Our Town/History

Historic Main Street Somerville

Somerville was settled in colonial times primarily by the English. Originally a sparsely populated farming community, it rapidly grew after the completion of the railroad in the 1850s. Early industry included brick making from the plentiful red clay and shale on which Somerville is built.

While much of the borough features distinctive Victorian architecture and row houses, on Main Street between Bridge and Grove Streets, lies the Courthouse Green, an architectural gem listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The focal point is the white Alabama marble courthouse designed by a nationally prominent architect, James Reilly Gordon. Adjacent is the stone English Country Church, the work of noted architect William Appleton Potter.

On the corner of Grove and Main Streets is the stately marble fountain commissioned by Aileen Lord in honor of her deceased brother and designed by John Russell Pope, a graduate of the Ecole de Beaux Arts and the architect of Sloan House (The USGA Museum in Far Hills) and the Jefferson Memorial in Washington D.C.

Heading west on Main Street visitors will see fine examples of Victorian commercial facades.   The classic bank building on the corner of Main and Maple (now Commerce Bank) is a salute to the Greek style with adornments of acanthus leaves and egg and dart detailing. 

Across Maple Street is the Thompson Building (or Gaston Building) built by Senator Thompson.  He hired architect Frank Bodine to build the finest commercial building in all of New Jersey.  Bodine is also known for many of the beautiful train stations on the old Jersey Central Lines, including Somerville’s. 

Several blocks west on Main Street, the United Reformed Church is a commanding presence.  Designed by Oscar Teal in the Richardsonian tradition, this magnificent church once housed the largest stained glass window in New Jersey.  The Talmage window on the east side of the church depicts the resurrection of Christ on Easter morning. The round window, called the Good Shepherd Window, was designed by H.B. Hankinson of Tiffany & Co.

At the western end of Main Street lies Somerville Borough Hall, which was once the private residence of the Daniel Robert family and was designed as a copy of the Lyndhurst house by Alexander Jackson Davis.