Home Office Building

For the Home Office Building in London, see 2 Marsham Street.

The Home Office Building is located adjacent to Military Park at 10 Park Place in Newark, Essex County, New Jersey, United States. The building was built in 1928 and was added to the National Register of Historic Places on June 17, 1982.

Home Office Building
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
New Jersey Register of Historic Places
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Location	8-12 Park Place, Newark, New Jersey
Coordinates	40°44′25.6″N 74°10′6″W
Area	0.6 acres (0.24 ha)
Built	1928
Architect	John H. & Wilson C. Ely
Architectural style	Classical Revival
NRHP reference No.	82003273[1]
NJRHP No.	1253[2]
Significant dates
Added to NRHP	June 17, 1982
Designated NJRHP	April 30, 1982

The building is one of two existing structures in downtown Newark commissioned by the Firemen's Insurance Company, an insurance company founded in 1855,^[3] to house its offices.

The Military Park building was designed by prominent father-and-son Newark architects John H. & Wilson C. Ely. Construction began in 1924 and the building was completed in 1928. In 1982 the building was designated a New Jersey Historic Place and a National Historic Place. The 10-story building has 16,000 square feet (1,490 m²) of space. The Berger Organization purchased the building in 1990, the same year a plaque was placed on it by the Newark Preservation and Landmarks Committee. The building underwent renovations in 2006.^[4]

Newark Preservation and Landmarks Committee plaque.

An inscription on a bronze plaque placed by the Newark Preservation and Landmarks Committee reads:

This insurance company was founded in 1855 in Newark. These headquarters were built during the height of the company's expansion in 1924-1928. This ten story structure features Classical Revival ornamentation on facades and in major interior spaces. The architects were the prominent Newark firm John H. and Wilson C. Ely. A major restoration of the building by the Berger Organization was begun in 1989 for continued use as professional offices ...

There are proposals to convert the building to residences.^[5]

Firemen's Insurance Building

Firemen's Insurance Company Building at Broad and Market streets

An elaborate Victorian Firemen's Insurance Company Building was constructed at Broad and Market Streets circa 1870. It featured a metallic fireman scupluture on one of its mansarded towers. A tower replaced it in 1910.^[6]

Firemen's Insurance Building
General information
Type	Office
Location	Broad and Market Streets Newark, New Jersey
Coordinates	40°44′8.5″N 74°10′18.5″W
Completed	1910
Height
Roof	205 ft (62 m)
Technical details
Floor count	19
Design and construction
Architect(s)	Marvin, Davis & Turton[7]
References
[8][9]

The 1910 Firemen's Insurance Building replaced it on the northeast corner of Broad and Market streets, at Four Corners, the spot was once considered one of the busiest intersections in the United States. Completed in 1910, the sixteen-story structure was the first skyscraper in the city, and the tallest in the entire state.^[10][11] The architects were Marvin, Davis & Turton.

See also

• National Register of Historic Places listings in Essex County, New Jersey
• List of tallest buildings in Newark
• Fireman's Insurance Company Building, Washington DC

References

1. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. March 13, 2009.
2. "New Jersey and National Registers of Historic Places - Essex County" (PDF). New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection - Historic Preservation Office. January 10, 2010. p. 3. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 27, 2009. Retrieved April 25, 2010.
3. "Fireman's" is an erroneous spelling; see Annual Report of the Insurance Commissioner of the State of Tennessee for the Year Ending Dec 31 1907. Tennessee Department of Insurance. 1908. p. 87. Retrieved 23 September 2018.
4. "Firemen's Insurance Company Building". Berger Organization. Archived from the original on 20 December 2009. Retrieved 28 July 2010.
5. "Historic Military Park Building in Newark Could Become 200+ Apartments". 4 August 2023.
6. Korom, Joseph J. (12 October 2018). The American Skyscraper, 1850-1940: A Celebration of Height. Branden Books. p. 291. ISBN 9780828321884 – via Internet Archive. Firemen's Insurance Company Building.
7. Engineering Record 25 Nov. 1911: 636. New York.
8. "TALLEST BUILDING IN NEW JERSEY; Firemen's Insurance Co.'s New Home in Newark Will Be 205 Feet High" (PDF). New York Times. February 6, 1910. Retrieved 2010-07-29.
9. "Firemen's Insurance Building". Emporis.com. Archived from the original on July 30, 2012. Retrieved 2010-07-29.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
10. GmbH, Emporis. "Firemen's Insurance Building, Newark - 121311 - EMPORIS". Emporis. Archived from the original on July 30, 2012.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
11. "TALLEST BUILDING IN NEW JERSEY; Firemen's Insurance Co.'s New Home in Newark Will Be 205 Feet High" (PDF). The New York Times. February 6, 1910.