Bridges. New Jersey, as a peninsular state, is by necessity home to some of the most historically and technologically significant bridges in the world. All three of the basic types of bridges—beam, arch, and suspension—are represented. Beam bridges consist of a horizontal beam supported by piers at each end. To increase the support for the beam, a truss is often used, based upon a geometric framework, primarily of triangles, that strengthen the beam and add rigidity. Beam bridges generally span smaller distances and in New Jersey are often found over small creeks or rivers. The Sergeant Green Covered Bridge in Sergeantsville is a truss beam covered bridge made of wood; it is the oldest remaining covered bridge in the state. The Calhoun Street Bridge (i884) in Trenton is one of the longer truss bridges and is the second oldest bridge across the Delaware River. Trusses use different materials (wood, iron, steel) and configurations to handle the forces of compression and tension on the bridge. Many of the Delaware River crossings are truss bridges, including the Lower Trenton Bridge—the "Trenton Makes” bridge—(i928) and the Washington Crossing Bridge (1904). Trusses also come in different patterns; for example, a lens-type shape is found with the two-span lenticular truss in Neshanic Station (1896). Well-known examples of cast-iron and wrought-iron bridges in New Jersey include the West Main Street Bridge (1870) over the South Branch Raritan River in Clinton, the Musconetcong River Bridge (1868) in New Hampton, and the School Street Bridge (i870) over Spruce Run in Glen Gardner.
A variation of the beam and truss bridge is the cantilever bridge, in which the beam is anchored near one end with the other end suspended. The Commodore Barry Bridge (i974) linking Bridgeport to Chester, Pennsylvania, across the lower Delaware is the third longest steel truss cantilever bridge in the world. Both the Outerbridge Crossing (i928) and the Goethals Bridge (1928), connecting New Jersey to Staten Island, are also steel truss cantilever bridges. The Pulaski Skyway (i932) between Newark and Jersey City is a combined cantilever and truss that crosses both the Passaic and Hackensack rivers.
A movable bridge is one whose span can be lifted or rotated so as to allow transportation to pass beneath. An example of a movable bridge called the bascule, or seesaw drawbridge, is the Strauss bascule bridge (1929-1930), which carries Dorset Avenue in Ventnor across water. Two of New Jersey’s vertical lift railroad bridges, the Arthur Kill (1959) near Staten Island and the Delair (1961) in South Jersey, are among the largest, spanning over 540 feet.
A second type of bridge, the arch bridge, traces its roots back to Roman engineering. Arch bridges are generally able to span somewhat greater distances than beam bridges. The principle behind arch bridges is a diffusion of force along the arch to the pier. The Bayonne Bridge (1931), connecting Bayonne to Staten Island, is the second largest steel arch bridge in the world, slightly larger than its counterpart in Sydney, Australia. Stone arch bridges may vary from single to several arches. Hunterdon County claims its concentration of more than two hundred stone arch bridges is more than any other single place. The Nicholson Bridge (1915) across the Delaware near the Water Gap is a magnificent concrete arch railroad bridge, built in 1912-1913 by the Delaware, Lackawanna, and Western Railroad. Other railroad arch bridges include the Amtrak Railroad Bridge (1908) over the Delaware River at Trenton. A stone arch bridge now stands over the Millstone River at Kingston where Gen. George Washington destroyed the bridge in 1777 following the battle of Princeton.
The third major category of bridge, capable of spanning the greatest distances, is the suspension bridge. In this bridge, the roadway is supported by cables (ideally, steel) that are anchored at each end and carried over towers that support them. A variation on this is the cable-stayed bridge, in which the cables are attached directly to the tower. Although there are no cable-stayed bridges entirely in New Jersey, several of the most important suspension bridges in engineering history have one foot in the state.
The Benjamin Franklin Bridge (1926) between Camden and Philadelphia was designed by one of the preeminent engineers of the twentieth century, Ralph Modjeski, and Paul Philippe Cret, architect of Philadelphia’s Ben Franklin Parkway. At the time of its construction it was the longest suspension bridge in the world, and President Calvin Coolidge attended its dedication. Thirty years later the Walt Whitman Bridge (1957), another suspension bridge between Camden and Philadelphia, was completed. At the other end of the state, the George Washington Bridge (1931) between Fort Lee and Manhattan is among the longest suspension bridges in the world. It was designed by Othmar H. Ammann, whose consulting engineering firm, Ammann and Whitney, maintained an office on West State Street in Trenton. Other notable suspension bridges in New Jersey include the Delaware Memorial Bridge (original bridge, 1951; parallel, 1968) between New Jersey and Delaware, also designedby Ammann, andthe Riegelsville Bridge (1904) along the northern Delaware River, a Roebling bridge. The Roebling engineering firm is most well known for the Brooklyn Bridge. John Roebling (1806-1869), one of America’s foremost engineers, established his wire-rope factory and residence in Trenton; his son, Washington Roebling, oversaw completion of the Brooklyn Bridge while bedridden in Trenton.
