Landmarks of Hoboken, New Jersey facts for kids
Hoboken, New Jersey, is a cool city with lots of fun places to explore! You can find many parks, important historical spots, and other interesting sights here.
Contents
- Landmarks to Discover
- Carlo's Bakery
- Castle Point
- Clam Broth House
- DeBaun Auditorium
- Hoboken City Hall
- Hoboken Free Public Library
- Hoboken Historical Museum
- Hoboken Projects
- Hoboken Terminal
- Hudson River Waterfront Walkway
- Hudson Tea Building
- The Miracle Statue
- Maxwell's
- Marineview Plaza
- Stevens Institute of Technology
- Sybil's Cave
- Weehawken Cove
- United Synagogue of Hoboken
- Parks to Enjoy
Landmarks to Discover
Carlo's Bakery
This is a super famous bakery! It's where the TV show Cake Boss on TLC was filmed. You can find it on Washington Street, right across from City Hall.
Castle Point
Castle Point is the highest spot in Hoboken. It got its name because it reminded early sailors of the "Castilian coast" in Spain, like a tiny Rock of Gibraltar. In 1804, Colonel John Stevens bought this land and built his home here. Later, his son, Edwin Augustus Stevens, built a huge 40-room mansion, the "Stevens Castle," nearby in 1853.
The Stevens Institute of Technology bought the castle in 1910. It was used for offices and homes until 1959. Today, Castle Point is still part of the Stevens campus. It also overlooks Sybil's Cave. The area around Castle Point includes streets like the yellow brick Castle Point Terrace. You can also find Castle Point Park and Castle Point Skate Park at the bottom of Castle Point, right by the Hudson River.
Clam Broth House
The Clam Broth House was a well-known restaurant in Hoboken that was open for over 100 years, from 1899 to 2004. It was famous for its giant hand-shaped signs. One sign hung outside the restaurant, pointing down to the entrance. Another sign was on a building next door, and it's still there today!
Sadly, in 2004, the building was damaged during construction and had to be torn down. The restaurant reopened in 2010, but another restaurant, Biggie's Clam Bar, bought it in 2012.
DeBaun Auditorium
You can find the DeBaun Auditorium inside Edwin A. Stevens Hall on 5th Street, across from Stevens Park.
Hoboken City Hall
This is the main building for Hoboken's city government.
Hoboken Free Public Library
Located at Church Square Park, the Hoboken Public Library has a great collection of old photos and books about Hoboken's history and culture. It was built in 1896 with money from a kind person named Martha Bayard Stevens.
Hoboken Historical Museum
The Hoboken Historical Museum started in 1986. In 2001, it moved to its current spot at 1301 Hudson Street. The museum shows exhibits about the city's past and displays art from local artists. Its building used to be a machine shop for the W. & A. Fletcher Company, which was important for shipbuilding in the 1800s.
Hoboken Projects
The Hoboken Projects are a group of apartment buildings built in 1949. They are located on the southwest side of Hoboken.
Hoboken Terminal
Hoboken Terminal, also called Lackawanna Station, is a major transportation center and a national historic landmark. It was built in 1907 at the southeast corner of the city. It's named after a Native American tribe that used to live in the area.
Hudson River Waterfront Walkway
The Hudson River Waterfront Walkway is a lovely path that runs along the Hudson River. It's a great place for a stroll!
Hudson Tea Building
The Hudson Tea Building is an apartment complex that used to be a Lipton Tea factory. A part of the Hudson River Waterfront Walkway opened here in 2004. It forms a "C" shape around the buildings near the Weehawken Cove. Some famous people have lived here, like former New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine and New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning. Actress Mischa Barton also stayed here while filming a movie in nearby Bayonne.
The Miracle Statue
On July 29, 2005, a small statue of Jesus at a shrine on Jackson Street and Third Street gained a lot of attention. A man named Julio Dones, who takes care of the shrine, said he saw one of the statue's eyes open while he was cleaning it. Before that day, its eyes were closed. He believed it was a miracle. The event quickly became famous, and news stations like ABC and UPN came to report on it. People started calling it "The Miracle Statue."
Maxwell's
This was a well-known music venue in Hoboken.
