11 Most Charming Town Squares In New Jersey
New Jersey's town squares still do actual work. Some sit at colonial commons where troops once drilled. Others grew up around railroad depots and river landings. A few pull triple duty as pedestrian mall, farmers market, and evening concert lawn. The eleven below span the state, and each puts something specific at its center.
Morristown
Morristown Green is a colonial-era common in the middle of town, and George Washington's troops drilled here through the 1779 to 1780 winter encampment. Fort Nonsense sits on a hill above town where Washington had his troops build earthworks the same winter. The Green anchors South Street with the Alliance Statue, the Civil War Monument, and the Patriots Farewell sculpture set among the walking paths. Mayo Performing Arts Center, a restored 1937 movie house, sits a block off the Green with a full year-round calendar of concerts, comedy, and touring productions. St. Peter's Episcopal Church is a Gothic Revival parish on Miller Road with strong stained-glass windows. South and Pine American Eatery covers the dinner side with lamb meatballs, mussels, and a menu that leans New American.
Princeton
Palmer Square sits across Nassau Street from Princeton University, and the whole complex was built out in the 1930s to give the town a proper commercial center. The Nassau Inn on the square houses the Yankee Doodle Tap Room, where a Norman Rockwell mural of a napping Yankee Doodle Dandy hangs above the bar. The Green out front is a landscaped park with fountains, and the Summer Music Series brings live acts to the lawn on weekends between June and August. Cobblestone paths lead past boutiques and restaurants toward Palmer Square West, where The Bent Spoon runs organic ice cream, sorbet, and fresh-baked goods with a rotating flavor list. Small House Books, hollow-brick storefronts, and the annual Christmas tree lighting round out the square through the year.
Ridgewood
Van Neste Square sits in downtown Ridgewood with tree-lined paths and war memorials, and the annual Daffodil Festival fills the park with flowers each April. The 9/11 boulder and the WWI memorial anchor opposite corners of the square. Bookends, the independent bookstore two blocks off Van Neste, has hosted celebrity signings for decades and still runs one of the busiest event calendars of any indie bookshop in the region. Sook Pastry across the way handles the French pastry side with savory crepes and fresh-squeezed juice. Latour on East Ridgewood Avenue is a French-American grille that Chef Michael Latour has run since 1998, with a New York Times three-star history behind it. East Ridgewood Avenue itself was named one of the most beautiful main streets in America by Reader's Digest.
Haddonfield
Haddonfield's civic center meets at Haddon Avenue and Kings Highway, a colonial-era intersection lined with brick storefronts and reproduction 18th-century lanterns. The Indian King Tavern Museum on Kings Highway is where New Jersey's legislature declared independence from British rule in 1777, and the building still runs guided tours through the year. Haddy the dinosaur statue stands on Kings Highway commemorating the Hadrosaurus foulkii bones dug up here in 1858, the first nearly complete dinosaur skeleton found in North America. The Haddonfield Public Library sits a block off the main strip with an outdoor Musical Garden of percussion instruments open to visitors. Kings Highway runs west from Library Point into another mile of independent boutiques, bakeries, and cafés.
Red Bank
Red Bank sits on the Navesink River, and Broad Street becomes Broadwalk each year from mid-May through September when the borough closes the stretch between Front and White Streets to traffic. The result is a European-style pedestrian plaza with outdoor dining, live music, and no cars for four months. The Count Basie Center for the Arts anchors Broad Street with two stages and a cinema, running more than 200 shows a year in the jazz pianist's hometown. YESTERcades runs an hourly-pass retro arcade with pinball machines, video game consoles, and dozens of arcade cabinets from the 1980s and 1990s. The Robinson Ale House handles the quieter dinner side with craft beers and a raw bar. Downtown Red Bank has been nicknamed the Greenwich Village of New Jersey for the concentration of independent boutiques, galleries, and record stores.
Cranford
Cranford's downtown meets at North and South Avenues with the Rahway River running straight through the commercial district. The town's nickname is the Venice of New Jersey, and the Cranford Canoe Club rents kayaks and canoes to anyone wanting to paddle the river through downtown. The Cranford Theater is a working 1926 movie house with single and multi-screen classic film runs plus first-run releases. The Cranford Hotel, an 1897 landmark, still runs the outdoor brick patio and the signature Hotel Burger. Vine and Oak Tavern on North Avenue East handles wood-fired pizza and sushi under one roof. Hanson Park sits along the river with picnic space and river access, and Sperry Park nearby holds a 9/11 memorial.