In addition to their engineering and aesthetic functions, in some instances bridges become political symbols. For example, two of New Jersey’s bridges—the Burlington-Bristol (1931) and Tacony-Palmyra (i929)—gave rise to a famous court battle that resulted in judicial reaffirmation of the fiduciary obligations of public officials.
Other New Jersey bridges of note include the Northampton Street Bridge (i895) linking Phillipsburg to Easton, Pennsylvania; the Betsy Ross Bridge (1976) between Pennsauken and Philadelphia (the first major bridge in the United States named for a woman); and the Dingman’s Ferry Bridge (1900), New Jersey’s northernmost bridge, across the Delaware River, and one of the nation’s few remaining private toll bridges.
Bridgeton. 6.2-square-mile city in northwestern Cumberland County. Bridgeton has been the county seat since 1749. Variously called Cohansey Bridge or the Bridge (about i7i6), Bridgetown (about i765), and, finally, Bridgeton (about i8i6), it was formed from Bridgeton and Cohansey townships in i865; parts were annexed to Deerfield and Fairfield townships in i888.
By the Civil War period, Bridgeton’s iron forges and glass furnaces, regular steamboat service to Philadelphia, and railroad service to Camden made it a bustling city. It was also home to three important private schools: West Jersey Academy, Ivy Hall Seminary, and the South Jersey Institute. At the end of the twentieth century, competition from western states caused industry consolidation. Owens-Illinois, the last major glass manufacturer and the city’s largest employer, closed its doors in i982.
One of the earliest newspapers in New Jersey, the Plain Dealer, appeared for a short time in i775 and i776. It was handwritten and hung up in Potter’s Tavern on Broad Street. The tavern, now one of the city’s historic landmarks, is part of an extensive historic district that includes more than twenty-two hundred homes and other buildings on the National Register of Historic Places.
In 2000, the population of 22,77i was 39 percent white, 42 percent black, and 24 percent Hispanic (Hispanics may be of any race). The median household income was $26,923. For complete census figures, see chart, i30.
Bridgeton and Millville Traction Company. One of America’s pioneer in-terurbans, the Bridgeton and Millville Traction Company (B&MTCo.) opened in the early i890s between the towns of its corporate name. Although an intercity operation, the firm resembled an urban trolley, with lightweight rolling stock and rail. In i902 the company expanded, opening a branch from Bridgeton to the small port community of Bivalve. Typical of traction roads, the thirty-seven-mile-long B&MTCo. owned and operated an amusement park—Tumbling Dam Park—designed to generate traffic, especially during summer weekends. In i926 the company reorganized and leased the Millville Traction Company, which linked Millville and Vineland. A year later this appendage closed, and remaining service ended in i93i, victim of increased automobile ownership.
Bridgeton News. This daily newspaper was established in Bridgeton, the seat of Cumberland County, in January 1879. It was the inspiration of J. Ward Richardson, who oversaw the business end, J.H.C. Applegate, who handled editorial content, and printer Paul J. Davis. The three men pooled their resources, totaling fifty-one dollars, and founded the Bridgeton Evening News, the first daily newspaper in the region. By i895, the newspaper had forty-two hundred subscribers and boasted the largest circulation in New Jersey south of Camden. The newspaper was sold to the Schofield family, which maintained control until selling the newspaper in i990 to the American Publishing Company. South Jersey Newspapers, part of the MediaNews Group, bought the newspaper in 1996. Four years later, the newspaper was bought by the Newhouse media group’s Advance Publications. The newspaper, now published in the morning Monday through Saturday, changed its name to the Bridgeton News.
