Perth Amboy is a historic waterfront city in northeastern Middlesex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, within the New York metropolitan area. As of the 2020 census, the city's population was 55,436. Perth Amboy is known as the "City by the Bay", referring to its location adjoining Raritan Bay.Reyes, Raul A. "How A Local New Jersey Latina Became Mayor, Rising Political Star" , NBC News, November 16, 2015. Accessed December 18, 2019. "Perth Amboy, N.J. – To spend a morning with Mayor Wilda Diaz in this “City by the Bay” is to understand the meaning of local celebrity."
The earliest residents of the area were the Lenape Native Americans, who called the point on which the city lies "Ompoge". Perth Amboy was settled in 1683 by Scottish colonists and was called "New Perth" after James Drummond, 4th Earl of Perth; the native name was eventually corrupted and the two names were merged. Perth Amboy was formed by Royal charter in 1718, and the New Jersey Legislature reaffirmed its status in 1784, after independence. The city was a capital of the Province of New Jersey from 1686 to 1776. During the mid-1800s, the Industrial Revolution and immigration grew the city, developing a variety of neighborhoods which residents from a diverse range of ethnicities lived in. The city developed into a resort town for the Raritan Bayshore near it, but the city has grown in other industries since its redevelopment starting in the 1990s. Its residents are mostly Hispanic.
Perth Amboy borders the Arthur Kill and features a historic waterfront. The Perth Amboy Ferry Slip was once an important ferry slip on the route south from New York City; it was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1978. The Raritan Yacht Club, one of the oldest yacht clubs in the United States, is located in the city. Perth Amboy is connected to the Staten Island borough of New York City via the Outerbridge Crossing.
History Name The Lenape Native Americans called the point on which the city is built "Ompoge", meaning "level ground"Cheslow, Jerry. "If You're Thinking of Living In/Perth Amboy; A Waterfront City Planning a Comeback" , The New York Times, December 2, 2001. Accessed December 18, 2019. "The City by the Bay, as Perth Amboy calls itself, has a proud history. Founded in 1683, it was the first city in New Jersey to be chartered by the Crown, in 1718.... The name Perth Amboy comes from the Earl of Perth, one of the proprietors of New Jersey under the royal grant, and the Leni Lenape Indian word 'ompage', meaning 'level ground.'" or "standing or upright".The Origin of New Jersey Place Names , May 1945, p. 26. Accessed December 18, 2019. When settled in 1683, the new city was dubbed "New Perth" in honor of James Drummond, Earl of Perth, one of the 12 associates of a company of Scottish proprietors; Drummond has been honored with a statue located outside of city hall.Makin, Bob. "Walking guide to Perth Amboy's Colonial, Revolutionary War history" , Courier News, June 28, 2018. Accessed December 18, 2019. "Outside city hall is a statue of James Drummond, 4th Earl of Perth, a Scottish statesmen who partnered with William Penn in the settlement of East Jersey in 1681. In 1683, he and Penn were among the 12 Proprietors who established the city as a port, fishery and trading post. Perth Amboy is named in the Earl’s honor, Amboy being an Anglicizing of the Lenape word for valley, 'ompoge.'" The Algonquian language name persisted, corrupted to Ambo, or Point Amboy, and eventually a combination of the native and colonial names emerged, also appearing in South Amboy.Compiled by the Federal Writers' Project of the Works Project Administration Project for the State of New Jersey New Jersey A Guide to Its Past and Present, p. 362. Works Project Administration, reprinted by US History Publishers, 2007. . Accessed August 8, 2014.Hutchinson, Viola L. The Origin of New Jersey Place Names , New Jersey Public Library Commission, May 1945. Accessed September 17, 2015.Gannett, Henry. The Origin of Certain Place Names in the United States, p. 243. United States Government Printing Office, 1905. Accessed September 17, 2015.
Scottish colony Perth Amboy was settled by Scottish colonists around 1683 who had been recruited to inhabit the share of the East Jersey colony owned by Robert Barclay, a Quaker who would later become the absentee governor of the province.DeAngelo, Walter A. The History Buff's Guide to Middlesex County , Middlesex County, New Jersey. Accessed December 18, 2019. "The City of Perth Amboy (originally known as Scottish Colony) was founded by Robert Barclay in 1683 (Perth Amboy received a Royal City Charter in 1718)."Klett, Joseph R. "Using the Records of East and West Jersey Proprietors" , New Jersey State Archives, 2014. Accessed April 9, 2015. "Scottish Colony, 1683 – Following the purchase of a share of East Jersey by Scottish Quaker and later Governor Robert Barclay, Scottish settlers were recruited and began to arrive in Perth Amboy and surrounding areas beginning in 1683. Most were not Quakers, but rather Calvinists from Edinburgh, Montrose, Aberdeen and Kelso. Settlers and their servants were granted lots in Perth Amboy and areas of Monmouth County. Perth Amboy became the capital of East New Jersey in 1686."
