The Columbian Academy / Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Public School #11
886 Bergen Avenue at the northeast corner of Academy Street
Oldest School Site in New Jersey

Postcard (circa 1910?) of Public School #11
View looking northeast from the intersection of Academy Street and Bergen Avenue at Bergen Square
Courtesy, Jersey City Free Public Library

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Public School #11 at the northeast corner of Bergen Square and Academy Street. The current building stands on the site of the former Columbian Academy
Photo: P. Shalhoub, 2001

Jersey City claims to have the oldest continuous educational institution in the United States. It started in the colony of New Netherland at Bergen under the governorship of Peter Stuyvesant.

Bergen's public school house operated under the jurisdiction of the Dutch Reformed Church, which had a congregation at Bergen Square, circa 1660. Local historian Barbara Petrick explains: "The church elders had complete control over the school, which was free of charge and supported by public lands and taxes" ( 9). The voorlezer was "a combination schoolmaster, clerk, and lay minister" (Petrick, 9).

In 1664, the British seized New Netherland and called the land on the west bank of the Hudson River the Colony of New Jersey. The new governor Philip Carteret granted a charter of land and privileges to the Town and Freeholders of Bergen. In essence the provision called for the maintenance of land for an ongoing "free school for the education of youth" in perpetuity. The first church building of the Dutch Reformed Congregation at Tuers Avenue and Bergen Street (now Vroom) was used for the school. It was dedicated to education in 1668. There is also some opinion that between 1664 and 1668 a log cabin, to the northeast of Bergen Square, was used for education during the week and as a "drunkards' prison" on the weekends. Engelbert Steenhuysen was the first schoolmaster. Thus began the oldest continuous school site in the United States and the first school and public school building in New Jersey.

The second school building was constructed in 1708 and probably remained under the auspices of the Dutch Reformed Church until the Revolutionary War. In 1790, it was replaced by the Columbian Academy, a two-story stone building with a cupola. The American eagle was used on the seal for the academy. The Township of Bergen claimed jurisdiction over the Academy to meet the educational needs of the growing community. The Trustees of the Academy transferred the deed for the property to the Township in 1813. The following year, the New Jersey legislature approved the use of the Academy as a public school. It operated until 1857 when the Academy was razed and the City of Jersey City erected Columbian District School, Number One, Town of Bergen on the "school lot." It too was replaced in 1903 by Jersey City Public School No. 11 at 886 Bergen Avenue.

In 1910, at the commemoration of the 250th Anniversary of the founding of the village of Bergen, it was proposed that a statue of Peter Stuyvesant, Director-General of the New Netherlands be placed in front on the school. The unveiling of the bronze statue took place on October 18, 1913.

On October 3, 1966 a fire destroyed Public School No. 11; it was rebuilt, the sixth school on the historic site, and named for Martin Luther King, Jr., the civil rights leader. At the dedication of the school on April 2, 1969, the statue of Peter Stuyvesant was placed near the entrance of the school. The pamphlet from the ceremony gives homage to the two men with whom the school is today associated: ". . . Martin Luther King, Jr., . . . like Peter Stuyvesant knew when to fight and when not to fight. Dr. King chose to wage his war by non-violent means. Hopefully his followers will, as the Dutch settlers did, choose the peaceful way; and in this manner, assure to all peoples the benefits of the centuries of work and dedication which have continued on this site."

References:

"City Urged to Preserve School's Historic Objects." Jersey Journal 6 October 1966.
Petrick, Barbara Burns. Church and School in the Immigrant City: A Social History of Public History of Public Education in Jersey City, 1804-1930. Metuchen, NJ: The Upland Press, 2001.