Bridgewater. 32.68-square-mile township in Somerset County. Sprawling Bridge-water slopes from the Watchung Mountains south to the Raritan River and includes Mar-tinsville, Sunset Lake, Finderne, Bradley Gardens, Green Knoll, and Hobbs town. Formed by royal charter in i749 from the Northern Precinct, Bridgewater was incorporated on February 2i, i798. It was settled by Dutch, English, and Scots-Irish in the i690s and was chiefly agricultural until the early years of the twentieth century, when population growth in Raritan, Bound Brook, and Somerville prompted those communities to become independent. Housing developments, industrial parks (among them the eighty-acre Central Jersey Industrial Park on Route 22), and research centers blossomed after World War II, culminating in the 1988 opening of Bridge-water Commons, one of the state’s largest shopping malls. The minor-league Somerset Patriots moved into their six-thousand-seat baseball stadium in 1999. Historic sites include Chimney Rock, overlooking a large traprock quarry; the Van Veghten House in Finderne, home of Somerset County’s historical society; and the Middle brook Encampment, above Route 22, where the Continental Army camped in 1777 and in the winter of 17781779. Near the township is the headquarters of the Courier-News, one of central New Jersey’s largest dailies.
The population in 2000 of 42,940 residents was 85 percent white and 11 percent Asian. The 2000 median household income was $88,308. For complete census figures, see chart, 130.
Brielle. 1.8-square-mile borough in Monmouth County. Prior to becoming an independent borough in 1919, Brielle existed under the jurisdiction of the townships of Shrewsbury, Howell, and Wall, respectively. Before adopting its final name, it was known as Landing, Union, and Union Landing. It was named Brielle after a town in Holland with similar geographic features and because area farmers used windmills to drive pumps. During the American Revolution, Brielle was the site of an important coastal salt works. It remained a farming community until 1881, when several Jersey City businessmen purchased the local farms with the intention of turning the community into a seaside resort. Located on the Manasquan River one mile from the ocean, Brielle never became as popular a resort as surrounding towns with ocean frontage. However, with its protected harbor on the river leading to the sea, it has become well known for its pleasure and sport fishing, and it is the northern terminus of the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway, which extends to Florida. The community is composed mainly of single-family homes.
The 2000 population of 4,893 was 93 percent white. The median household income in 2000 was $68,368. For complete census figures, see chart, 130.
Brigantine. 9.79-square-mile city on Brigantine Island in Atlantic County next to Atlantic City. Brigantine was incorporated in 1924 as a real estate speculation, when a hotel and one hundred houses were built. The 1929 stock market crash put an end to plans for further development, and it was not until after World War II, and then again with the arrival of the Atlantic City casinos in the 1970s, that they were taken up again. During the 1980s, 2,354 condominium units and 1,700 multifamily apartments were built. With new casinos currently being constructed, the planning and building of more housing is an ongoing project. The north end of the island, a government-owned shore preserve, remains undeveloped. The Marine Mammal Stranding Center, devoted to the rescue and rehabilitation of stranded or distressed marine animals, is located in Brigantine.
During the summer, Brigantine’s population nearly doubles as a result of the influx of vacationers. In 2000, the permanent population of 12,594 was 83 percent white and 6 percent Asian. The median household income was $44,639. For complete census figures, see chart, 130.
Brigham, Carl Campbell (b. May 4,1890; d. Jan. 24, 1943). Carl Brigham was born in Marlboro, Massachusetts, and earned his B.A., M.A., and Ph.D. degrees at Princeton University. An educational psychologist, Brigham helped Robert Yerkes introduce intelligence tests for officer selection during World War I. Later, as a professor of psychology at Princeton University (1920-1943), he dramatically recanted his earlier racist views on the inheritability of intelligence and devised the College Board’s Scholastic Aptitude Test (1926), an innovative college admission test not based on a specific school curriculum. Brigham’s work in testing methodology and interpretation have had a lasting impact on college and graduate school admissions testing. More than 60 million college applicants have taken the SAT, now administered for the College Board by the Educational Testing Service in Princeton.
Bristol-Myers Squibb. Bristol-Myers Squibb, a pharmaceutical company with facilities in Hopewell Township, Plainsboro, and Princeton, employs about eight thousand people in eleven New Jersey locations. The company is a leader in consumer products, pharmaceutical research and development, and humanitarian aid. Bristol-Myers began when William McLaren Bristol and John Ripley Myers bought a pharmaceutical firm in Clinton, New York. The company achieved success in the early 1900s with Sal Hepatica, a laxative mineral salt, and Ipana, the first toothpaste with disinfectant properties. By the mid-i920s, Bristol-Myers consumer products were sold in twenty-six countries, but the pharmaceutical side of the business flourished only with the mass production of penicillin during World War II.
