Laing House of Plainfield Plantation

Laing House of Plainfield Plantation is a historic house located at 1707 Woodland Avenue in the township of Edison in Middlesex County, New Jersey, United States. It was built in the early 18th century when the region was being settled by Scottish Quakers in the late 17th and early 18th century,^[4] as recalled in the name of The Plainfields and Scotch Plains. The region was part of the colonial era Elizabethtown Tract and later part of Piscataway Township. It is not certain whether the name derives from the plain clothing worn by the founders or is a reference to the landscape.^[5] The house was added to the National Register of Historic Places on October 27, 1988, for its significance in exploration and settlement.^[6]

Laing House of Plainfield Plantation
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
New Jersey Register of Historic Places
Front of the house
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Location	1707 Woodland Avenue Edison, New Jersey
Coordinates	40°34′57″N 74°23′17″W
Built	early 1700s[1]
NRHP reference No.	88002124[2]
NJRHP No.	1837[3]
Significant dates
Added to NRHP	October 27, 1988
Designated NJRHP	March 23, 1988

See also

• List of the oldest buildings in New Jersey
• National Register of Historic Places listings in Middlesex County, New Jersey

References

1. Spies, Stacy E. (2001), Edison, Arcadia Publishing, ISBN 978-0-7385-0549-7
2. "National Register Information System – (#88002124)". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. November 2, 2013.
3. "New Jersey and National Registers of Historic Places – Middlesex County" (PDF). New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection - Historic Preservation Office. September 11, 2023. p. 2.
4. Dudley, William L. (March 29, 1929). "Friendly Families: the Laings". The Story of the Friends in Plainfield Including A History of Early Quaker Families. Retrieved 2011-07-17. The Laing family composed a prominent part of the first permanent settlers in this neighborhood. John Laing, the progenitor of this long line in East Jersey, came over from Craigforth, Aberdeen County, Scotland, August 1685, landing in Amboy, near which place for a few years he lived with his wife Margaret and his children, John, Abraham, William, Christiana and Isabel. In 1698 he moved to "the Plains" near where South Plainfield now is. His son John married, in 1708, Elizabeth Shotwell, a direct descendant of the original Abraham Shotwell. His daughter Isabel, in 1700, married Joseph Fitz Randolph, son of Nathaniel.
5. Veit, Richard F. (2001), South Plainfield, Arcadia Publishing, ISBN 978-0-7385-1111-5
6. McTeague, Linda B. (April 1987). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory/Nomination: Laing House of Plainfield Plantation". National Park Service. With accompanying 14 photos