The New Jersey Historical Society is an historical society and museum located in Newark, New Jersey. It was founded in 1844 at Trenton by intellectual and business leaders of New Jersey, most prominently William Whitehead and Joseph C. Hornblower.
The Society was first located on Market Street in Newark. In 1931 it left downtown for a large colonial-style building partially paid for by Louis Bamberger in Broadway, east of Branch Brook Park.
In 1997 the Historical Society moved back downtown, to 52 Park Place, on Military Park. The new home was a Georgian building vacated by the defunct Essex Club. In its first year in the downtown location visits increased almost five-fold.
The Historical Society has the largest library on New Jersey History in the world. The library is housed in the old squash courts of the Essex Club. It has two floors of exhibition space, a gift shop, and a hall for lectures. The NJHS offers occasional Newark walking tours.
The third floor is a permanent exhibition on New Jersey's natural resources. The second floor has rotating exhibits. The current exhibits are on treating tuberculosis, the South Side of Ellis Island, and a black nightclub called "Dreamland."
Admission is free, but a donation is appreciated. The Society can also be supported by making purchases in the gift shop.