Edward Robinson Squibb founded a pharmaceutical concern in Brooklyn in 1856, and the company prospered during the Civil War. In i905 E. R. Squibb and Sons bought land to build an ether production plant in New Brunswick. The city became the home of the Squibb Institute for Medical Research in i938, and the site of the largest penicillin-production facility in the world, which Squibb opened in 1944. In 1971 the company expanded the Squibb Institute to facilities in Princeton.
A 1989 merger created Bristol-Myers Squibb, which established the Bristol-Myers Squibb Pharmaceutical Research Institute headquarters in Princeton in 1990. In 1991, the company signed an agreement with the National Cancer Institute to research and develop a new drug, Taxol (paclitaxel), which became one of the most widely prescribed cancer drugs in the world. The company has also launched Videx (didanosime, also known as ddI), a medication for treating HIV infection; Pravachol (pravastatin sodium), for individuals with elevated cholesterol or chronic heart disease; and Excedrin Migraine, the first nonprescription medication for migraine headaches.
In 2000 Bristol-Myers Squibb joined other drug companies and international agencies in the UNAIDS Drug ACCESS Initiative, providing medications to assist African countries in combating AIDS. Yale University and Bristol-Myers Squibb own the patent for the AIDS drug Zerit, a thymidine nucleoside analog. Zerit is now available at no cost in sub-Saharan Africa.
Britton, Nathaniel Lord (b. Jan. 15,1859; d. June 25, 1934). Botanist. Born on Staten Island, New York, Nathaniel Britton studied geology at Columbia College’s School of Mines in the 1870s. Employed by the New Jersey Geological Survey to draw up the first comprehensive portrait of the state’s plant life, he published A Preliminary Catalogue of the Flora of New Jersey, which was accepted as his doctoral dissertation by Columbia in 1881. As an officer of New York’s Torrey Botanical Club, Britton led weekend excursions of botany enthusiasts to New Jersey’s Pine Barrens and the Delaware Valley. In the 1890s, he helped establish the New York Botanical Garden in the Bronx. Named its first director in 1896, Britton held the post until 1929.
Broad Seal War. A contested election between the Whig and Democratic parties for the six New Jersey seats in the U.S. House of Representatives resulted in the Broad Seal War of 1838. Because the election took place on October 9-10, before New Jersey was organized into congressional districts, all the seats were chosen at large by voters from the entire state. Gov. William Pennington, a Whig, and the Privy Council had the obligation of totaling the votes received from the county clerks and issuing to the victors certificates stamped with the "broadseal” of the state. The governor and council announced that all five incumbent Whig candidates were reelected by extremely narrow margins. Only the sixth Whig candidate, Joseph Fitz Randolph, collected significantly more votes than his Democratic opponents.
Controversy broke out when it was discovered that the votes from Millville and South Amboy were not included with the returns from Cumberland and Middlesex counties, respectively. The Cumberland County clerk, a Whig, claimed that the Millville returns lacked the seal of the township clerk, another Whig; moreover, the returns appeared to have been opened and were incompletely made out. In Middlesex, the county clerk also cited several irregularities, which, he claimed, invalidated the South Amboy returns. If the Middlesex and South Amboy returns had been counted, five of the six Whig candidates would have been defeated. Nevertheless, all six Whigs received commissions of election on November 1, 1838 (for terms beginning December 1839), to which were affixed the official state seal signed by Governor Pennington.
Thirteen months later, on December 2, 1839, the U.S. House of Representatives met to organize. When the clerk reached New Jersey in the roll call, he read only the name of Joseph
Fitz Randolph and passed over the names of the other claimants. A raging two-week debate followed, during which the House remained unorganized and without a Speaker. When the debate ended, the House Democratic majority voted to leave the five contested seats vacant. (Not counting those five seats, the Democrats held a 119-118 edge.) Thus New Jersey was left without five-sixths of its legal representation in the House, marking the first time in U.S. history that a state was denied full representation.
The entire matter was presented to the House Committee on Elections, which had a 5-4 Democratic majority. The committee began working on the case on January 14, 1840. Meanwhile, the legislatures of numerous states passed resolutions for and against the actions of the House, many claiming that the House had no legal authority to conduct business without full representation from New Jersey.
