The Municipal Council of the City of Bayonne finds and determines the following:

a. The structure on the property is a Victorian home that was built between 1871 and 1873. It is a simplified version of a Second Empire (also known as a French Mansard) house that was popular in Bayonne and other cities after the Civil War.

b. It is the public interest to preserve the historic and architectural and aesthetic elements of 120-124 West 8th Street within the parameters of the Historic Preservation Ordinance of the City of Bayonne.

(Ord. No. O-10-17 § 1)

The Municipal Council further finds that the features key to the house's architectural significance include, but are not limited, to the following:

a. Features key to the dwelling's architectural significance include:

1. It shall has the original gingerbread and other 19th century features, such as the trim around the windows and doors. The house consists of nine (9) rooms - four (4) on the first floor, three (3) bedrooms on the second floor, and two (2) rooms on the third floor. The roof includes original slate shingles and an original skylight. 2. The defining style for the Second Empire style is the roof. A Mansard roof is a hipped roof that is nearly flat on top and steeply sloped on the sides, generally covering the entire height of the top story of the house. Just below the roof is cornice with elaborate moldings and decorative brackets, which are evenly spaces.

3. The exterior walls are wooden clapboard, and were painted either gray or white by Henry Usowicz, the late owner.

4. Corner quoins are another feature of the Second Empire style. They are one inch by six (1 x 6) inch rectangular pieces of wood, painted white, used to accentuate and decorate the corners of this house. Each corner has two (2) boards. The ones on the front of the house overlap the side boards. Quoins on the corners of the walls also drawn the eye upwards toward the roof. There are white rectangular boards around each window.

5. The porch is a combination of two (2) different styles, and it is single story. The deck consists of tongue and groove boards that are painted gray. The columns are six (6) inches square and have a decorated capital on top of each one The columns are separated by segmental arches. The columns and arches are painted white.

6. The deck-to-ceiling window on the back wall of the porch is borrowed from the Italianate style of windows. The window consists of four (4) panels of glass on each side for a total of eight (8) panes of glass. The front entranceway has decorative molding on three (3) sides. There are pilasters on both sides of the door.

7. Ornamental elements include a three-story curved banister.

8. Original oak parquet and pine floors, tin ceilings, ornamental moldings, original wooden doors and decorative radiators with covers.

(Ord. No. O-10-17 § 2)

The Municipal Council further finds and determines that 120-124 West 8th Street meets the criteria for historic designation for the following reasons:

a. On March 28, 1963, Solon Humphreys and his wife, Ellen, purchased a large tract of land from David LaTourette. That land includes the now landmarked home at 104-106 West 8th Street. The property consisted of land between Newark Bay Road (now known as Avenue A) in the northerly line of the lands formerly owned by Jasper Garretson, who said the land then belonged to the Central Railroad of New Jersey. The lot bounded northerly by the lands of Solon Humphreys, and easterly by land owned by David LaTourette. The Humphreys lived nearby on a Newark Bay estate called "Pepperidge."

b. Former owner Solon Humphreys was a prominent citizen and businessman in Bayonne, New York and the United States. Mr. Humphreys arrived in New York from Canton, Connecticut, in 1840. In 1846, he left New York as an agent for former New York Governor Edwin D. Morgan to found Humphreys and Thatcher, a business in St. Louis. In St. Louis, he married Mary Ellen Walsh, who was known as Ellen. The Humphreys family moved to Bayonne in 1853. He became a partner in the firm of E.D. Morgan and Company in January 1854. Morgan was engaged in the coffee, tea, and sugar trade. The company also expanded to include banking. Solon Humphreys was introduced to the railroad business when Morgan secured legislation to form the New York Central Railroad in 1853. He developed a national reputation in railroad finance, and was involved prominently for many years in Western railroads. He was Treasurer and Director of the Rio Grande, Sierra Madre and Pacific Railroad. He served as President of the Wabash Railroad. Humphreys and Morgan were involved in the Erie Railroad. He was a member of the American Board of the North British and Mercantile Insurance Company, a director of the Metropolitan Bank, and Vice President and Treasurer of the New York Chamber of Commerce.

c. Solon Humphreys was one of the founders of Trinity Parish in Bergen Point in Bayonne. He served on the Map and Grade Commission that was appointed by the Bayonne Township Committee. The Commission revised Bayonne's original road designs with suggested new layouts for the Township. Mr. Humphreys was one of the original incorporators of the Mechanics Trust Company, the first bank in Bayonne, in 1872. He was President and Director of the Bayonne and Greenville Gaslight Company, President of the Bayonne Hospital Association, and founder of the Bayonne Workingmen's Library.

d. The property meets Criterion B and Criterion C of the historic preservation standards. Criterion B: Property is associated with the lives of persons significant in our past. Criterion C: Property has yielded, or is likely to yield, information important in history or prehistory.

(Ord. No. O-10-33)

The house located at 120-124 West 8th Street, known as Block 285, Lot 19, is hereby designated a Historic Landmark in accordance with Municipal Land Use Law, N.J.S 40:55D-1 et seq., and Chapter 37, Historic Preservation, of the Revised General Ordinances of the City of Bayonne.

(Ord. No. O-10-17)

This designation shall be noted on the Zoning Map of the City of Bayonne and filed with the City Tax Assessor. (Ord. No. O-10-17)