, May 26 event will be available at the Loew's Lobby door on the night of the ceremony or via email ordering from JCLC Vice President Mike Selender.
We anticipate a time when architecture - be it patinated or newly minted - will escape the edges of the calendar: for every month should be a month for historic preservation; every day, and every moment, must add up and count toward saving our built and intangible heritage.
- John Gomez, M.S. Historic Preservation, Columbia University | Founder, JC Landmarks | Twitter @PreservationTV
Read The Jersey City Independent Article About Preservation Month 2011 >
Read the Online Preservation Month 2011 Article By John Gomez >
View The Jersey Journal Preservation Month 2011 Photo Gallery >
EARLY KICK-OFF EVENT: HISTORIC JERSEY CITY & HARSIMUS CEMETERY CLEAN-UP
Date: Saturday, April 30, 2011
Time: 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. - Student and Community Spring 2011 Clean-Up (light rain or shine); 3:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. - Music Concert (rain date is May 7)
Cost: Clean-Up is FREE; $5 suggested donation for the Music Concert
Meeting Place: Meet at the Harsimus Cemetery Gates at 435 Newark Avenue (between Waldo Avenue and Seventh Street, across from Dickinson High School), Jersey City, NJ
More Information: Contact Eileen Markenstein at markensteine@optonline.net or visit the Harsimus Cemetery website at www.jerseycitycemetery.org
Join JC Landmarks, the Jersey City & Harsimus Cemetery Board of Trustees, the Village Neighborhood Association, the Village Helpers and over 100 local middle and high school students for this kick-off event to Preservation Month 2011 in Jersey City!
Students and adult supervisors will rake, sweep, clean and spruce up the cemetery grounds; plant flowers, bulbs and shrubs; and draw, paint and photograph historic features for display in the cemetery museum. SAVE (Sustaining Architectural Vitality in the Environment) and the Animal Activist Club of Frank R. Conwell Middle School No. 4 will have an informational table set up, as will the young members of the Village Helpers with help from the Village Neighborhood Association.
Bottled water, fruit, healthy snacks and a meat-based food truck will be provided to all student participants. Volunteers should wear long pants and shirts; sandals are discouraged. Bring gardening tools if possible. This event is worth 5 community service hours for school purposes.
April 30, 2011 Cemetery Clean-Up Featured in Online Article >
April 30, 2011 Cemetery Clean-Up iPhone Photo Gallery >
Slide Show of the Fall 2010 Jersey City & Harsimus Cemetery Clean-Up >
BERGEN SQUARE WALKING TOUR WITH CITY HISTORIAN DENNIS DORAN
Date: Saturday, May 14, 2011 (rain or shine!)
Time: 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m.
Cost: $5 ($3 for seniors and students with school identification)
Meeting Place: Meet in front of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. (P.S. No. 11) at the northeast intersection of Bergen Avenue and Academy Street, Bergen Square, Jersey City, NJ (two blocks south of Sip Avenue/PATH)
More Information: Contact Dennis Doran at dgdoran91@comcast.net
Join city historian (and JC LandmarksTreasurer!) Dennis Doran for this once-a-year public exploration of Bergen Square, the site of New Jersey's first permanent European settlement. Dennis will take tourists through nearly four centuries of time - across a street grid dating back to 1660 and past visible (and invisible) remnants of Jersey City's extraordinary Dutch heritage, including the former site of the Sip Manor, the now-vanished Peter Stuyvesant Monument, the still-standing Van Wagenen Homestead, the neglected Speer Cemetery, and Old Bergen Church and Cemetery, among other seminal Bergen Square landmarks.
Go To the Dennis Doran Walking Tours Page >
RESEARCHING HOME HISTORIES WITH CYNTHIA HARRIS
Date: Tuesday, May 17, 2011
Time: 6:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.
Cost: FREE - REGISTRATION IS REQUIRED
Meeting Place: Meet in The New Jersey Room, 3rd Floor, Main Branch, Jersey City Free Public Library, intersection of Jersey Avenue and Montgomery Street, Van Vorst Park Historic District, Jersey City, NJ
More Information and Registration: Contact historian, writer and New Jersey Room Manager Cynthia Harris at (201) 547-6961 or charris@jclibrary.org. Seats fill up fast!
Have you ever wanted to research the history of your home? When was it built? Who used to live there? Or have you ever wanted to learn more about other landmark properties in your neighborhood? This workshop will give you the tools to do so by teaching you the basics of research in The New Jersey Room of the Jersey City Free Public Library, a treasure trove of Jersey City history. This is a FREE event; however, registration is required as space is limited. Co-sponsored by the Jersey City Free Public Library and JC Landmarks.
Go To the Researching Home Histories Page >
Cynthia Harris in The New Jersey Room, April 26, 2011 >
WASHINGTON VILLAGE WALKING TOUR WITH CITY HISTORIAN DENNIS DORAN
Date: Saturday, May 21, 2011 (rain or shine!)
