Facts & First 

The City of Elizabeth was founded in 1665 and became the first capital of the State of New Jersey. Elizabeth's diverse population represents more than 50 countries and 37 language groups. The City has become a regional hub for the East Coast with its close proximity to the following locations:

  • The Garden State Parkway
  • Manhattan
  • the New Jersey Turnpike
  • Newark Liberty International Airport
  • Route 1
  • Route 9

Transit

Elizabeth has two New Jersey Transit train stations that connect to New York City and the rest of the State. 

The Port Newark/Elizabeth's 2,000-acre marina terminal hosts over 150,000 jobs and is the World's largest containership port and the largest Foreign Trade Zone in the United States.

Elizabeth Firsts

Learn interesting facts about the City of Elizabeth:

  • Elizabeth has given us:
    • The first assembly line automobile producer in the state
    • The first ice cream soda
    • The first submarine
    • The Singer sewing machine
  • Elizabeth has given us Mickey Walker and Admiral William F. Bull Halsey. It has given us the developer of Tom Swift and the Bobbsey Twins and it has given us Mickey Spillane.
  • Elizabeth is the home of the first President of Congress after the Peace Treaty with the English, Elias Boudinot.
  • Elizabeth was the first English speaking community in New Jersey.
  • Elizabeth, among so many celebrities of Elizabethan birth, produced the first Mayor of Jewish faith of any major community in the United States, David Naar.
  • It is the first Capital of New Jersey
  • It is the first home of Princeton University
  • It is the home of the first Colonial Assembly and Council meeting
  • It is the home of the first Governor of the State after the Declaration of Independence, William Livingston
  • It is the home of New Jersey’s first Governor, Phillip Carteret
  • It has given us James P. Mitchell, the Secretary of Labor under President Eisenhower, after whom our Board of Education Administrative Building is named
  • It was here, at the foot of Elizabeth Avenue, that the first British ship was sunk by Americans after the Declaration of Independence