Perth Amboy [key], city (1990 pop. 41,962), Middlesex co., NE N.J., with a harbor on Arthur Kill at the mouth of the Raritan River, which is crossed there to Staten Island, N.Y., by the Outerbridge Crossing (1928); settled 1683, inc. as a city 1718. A port of entry, Perth Amboy is a shipping center with industries that include metalworking; oil refining; printing; and apparel and chemical manufacture. The city's name combines the old Native American name Amboy with that of the Earl of Perth. It was the capital of East Jersey from 1684 until the union of East and West Jersey in 1702 and was alternate capital with Burlington until 1790. Perth Amboy particularly grew after it became the tidewater terminal of the Lehigh Valley RR in 1876 and a coal-shipping point. In 2012 parts of the city suffered significant damage from Hurricane Sandy. Of interest are the former mansion of Gov. William Franklin, which Gen. William Howe used as his headquarters in the Revolutionary War, and St. Peter's Church (1722; Episcopal). Angelina Grimké and Sarah Grimké, noted abolitionists, lived in Perth Amboy.
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