Marineview Plaza
Marineview Plaza is a complex with two tall buildings, each 25 stories high. Built in 1975, these buildings are the second tallest in Hoboken, reaching 240.5 feet. They are called 1 Marineview Plaza (north) and 2 Marineview Plaza (south). Both buildings have 432 apartments for rent and even have swimming pools on their roofs! The complex is surrounded by Hudson Street, 4th Street, River Street, and 3rd Street.
Besides the two tall buildings, Marineview Plaza also has a smaller building called 5 Marineview Plaza. This building used to have Hoboken's only movie theater, but it closed in 2005 and is now a bank.
Stevens Institute of Technology
This university is located on a hill overlooking the Hudson River.
Sybil's Cave
Sybil's Cave is a cave with a natural water spring. It's now buried at the bottom of the Stevens Institute of Technology hill, near the Castle Point Skate Park. Hoboken's founder, Colonel John Stevens III, first dug out the cave around 1832 and added a cool gothic-style stone arch. It was named after the ancient Greco-Roman prophetesses.
The cave was once Hoboken's biggest tourist spot because of its magnesium-rich water. In 1841, the cave became nationally famous when the body of a young worker, Mary Cecilia Rogers, was found nearby. This event even inspired Edgar Allan Poe's detective novel, The Mystery of Marie Rogêt. For many years, people would buy glasses of the cave's water, believing it had healing powers.
The cave was closed in 1880 due to concerns about water quality. It was then used for cool storage. Later, it was filled with concrete and dirt in the 1930s. In October 2008, the cave was reopened to the public after a renovation project. Today, the gate to the cave is usually locked because the water is not safe to drink, and the inside is rocky and slippery.
Weehawken Cove
Weehawken Cove is a small bay that stretches west from the Hudson River. It sits between Hoboken to the south and Weehawken to the north. The explorer Henry Hudson anchored his ship here on October 2, 1609. His first mate even thought Castle Point looked like it had silver mines!
United Synagogue of Hoboken
The United Synagogue of Hoboken is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It is one of the oldest synagogue buildings in New Jersey.
Parks to Enjoy
Castle Point Park
Castle Point Park is a public park with a walkway along the Hudson River. It offers amazing views of Manhattan! The park stretches north from Frank Sinatra Park and ends near 10th Street. Castle Point Park runs past the bottom of Castle Point, where the Stevens Institute of Technology is. You can also see historic Sybil's Cave from the park.
Inside the park, you'll find the Castle Point Skate Park, which is Hoboken's only special area for skateboarding. It has many ramps, including a small half-pipe, a large half-pipe, a quarter pipe, and a 45-degree ramp, plus other smaller ramps.
Church Square Park
Church Square Park is located between Fourth and Fifth Streets and between Willow Avenue and Garden Street. John Stevens, who founded Hoboken, first set aside this area as a "Public Square" in 1804.
In the eastern part of the park, there's a statue of the radio pioneer Guglielmo Marconi, created by Arturo Dazzi. It also includes a tribute to the Four Chaplains, who bravely gave their lives during World War II. In the western part of the park, you'll find the Firemen's Monument, Hoboken, which is a statue of a fireman.
This popular park covers two city blocks and is often busy with community events. It has four separate playground areas, including special ones for infants and toddlers. There's also a sprinkler area for summer fun, basketball courts, ping pong tables, chess tables, a covered gazebo, and lots of grassy spots.
Columbus Park
Columbus Park is near Hoboken High School, at the corner of 9th Street and Clinton Street. It was designed by Charles N. Lowrie, a landscape architect for the Hudson County Park System. In the middle of the park, there's a statue of Christopher Columbus. There's also a memorial for John A. Sacci, a beloved Hoboken High School history teacher.
Columbus Park has many sports courts, including a multi-use court with a half basketball court, three lighted tennis courts, bocce courts, a shuffleboard court, and a hitting wall. There are two playgrounds and a spray park. The playground closest to 9th Street was dedicated in 2002 to remember Deborah Lynn Williams, a Hoboken mother who passed away at the World Trade Center during the September 11 attacks.
Frank Sinatra Park
Frank Sinatra Park is a park near Pier A that offers amazing views of Manhattan. It was built in 1998 to honor Frank Sinatra, who was born in Hoboken. Sinatra Park is shaped like a Roman amphitheater, with an area facing the former site of the World Trade Center. A Statue of Frank Sinatra was put in the park in 2021.
