Nathaniel Bonnell House

The Bonnell House is the oldest house in Elizabeth, New Jersey, and one of the oldest residences in the state. It stood on this site in 1682 and was likely built years earlier. The house represents the carpentry skills of Nathaniel Bonnell, a Huguenot originally from New Haven, Connecticut. He came to Elizabeth about 1664 and was one of the original settlers and a member of the incorporating organization, the Elizabeth Associates. Between 1670 and 1685, Bonnell and his wife Elizabeth (nee Whitehead) raised seven children here. The family worked several farms in the environs, one of which in Connecticut Farms (now Union, NJ) was left to his son and namesake, Nathaniel.