Charter and incorporation Perth Amboy was formed by Royal charter on August 4, 1718, within various townships and again by the New Jersey Legislature on December 21, 1784, within Perth Amboy Township and from part of Woodbridge Township. Perth Amboy Township was formed on October 31, 1693, and was enlarged during the 1720s to encompass Perth Amboy city. Perth Amboy Township was incorporated as one of New Jersey's initial 104 townships through the Township Act of 1798 on February 21, 1798. The township was replaced by Perth Amboy city on April 8, 1844.Snyder, John P. The Story of New Jersey's Civil Boundaries: 1606-1968 , Bureau of Geology and Topography; Trenton, New Jersey; 1969. p. 172. Accessed May 30, 2024.
Provincial capital
Elizabeth (then known as Elizabethtown) was designated in 1668 as the first capital of New Jersey.Was Trenton NJ's only capital? If not what other city was?, New Jersey History's Mysteries, updated July 14, 2011. Accessed December 18, 2019. "The very first capital of New Jersey was Elizabethtown (now Elizabeth) named in 1668 when the original Proprietors, Lord Berkeley and George Carteret, send Philip Carteret to govern their new possession. Later they moved the capital to Perth Amboy in 1686, and when New Jersey was divided into East and West Jersey, Burlington became the capital of the latter, and Perth Amboy remained the capital of the former. In 1702, New Jersey became a Royal Colony, but both towns remained capitals and the Royal Governors split time between the two (when they didn't govern from New York City, but that is another story)." In 1686, Perth Amboy was designated as the capital of East Jersey, while Burlington was the capital of West Jersey. After the two were united as a royal colony in 1702, the two cities alternated as the capital of the Province of New Jersey until November 1790, when Trenton was designated as the unified state capital, chosen based on its location midway between New York City and Philadelphia.Stansfield, Charles A. A Geography of New Jersey: The City in the Garden, p. 79. Rutgers University Press, 1998. Accessed December 18, 2019. "Until the Revolution, the royal governor and legislature migrated back and forth from East Jersey's capital, Perth Amboy, to Burlington, capital of West Jersey."Ryan, Joe. "Looking Back: Lawmakers call Trenton home" , The Star-Ledger, November 25, 2007, updated April 2, 2019. Accessed December 18, 2019. "On Nov. 25, 1790, the New Jersey Legislature ended its years of wandering and named Trenton the state capital.... Elizabeth was the first Colonial capital, followed by Perth Amboy and Burlington as the capitals of East and West Jersey in 1676. Trenton, named for Philadelphia merchant William Trent, was well positioned on the Delaware River, roughly halfway between New York and Philadelphia."
A few of the buildings from this early period can still be seen today. Most notably, the Proprietary House, the home of William Franklin, the last Royal Governor of New Jersey and estranged son of Benjamin Franklin, still stands in the waterfront area of the city. Architect John Edward Pryor was hired in 1761 to design and construct the building, which was completed in September 1764, years late and over budget. Franklin preferred his alternate home in Burlington.Construction 1762 -1764 , Proprietary House. Accessed December 18, 2019. "On March 25, 1761, the Board of the Proprietors of the Eastern Division of New Jersey (to give them their full title) proposed to construct a fine mansion worthy of serving as the residence of the Royal Governors. They hired the English architect and builder John Edward Pryor to design and build what they called the 'Proprietary House in Amboy.'... Troubled by cost overruns and delays that almost ruined Pryor, major construction was at last completed in September of 1764.... New Jersey's royal governor at the time was William Franklin. London was slow to support his plan to buy the mansion in Perth Amboy and he had heavily invested in a fine estate in Burlington, closer to Philadelphia where his family still resided." Franklin finally moved in 1774 into the Proprietary House. Franklin's father, Ben, tried unsuccessfully to convince his son to support the Colonial cause. William Franklin was arrested and detained at Proprietary House in 1776 until he was tried and convicted of treason.Royal Governor 1774 -1776, Proprietary House. Accessed December 18, 2019. "The Franklins didn’t move into Proprietary House until 1774. Their time there would be short but fateful. With the outbreak of hostilities between the colonies and Britain in 1775, high drama played out at the governor’s mansion when Ben Franklin visited and tried in vain to win his Loyalist son over to the cause of independence. But William remained loyal to the crown. The New Jersey Assembly ordered the Governor held under house arrest at Proprietary House in January 1776 and removed him for trial in June of the same year."