The Blackwells Mills Canal House is located at Blackwells Mills Road and Canal Road in
Franklin Township,
Somerset County,
New Jersey, United States, on the
Delaware and Raritan Canal. Across the canal is
Blackwells Mills, New Jersey.
History
The house was built , at the same time as the canal, to house the bridge tender.
The bridge tender would turn the
swing bridge when boats came through, then turn it back to allow
road traffic to cross over the canal. In 1932, the canal closed and the swing bridges were dismantled. The house and the canal were transferred to the state of New Jersey. In 1971 the Blackwells Mills Canal House Association was formed, and they leased the house from the state and began to restore it as a community center, museum, and library. The adjacent
Delaware and Raritan Canal was made a state and
national historic site and later became a
New Jersey State Park
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 ...
. The house is currently maintained by the Blackwells Mills Canal House Association since 1971.
Sandor Fekete
Sandor Fekete (1879-1970) was the last bridge tender. He was born in
Hungary, emigrating via
Antwerp
Antwerp (; nl, Antwerpen ; french: Anvers ; es, Amberes) is the largest city in Belgium by area at and the capital of Antwerp Province in the Flemish Region. With a population of 520,504, , Belgium to
New York City and joining the Hungarian community in
New Brunswick,
Middlesex County,
New Jersey. His son Sandor Fekete II (1906-1983) lived in Princeton and worked as a bridge tender also.
Fekete's first job was laying brick and breaking up rocks along the
Delaware and Raritan Canal. Later he was promoted to a supervisor for work boats that made repairs along the canal. He was promoted to foreman of a twenty-eight-man work crew, living in an apartment on Conduct Street in New Brunswick. In 1916 he was promoted to locktender in
Griggstown,
Somerset County,
New Jersey, United States.
See also
* National Register of Historic Places listings in Somerset County, New Jersey
* Bridge tender's house
References
External links
Blackwells Mills Canal House Association
{{Authority control
Franklin Township, Somerset County, New Jersey
Houses in Somerset County, New Jersey
1830s establishments in New Jersey
Museums in Somerset County, New Jersey
History museums in New Jersey
Canal museums in the United States
Historic district contributing properties in New Jersey
National Register of Historic Places in Somerset County, New Jersey