In 1683 the East Jersey Proprietors began work on their capitol, to be named in honor of James Drummond, the Earl of Perth.  They selected a prime location with a bluff rising out the the junction of the Arthur Kill and the Raritan River.  The area was already home for generations to the Lenape tribe who called it "Ompoge", which later was altered by a European tongue to "Amboy".  With access to bay oysters, ample hunting and fresh breezes, the port of Perth Amboy was deemed "sweet, wholesome and delightful."  Perth Amboy expanded as a center of government, commerce and industry and with it grew the fortunes of those who lived here.  

By 1702 the Jersey Proprietors surrendered control of the government of New Jersey to the British crown. East and West Jersey united under one royal governor and Perth Amboy shared the designation of "dual capitol" with Burlington.  The last royal governor in the colonies, William Franklin, was arrested and removed from power at Proprietary House in Perth Amboy in June 1776.  Government, indeed most of society, was in turmoil due to the War for Independence and Perth Amboy became the target of a British bombardment.  Over the summer of 1776, the citizens endured gunfire and cannon shot from British warships anchored in the Raritan Bay and the ensuing battles brought such prominent war heroes as a young James Monroe, General Hugh Mercer and General George Washington to Perth Amboy.  In an attempt to put an early end to the strife, Edward Rutledge, John Adams and Benjamin Franklin came to Perth Amboy in September of 1776 and launched from here to Staten Island to meet with the King's representative Lord Richard Howe. Independence was a non-negotiable item on both sides and the peace conference failed.  War brought great hardship to the town as British soldiers ransacked the area for supplies and American soldiers claimed the property of loyalists.  Many families were forced to flee, although some managed to stay and even prosper.

Peace was declared...

In 1781 and Perth Amboy worked to remain a hub of business and government. However, the post-war years were difficult as many sought their prosperity away from the site of so much strife. Political power remained in the city with the New Jersey Legislature meeting here and on November 20, 1789 New Jersey became the first state to ratify the first ten amendments to the United States Constitution, with the signing ceremony being held at Perth Amboy City Hall.  Unfortunately, the following year the state capital was permanently moved to Trenton and within a few years the county seat to New Brunswick; Perth Amboy's place as the center of New Jersey's political life ceased.  The town evolved again with oystering, fishing and brick-making becoming the population's main occupations.  And the waterfront grew as a business center.

Perth Amboy also enjoyed...

Recognition as the home of some of the foremost artists of the nation's early years.  John Watson, New Jersey's first professional artist,  lived on the bluff overlooking the Raritan Bay and William Dunlap, a renowned painter also known as the "father of American drama", was born in Perth Amboy and wrote extensively of his early life here. 

Renown again came to the city...

As being the site of the first vote in the United States by an African American citizen under the newly ratified Fifteenth Amendment when Thomas Mundy Peterson cast his ballot on March 31, 1870 at City Hall in an election for the city's charter.  

And as Perth Amboy saw the end of the 19th century and entered the 20th....

The city enjoyed a boom in production and population. During the later 1800s Alfred Hall led the charge into this period of growth with his Terracotta plants, using Perth Amboy's clay subsoil to produce practical building materials as well as distinctive decorative and artistic creations.  Examples of this unique flair can still be found on buildings all over Perth Amboy and around the country, one of the most famous being the pediments of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, whose enormous mythological beings were created in and transported from Perth Amboy.  The Lehigh Valley Railroad had its terminus in Perth Amboy and spurred on industry, as coal was brought into town to fuel the many factories producing everything from copper wire to iron works, from handkerchiefs to handbags, from Bakelite to Vaseline.  This burgeoning of manufacturing dissipated later in the century and as businesses left the area, Perth Amboy once again reinvented itself and continues to do so.