1685--John Inian established ferry service between New Brunswick and Highland Park.

1700s--A Tavern and Inn located near the ferry landing operates for many years.

1776-1777--For seven months, thousands of Hessian and British troops occupy much of the land that would become Highland Park. 

1795--First toll bridge was constructed replacing the ferry.

1806--Essex-Middlesex Turnpike built from Metuchen to Highland Park.  Now Raritan Avenue and Route 27 (Lincoln Highway) from Sixth Avenue to Metuchen.

1809--Newly appointed president of Queen's College, John Henry Livingston purchases 150-acre tract that will become known as the Livingston Manor.

1835--Tornado causes significant damage to area houses, barns, and fields. 

1836--New Jersey Railroad and Transportation Company built a rail line that terminated on the Highland Park side of the Raritan River. Now it is Amtrak's Northeast corridor line.

1838--Camden and Amboy Railroad built wooden railroad bridge across the Raritan.

1843--Livingston Homestead constructed on 150 acre property as summer house for New Yorkers Robert & Louisa Livingston, relatives of John Henry Livingston.

1853-55--William Flagg builds three mansions overlooking the Raritan River in "Raritan Park."   He names the new south side street Adelaide Avenue.  100 years later, the only remaining house becomes the Jewish Community Center in 1956.

1867--Brewery was established in the hollow west of North Second Avenue. It burns down in 1912 except for one building.  The remaining bottling building on Montgomery Street is converted into apartments.

1870--Highland Park annexed into the newly formed Raritan Township from Piscataway Township.

1875--The Albany Street Bridge is purchased by Middlesex County and the toll booth is eliminated. 

1878--Wooden railroad bridge destroyed by fire. Replaced with iron truss bridge.

1883--Christopher Meyer buys one of William Flagg's houses on Adelaide Avenue.  Along with his descendents, the Rice family, the house becomes known as the Meyer-Rice house.  It would become the Jewish Community Center in 1956 and the "Y" in 1961.

1886--First schoolhouse opened at Benner Street and South Second Avenue. Chrissie Bartle is first teacher. The school was designed by architect George K. Parsell.

1889--Kitchenmeister's florist business began in "Floral Valley" at the end of North Fifth Avenue.

1889--First grocery store was constructed on Raritan Avenue.

1890--Johnson & Johnson constructed several small laboratory and storage buildings near North Adelaide Avenue. The last of them burns down in 1915.

1890--Reformed Church congregation was established.

1890--Robert Wood Johnson, Sr. buys the large estate on River Road just north of the railroad tracks.  It is used as a farm for Johnson & Johnson and upon his death in 1910, as a summer house for his son, Robert Wood Johnson Jr. 

1892--Stone arch Albany Street Bridge constructed.

1895--First gas street lights were installed along Raritan Avenue.

1897--Trolley service to Perth Amboy along Raritan and Woodbridge Avenues began. Another line to Bound Brook along River Road was established.

1897--Highland Park Hotel was constructed at Woodbridge and Raritan Avenues.  Operates as a hotel until the 1950s.

1897--John Waldron machine factory is constructed off Cleveland Avenue near River Road and the railroad tracks.

1898--Race track opened on Woodbridge Avenue at Duclos Lane. Having both horse races and bicycle races, it operates until 1906.

1898--Reformed Church was constructed on South Second Avenue.  This is Alexander Merchant's first design as an independent architect.

1899--Electric street lamps were erected along Raritan Avenue.

1900--Baptist Church constructed on Raritan Avenue at North Second Ave.

1901--Firehouse was constructed at Raritan and North Second Avenues.  Designed by George K. Parsell.

1903--Stone arch railway bridge constructed by Pennsylvania Railroad.  Replaces the iron truss bridge.

1905--The Borough of Highland Park was established by State Legislature on March 15th.  James B. Archer elected first mayor.

1906--Watson Whittlesey's Livingston Manor housing development began on the north side.

1907--Janeway & Carpender Wallpaper factory relocated to Highland Park along Cleveland Avenue and the railroad tracks.

1907--Highland Park School is built on South Second Avenue at Benner Street.  Designed by Alexander Merchant.

1909--First drugstore opened on Raritan Avenue at Cedar Avenue.  It is a branch of Lewis Hoagland's New Brunswick drugstore.

