Kirk Green

Named for the two churches established in the late 1600s, Kirk Green was the center of Woodbridge life in the early Colonial period at the modern-day intersection of Rahway Avenue and Port Reading Avenue. Settlers gathered there for markets, religious services, and social occasions, and some of Woodbridge’s earliest homes were built along its borders. The Aaron Dunn/Jost-Keating House at 12 Freeman Street was constructed c. 1695 as a home for First Presbyterian Church minister Rev. Archibald Riddell; later occupants included James Bloodgood, a tanner who owned 13 acres between Lewis Street and Ridgedale Avenue, and Aaron Dunn, a Revolutionary War soldier. The house remains one of Woodbridge’s best examples of early Colonial architecture, retaining many original features, including four fireplaces, two stairways to the second floor and attic, and doors thought to be original, made in “Christian style” with a cross shape between the panels and “H” and “L” hinges. Other surviving nearby sites include the Trinity Church Rectory, also known as the Johnathan Dunham House, c. 1700, the Bloomfield House, c. 1750, and the Dunham-Prall house on Port Reading Avenue, once the home of Revolutionary War veteran and school teacher John Creamer.

Woodbridge, New Jersey · United States