Historic Community: Dutch Neck
Dutch Neck in 2020; almost all labeled sites are at least 100 years old. Click to enlarge/download.
Stand at the intersection of South Mill and Village Roads East/West and you can't miss the uniquely vibrant historical character of Dutch Neck - a 1700s-era settlement that long hosted West Windsor's municipal government and clustered around its Presbyterian church. Dutch Neck's geographic centrality and bounty of generations-old buildings cement it as one of West Windsor’s best-preserved historic communities. Explore Dutch Neck and its historical buildings below!
Also, if you like exercise and local historic sight-seeing, check out our free, self-guided, Dutch Neck Walking Tour by clicking here.
Also, if you like exercise and local historic sight-seeing, check out our free, self-guided, Dutch Neck Walking Tour by clicking here.
Historical Overview
|
Dutch Neck developed in the mid-1700s following 1730s/40s-era land purchases by the area's first settlers. The community grew up along a 1750s-era route linking Allentown to Princeton. Early settlers included the Voorhees,[1] Updikes,[2] and Perrines, among others.[3] The name “Dutch Neck” came into use at least by the 1780s, if not earlier.[4] In this context, "Dutch" refers to the national origin of many of the pioneers, and “Neck” likely refers to the territory itself (such as “neck of the woods”). At least one colonial home still exists: the Slayback homestead at 542 Village Road West, which may date to the 1750s or 1760s.[5],[6]
Other families - primarily Dutch and English - arrived over the ensuing decades. An incomplete list includes names such as Bergen, Clark, Covenhoven, Everett, Fisher, Hunt, Lewis, Mount, Post, Reed, Rogers, Scudder, Schenck, Slayback, Tindall, Van Dyke, Van Nest, and Wilson. Many are buried in the Dutch Neck Presbyterian Church's graveyard at the heart of the hamlet, whose oldest stone – for David Couwenhoven – dates to 1771. This burial ground, with roughly 1,200 graves, provides a valuable window into the past.[7] |
Dutch Neck land ownership in 1797, overlayed over current roads.
|
|
The very articles that formed West Windsor on February 9, 1797, mandated that the first town meeting be held at Jacob Bergen’s inn in the center of Dutch Neck.[8] This establishment hosted the first eleven years of town meetings and many more throughout the 1800s.[9] The building now stands at 212-214 South Mill Road where it remains a private residence.
Another historically-significant structure was the Dutch Neck Presbyterian Church. Until the late 1900s, its towering steeple could be seen from across miles of farmland. In the early years, Dutch Neck community lacked a church, so locals traveled to neighboring towns for worship. However, by the 1780s - if not earlier - a "Neck Meeting House" was constructed at the crossroads.[10] This structure was replaced by the current Presbyterian church building in 1816.[11] Over the years, the church has expanded, and also opened a chapel across the road in 1882 (later a library, and in 2023, owned by the WW-P Regional School District).[12] |
Dutch Neck in 1875.
|
|
The 1875 Everts and Stewart Atlas of Mercer County observed: "[Dutch Neck] is … a thriving little village, pleasantly situated in the centre of a fine agricultural country. It contains one general store, a wheel-wright-shop, a blacksmithy, a hotel, a common school, and a Presbyterian church, with an estimated population of seventy-five"[13] Other traditional businesses also called Dutch Neck “home.” Many of their buildings still stand as private residences.
Several community organizations were established in Dutch Neck. The West Windsor Mutual Fire Insurance Association organized in 1857 to provide financial compensation in case of conflagrations.[14] The West Windsor Pursuing and Detecting Society is said to have formed in 1882 to help recover stolen horses, wagons, automobiles, and even poultry! |
Looking down Village Road East, early 1900s.
