Bishop House (New Brunswick, New Jersey)

James Bishop House
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
New Jersey Register of Historic Places
Bishop House, 2018
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Location	College Avenue New Brunswick, New Jersey
Coordinates	40°30′11″N 74°27′00″W
Area	0.3 acres (0.12 ha)
Built	1852 (1852)
Built by	Isziah Rolfe
Architectural style	Italianate
NRHP reference No.	76001162[1]
NJRHP No.	1855[2]
Significant dates
Designated NRHP	July 12, 1976
Designated NJRHP	January 19, 1976

The James Bishop House, known as the Bishop House, is a historic building on the College Avenue campus of Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey. Bishop House was erected in 1852 for James Bishop, a prominent businessman and politician from New Brunswick in the latter half of 19th century. Located off of and facing College Avenue, the Bishop House is an example of an Italianate, or "Italian Villa" style mansion, popular from the 1850s to late 1870s in New Brunswick. Due to the building's significant associations with architecture, education, industry, politics and religion, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places on July 12, 1976.[3]

History

The Bishop House was named in honor of James Bishop. Bishop was a politician at the local, state, and federal levels in the 1850s through the 1890s.[4] After the Panic of 1873, Bishop was forced to file for bankruptcy, leading to the firing of his 18 servants and sale of his mansion to Mahlon C. Martin.[5]

The building was sold to Rutgers University in 1925. It was used as the residence for the Dean of Men and his family until 1934. After 1934, the interior was altered to contain classrooms and offices. This remains its current use. The building still contains its original 42 rooms despite alterations made.[6]

Gallery

• 
  View from College Avenue
• 
  NRHP plaque

References

1. "National Register Information System – James Bishop House (#76001162)". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. November 2, 2013.
2. "New Jersey and National Registers of Historic Places" (PDF). New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection - Historic Preservation Office. p. 5. Retrieved 25 March 2022.
3. Barr, Michael C. (September 29, 1975). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory/Nomination: James Bishop House". National Park Service. With accompanying photo
4. Mervine, William McKinley (1913). The Bishop Genealogy. Princeton University. p. 9. Retrieved 25 March 2022.
5. Sherman, William E. (1951). History of the Bishop House. Rutgers University Special Collections. p. 11.
6. Holzschlag, Morris Jacob Kafka (2012-06-12). "The Creation of a Landmark: The Bishop House of College Avenue". The Journal of the Rutgers University Libraries. 47 (2). doi:10.14713/jrul.v47i2.1653. ISSN 0036-0473.

External links

• Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS) No. NJ-712, "James Bishop House, College Avenue & Bartlett Street, New Brunswick, Middlesex County, NJ", 9 photos, 5 data pages
• Holzschlag, Morris Jacob Kafka. "The Creation of a Landmark: The Bishop House of College Avenue". Rutgers University Libraries, New Jersey History.
• "Paths to Historic Rutgers: A Self-Guided Tour (Bishop House)". Rutgers University Libraries.