The New Jersey Room presents a look at three Master Plans developed by the City of Jersey City to guide its development during the middle of the 20th Century.

In 1920 the first Master Plan, in the City Beautiful traditon, applied the priciples of the Progressive Movement to the growing city, including the development of the Journal Square area.

In 1949-51 a new Master Plan came at the close of the era of political boss Frank Hague, as the post-war era brought massive changes to America's cities.

The 1968 Master Plan was called "A Time for Change" - and the city was undergoing many changes as the economic base of the port was lost to container shipping and the interstate highway system.

What did the planners see, and what did they miss? What can we learn about how they understood the city, and how can that help us understand how we see it?

In 2023 these plans were digitizied and uploaded to the Internet Archive, where they can be accessed by those interested in the history of the city. Work helping to understand what these plans can tell us was commissioned and will be presented in this program.

*Postponed from 2024

This program is made possible by a grant from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts, a division of the Department of State, and administered by the Hudson County Office of Cultural & Heritage Affairs, Thomas A. DeGise, Hudson County Executive & the Hudson County Board of County Commissioners.