The Port Mercer Canal House is a historic house along the
Delaware and Raritan Canal
The Delaware and Raritan Canal (D&R Canal) is a canal in central New Jersey, built in the 1830s, that served to connect the Delaware River to the Raritan River. It was an efficient and reliable means of transportation of freight between Philadel ...
. It is located at 4278 Quakerbridge Road in the
Port Mercer section of
Lawrence Township,
Mercer County,
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...
, United States, near the border of
West Windsor Township and
Princeton, New Jersey
Princeton is a municipality with a borough form of government in Mercer County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It was established on January 1, 2013, through the consolidation of the Borough of Princeton and Princeton Township, both of whi ...
. The house was built in the 1830s as housing for bridgetender and his family. The bridgetender was needed to open the
swing bridge
A swing bridge (or swing span bridge) is a movable bridge that has as its primary structural support a vertical locating pin and support ring, usually at or near to its center of gravity, about which the swing span (turning span) can then pi ...
when canal boats came through, then close it to allow traffic to cross over the canal. From approximately 1900 to 1934, the bridgetender was John Arrowsmith. He and his wife lived in the three-bedroom house with their eight children. The Arrowsmiths loved living at the house and their children enjoyed sleeping outside by the canal in the summer and skating on the frozen canal to Trenton in the winter. Around 1900, a first-floor kitchen was added. Prior to this addition, Mrs. Arrowsmith, who was known as a good cook, did all of the cooking for the large family and friends by the fireplace in the basement of the house.
The Delaware and Raritan Canal and the canal houses are now part of the
New Jersey State Park system.
Delaware & Raritan Canal State Park
New Jersey Division of Parks and Forestry
In the state of New Jersey, the New Jersey Division of Parks and Forestry is an administrative division of the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection. In its most visible role, the Division is directly responsible for the management and ...
. Accessed October 23, 2007. In the 1970s, th
Lawrence Historical Society
began restoring the Port Mercer Canal House to the 1890-1920 time period. The house and the Port Mercer area are listed on the National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...
. Outside of the house, the grounds have been landscaped with small gardens and include an outhouse which was built just before the American Civil War
The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...
.
References
External links
Lawrence Historical Society
Canal Society of New Jersey
D&R Canal Commission
D&R Canal Watch
{{coord, 40.28665, -74.69588, display=title
Historic house museums in New Jersey
Houses in Mercer County, New Jersey
Lawrence Township, Mercer County, New Jersey
Museums in Mercer County, New Jersey
National Register of Historic Places in Mercer County, New Jersey
Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in New Jersey