Mapping Somerville, NJ’s African American Neighborhoods #20

I don’t need to fit in. I belong here.

Maps & Census Data Resources

State and local maps are valuable historical resources. They capture changing street names and neighborhoods. Historical maps paired with census data provide a demographic snapshot of Somerville across time. These snapshots act as timestamps-allowing us to explore the identity of each neighborhood. Historically, the Lottery Field and South Somerville sections were home to Somerville’s earliest black residents. The configurations and identities of current neighborhoods can be traced to these earliest residents. The generations of their descendents remaining in Somerville is their legacy.

St. Thomas AME Zion Church

First Members (1858). Rev. Jephthah Barcroft, Betsy Lee, Jane Van Derveer, Samuel Rodgers, Sydnia Williamson, Charles Sutphin, Sarah Maria Jackson, Jane Bergen, Sarah Rodgers, Hester Jackson-Campbell, Clara Sears, Diana Rodgers, Hanah Maria Schenck, and Elisa Rawson.

In 1858, St. Thomas erected a 22 ft by 44 ft building, located at the corner of Davenport Street and Cliff Street. While there are few accounts of the school, it likely relocated along with the congregation to this location. History at Home, Jessie Havens 2005

Where We Were……and….. Where we ARE.

The Neighborhoods of Lottery Field and South Somerville

The Lottery Field and the South Somerville neighborhoods were home to Somerville’s earliest African American residents. The Lottery Field neighborhood-established area is north of Main Street on a swath of vacant land. The South Somerville neighborhood was established within an English, German, and Irish enclave-south of Main Street and east of the train station. These locations-in relationship to the Main Street business area were less desirable. The unspoken, but socially understood practice of segregated neighborhoods-restricted Somerville’s immigrant and African American populations to these locations.. Descendents of these original African American families and a growing immigrant population have allowed the neighborhood identities to remain uniquely diverse.

Resources:

1857 Somerville Wall Map, 1860 US Census, Somerset County 1873, New Jersey, Somerville NJ 1882, Somerset County Historical Society, 1918 , History of Hunterdon and Somerset Counties, New Jersey: Google Books, History of Hunterdon and Somerset Counties, NJ Franklin Ellis · 1881