The Military Park Commons Historic District is a primarily commercial area, located in the central business district of the City of Newark, immediately north of the Four Corners Historic District, and surrounding Military Park. General geographic boundaries of the approximately ten block district include Washington Place on the north, McCarter Highway on the east, Raymond Boulevard on the south, and Halsey Street on the west. The district surrounds the largest of the three “commons” areas set aside by the founders of Newark in 1666. This six-acre park was historically known as the “middle commons,” the “Training Ground” in the eighteenth century, and since 1800, as Military Park. Although now dominated by small retail establishments, the Military Park area was a prestigious residential area in the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, with mansions lining the streets. Beginning in the mid-nineteenth century, the neighborhood became the most prestigious shopping area of the central business district, and contained the largest concentration of department stores in the City of Newark, including the earliest and most elite of these stores, the Hahne and Company Department Store, as well as Plaut’s, Kresge’s and Goerke’s (later S. Klein’s), forming Newark’s version of the “Ladies’ Mile.”¹ The district is also characterized by smaller-scale, brick and brownstone, Italianate-influenced commercial and former residential buildings, white glazed terra cotta clad, classically- inspired emporiums, piano showrooms, and downtown Newark’s only major historic hotel, the Robert Treat, built for the 250th Anniversary of the founding of the City of Newark. The district has two churches: Trinity and St. Philip’s Cathedral (Episcopal) and First Baptist Peddie Memorial Baptist, both already listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The remnants of the once-massive Passaic River waterfront complex of the Peter B. & Sons Ale Brewery delineate the eastern edge of the district along McCarter Highway. The six-acre Military Park is an oasis of green as well as a repository for public sculpture and military memorabilia, containing Gutzon Borglum’s largest Newark sculpture, the monumental “Wars of America” as well as Jacob Lipschitz’s bust of John F. Kennedy, various cannons from Commodore Perry’s 1852 flagship to the Orient, and a cannon captured in Cuba during the Spanish American War.

There are a total of 69 primary buildings in the historic district, two sites (Military Park and Monsignor Doane Park), and nine objects (eight are located within Military Park and one in Doane Park). There are two secondary buildings, a residential garage on Rector Street (contributing) and the underground commercial parking garage below Military Park (non-contributing). Of the primary buildings, 13 are Key, 43 are contributing and 13 are Non-contributing. Of the 13 Key buildings, seven are already listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Of the eight objects, one object, the “Wars of America,” is also listed on the National Register of Historic Places, three are Key, and four are contributing. The non-contributing buildings fall into two categories: newer infill structures, and older, altered buildings with the potential for rehabilitation. Some of these older buildings are hiding behind applied signage such as large awnings and billboards, porcelain enamel panels from the 1940s, pebble aggregate panels from the 1960s, and in some cases, completely false fronts.

The area of the Military Park Commons Historic District is laid out on a bluff lying above the Passaic River, and is relatively flat topographically, dropping sharply towards the Passaic River, especially in the area of Rector Street. At Washington Street, the land begins to rise to the west as it begins its approach to the Watchung Mountains.

Military Park Commons Historic District is dominated by the widest street in Newark, Broad Street, with 132′ at its greatest width. Individual blocks are relatively large in size and are lined with commercial buildings. Side streets are narrower, and are characterized by former residential buildings, the dominant form of building around 1900.

The architectural character of the Military Park Commons Historic District has been subject to stylistic and formal changes typical of the evolution of a residential neighborhood into a commercial area. The streets around Military Park were originally lined with smaller-scale, wood frame and masonry residential buildings. Although early nineteenth century, wood-framed, commercial buildings are known to have existed, none remain. Attached, masonry commercial buildings erected between 1870 and 1940 dominate the historic district. Most of those built in the late nineteenth century, with a few notable exceptions, were no more than three- to five-stories high and three- to four-bays wide, an un-intimidating scale that encouraged pedestrian activity. The best example of this type of building is the Civil War-era row of connected, brick commercial buildings between 565 and 569 Broad Street. More prosperous nineteenth-century merchants sometimes occupied more than one small store, connecting and unifying a series of storefronts with an awning over the store windows. Except for the 1808 Symington/Continental House, the oldest building in the district, and the 1950s-era YM-YWCA, all of the buildings had uniform setbacks from the sidewalks. Buildings of various styles, probably adapted from more advanced models known to architects through books and journals, existed comfortably side-by-side.

