New Jersey State Prison housed the death chamber, and the first death by electrocution occurred on December 11, 1907. In 1999 death row inmate Robert "Mudman" Simon, who was convicted of killing a police officer, died during a fight. The lethal injection chamber at the prison was never used, and the New Jersey Governor repealed the death penalty in December 2007. Therefore, the final execution to take place at the prison was a January 22, 1963 electrocution. The former lethal injection room now serves as an office. New Jersey State Prison The New Jersey State Prison (NJSP), formerly known as Trenton State Prison, is
Jersey City, New Jersey Harsimus, Paulus Hook, Hoebuck, Awiehaken, and other lands "behind Kill van Kull". The first village (located inside a palisaded garrison) established on what is now Bergen Square in 1660, and is considered to be the oldest town in what would become the state of New Jersey. Among the oldest surviving houses in Jersey City are the Newkirk House (1690), the Van Vorst Farmhouse (1740), and the Van Wagenen House (1742). During the American Revolutionary War, the area was in the hands of the British who controlled New York. In the Battle of Paulus Hook Major Light Horse Harry Lee attacked