In March 1840 the House accepted the committee’s preliminary report and resolution to seat the five Democratic claimants. The committee continuedits work, however, interviewing hundreds of voters and investigating allegations of fraud. Its final report, issued on July 8, 1840, resolved that the five Democrats should retain their seats. The House concurred and thus closed the door on one of the most bitterly contested elections in the nation’s history.
Brook dale Community College.The county college of Monmouth, this fully accredited institution was established in 1967 and in 2000 had an enrollment of approximately thirteen thousand students. In addition to the main 221-acre campus in Lincroft, the two-year college administers education centers at several extension sites. The academic division maintains partnerships with several upper-level universities in New Jersey. Associate degrees are offered in career and transfer programs in over thirty areas, and there are courses in over seventy disciplines. The Business and Community Development Division offers noncredit courses. There are twenty-five buildings on campus, including a modern library, a performing arts center, and a gymnasium.
Brook lawn. 0.5-square-mile borough on the Delaware River in northwest Camden County. Brooklawn is bordered by the Little Timber Creek on the north and the Big Timber Creek on the south. It was through this area that the "Irish Road” connected with the Salem Road, the first highway through West Jersey. Both were built in 1686 and followed Indian trails, connecting settlements throughout the wide area. Thus, tavern keeping became an important early industry. The first license was granted to Enoch Ellison in 1737, and in 1775 Desire Sparks, known as Aunty High Cap for her headgear, was granted a license for the Two Tuns Tavern.
In 1917 the U.S. Shipping Board built medium-income housing here, on the Cam-den Plan, a program financed by the Federal Works Agency that provided for the cooperative ownership of homes for sixty-five hundred workers in the shipyards of Pusey and Jones, located near Gloucester City. The town that arose was originally called Noreg Village. In 1923,451 "beautiful frame and stucco dwellings including stores, business properties and vacant lots” were auctioned off in the community, which was described as an "ideal place of residence,” attracting "the highest type of men andtheir families.” The borough was originally formed in 1924 from Centre Township and was reincorporated in 1926.
The 2000 population of 2,354 was 90 percent white. In 2000, the median household income was $39,600. For complete census figures, see chart, 130.
Brooks, Van Wyck (b. Feb. 16, 1886;d. May 2, 1963). Literary critic, cultural historian, editor, and biographer. Van Wyck Brooks, the son of Charles Edward Brooks and Sarah Bailey Ames, was born and raised in Plain-field. Due to his father’s business failure, Brooks spent his early years in the home of his wealthy maternal grandparents and attended the Plainfield public schools. (The town has since named a historical district after him.) In 1904 Brooks entered Harvard, graduated early, and was a member of Phi Beta Kappa. His first major publication was The Wine of the Puritans (1908), which examines materialism and the corruption of American culture. In 1911 Brooks married Eleanor Kenyon Stim-son, an old friend from Plainfield. The marriage produced two sons. Brooks wrote several influential works in subsequent years: America’s Coming-of-Age (1915), The Ordeal of Mark Twain (1920), and The Pilgrimage of Henry James (1925). He also coedited Seven Arts (1916-1917), a little magazine seeking to elevate American culture. His greatest scholarly undertaking was the five-volume Makers and Finders. The first volume, The Flowering of New England (1936), received the Pulitzer Prize in history. After Eleanor Brooks’s death in 1946, Brooks married Gladys Rice Billings in 1947. He continued writing until his death in Bridgewater, Connecticut.
Broome, Isaac (b. May 16,1836; d. May 4, 1922). Sculptor and ceramics modeler. Educated at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia, Isaac Broome assisted Thomas Crawford with statues for the pediment of the U.S. Capitol’s Senate wing in Washington, D.C., in 1854. Beginning in 1875, he modeled for Ott and Brewer of Trenton the parian porcelain statuary shown at the Centennial International Exhibition, Philadelphia, in 1876, and in 1878 at the Exposition Universelle, Paris, for which he was a special commissioner from the United States and New Jersey. He continued to work for potteries in Trenton and in Ohio, including the Trent Tile Company, Providential Tile Company, and Lenox China, producing significant work until 1917.
Isaac Broome, Ott and Brewer, Trenton, Baseball Vase, 1876. Parian bisque porcelain, h. 32 in., w. 10 :/2 in.