Prior to the introduction of skeletal steel construction in the late nineteenth century, buildings of increased scale were limited. When the need for larger commercial space became apparent, and fireproof construction methods became better known, commercial buildings became larger-scale, eventually reaching towering heights of twenty-one stories as seen in the Military Park Building, at 60 Park Place, the tallest building in the district. Architectural decorative elements became more condensed as heights increased as well. Bodies of buildings became simpler, and ornament became concentrated at the base and attic of the structures, where pedestrians, and motorists, could see them, such as in the Firemen’s Insurance Company at 8-12 Park Place , and the Robert Treat Hotel at 50 Park Place. In smaller scale buildings, skeletal steel construction allowed larger window display areas and the use of new, applied materials for exterior surfaces, such as glazed terra cotta panels. An excellent example of this method of construction can be seen in the Lauter Piano Company building at 591 Broad Street, and in its smaller scale neighbor at 589 Broad Street.

The most significant grouping of residential buildings in the district, dating from the mid-to-late nineteenth century, can be found on Rector and Fulton Streets. The south side of Fulton Street comprises the most complete streetscape of attached houses in this part of Newark. Together with the relict residential neighborhood on Rector Street, Fulton Street represents the last of the late nineteenth century residential neighborhoods clustered around Military Park. Additional single residential buildings are scattered throughout the Military Park area, such as on Halsey Street and on Central Avenue. Typically these are three-story, three-bay, attached, masonry buildings of either brick or brownstone, with brownstone detailing and Italianate or classicizing cornices. Many of these buildings are used for offices; some have been converted to retail uses. The 1808 Symington/Continental House at Park Place is the only remaining example of an early nineteenth century freestanding mansion which once dominated the park frontage.

Larger-scale, two-part, classically-ordered commercial blocks, sometimes of brick, but mostly clad with glazed white terra cotta, began appearing at the turn of the century. These housed diversified retail establishments on the ground floor, and large- windowed offices or halls on the second floor. The best examples of mistype of building are found on Halsey Street (at Cedar Street) and at 571 Broad Street (although this building has been recently altered with refacing materials).

The ground floor storefront of the nineteenth century eventually gave way to the early twentieth century specialized department store. Newark’s most famous and exclusive department store at the turn of the twentieth century was the Hahne’s Department Store at 609 Broad Street, which opened in 1901. This four-story, 13-bay building dominated the corner of Broad and New Streets as well as the western side of Military Park, influencing the development of Newark’s “Ladies’ Mile,” a shopping area, which became known for its carriage trade. Its most major competitor, L. Bamberger and Company, opened its new building at 131 Market Street in 1912, in the Four Corners area, although Bamberger’s store had more of a mass appeal. Other department stores in the Military Park area included L.S. Plaut’s, which was taken over by Kresge’s in 1923 (see photo 10), Snyder’s (later McCrory’s), and S.Klein’s, all on the west side of Broad Street.

Constructed in a variety of forms and styles, the piano showroom is a specialized commercial building-type found in Newark. Of the many piano enterprises found along Broad Street, the Griffith Piano Company at 605-607 Broad Street was the best known. Its headquarters, a small-scale skyscraper with eclectic ornamentation containing not only elaborate display areas but also recital halls and office space for the Griffith Music Foundation, was the largest of this building-type in the central business district. The Lauter Piano Company occupied the elaborate glazed terra cotta-clad and column-supported showroom at 591 Broad Street.

Elaborate historical revival influences became popular in the United States in the early twentieth century, and Newark architects followed the trend. The Little Theater at 562 Broad Street is the only example of an eclectic, historical revival building in the district; most of these architectural wonders are located in the Four Corners Historic District. The Little Theater is a Moorish Revival building complete with an Islamic minaret with keyhole openings, an ogeearched dome, and a prayer balcony. The interior was designed to resemble an Arabian tent. Unfortunately, the theater is used exclusively for the showing of pornography and the elaborate interior no longer exists.

