Built in 1871, this was the first public school building in Perth Amboy. The original eight-room school, which was doubled in size in 1905, exemplified the best class of public school building erected in New Jersey in the years after the Civil War. These schools were characterized by masonry construction with a projecting entrance porch and stair tower. The Italianate style also included arched windows, a low-pitched hip roof, and wide overhanging eaves supported by heavy brackets. Such buildings reflected growing civic pride and consensus in favor of public education. In 1989, Public School No. 1 was renamed in honor of Thomas Mundy Peterson, the first African American to vote under the Fifteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. The son of former slaves, Peterson cast his ballot in a municipal referendum on March 31, 1870, at Perth Amboy City Hall. He served as custodian of Public School No. 1 from the time of its opening in 1871 until 1877.