Located mid block between Kennedy Boulevard and Avenue A, the historic Bergen Point Victorian home known as the Usowicz House isn’t as prominent as some of the other historic homes in town, yet it may get recommended for historic distinction by the Bayonne Historic Preservation Commission at its March 23 meeting.
The building, located at 120 W. Eighth St., dates back to the 1870s and was once owned by Solon Humphreys, a banker, prominent land owner, and businessman in early Bayonne.
Dr. Joseph Ryan, a local historian and commissioner, said the building was constructed around 1871 and retains its original features, including a mansard roof and ornate wood trim.
“The commission is considering whether or not to give his historic status.” – Dr. Joseph Ryan
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Humphreys, who made his fortune partly through investing in the emerging railroad industry, purchased the tract of land in 1863 from Dave LaTourette – another historic Bayonne figure.
If the building gets historic distinction, it may prevent anyone from changing the exterior.
Founded companies
Born in Canton, Conn., in 1821, Humphreys graduated from St. John’s College in Maryland and established a firm, Humphreys and Thatcher, in 1844, and E. D. Morgan and Company in 1854.
Humphreys and other men also served on the Bayonne Township Committee’s Map and Grade Commission to revise the original road designs for Bayonne and to suggest new layouts for the township.
Humphreys was also one of the founders of the Mechanics Trust Company, the first bank in Bayonne in 1872, obtaining a special charter from the state to create the bank.
“When it opened in 1886 on Broadway, [Humphreys] was instrumental in contracting a clearing house in New York City to help the new bank,” according to a local history. “The bank building was located at the commercial and transportation hub of the city known as Bergen Point. The bank closed in 1934, but Solon was not alive. He had died 34 years earlier.”
Humphreys died March 6, 1900, after a year-long illness. Prior to his death, Humphreys also served as president and director of the Bayonne and Greenville Gaslight Company. The city’s first gas street lamp was lit in Bergen Point in February 1872.
During his life, he served as president, director or officer in a number of prominent national companies, including the Rio Grande, Sierra Madre and Pacific Rail Road Company, The Sombreerete Mining Company, United States Lloyds and North Britain and Mercantile Insurance Companies of London and Edinburgh.
He also served as president of the Bayonne Hospital Association, which held picnics on his estate. In addition, he was founder of the Workingman’s Library.
Humphreys, who later lived on what is called the Pepperidge Estate, was among some of the key people in the Bergen Point community, along with La Tourette, Henry Meigs (who later became mayor of Bayonne), Alfred Van Buskirk, and Alfred L. Rowe, who helped build Trinity Church near Fifth Street and Broadway. According to local history, “People were tired of traveling to Staten Island to attend services.”
The property for the new church, built by the end of 1859, and rectory, built in 1863, was a gift of land from Captain David LaTourette and several other persons who contributed money, according to the church history. Several of the men donated land and materials, but the group sought donations to cover the cost of the church, which became so popular that an expansion was planned until a fire in 1879 destroyed the original church.
In 1881, a new church rose in its place and was built from stone, and contained memorial pillars inscribed with the names of those prominent in church history, including Humphreys, who was also among the men who sought to construct a religious school.
The Bayonne Historic Preservation Commission has the authority to recommend the city’s passing an ordinance that protects the exterior of the historic house.