Like the Four Corners Historic District to the south, office buildings in the Military Park Commons Historic District fall into two categories: large and medium-scale, generally detached, skyscrapers. Other than the one large-scale, 21-story Military Park Building on Park Place, all of the tall buildings in the district are medium scale such as the 14-story Griffith Building, the 14-story Robert Treat Hotel, the 10-story Firemen’s Insurance Company, the 10-story Wiss Building, and the nine-story Kresge’s Department Store. The use of classicizing proportions and ornament, as well as rich materials such as limestone, glazed terra cotta and copper, is typical of these early twentieth century medium-scale skyscrapers.

The two churches located in the Military Park Commons Historic District are both listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Trinity and St. Philip’s Cathedral (Episcopal) is the oldest church in the District, rebuilt after a fire in 1809, and considerably altered by Richard Upjohn in 1862. It is the second oldest church in Newark and is located within Military Park. Local architect William Halsey Wood designed First Baptist Peddie Memorial Church, at 572-584 Broad Street, in 1888 in the Richardsonian Romanesque style. This pink granite building is dominated by its 80′ high dome and unusual towers (see photo 39).

The last type of building present in the Military Park area is industrial. A small concentrated area of industrial buildings remains at the end of Fulton Street on McCarter Highway. These buildings are remnants of the once-dominant Peter B. & Sons Ale Brewery, which occupied both sides of McCarter Highway, and include the original malt house and bottling plant, now Newark Science High School and the Fraternal Order of Police, respectively. Patterned brickwork, classicizing and Romanesque Revival cornices and stone detailing unify the buildings, creating a sense of place.

The ephemeral nature of retailing, as well as the massive social changes which have characterized the evolution of downtown Newark, have left the Military Park area with moderate integrity. The city has literally been rebuilt several times. The largest buildings have fared the best with only minor changes to their ground floors. In some cases, only store windows and entrances have been altered. Smaller commercial buildings have suffered the most alterations. Most of them have had their ground floors altered by the removal of original windows and doors and their replacement with large modern display windows and steel doors. As early as the 1930s, many of these stores had their second or top floors covered with large panels or billboards to carry advertising. The current trend is to cover the second floors with large, flat awnings proclaiming the names and products of the stores on the ground floor. Upper stories continue to be used for storage or are vacant. Many of the second-floor changes are reversible.

The other major change to downtown Newark is the loss of public transportation and the greater emphasis on the automobile. This has resulted in a need for parking, a rather lucrative business in a densely developed downtown such as Newark’s. Unfortunately this has meant the development of large, surface parking areas, especially at the eastern end of the district nearest McCarter Highway and along New Street on the western side. The creation of the New Jersey Performing Arts Center has also removed a considerable number of historic buildings which once bordered on Military Park.

Boundaries of the Military Park Commons Historic District were drawn to include the most significant buildings in the area north of Raymond Boulevard (the old Morris Canal) and south of Washington Park (the former “Upper Commons,” most of which is in the James Street Commons Historic District). The Morris Canal formed a distinct boundary between the more retail- oriented Military Park commons area on the north, and the banking/insurance oriented nature of the Four Corners area to the south. The James Street Commons Historic District forms the western boundary of the district. The New Jersey Performing Arts Center, McCarter Highway and large surface parking areas form the eastern boundary.

1 “Ladies’ Mile” is the historic shopping area located on lower Broadway in New York City, between Eighth and Twenty-third Street. Beginning in the 1860s, the area became known for a new retailing phenomenon, the elaborate department store. It was an area populated by the carriage trade, where elegant ladies came to buy the finest objects in America. Doormen presided over emporium entrances; elaborate display windows beckoned shoppers and ornamentally-sculptured buildings lined Broadway. Although known for its department stores, Ladies’ Mile also featured concert halls, theaters, galleries, interior decorators, and piano showrooms. In E. Cobham Brewster’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, published in Philadelphia in 1898, he defines “Ladies’ Mile” as “that part of Hyde Park which is most frequented by ladies on horseback or in carriages.

1. HISTORICAL INFORMATION: The building is the former Malt House Number Three (the “former Malt House”) of the P. B. and Sons Brewery. The brewery was established in Newark in 1847 by Peter B., Sr., and was expanded over time to occupy several buildings on three individual sites in Newark. When the brewery was founded, it occupied a prominent site near Newark’s 19th century business center. It was also located near several modes of transportation, including the Passaic River, national rail links, and the Morris Canal which opened transportation to points west. Within the company’s first ten years, it had become the largest brewery in Newark, producing 10,000 barrels of ale each year. By the 1870s, Newark had become the brewing capital of the country, in part because beer and ales could readily be shipped across the country from Newark’s docks and railyards. The brewery contributed substantially to Newark’s growth as an important late 19th century manufacturing center.

