Editing Highland Park, New Jersey (section)

===Livingston Manor Historic District===
{{for-multi|the tract of land in the Province of New York granted to Robert Livingston the Elder in 1715|Livingston Manor|the hamlet in Sullivan County, New York|Livingston Manor, New York}}
{{Infobox NRHP
  | name = Livingston Homestead
  | nrhp_type = cp  | nocat = yes  
  | partof = Livingston Manor Historic District
  | partof_refnum = 04000672
  | image = Livingston Homestead, Highland Park, NJ south view.jpg
  | caption =
  | location=  81 Harrison Avenue
  | coordinates = {{coord|40|30|08|N|74|26|7|W|display=inline}}
  | locmapin = USA New Jersey Middlesex County#New Jersey#USA
  | architect =
  | architecture = [[Greek Revival]]
  | added = March 20, 2002
  | area =
  | refnum = 02000215<ref name="nris">{{NRISref|version=2010a}}</ref>
  | designated_nrhp_type = July 7, 2004
  | designated_other1_name = New Jersey Register of Historic Places
  | designated_other1_abbr = NJRHP
  | designated_other1_link = New Jersey Register of Historic Places
  | designated_other1_date = December 20, 2001
  | designated_other1_number = 3950
<ref name=NJRHP>[https://www.nj.gov/dep/hpo/1identify/nrsr_lists/Middlesex.pdf New Jersey and National Registers of Historic Places in Middlesex County], [[New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection]] Historic Preservation Office, updated September 18, 2019. Accessed December 4, 2019.</ref>
  | designated_other1_num_position = bottom
  | designated_other1_color = #ffc94b
}}
{{Infobox NRHP
  | name = Livingston Manor Historic District
  | nrhp_type = hd  | image =
  | caption =
  | location=  Parts of Cleveland, Grant, Harrison, Lawrence, Lincoln, Madison, and North Second Avenues and River Road
  | coordinates = {{coord|40|30|5|N|74|26|17|W|display=inline}}
  | locmapin =
  | nocat = yes
  | architect =
  | architecture =
  | added = July 7, 2004
  | area =
  | refnum = 04000672<ref name="nris"/>
  | designated_other1_name = New Jersey Register of Historic Places
  | designated_other1_abbr = NJRHP
  | designated_other1_link = New Jersey Register of Historic Places
  | designated_other1_date =
  | designated_other1_number = 4289
<ref name="NJRHP"/>
  | designated_other1_num_position = bottom
  | designated_other1_color = #ffc94b
}}

Livingston Manor was a subdivision built upon the lands surrounding the Livingston Homestead. This subdivision was the brainchild of Watson Whittlesey (1863–1914), a real estate developer born in Rochester, New York. Whittlesey was more than a typical land speculator; he was a community builder, which was noted by his residency in various Livingston Manor houses from 1906 to 1914, and by his active involvement in the municipal affairs of Highland Park. Instead of auctioning lots like his 19th century predecessors, Whittlesey sold subdivided lots with either a house completely built by his company or with the promise of providing a company-constructed house similar to those previously constructed.<ref>[http://hphistory.org/livingston.php Livingston Manor Historic District], Highland Park Historical Society. Accessed October 6, 2014.</ref>

The suburban development grew between 1906 and 1925, when Whittlesey's company, the Livingston Manor Corporation and its successor, the Highland Park Building Company, constructed single-family houses from plans produced by a select group of architects. While a variety of building types and styles are present on each block, the buildings in the district are distinguished by the use of specific building plans found nowhere else in Highland Park and by the embellishments that are typical of the Craftsman philosophy, which emphasized the value of the labor of skilled artisans who showed pride in their abilities.

In the first years of this development, the houses were constructed one entire block at a time beginning with the southeast side of Grant Avenue between Lawrence Avenue and North Second Avenue. The next block to be developed was the northwest side of Lincoln Avenue between Lawrence Avenue and North Second Avenue. Six stucco bungalows were then constructed on the southern side of Lawrence east of Lincoln Avenue. As the housing development grew in popularity, houses were constructed less systematically by block, and more often on lots that individual homeowners selected from the remaining available properties. Whittlesey used plans from architects George Edward Krug and Francis George Hasselman, as well as plans generated by several local architects including John Arthur Blish and William Boylan.<ref name=BoroughofHomes/> Several of Livingston Manor's Tudor Revival houses were designed by Highland Park's eminent architect Alexander Merchant. Merchant created numerous buildings in New Brunswick and Highland Park (see list below). Like other early-20th century architects, he was active during the period of early American modernism, but, having trained at the firm of [[Carrère and Hastings]], Merchant developed and maintained a classical design vocabulary.

Many workers in the building trades, such as Harvey E. Dodge, the carpenter Frederick Nietscke and the contractor Harold Richard Segoine, have also been identified as Livingston Manor Corporation employees as well as Livingston Manor residents. Whittlesey, with his wife Anna, also lived in several Livingston Manor houses, including the Spanish Colonial style house at 35 Harrison Avenue designed specifically for them.

On December 1, 1906, the first deeds were transferred to two individual homeowners. Many prominent New Brunswick and Highland Park residents bought houses in this new neighborhood. They included Rutgers College professors, school teachers, bank employees, factory owners, and store owners. Census data show that most of the women were housewives and mothers. There were many extended families. Some families took in boarders and several households included live-in servants.<ref>US Census 1910, 1920, and New Jersey Census of 1915.</ref> Sixty-two houses had been constructed in Livingston Manor by 1910.

In 1912, Watson Whittlesey hired a sales agent, John F. Green, and began selling bungalow lots. These properties were smaller and less expensive, and a set of plans for a bungalow was given to any purchaser. By 1913, 120 houses had been constructed in Livingston Manor.

Dubbed "Lord of the Manor", Whittlesey created a neighborhood spirit by giving receptions for the residents, by providing playgrounds for the children, and by encouraging the men to take a more active part in public affairs. After his death on April 8, 1914, Manor residents turned out in the hundreds to attend a memorial service at his house.<ref>Daily Home News, April 10, 1914.</ref>

The Highland Park Building Company was incorporated in 1914 by long-standing members of his company including builder Robert Lufburrow and engineer Harold Richard Segoine. In 1916, Mrs. Whittlesey, who was president of the Livingston Manor Corporation, turned over the privately owned streets, sidewalks, and curbs to the borough. Remarkably, there were no provisions for the borough to accept public ownership of the sewers. That required an act of legislation at the statehouse in Trenton, which was accomplished by Senator Florance and Assemblyman Edgar and signed by Governor [[Walter Evans Edge]] the following year. Anna Wilcox Whittlesey, "Lady of the Manor", died on August 16, 1918. She was remembered as "a woman of rare refinement and culture, and the soul of hospitality."<ref>Daily Home News, August 17, 1918 Obituary.</ref>

Highland Park's identity as a [[streetcar suburb]] was transformed to that of an automobile suburb during the 1920s. By 1922, there had been 210 dwellings constructed in Livingston Manor. The Livingston Manor Corporation continued to have transactions into the 1960s, but the area's significant development had taken place by 1925.

The Livingston Manor is an important neighborhood in Highland Park. The Livingston Manor Historic District was listed in the [[New Jersey Register of Historic Places]] on April 1, 2004, and in the [[National Register of Historic Places]] on July 7, 2004.<ref name=BoroughofHomes/>