|
|
[15] Hiram A. Cook, who operated a shop off of Village Road East, dealing in farm implements, hardware, and plumbing,[16] was the founding President of the West Windsor Volunteer Fire Co. in 1921.[17] The long-gone Dutch Neck Y.M.C.A is said to have formed in 1924.[18]
Municipal government returned permanently to Dutch Neck in 1891 when an “Election Building” began to regularly host township meetings. In 1912, a dedicated Town Hall was built directly next to the old Bergen inn. It was demolished in 1977.[19] In its place stands a small park, home to West Windsor’s WWII memorial. |
Looking down Village Road West, 1910s or 1920s. The leftmost building is the old inn; the next building is old Town Hall.
|
|
On Thanksgiving eve, 1910, two shotgun blasts rang out when John Sears murdered his “adoptive parents,” the Dutch Neck Presbyterian Church’s retired pastor, Amzi Armstrong, and his wife, Anne. Newspaper articles theorized motives ranging from robbery[20] to Sears learning that he would not inherit the Armstrong’s estate and killing them in a fit of rage.[21] However, Sears himself is quoted in other papers saying that his motive was be-cause the Armstrongs were physically and racially abusive (he was mixed race).[22] The Historical Society is in possession of over one hundred newspaper articles about the incident from across the country. With almost no exception, they deliberately highlighted Sears’ race and Armstrong’s local popularity. The trial ended with Sears’ execution in the electric chair,[23] shortly after his biological mother, Rachel (who also lived with the Armstrongs as a servant) is said to have died of heartbreak.[24] This remains one of West Windsor’s most depressing incidents.
|
Aerial view of Dutch Neck looking east, 1951.
|
|
In 1917, the brick-and-stone Dutch Neck School was constructed to replace a much-older wooden schoolhouse which had served the community for generations. the schoolhouse still exists, albeit as a private residence. The land upon which the Dutch Neck School was built was once a burial ground for impoverished and Black residents. During the school's construction, the remains of several people were exhumed, identified, and re-located to Hightstown and other places to eternally rest with others they knew in life.[25]
Like the rest of West Windsor, Dutch Neck began to transform after the 1950s – and especially in the last quarter of the 20th century. the 1970s and beyond, several houses of worship were constructed nearby: the Reform Jewish "Beth Chaim" synagogue, the Evangelical "Windsor Chapel," and the Roman Catholic "Saint David the King."[26],[27],[28] And largely from the 1980s onward, centuries-old farmland disappeared within a few years, replaced by suburban developments - a product of West Windsor’s dramatic population growth. |
Dutch Neck Presbyterian Church and graveyard, 2022. Both remain icons to centuries of local history.
|
Yet, it’s worth repeating: a quick walk towards the crossroads of South Mill and Village Roads East and West, and a review of the dozens of old buildings that call the community home, will betray the bounty of history that remains in Dutch Neck.
Historical Dutch Neck Landmarks
Click on each of the images below to explore several dozen Dutch Neck landmarks! We recommend reading them in order. More may be added as research improves.
Bibliography
- Lyell, Fenwick, and Cornelius Voorhees. Ms. Deed. New Jersey State Archives, 1741. Found in New Jersey State Archives Manuscript Room - Middlesex County Deeds.
- Johnson, Rut, and Updike, William. Ms. Deed. New Jersey State Archives, 1747. Found in New Jersey State Archives Manuscript Room - Middlesex County Deeds.
- Perrine, James and Updike, William. Ms. Deed. New Jersey State Archives, 1751. Found in New Jersey State Archives Manuscript Room - Middlesex County Deeds.
- “A List of Letters Remaining in the Post-Office at Trenton, July 5, 1785.” New Jersey Gazette. August 1, 1785
- “West Windsor Tax Assessor Address List, 2019.” West Windsor, 2019. List of all residencesin West Windsor with dates of construction, according to tax assessor. Sent to the Historical Society by Lorraine Jones and Dawn Moretti. For this specific citation, look at 542 Village Road West.
- “Mercer County Historic Sites Survey: West Windsor Township, Mercer County, NJ.” Princeton, 1988. Conducted by Kinsey & Hand Associates.
- “Dutch Neck Presbyterian Church Graveyard.” West Windsor, New Jersey, n.d. About 1,200 internments with gravestones memorializing families dating back to the mid-1700s.
