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Historic House

Boxwood Hall (Boudinot Mansion)

Elizabeth, NJFeatured Site

About This Place

Boxwood Hall is a Georgian-style mansion on East Jersey Street in Elizabeth that served as the home of Elias Boudinot, President of the Continental Congress, and later of Jonathan Dayton, the youngest signer of the U.S. Constitution. The house is a State Historic Site administered by the New Jersey Division of Parks and Forestry.

Revolutionary Significance

Boxwood Hall was built around 1750 and purchased by Elias Boudinot in 1772. During the Revolution, it served as Boudinot's base of operations for his work as Commissary General of Prisoners and his intelligence-gathering activities. George Washington stopped at Boxwood Hall on April 23, 1789, on his way to his first inauguration in New York City, where he was greeted by Boudinot and other Elizabethtown dignitaries. The house later became the residence of Jonathan Dayton, who had signed the Constitution in 1787 as the youngest delegate at the Philadelphia Convention.

The house was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1961 and is one of the few surviving eighteenth-century structures in Elizabeth. Its location on East Jersey Street places it on the historic main road of Elizabethtown, connecting the waterfront at Elizabethtown Point to the interior of the settlement.

Location

1073 East Jersey St, Elizabeth, NJ 07201

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Events at This Location

  1. 1664

  2. 1765

  3. 1774

  4. 1775

    Elizabethtown Militia Mobilization

    James Caldwell, William Livingston

  5. 1776

    Formation of the 3rd New Jersey Regiment

    James Caldwell, Hannah Caldwell

  6. 1776

    British Forces Enter Elizabethtown

    William Livingston, Cornelius Hetfield Jr.

  7. 1777

  8. 1777

    Loyalist Raids from Staten Island

    Cornelius Hetfield Jr.

  9. 1779

    Establishment of the New Jersey Journal

    Shepard Kollock, James Caldwell, Hannah Caldwell

  10. 1780

  11. 1780

    Burning of the First Presbyterian Church

    James Caldwell, Hannah Caldwell

  12. 1780

    Murder of Hannah Caldwell

    Hannah Caldwell, James Caldwell, Shepard Kollock

  13. 1780

    Battle of Connecticut Farms

    Hannah Caldwell, James Caldwell

  14. 1780

    Battle of Springfield

    James Caldwell, Hannah Caldwell

  15. 1781

    Killing of Reverend James Caldwell

    James Caldwell, Hannah Caldwell

  16. 1789