1909--Alexander Merchant builds a house for himself and his family on South Adelaide Avenue.  Neighboring houses, including several on Cliff Court are also built based on his designs in the years that follow.

1910--The Airdome (an open air theater) was built on River Road. It closed in 1914.

1910--First aeroplane to fly over the town. Charles K. Hamilton, pilot.

1910--Drug store owner Lewis Hoagland creates a set of twenty postcards of Highland Park's sites including the firehouse, Adelaide Avenue, Janeway & Carpender Wallpaper factory, and Public School.

1912--Police Department formed.

1914--Raritan Avenue became part of the transcontinental Lincoln Highway.

1915--Two neighborhood schools are constructed--Irving & Hamilton--from the same architectural plans by Alexander Merchant.

1914--St. Paul's Church constructed on Raritan Avenue at South Sixth Ave.  William Boylan is the architect.

1917--Druggist Joseph Barlow opens his own pharmacy at 128 Raritan Avenue.

1919--Greek Orthodox Church constructed on River Road.  Designed by architect William Boylan.

1920--Rice Memorial School for Colored Children opened. It closed in 1924.

1920--Robert Wood Johnson, Jr. became mayor.

1920--Forest Park amusement park was established on Karsey Street. It closed in 1924.

1920--The Band-Aid was invented by Earle E. Dickson. He resided at 326 Montgomery St.

1920--First apartment building on Raritan Avenue was constructed at the corner of South Third Ave.

1920--New car showrooms are located at 114, 127, and 426 Raritan Avenue.  

1921--Flako Products' packaged baked good mixes created.

1921--WWI Doughboy memorial monument erected at Woodbridge and Raritan Avenues.

1922--Ayres Beach opens on the curve of the Raritan River below the Albany Street Bridge.

1923--Masonic Hall constructed at Raritan and North Fourth Avenues.

1925--Alexander Merchant designed the new Police Department building and jail at 137 Raritan Avenue.  It is now a deli.

1926--Highland Park Junior High School is constructed.

1926--Movie theater opened on Woodbridge Avenue at South Sixth Avenue. It closed by 1960.

1926--J. Seward Johnson builds Merriwold estate on River Road for his first family.

1927--All Saint's Episcopal Church constructed on Magnolia Street and South Third Avenue.

1927--St. Paul's Parochial School on Raritan Avenue opens.  Designed by George W. Brooks, it operated for sixty-five years as a school.

1928--Trinity Methodist Church on Montgomery Street constructed.  Designed by Phildelphian architect George Savage.

1930--Conservative Temple built on North Third Avenue.

1932--Third Avenue Sweet Shop opens on the corner of Raritan and South Third Avenues.  Today's Corner Confectionery, It is the longest continuously run sweet shop in Highland Park. 

1933--Dance marathons took place at the Masonic Hall.

1933--Chrissie Bartle was the first woman to run for Borough council.  She did not win.

1930s--Trolley lines shut down.  Last trolley goes through town in 1936.  Buses and private automobiles continue to rise in popularity.

1937--Sally Tischler opened a tavern on the corner of Raritan and North Third Avenues.  It would later be enlarged to become Sally's Steakhouse in the 1950s. 

1943--Memorial honoring World War II soldiers erected on South Fourth Avenue.

1946--Donaldson Park, a Middlesex County park, was created.

1949--Redcliffe Garden apartments complex was constructed on South Adelaide Avenue.

1949--Conservative Temple congregation builds larger synagogue on South Third Avenue.

1950--Robert Wood Johnson gives his estate on River Road to the Sisters of the Cenacle.  It opens as a religious retreat house and operates as one for fifty-five years.

1951--Montgomery Street Apartments complex is constructed.

1952--Highland Park resident Selman Waksman wins Nobel Prize for his role in developing the antibiotic streptomycin. 

1953--First Park Town Outing was held in Donaldson Park.

1955--Highland Park celebrates its 50th anniversary jubilee.

1955--Highland Park opens its new fire station on South Fifth Avenue .  The old firehouse on Raritan Avenue is converted into a dry cleaners.

1956--Meyer-Rice mansion on South Adelaide Ave. converted into the Jewish Community Center.  George Segal teaches art lessons.

