1870 March to Jugtown

“But the peaceful charm and dignity of the old community live on. Under its ancient trees and its mellowed houses, historic and unsung, lingers many a tale.” 

Queenston, or Jugtown as it became known, was a community bustling with businesses that included Cornelius Conover’s carriage shop, Montgomery Blackwell’s pork-packing establishment, William Leggett’s wheelwright shop, a silkworm cocoonery near Pine Street, and the Margerum and McCarthy quarries (all Quarry Worker resources). Horner House, located at 344 Nassau Street, can be seen in the back of this tile. Horner Pottery’s clay pits supplied bricks for the inside walls of Nassau Hall and is where Jugtown received its name. The Queenston Chapel was an integral part of life in Jugtown and the community had a brass band that was organized in the late 1870s as well as a Volunteer Fire Company, Princeton Fire Engine Company No. 1. Evelyn College for Women was established in 1887 and was the first women’s college in New Jersey. The 1870 parade depicted in this tile is only known from an entry in Jugtown resident Mary Brown’s 1870 diary. She noted a parade that came through Jugtown, hoping to encourage the New Jersey Legislature to ratify the 15th Amendment, giving African Americans the right to vote. 

Jugtown officially became part of Princeton Borough in a 1813 charter.

1. National Register of Historic Places
2. “Green Oval Tour: A Snapshot of 18th Century Princeton” (The Historical Society of Princeton)
3. Queenston: The Bygone Hamlet with a Colorful Past and Charming Presence by Wendy Greenberg (Princeton Magazine)
4. Queenston (West Windsor Historical Society)
5. “Jugtown” record search (The Historical Society of Princeton)
6. Map of Locally Designated Historic Sites and Districts (the Municipality of Princeton)
7. Articles from the Papers of Princeton database:
   • Student Researches Jugtown Quarries (Princeton Recollector, 1975)
   • Memorabilia Sought (Town Topics, 1976)
   • Jugtown Boasts a Proud Tradition (Princeton Recollector, 1976)
   • Black Parade Recalled in 1870 Diary (Princeton Recollector, 1976)
   • Topics of the Town Historical Designation is Requested for Bank Street (Town Topics, 1986)
   • Should Jugtown Be An Historic District? Community Discussion Scheduled Tuesday (Town Topics, 1986)
8. Jugtown/Queenston: Jugtown Historic District Princeton’s 18th Century Crossroads Village by Clifford Zink and Old Princeton’s Neighbors from the Princeton Public Library’s collection