Dutch Neck Chapel

The Dutch Neck Chapel in December 2018.

Historical Overview

Standing at 505 Village Road West is a building with deep roots in the historic West Windsor community of Dutch Neck. A member of West Windsor's "100 Club," it has served several purposes since its construction in 1882.

In 1827, the Dutch Neck Presbyterian Church - then just eleven years old - established a Sunday School for children twelve years and under. For over the next half century, students in Dutch Neck were reputedly taught in a little red schoolhouse situated in what is now the west section of the cemetery behind the church, and later in side galleries of the church itself. However, it's said that during the Sunday School's 52nd anniversary celebrations (Nov. 16, 1879), "the church was so crowded that many feared the galleries would tumble and many people were outside."[1]

Thus, the next year, the church purchased a small property directly across the road for the purpose of building a chapel to serve as a Sunday School.[2],[3] A committee including Reverend Amzi Armstrong, E. Voorhees Perrine, William Updike, Liscomb T. Robins, and Joseph H. Grover (owner of Grovers Mill) planned a new chapel. A building 28 feet wide by 40 feet deep was completed in 1882 for the cost of $1,975.63, and it was dedicated that July 4.[4] ​

Dutch Neck chapel in the late 1800s or early 1900s.

The chapel was first expanded in 1909, when a kitchen and library were added to the rear of the building. Fifteen years later, a 14-foot balcony addition was erected on the front of the original portion of the building and the main entrance moved to the side. Finally, in 1938, two wings were constructed in the rear.[5] 

The chapel served as a Sunday school (among other functions) until 1965, when it was replaced by the much-large cinderblock Christian Education building to the church's northwest.[6] The following year, the building was sold to West Windsor Township, which soon converted it into a library.[7] ​Some longtime residents have told the Historical Society about their memories of the library's creaking wooden floors,  children's section, photocopy services, nursery school, and a general sense of warmth and coziness. Others recalled a van dubbed the "Bookmobile" visiting various neighborhoods. Yet more remembered Municipal Court being held in the building every Tuesday at 7:30 PM.[8]

In 1987, the building was repurposed to house the West Windsor-Plainsboro Board of Education.[9] Although they have since expanded into facilities attached to Village School, the old chapel is still being used by the school district in 2023. It also still remains a well-recognized landmark standing across from the church that started it all, in the historic West Windsor community of Dutch Neck.

Lucilla Tilton (left, librarian from 1966-78) in front of the "Bookmobile" in 1971.

Go to Dutch Neck

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Bibliography

1. Sesquicentennial History: 1816-1966. West Windsor, New Jersey: First Presbyterian Church of Dutch Neck, 1966.
2. Ibid.
3. Board of Trustees of the Dutch Neck Church, Rue, Amanda, Rue, John D. “Indenture.” Windsor, 1880. Deed conveying the property that later contained the old Dutch Neck chapel at 505 Village Road West. Located in the New Jersey State Archives, Mercer County Deed Book 133 Page 479.
4. Sesquicentennial History: 1816-1966. West Windsor, New Jersey: First Presbyterian Church of Dutch Neck, 1966.
5. Ibid.
6. Ibid.
7. ​Know Your Township. West Windsor, New Jersey: League of Women Voters, 1967.
8. Ibid.
9. “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. Several thousand pages. For this citation, look at the year 1987.