1958--High School receives an addition known as the "English" wing.

1958--Two volunteer firemen are killed at Ten Broeck Motors fire on Woodbridge Avenue.

1959--Highland Park Public Library is constructed on North Sixth Avenue.

1960--Roy Lichtenstein, a design professor at Rutgers, moves to South Adelaide Avenue in Highland Park.

1960--John F. Kennedy's campaign trail proceeds through Highland Park.

1961--The movie theater on Woodbridge Avenue and South Sixth Avenue is demolished. 

1961--Masonic Lodge #241 constructs addition on the front of the old Temple on North Third Avenue. 

1961--The Jewish Community Center expands by adding a large athletic facility designed by Ernest Levine to their Victorian mansion on South Adelaide Avenue.  It becomes the YW-YMHA.

1962--Post Office in its own building on Raritan Avenue opens.

1962--Congregation Etz Ahaim constructs their synagogue on Denison Avenue.

1963--The Greek Orthodox Church relocates to Piscataway and their church on River Road becomes the church of a Russian Orthodox congregation.

1965--Fire at Masonic Temple destroys the auditorium and offices of the upper stories.  First floor remains as the commercial building at the corner of North Fourth and Raritan Avenues.

1967--Middle School is built on South Fifth Avenue and Mansfield Street.  Named Bartle School to honor Highland Park's first school teacher, Chrissie Bartle.

1968--The High School expands with the addition of the Science wing.

1970s--Cedar Lane receives over 350 housing units in several garden apartment complexes.

1970s--The Highland Park Historical Commission is active.

1978--Eruv is established.

1978--Highland Park resident Arno Penzias wins Nobel Prize for Physics.

1979--New Borough Hall is constructed on South Fifth Avenue.

1984--Charles Figg becomes the first African-American member elected to Borough Council.

1987--Popular Highland Park High School principal William Donohue is killed.

1987--A six-story, luxury apartment building is built on South Adelaide Avenue on land that was formerly part of the YW-YMHA lot and before that, the Meyer-Rice estate.

1989--Congregation Ahavas Achim builds a synagogue on South First Avenue.

1994--The Highland Park Public Library is expanded and remodeled into a Colonial Revival style building.

1997--The Brody House at Raritan Avenue and North Adelaide Avenue is demolished.  It was designed by Alexander Merchant and built in 1911.

1998--First woman mayor, Meryl Frank, elected.

1999--First history book, a pictorial by Jean Kolva and Joanne Pisciotta for the Highland Park Historic Society is published.  See the Historical Society home page for information about ordering a copy.

2002--The Livingston Homestead (Waldron House) is listed in the New Jersey and National Registers of Historic Places.

2003--Highland Park is selected to participate in the Main Street New Jersey program.

2004--The Livingston Manor Historic District is listed in the New Jersey and National Registers of Historic Places.  Click on the Livingston Manor button for more information.

2005--Second book of Highland Park history written by Jeanne Kolva and Joanne Pisciotta is published.  See the Historical Society home page for information about buying a copy.

2005--Highland Park celebrates its centennial--one hundred years of notable history.

2005--The Sisters of the Cenacle Retreat House on River Road closes and is sold to a private owner.

2005--Highland Park's L.J. Smith catches a touchdown pass as a Philadelphia Eagles player at Super Bowl XXXIX.

2005--The Kaplan Organization adds a wing onto the "Castle," the former J. Seward Johnson estate on River Road.

2006--St. Paul's School on Raritan Avenue is demolished.

2006--A fire in the basement of the Conservative Temple on South Third Avenue renders the building unusable for a year.

2007--The Parker Nursing Home opens its assisted living facility "Parker at Stonegate" at the former J. Seward Johnson estate on River Road.

2007--"The Mirror"--a newspaper with exclusive Highland Park coverage starts publication.

2007--The Eugene Young Environmental Center opens on River Road.

2007--The first temple and former Masonic Lodge on North Third Avenue is demolished.

2007--The YM-YWHA closes its Adelaide Avenue facility and relocates many of its operations to other venues.

2007-2008--The Reformed Church on South Second Avenue constructs a six-apartment addition to offer transitional housing for young adults previously in foster care.   Grand opening is February 24th.