New Johnson Hall - Salem, NJ
N 39° 34.392 W 075° 27.976
18S E 459952 N 4380492
New Johnson Hall and the historical marker about it are located in Historic Salem, New Jersey. The marker was placed by the Salem County Cultural and Heritage Commission.
Waymark Code: WM3V0A
Location: New Jersey, United States
Date Posted: 05/18/2008
Views: 15
The following information about New Johnson Hall is available on the internet
(visit link): "Built in 1806, this stately home is one of the region’s most outstanding Federal-style buildings. Robert Gibbon Johnson, the builder, is also believed to have been the architect, which may explain some of the house’s idiosyncratic features. Most notably, the building does not exhibit the kind of balanced facade treatment that one usually expects to see in such a formal structure - the windows of the first and second floors are not in alignment with each other and are not evenly spaced, and the doorway is not centered. Both the exterior doorway and the interior, however, feature exquisite, delicate carving in the “punch and gouge” style - so named for the manner in which it was executed. Johnson was one of Salem’s most colorful and influential citizens. He witnessed the Salem Raid as a young child and wrote about his experience in An Historical Account of the First Settlement of Salem (1839), the first published history of a New Jersey county. He is also the subject of an oft-repeated local legend. It is said that he was the first person to prove that the tomato is not poisonous by publicly eating one of the fruits on the Courthouse steps in 1820. The story, while colorful, does not appear to be based in fact, but it is known that Johnson was an active promoter of agriculture locally."