About Save the Queen City
A volunteer nonprofit working to preserve, protect, and promote the historic architecture of Plainfield, New Jersey — the Queen City.
Preservation and prosperity are the same argument
Save the Queen City works to improve the lives and economic well-being of Plainfield residents through the promotion of historic preservation. Plainfield is a place of Victorian mansions, Colonial Revival streetscapes, and civic buildings that tell the story of a New Jersey city at its height. Much of it is still standing. Not all of it is safe.
We are volunteers, neighbors, and homeowners who believe a city's history is worth defending — in the hearing room, in the record, and on the street.
We watch the landmarks. We show up.
We track threatened historic sites across Plainfield's districts.
Planning Board and City Council — with a plain-English read on the items that touch historic property.
Professional expertise brought in when the record demands it.
Studies, filings, minutes, and testimony — preserved and shared.
The economic argument for keeping what makes Plainfield the Queen City.
A pattern of showing up
Save the Queen City has been in the room for every major preservation fight in Plainfield since 2022. A few milestones:
Neighbors organized against proposed ordinance changes that would have weakened Plainfield's historic-preservation review.
STQC sued over Ordinance MC 2022-35, the 2022 amendment to the city’s historic-preservation ordinance. The court denied the city’s motion to dismiss in March 2023, then dismissed the case on reconsideration that May.
STQC submitted a formal letter of objection to Resolution R380-24.
STQC opposed a proposal to designate the entire Urban Enterprise Zone an “area in need of redevelopment,” and sued when the city moved the City Hall parking lot into the TODD South redevelopment plan. In January 2026 the court dismissed that case as premature, preserving STQC’s right to challenge any tax abatement.
The city’s plan to lease the YMCA and sell its rear portion advanced over STQC’s objection: the State Historic Sites Council heard it on April 16, 2026, and DEP issued its decision on April 30 (HPO #25-2216).
STQC filed suit in Superior Court challenging the redevelopment designation of the historic Dudley House (Resolution 274-26).
STQC is seeking committed Plainfield residents to serve. Apply to join the board.
What we are chartered to do
Save The Queen City, A NJ Nonprofit Corporation, was organized in 2022 under the New Jersey Nonprofit Corporation Act and recognized by the Internal Revenue Service as a tax-exempt public charity under section 501(c)(3) in October 2022. The IRS classifies STQC as a historical society and historic-preservation organization.
STQC is organized exclusively for charitable and educational purposes: to improve the lives and economic well-being of Plainfield residents through the promotion of historic preservation — preserving, protecting, and promoting the historic architecture and character of the Queen City.
Monitoring and documenting endangered historic resources; educating the public on Plainfield's architectural heritage; participating in public hearings and land-use proceedings; retaining professional planners and counsel when the record demands it; and keeping the public record public.
A volunteer board governs the organization under its bylaws. No part of STQC's net earnings benefits any private individual; funds go to the planners, counsel, filings, and outreach that make preservation possible. Contributions are tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law (EIN 92-0371449).
Governing documents — the Certificate of Incorporation, bylaws, and IRS determination letter — are available to members and donors on request at contact@savethequeencity.org. STQC's public listing can be verified in the IRS Tax Exempt Organization Search.
A 501(c)(3) New Jersey nonprofit
Save the Queen City is a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation (EIN 92-0371449). Donations are tax-deductible and go directly to the planners, counsel, filings, and outreach that make preservation possible. Volunteers are just as welcome as dollars.