In 1857, the company name officially became P. B. and Sons Brewery, reflecting the active role of his three sons in the family business. Peter B., Sr., died in 1882 and his son, Peter B., Jr., died shortly thereafter. After their father’s and brother’s death, the business was restructured and expanded during the last two decades of the 19th century under the leadership of the remaining two sons, John and Robert B.

By the end of the 19th century, the brewery occupied approximately 12 acres of industrial property in Newark, which comprised three multi-building complexes. The first of the three brewery complexes to be developed included buildings on both the east and west sides of Front Street (now McCarter Highway) at the foot of Rector Street and along the banks of the Passaic River. This area was the core of the brewery and included the property that Peter B.first bought in 1849. By 1870 the brewery operated four malt houses, including former Malt House Number Three (built circa 1866), brewery stables and storage facilities, and three residences which were initially occupied by members of the B. family but were later taken over by the plant superintendent. Only the former malt house and bottling building, described below, remain. The brewery was expanded to the north in 1871, creating a second building complex that occupied the area at the foot of Fulton Street on Front Street and on the banks of the Passaic River. This area became the brewery headquarters until 1912. Located north of Rector Street is the former brewery’s bottling building. It dates from circa 1899 and has been attributed to Charles H. Nichol, the same architect who designed former Malt House Number Three. This two-story former bottling building has a corbelled brick cornice and detailing similar to the former malt house and Building Number Two of the stable complex that had been located south of the former malt house. The third part of the brewery complex was acquired by the company in 1879 and was located approximately one and a half miles to the southeast on Freeman Street. The site included the former Schalk Brother Brewery and was used for the production of lager, which was produced under the name B. and Company.

In 1905, when Robert B., the last of the B. brothers, died, family control of the business ended. The company continued to thrive, in part due to the company’s production of cereal syrup—liquid malt that was used by breweries, and by bakeries and laundries as a component in the production of starch—which was integral to the brewery’s survival of Prohibition (1920-1933) and the Great Depression (1929-1939). In 1933 the P. B. and Sons Brewery stock was sold and the ownership of the company was transferred to Carl and Otto Badenhausen. The brewery remained one of the country’s top ten breweries between 1937 and 1972. However, by 1972 the company stopped its operations due to social unrest, national competition, and a plant strike.

2. ARCHITECTURAL DESCRIPTION The two- to six-story building at Rector Street—the former Malt House Number Three—was designed by architect Charles H. Nicoll in the Medieval Revival style. It was built circa 1866 for the Peter B. and Sons Brewery, which expanded over many years and occupied multiple buildings on both sides of what is now the McCarter Highway (formerly known as Front Street). The former Malt House Number Three is a free-standing building that has a footprint of approximately 235 by 91 feet. The building was designed and built as the third of four malt houses for the brewery. The building’s basement floor had drainage channels for the processing of grains into malt and the building had large kilns for roasting the malt that was used for the production of Porter.

The former Malt House occupies a corner site. Therefore, the building has two street-facing facades. The building’s long primary (north) façade is on Rector Street and the building’s shorter secondary (east) façade is on McCarter Highway. The building’s west and south façades have limited visibility. The west façade has no windows except for the single window bay closest to Rector Street, with a side building entrance at the first floor. The west façade opens toward a narrow paved parking area while the south façade faces a driveway; however, the south façade is substantially screened from view by mature trees, and several small one-story structures attached to the rear of the building.

