Vailsburg, Newark

The Vailsburg section of Newark is on a hill which closely aligns with the suburban and park areas outside it.

Vailsburg had existed as an independent municipality, and was incorporated as a borough by an act of the New Jersey Legislature on March 28, 1894, from portions of South Orange Township.

Vailsburg was annexed by Newark on January 1, 1905, based on the results of a special election held on April 12, 1904.

Merit H. Cash Vail, a physician and politician who was a major landowner and advocate for an independent municipality.

[3] In the mid-1890s, Vailsburg had been proposed as one of the municipalities that would form a "Greater Orange", in an effort to avoid piecemeal annexation by an expanding Newark.

Its commercial streets, particularly South Orange Avenue, underwent street-scape improvements at the turn of the 21st century and many businesses renovated their storefronts.

Many mom-and-pop businesses line the avenue, giving the sense that entrepreneurial activity is greater than most other neighborhoods of Newark.

Residents are mainly middle class, and with more than 37 block associations, Vailsburg is known for its strong sense of community.

Founded as an ecumenical coalition with a mission to stabilize the neighborhood in 1972, UVSO now serves an average of 1,200 Vailsburg residents every day through a wide range of programs.

The building was a modified type of Georgian architecture with red brick and white trim.

The parish itself was founded in 1892, prior to the Newark annexation in 1905 and the construction of the Sacred Heart Basilica, which explains the use of the same name as the great North Ward cathedral.

[12] Newark Gospel Tabernacle, is a South Orange Avenue landmark and official historic building.

The interior of the church/theater is reminiscent to a Mediterranean-style courtyard, with the main auditorium designed to look like the square of a Spanish village.