Boxwood Hall

A Brief History: Located at 1073 East Jersey Street in Elizabeth, New Jersey, sits an interesting slice of history known as Boxwood Hall. Boxwood Hall was originally designed and built in about 1750 by Samuel Woodruff, the then Mayor of what was originally called Elizabethtown. Woodruff was also a very wealthy merchant and called the hall home until his death in 1768, when the house was then passed on to his son. Years later in 1772, the house was put up for public auction where it was sold to Elias Boudinot who was a delegate in the continental congress and served as the president of congress from 1782-1783. Boudinot, his wife Hannah and two daughters resided there years to come, even giving shelter to a young Alexander Hamilton. When the revolutionary war broke out, it caused his wife to take their children and leave Elizabethtown for their own safety to a family members house in Basking Ridge while Elias served for the continental armies as a General. It is still currently unknown what the house was used for after Boudinot and his family vacated it during the war, however after 1783 the Boudinot’s all moved back into the mansion before selling it to a fellow congressman named Jonathan Dayton who was also the youngest person to sign the U.S. Constitution. The house was in fact threatened with demolition in the 1930s, however it was turned over to the state via a non-profit that was formed to save it and underwent restoration in the 1940s, and since has been used as a museum.

Haunted History: There have been claims of people seeing a little girl peeking out the 2nd floor window then just disappear. People have also claimed to have heard doors opening and closing on their own when no one else is in the house.