The former Malt House is faced in red brick and has a gray granite-clad base. In general, the four facades have articulated brick pilasters that separate the facades into window bays. The building’s north façade has 18 window bays; the east façade is much narrower and has three window bays; the west façade only has one window bay; and the south façade has 15 window bays. The building’s north façade exhibits two design styles—Medieval Revival on the seven eastern bays and stylized Art Moderne on the 11 western bays. The building’s eastern seven bays have brick pilasters and arched corbelling at the roof. The window openings at the first through fourth floors have rectangular divided light casement windows set within low jack arched brick openings. The fourth floor has narrow horizontal rectangular window openings with stone window sills and heavy stone lintels. The central window bay of the eastern seven bays projects slightly above the roof line and has a grouping of three rectangular divided light windows sitting above a continuous stone window sill. Stylized Art Moderne ornamentation was added to the 11 western bays in the 1930s, removing original Medieval Revival-style ornamentation from this part of the building. The building’s central three bays are six stories, two stories taller than the flanking bays, and the pilasters do not have corbelling at the roof. At the first floor of the three center bays is the primary entrance identified by a double-height black granite stylized Art Moderne surround. The first floor window openings on either side of the central entrance also have black granite surrounds. The primary entrance is slightly recessed beyond two low steps. Two fluted green columns flank the entrance and a polychromatic terra cotta panel above the entrance depicts four figures from ancient mythology. Polychromatic terra cotta octagonal medallions are located above the flanking window openings.

West of the central bay is the five-bay, three-story portion of the building which is faced in a browner brick than the eastern portion of the façade. This section of the building does not have any pilasters or decorative brick work but instead includes elements of a stylized Art Moderne aesthetic. The window bays are narrow and are separated at each floor by flat tan panels. The windows are multi-light casements, consistent with the windows on the rest of the building. A secondary building entrance is from the first floor’s western bay; an entrance is also provided from the west side of the first floor, on the building’s exposed west façade. These two entrances have design elements consistent with the primary entrance—black stepped granite surrounds, green fluted columns flanking each entrance, and polychromatic terra cotta decorative panels above each entrance. At the top floor of the window bays containing the secondary entrances are projecting green rounded elements. The westernmost portion of the building is a three-bay, two-story portion that is recessed approximately 15 feet from the rest of the building’s primary façade. This small structure was built in the late 19th century as a blacksmith shop associated with the brewery. It has a mansard roof that is perpendicular to the Rector Street façade. The Rector Street façade was likely altered in the 1930s when the stylized Art Moderne elements were added to the other portions of the building’s Rector Street facade. These same design features were added, including flat tan panels 4 below each window separating each floor. A segment of the façade above one of the second floor windows has collapsed.

The building’s east façade maintains the overall Medieval Revival-style elements of the north façade, with brick pilasters separating the window bays, brick corbelling at the roof, and rectangular windows set within low jack arch openings. At the first floor are a building entrance and a narrow loading dock. Both have stone surrounds. Four windows have been altered creating smaller window openings, evidenced by changes in the brick work. The top floor has narrow rectangular window openings with heavy stone lintels, consistent with the north facade’s top floor windows. The building’s south façade has similar window bays and window openings as the north façade with brick pilasters and brick corbelling at the roof. In contrast to the north façade, the south façade’s eastern seven-bay portion has a three-window segment at the top floor that has a low pitched roof with a corbelled cornice. The central seven-story portion of the building has a fire escape with doors at each floor. Several window openings have been altered. The western twostory portion of the building has intact corbelling and a small turret-like corner element. The building’s south façade has multiple affixed pipes affixed that extend onto the roof and into the building at certain windows. In addition, the south façade has multiple one-story additions, some of which are consistent with the overall architecture of the building, while other portions have been altered with large openings infilled with glass block.

When Robert F. the last of the brothers, died in 1905, the family’s control of the brewery ended as no family members wanted to take an active role in the brewery’s operations. Until 1912 both sides of the former Front Street (now McCarter Highway) were largely occupied by buildings that were part of the brewery complex, including the former Malt House. In 1933 the company stock was sold and ownership was transferred to Carl and Otto Badenhausen. The former Malt House was converted into a school in the early 1930s. The stylized Art Moderne alterations were made to the building’s north façade around that time, including the installation of the mosaic panel and detailing. According to the Military Park Commons Historic District Nomination Form, the building was taken over by Dana College in 1933 through a merger of the New Jersey Law School and the Seth Boyden School of Business. By 1935, Dana College merged with the University of Newark. In 1945 the school was absorbed by Rutgers University for use as a chemistry laboratory. The building was leased by Essex County College between 1963 and 1976 until it was taken over by the Newark Board of Education when it was converted to the Newark Science High School. The high school occupied the building until 2006 when it was vacated for the current development project.