This piece is one of several erected across the United States by Gutzon Borglum, the Mount Rushmore sculptor, in his quest to institute "art that is real and American".

The stele rests in the center of a flat rectangular stone base, at the foot of which is a fountain basin.

[7][8] It marks the spot where the Passaic River and an early road converged, which became the site of the original colonial market.

[11][12] The three other pieces were added to the New Jersey Register of Historic Places on September 13, 1994,[1] and the National Register of Historic Places on October 28, 1994, as part of a Multiple Property Submission, "The Public Sculpture of John de la Mothe Gutzon Borglum, 1911–1926".

[13] When the New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC) was being built in the 1990s Saybrook Place was eliminated and the statue was moved two blocks north to Lombardy Park.