The Hoboken Division of Cultural Affairs often hosts events here, like Thursday concerts with different New Jersey bands and "Shakespeare Mondays" by the Hudson Shakespeare Company. The park also has a soccer field. On August 24, 2004, CNN even broadcast live TV shows from the park!
Gateway Park
Gateway Park is a small, quiet park created in 2000 to make the neighborhood prettier. It has trees, grass, and a bird feeder. There's a sign that says "Your Park," even though it doesn't officially say "Gateway Park" yet. This triangle-shaped park is about the size of a gas station and is Hoboken's smallest park.
Gateway Park is on the southwest corner of Hoboken. It's bordered by train tracks to the south, which separate Hoboken from Jersey City. To the east is an old, empty building. The park also borders Newark Street and is at the intersection of Newark Street and Jackson Street. Pine trees line two of its three sides.
Jackson Street Park
Jackson Street Park, located at 102 Jackson Street, is a play park for young children. It was built inside the shell of the city's old Public Works garage. In 2012, it was fully updated with new play equipment, soft ground, a water spray for summer, and a rock climbing wall.
Madison Park
Madison Park (also called Madison Street Park) is at the corner of 3rd Street and Madison Street. There's a large abstract painting on the building facing the park. The park was completely redone in 2019. It now has brand new play equipment for children of different ages, an improved spray feature, a swing set, a climbing net, a shade structure, more benches, and a bathroom.
Pier A Park
Pier A Park was once a pier for ships but was turned into a park in 1999. It stretches from the southern end of Hoboken (just north of the Hoboken Terminal) east into the Hudson River. From here, you get an amazing view of the entire Manhattan skyline.
Pier A has a water-jet fountain, bike paths, rows of trees, a big open field, and a fishing area with water pumps and cutting boards. There's also a gazebo at its far eastern end. In 2006, a group called the Urban Land Institute named Pier A Park one of the top 10 urban parks in the Nation!
Since Pier A is the closest park to downtown Hoboken, many office workers come here for walks during lunch. On hot summer weekends, the grassy field is full of people enjoying the sun. In warm weather, movies are shown on the pier at night, with the Manhattan skyline as a stunning backdrop. One Saturday each summer, a town fair is held on Pier A with music, craft shops, and rides for kids. Hoboken also has its Fourth of July celebrations here.
The park has also hosted concerts. Famous performances include Mumford & Sons in 2012 and the Americanarama Festival in 2013, which featured Bob Dylan and My Morning Jacket.
Many people watched the September 11 attacks from Pier A because it had clear views of the World Trade Center. On March 11, 2002, a memorial service was held on Pier A. On September 11, 2002, a section of land was created as a memorial for the victims by planting trees. In 2017, 56 glass panels, one for each Hoboken resident who passed away, were put up by the trees.
ResilienCity Park
ResilienCity Park is located between Madison and Adams Streets, from 12th to 13th Streets. This park opened in June 2023 on what used to be an industrial site in Northwest Hoboken. The park has many cool features, including a large lawn, sports fields, a basketball court, and a children's play area. It's also designed to hold over 2 million gallons of stormwater, helping to prevent flooding. This was funded by the Rebuild by Design project after Hurricane Sandy. It is the largest "resiliency park" in New Jersey.
Stevens Park & Little League Field
Stevens Park & Little League Field is between Hudson Street and Sinatra Drive, from 4th to 5th Streets. It was originally called Hudson Square but was renamed in 1955 to honor the Stevens family, who gave the land for the park.
In the southern part of the park, you can see an exposed section of serpentine rock. The central part of the park has a dog run. In the western part, there are two old Dahlgren guns from the USS Portsmouth, facing west towards the St. Peter & Paul Church's cafeteria.
Elysian Park
Elysian Park is a small park in Hoboken that is the last remaining part of the historic Elysian Fields. Located on Hudson Street, between 9th and 11th Street, Elysian Park has two play areas, a basketball court, a sprinkler, a dog run, and restrooms. The northern end of the fancy Castle Point Terrace road ends at this park. Part of the 1954 movie On The Waterfront was filmed here.
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