History

Boxwood hall has a very rich an early mayor of Elizabethtown NJ, a President of the Continental Congress, the first President of the United States, the first Secretary of the Treasury, and three signers of the United States Constitution.

Boxwood Hall was built circa 1750 by Samuel Woodruff, who was then the Mayor of Elizabethtown. Elias Boudinot lived here from 1772 to 1795. Boudinot was a member of the Continental Congress, and served as the President of Congress in 1782-1783. It was during this time, on October 31, 1783, that word reached Congress that the Treaty of Paris had been signed, officially ending the Revolutionary War.

When a young Alexander Hamilton studied in Elizabeth in 1773 at the Presbyterian Academy, he was a visitor at Boxwood Hall and developed a friendship with the Boudinots that would last his lifetime. Hamilton fought in the Revolutionary War and served as an aide-de-camp to General Washington. He went on to serve under President Washington as the country’s first Secretary of the Treasury, and his face is familiar to most people as it has appeared on the ten dollar bill since 1928.

In April of 1789, George Washington traveled from his home in Virginia to be inaugurated as the country’s first President in New York City, which then served as the national capital. He reached Elizabethtown on April 23, 1789, and had lunch at Boxwood Hall before being ferried from Elizabethtown to New York City. This gives Elizabeth the distinction of being Washington’s final stop before reaching the city where he would be sworn in as the first President. A monument honoring Washington’s Inaugural stands in Winfield Scott Plaza about 100 yards from here

During the summer of 2015 the Historic Wallpaper Specialties installation team installed block printed wallpapers in the central hall and three formal rooms. Special thanks to Master Paperhangers Frank Yates and Brian Atchly.