Lambertville
Lambertville sits on the Delaware River and calls itself the Antiques Capital of New Jersey. Bridge and Union Streets meet at the town center where more than 40 antique dealers cluster within a few blocks. The People's Store is a four-story emporium in an 1839 stone building with dozens of dealers on rotating rent. Lambertville Trading Company runs a family-owned coffee, tea, and specialty gift shop across the street. Moon Cafe on Union Street handles Latin and Spanish tapas with BYOB seating on a patio out back. The Delaware River Pedestrian Bridge runs off Bridge Street across the river to New Hope, Pennsylvania, and the towpath along the Delaware and Raritan Canal starts a block from the crossing.
Cape May
Cape May's historic district is a National Historic Landmark, and Washington Street Mall is the three-block pedestrian shopping strip that runs through it. About 75 galleries, boutiques, and specialty shops line the mall, and the surrounding blocks hold more than 600 preserved Victorian-era buildings. The Cape May Peanut Butter Company runs a specialty shop with samples of homemade peanut butter and spreads. Rotary Park sits at the north end of the mall as the town's outdoor performance venue with a bandstand and open lawn for summer concerts. The Mad Batter handles the breakfast trade with fresh-baked goods, classic American plates, and a Bloody Mary lineup. Peace Pie down the strip runs homemade ice cream sandwiches in strawberry shortcake, salted caramel, and rotating seasonal flavors.
Clinton
Clinton's Main Street runs along the South Branch of the Raritan River, and the town's front porch is the Red Mill Museum Village. The red 1810 wooden mill on the riverbank is one of the most photographed buildings in New Jersey, with the waterfall from a low dam running past its base. Across the river sits the Hunterdon Art Museum in an 1836 gray stone mill building, with rotating exhibits and craft programming. Riverside Coffee and Tea on Main Street runs the morning trade with a view of both mills and the falls between them. Kilhaney's Pickles keeps a specialty shop on the strip with the town's own preserves and pickled vegetables in signature glass jars. The Union Hotel, an 1878 Second Empire building at the head of Main Street, has stood at the north end of the strip since Reconstruction.
Montclair
Bloomfield Avenue is the main commercial spine through Montclair, and the arts side of town clusters around Church Street and Seymour Plaza. The Montclair Art Museum on South Mountain Avenue holds more than 12,000 works of American and Native American art in a Greek Revival building open since 1914. The Wellmont Theater, a restored 1922 vaudeville house, hosts live music, comedy, and touring acts on Seymour Street a block off Bloomfield. Montclair Book Center on Glenridge Avenue runs one of the largest independent bookstores in the state with thousands of new, used, and rare titles across two levels. Nami Nori on Bloomfield handles the open-style temaki bar with an airy blonde-wood dining room. Wine Bar on Church Street rounds out the evenings with small plates and a natural wine list.
Chester
Chester's Main Street runs colonial-era brick storefronts with more than 60 independent shops, boutiques, and cafés, and no chain stores among them. The Cooper Gristmill on Route 24 is a working 1826 water-powered flour mill open for tours through the season, run by the Morris County Park Commission. The Black River Candy Shoppe on Main is an old-fashioned candy store with retro sweets, hard-to-find chocolates, and a full nostalgia inventory. Publik House Hotel and Tavern is a working colonial-era inn on Main Street with fireside dining and rooms upstairs. Olive and the Stone on Main runs a specialty olive oil and aged balsamic shop with tastings and artisan pantry finds. Comfortably Chic keeps a home decor and clothing boutique in a modern farmhouse-style storefront at the end of the strip.
New Jersey Squares That Do The Work
These eleven town squares each carry a distinct piece of New Jersey's civic life. Morristown holds Revolutionary War history at Morristown Green. Princeton's Palmer Square runs the Ivy League college-town rhythm. Ridgewood, Cranford, and Haddonfield anchor commuter-town downtowns with independent shops and preserved architecture. Red Bank's Broadwalk closes Broad Street to cars for four months a year. Lambertville does antique commerce along the Delaware. Cape May and Clinton put their squares directly on the water. Montclair and Chester round out the arts and shopping ends. Each stays walkable, each puts something specific at its center, and each one is worth the drive.
