Gibbons Residence Hall 26


26 Gibbons Circle
New Brunswick, NJ 08901-8529

Gibbons Campus was named for Thomas Gibbons. Gibbons was born on December 15, 1757 in Savannah, Ga. Among his many occupations were lawyer, politician and steamboat operator. Gibbons purchased a summer residence in Elizabethtown, NJ in 1810. He began running steam ferries between Elizabethtown Point and New York City in 1818. He also ran the steam ferries from New Brunswick to New York City, disregarding the New York monopoly grant of such traffic held by Aaron Ogden. This led to the famous U.S. Supreme Court case, Gibbons vs. Ogden (1824), in which Chief Justice John Marshall upheld national supremacy in the regulation of interstate commerce. The land now known as Gibbons Campus, was given to the college by James Neilson, who was responsible for it being named Gibbons. The land was probably originally owned by Gibbons in connection with his ferry service between Elizabethtown Point and New Brunswick which began in 1817. Gibbons died May 16, 1826 in New York City. The Gibbons Cabin was erected in 1927. Source: Catalogue of Buildings and Place Names at Rutgers; Dictionary of American Biography; Historical Data on Douglass College

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