History of Elizabeth New Jersey begins with the first permanent English settlement in the colony, continues through devastating Revolutionary War raids, and includes the world’s largest sewing machine factory. Located in Union County along the Elizabeth River and Newark Bay, Elizabeth grew from a small colonial outpost into New Jersey’s fourth-largest city. Its position across from Staten Island shaped both its earliest growth and its darkest wartime chapters.
English settlers known as the Elizabethtown Associates purchased land between the Raritan and Passaic Rivers from the Lenape in October 1664, paying with wampum, cloth, and tools. By 1665, the growing settlement of Elizabethtown was named in honor of Lady Elizabeth Carteret, wife of colonial proprietor Sir George Carteret. Because of that, Elizabeth became New Jersey’s first capital, and the colony’s first legislature met there in 1668. The settlement remained the seat of Elizabethtown Township until the City of Elizabeth was formally incorporated in 1855.
Elizabethtown’s position directly across from British-held Staten Island made it a frequent target throughout the Revolutionary War. On January 25, 1780, British and Loyalist troops crossed from Staten Island and burned the First Presbyterian Church along with parts of the town. Therefore, when British forces attempted to reach George Washington’s army at Morristown that June, they marched through Elizabethtown twice, leading to the Battle of Connecticut Farms and the decisive Battle of Springfield. The failed campaign marked the last major British offensive in the northern theater of the war.
Built around 1750, Boxwood Hall became the home of Elias Boudinot, President of the Continental Congress, from 1772 to 1795. A young Alexander Hamilton visited the house while studying at the Elizabethtown Academy and developed a lifelong friendship with the Boudinot family. Additionally, George Washington dined at Boxwood Hall in 1789 while traveling to his presidential inauguration in New York. Now a National Historic Landmark operated by the State of New Jersey, the house remains open to the public as a museum.
The Singer Manufacturing Company opened a massive factory at Elizabethport in 1872 after outgrowing its cramped Manhattan facilities. At its peak before World War II, the plant employed 5,000 workers across 48 buildings, producing sewing machines and parts shipped to Singer factories worldwide. Meanwhile, the factory shifted to wartime production of cannons and pistols during both world wars. The Elizabethport plant remained in operation for over a century before closing in 1982.
Elizabeth’s history reflects its founding role in colonial New Jersey, its suffering and resilience during the Revolutionary War, and its rise as an industrial manufacturing center. From Boxwood Hall to the Singer factory grounds, the city’s story continues to shape its neighborhoods today.