Time: 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m.
Cost: $5 ($3 for seniors and students with school identification)
Meeting Place: Meet at the Riverview-Fiske Park Bandstand, Ogden Avenue between Griffith and Bowers Streets, Jersey City Heights, Jersey City, NJ (the park fronts on Palisade Avenue; Ogden Avenue runs through the rear center)
More Information: Contact Dennis Doran at dgdoran91@comcast.net
Join city historian (and JC LandmarksTreasurer!) Dennis Doran for a walk through the mid-19th century Washington Village along the eastern edge of the Jersey City Heights section (formerly Hudson City) of Jersey City. Dennis will trace architectural remnants of the old German, Jewish and Irish village, as well as the area's colonial history. Tourists will visit an ancient cobblestone road, Holland Street; walk past the circa-1740 Van Vorst House; visit the former site of the Pathe-Freres silent film studios; and learn about one of this year's JCLC Excellence in Preservation Award winners!
Go To the Dennis Doran Walking Tours Page >
ITALIAN VILLAGE HERITAGE WALKING TOUR WITH PRESERVATIONIST JOSHUA PARKHURST
Date: Sunday, May 22, 2011 (rain or shine!)
Time: 12:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m.
Cost: $5 ($3 for seniors and students with school identification)
Meeting Place: Meet in front of Madame Claude Cafe, 364 1/2 4th Street, Jersey City, NJ (at the intersection of Newark Avenue and Brunswick and 4th Streets)
More Information: Contact Joshua Parkhurst at joshuaparkhurst@gmail.com
Preservationist Joshua Parkhurst will take tourists through Downtown Jersey City’s Italian Village district, a late-19th century Italian-American neighborhood that has held on to its cultural roots despite the passage of 140 years. Meet both long-time and newly established merchants who are helping to drive The Village's resurgence. Sponsored by JC Landmarks, Village Neighborhood Association, and the Lamp Post Bar & Grill.
Go To the Italian Village Heritage Walking Tour Page >
LAFAYETTE HISTORY FESTIVAL & TOUR
Date: Saturday, May 28, 2011
Time: 12:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Cost: Free
Meeting Place: The Rev. Dr. Ercel F. Webb Park (Lafayette and Van Horne Streets), Lafayette, Jersey City, NJ
More Information: Contact Communipaw Avenue Block Association President Rosalyn Browne at commblock@msn.com
Join the Communipaw Avenue Block Association, the City of Jersey City, JC Landmarks and special guide Neal Brunson of the Afro-American Historical Society Museum for a day-long celebration of Lafayette’s singular cultural and architectural heritage.
Visit and see iconic Lafayette landmarks like the former Lafayette Dutch Reformed Church and the famous "House of the Four Chimneys" mural inside the Art Deco-designed Provident Bank. Explore the distinct vernacular architectural landscape of Lafayette, a largely intact mid-19th century industrial neighborhood where the names of African-American legends like Dr. George E. Cannon and Dr. Lena Edwards come to life.
The day will feature opening ceremonies, Lafayette Legends tables with students, updates on the Glenn D. Cunningham History Trail Project, theater and dance performances, guided and self-guided walking and bus tours, and closing ceremonies.
Go To the Lafayette History Festival & Tour Page >
ADDED PRESERVATION MONTH 2011 EVENT !
The Beacon Restoration Tour with Preservationist Ulana Zakalak
Date: Saturday, May 7, 2011
Time: 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.
Cost: $10.00 ($7.00 for seniors and students with identification)
Meeting Place: Meet at the new lobby of The Beacon. Turn into the main entrance at Beacon Way via Montgomery Street. Valet parking is $5.00. Metered parking is available on Montgomery Street. Rain or shine!
Contact: John Hallanan at jclandmarks@gmail.com
More info: The Beacon Restoration Tour Page >
In celebration of National Preservation Month, Metrovest Equities and the Jersey City Landmarks Conservancy invite the public to tour the magnificent restoration of the former Jersey City Medical Center.
Led by The Beacon's own restoration consultant, Ulana Zakalak, president of Zakalak Restoration Arts, highlights will include the magnificent new lobby, the restored Broadway corridor, the Rialto Theater, and the former lobby - now the billiards room - complete with the newly conserved Allen George Newman bas-relief, "From Myth to Medicine."
Come see Mayor Frank Hague's office, now converted into the Hague Poker Room, as well as restored lobbies and the Roosevelt reading room. Visit the unparalleled amenities floor which includes Club Aqua and the Grotto Lounge.
NOTE: THE TOUR WILL ALSO INCLUDE ENTRY INTO THE MERCURY BUILDING
More About Preservation Month at the National Trust for Historic Preservation >