According to the 1980 streetscape survey, this street was named for Dr. John Maclean, president of the College of New Jersey from 1843 to 1854 (Hageman).
Maclean Street - 1109-7-S11 (revised 2015)*
Maclean Street is a one-way street, sparsely lined with 2 ½ story houses. The street is lined with mature trees, however there are several interruptions along the south side for parking lots, one of which is associated with the Waxwood Home on Quarry Street. The south side of the street has undergone the most change: most of the original houses were demolished over the years for parking lots, and a new row of townhouses were recently constructed in the middle of the block (reducing parking lot are areas). The Masonic Temple on the west end and the Mt. Pisgah AME Church on the east end of the street, both on the south side, also have parking lots. Landscaping has been completed at Waxwood (low brick wall, trees, and and other vegetation) to offset openness a parking lot can often create. This helps maintain the setting of a well-maintained street, as cited in the the 1980 streetscape survey form. Like the Witherspoon-Jackson neighborhood’s other short side streets, sidewalks line both sides of the streets and buildings are approximately 10-12’ off the curb.
Most houses on the street date to the late late-19th century, and few were built after 1918 (Sanborn). Most are located on the north side of the street. Several have front-end gabled facades (numbers 7, 9, 11, and 13). Each house exhibits a porch, most of which are full-length. Like most houses in the neighborhood, most are clad in stucco or replacement siding, with replacement windows as well. Number 10 Maclean is a 2 ½-story, 3-bay, stucco-clad residence which services as the manse for the Mt. Pisqah AME Church. The church building is at the east end of the street (south side) fronting Witherspoon Street.
Approximate number of buildings, including the Masonic Hall: 12 in 2015; 1 15 in 1980
*Information regarding streetscapes is based a streetscape inventory conducted in 1980 with information placed on the NJ Historical Commission's Streetscape Inventory Forms. Pertinent information - description, history, number of resources, etc. was revised based on the 2015 survey of Witherspoon-Jackson neighborhood resulting in the information above. Numbers such as "1109-7-S11" refer to the individual 1980 Streetscape forms.
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