Newark Academy Concludes its 249th Year and Prepares For its Historic 250th with a Trip to Newark

“As we closed out Newark Academy’s 249th year, it was important that we continue to reconnect with where our school’s legacy began,” said Head of School Donald M. Austin. “We are excited to engage students, their families and our alumni body in our celebration of this historic milestone throughout the upcoming school year.”

The NA team gathered at Newark Academy’s very first location in Harriet Tubman Square (formerly Washington Square Park) — now marked by a boulder and tablet. Founded before the United States in 1774, this first location of NA was short-lived as it was eventually burned to the ground during the Revolutionary War in 1780. Still, the school’s founder, Alexander MacWhorter, was determined to continue the Academy’s education and restarted school in 1782 in temporary locations until the founding of the second building in 1792 at the intersection of Broad and Academy Streets.

Newark Academy faculty and staff continued the tour past that location — now home to Regines clothing store — and drove by the school’s third location at the intersection of High (now Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard), William and Shipman Streets. Newark Academy occupied that space from 1857 to 1929. Today it hosts Arts High School of Newark. 

Finally, the tour passed NA’s fourth and final Newark location along the historic Morris Canal on First Street in the Roseville section. This location featured the school’s signature cupola and an athletic track nestled next to Branch Brook Park. However, in 1964 the building was cleared to make room for Interstate 280.