- An Act for Dividing the Township of Windsor in the County of Middlesex into Two Separate Townships. New Jersey State Archives, 1797. February 9, 1797. This split Windsor Township into West Windsor and East Windsor.
- “West Windsor Township Meeting Minutes, 1797-2012.,” n.d. Original Township Committee meeting minute database located in the Municipal Center. Minutes collectively tell of the roles of various township officers as well as town development.
- Cook, Elisha. Ms. Tavern License Request. West Windsor, 1784. Request to the Court of Quarter Sessions - April session - that Elisha Cook “may obtain license for keeping tavern at the Neck Meeting House in the Township of Windsor County of Middlesex - March 15, 1784.”
- Sesquicentennial History: 1816-1966. West Windsor, New Jersey: First Presbyterian Church of Dutch Neck, 1966.
- “Equipment Ordered for New Library.” The Evening Times. May 10, 1966.
- “West Windsor Township.” Map. 1875 Historical Atlas of Mercer County, New Jersey - Map of West Windsor. Philadelphia, PA: Everts & Stuart, 1875. https://www.loc.gov/item/2010587333/.
- “An Act to Incorporate the West Windsor Mutual Fire Insurance Association,” March 20, 1857. Initial Trustees: George W. Applegate,
William Walton , Isaac Rossell , Eli Dye, James H. Everett, James D. Robins, Charles B. Moore, Amos H. Tindall, Enoch South, William Perrine, Daniel Hawk. From “Acts of the 81st Legislature” of New Jersey. - "Dutch Neck.” Essay. In Old Princeton’s Neighbors. Princeton, NJ: Graphic Arts Press, 1939. Written by the Works Progress Administration’s Federal Writers’ Project.
- 47 Cook, Hiram A. Letter to D. R. Reed. West Windsor, New Jersey: Dutch Neck, June 20, 1898. Notification of payment for bill. Letterhead indicates that Hiram dealt in “Wind Mills, Pumps, Farm Machinery, Wagons, Bicycles, Harness, Wire Fences, and Farmer’s Supplies in General.”
- “Minutes and Records of the West Windsor Township Volunteer Fire Company, OrganizedMarch 21, 1921.” West Windsor: West Windsor Volunteer Fire Company No. 1 firehouse, n.d. Minutes detailing the first 11 years (1921-1932) of the West Windsor Volunteer Fire Co. No. 1’s development.
- “Dutch Neck.” Essay. In Old Princeton’s Neighbors. Princeton, NJ: Graphic Arts Press, 1939. Written by the Works Progress Administration’s Federal Writers’ Project.
- “West Windsor Township Meeting Minutes, 1797-2012.,” n.d. Original Township Committee meeting minute database located in the Municipal Center.
- “Pastor and Wife Slain in Home.” Asbury Park Evening Press, November 25, 1910.
- “John Sears Charged with Murder of Old Pastor and His Wife.” Daily State Gazette. November 25, 1910.
- “Sears Confesses to Double Murder.” The Freehold Transcript, December 2, 1910.
- “Sears Confesses in Sight of Death.” Camden Post-Telegram, March 16, 1911.
- “Grey Hairs in Sorrow to Grave.” The Morning Call. February 20, 1911.
- “Dutch Neck.” Essay. In Old Princeton’s Neighbors. Princeton, NJ: Graphic Arts Press, 1939. Written by the Works Progress Administration’s Federal Writers’ Project.
- “Dedication Procession.” The Evening Times. August 23, 1976. Article is two images with a small caption.
- Bagley, Marlene. “Barn Now House of Wornship.” Trenton Times, February 19, 1980.
- Stadnyk, Mary. “Expanded: Formed in Faith, Hope, Love.” TrentonMONITOR.com. Roman Catholic Diocese of Trenton, N.J., January 16, 2013. https://trentonmon-itor.com/PrintArticle.aspx?aid=4542&uid=3827ff74-f60a-4807-b8aa-8fb99d-2994bc.
