The Dutch Neck Schoolhouse

The Dutch Neck Schoolhouse in December 2018. From Paul Ligeti.

Historical Overview

Standing at 516 Village Road West is a small, wood-frame house. This building is a contributing structure to the historic community of Dutch Neck and a member of West Windsor's "100 Club." It is also one of West Windsor's old, 1800s-era schoolhouses.

This building probably dates to between 1849 and 1860.[1],[2] However, it was very likely not the first school in Dutch Neck. Perhaps as far back as the 1750s, old wooden schoolhouses had served the broader Township of West Windsor.[3] It is unknown when Dutch Neck's schoolhouse was constructed, but an 1818 deed for the Dutch Neck Presbyterian Church mentions an already-existing "school house" near the intersection of South Mill Road and Village Roads East/West.[4]

Before the 1820s, West Windsor's schools - built by members of the community - were private, with parents paying teachers directly to instruct their children. However, in 1827/8 the Township Committee formally established a public school system, with four distinct districts in four of West Windsor's historic villages:

Dutch Neck in 1849. Note the schoolhouse (marked by "S.H.").

Dutch Neck district seems to have been the most prominent district and was led by Reverend Daniel DeRuelle, then the head pastor of the Dutch Neck Presbyterian Church.[6] In fact, Church records from 1827 note the establishment of a regular "Sabbath School" (Sunday School) led by the church, with mostly the same districts as listed above.[7] How much the church system was integrated with the Township system - or whether they were in fact the same system at first - is unclear, but there was certainly some level of overlap.

According to a 1939 publication called Old Princeton's Neighbors, the original Dutch Neck schoolhouse met a tragic end when the Princeton Whig of January 8, 1850 reported: "School house burned at Dutch Neck! On Friday last the school house was burned with all contents. It is supposed to have been the work of an incendiary."[8] It is presumed that the schoolhouse at 516 Village Road West (at first one room but later expanded to two) was constructed shortly afterward as a replacement.

A map produced in 1860 shows this very building (see the adjacent image). It also shows an entirely different schoolhouse very nearby at the rear of the Dutch Neck Presbyterian Church cemetery[9] - in line with longtime tradition that the church kept its own private schoolhouse there.[10]

Dutch Neck, 1860. Note the two "S.H." labels (schoolhouses) on the left side.

One teacher of the old Township-owned Dutch Neck schoolhouse from the 1890s is known: Mrs. M. L. Andrews, in 1890.[11] Early-1900s instructors included Molly C. Pierpont (also its Principal),[12],[13] Nellie A. McGalliard,[14] Margaret Ray Snell,[15] and Stella Norris.[16] Meanwhile, Melville Tindall is the only known bus driver during this era (in 1911).[17]

The Progressive Movement of this time period saw an explosion in the number of schools nationwide, increased attendance, and a focus on standardization. In this era, West Windsor's old schoolhouses became to be looked at as increasingly obsolete. Thus, in 1917, they were replaced by the much-larger brick-and-stone Dutch Neck School (which still serves West Windsor as its oldest operating educational institution) and its long-gone identical twin, the Penns Neck School.[18],[19]

Dutch Neck school house circa 1910

That same year, the old wooden schoolhouses were auctioned off by the township to local residents. The Dutch Neck schoolhouse was sold to DeVit B. Thompson - a West Windsor Township Overseer of the Highways - for $1,025.[20] DeVit converted the school into a house. It is said that the building was moved to the back of the lot to the front, and that a portion of the structure was split off and turned into the detached garage behind the house.[21]

DeVit died in 1932[22] and the property passed to his wife, Lucy.[23] After her death in 1948,[24] the property further passed to their daughter, Nilla Groendyke. She and her husband Norman rented the property to the Carson and Walton families for a while until Jacob and Evelyn Walton purchased it in 1949.[25] Evelyn was a longtime member of West Windsor Township's Commission on Aging and Senior Citizen Services in the 1980s/90s.[26]

The property finally passed out of Walton family hands to the Perrine family in the year 2000.[27] It remains a quaint building memorializing generations of educational history.

Teachers inside the schoolhouse, reputedly circa 1890.

Go to Dutch Neck

Bibliography

Otley, J W, and James Keily. “Map of Mercer County, New Jersey.” Map. Camden, New Jersey: L. Van der Veer, 1849.
Lake, D J, and S N Beers. Map of the Vicinity of Philadelphia and Trenton from Actual Surveys By D.J. Lake and S. N. Beers. Assisted by F. Beers, L. B. Lake and D. G. Beers. Philadelphia, PA: C.K. Stone and A. Pomeroy, 1860. https://dspace.njstatelib.org/xmlui/handle/10929/34112?show=full.
Woodward, Evan Morrison, and John Frelinghuysen Hageman. History of Burlington and Mercer Counties with Biographical Sketches of Many of Their Pioneers and Prominent Men. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: Everts & Peck, 1883.
Covenhoven, George, Covenhoven, John R., Fisher, John S., Hooper, Peter, Slayback, Abel, Updike, Levi. “Indenture.” West Windsor, 1818. Deed from Abel Slayback to the Trustees of the First Presbyterian Church of Dutch Neck for the property now containing the Dutch Neck Presbyterian Chuch and the old part of its graveyard at 154 South Mill Road. Located in the New Jersey State Archives, Middlesex County Deed Book 15 Page 290.
“West Windsor Township Meeting Minutes, 1797-2012.,” n.d. Original Township Committee meeting minute database located in the Municipal Center.
Ibid.
Sesquicentennial History: 1816-1966. West Windsor, New Jersey: First Presbyterian Church of Dutch Neck, 1966.
"Dutch Neck.” Essay. In Old Princeton’s Neighbors. Princeton, NJ: Graphic Arts Press , 1939. Written by the Works Progress Administration’s Federal Writers’ Project.
Lake, D J, and S N Beers. Map of the Vicinity of Philadelphia and Trenton from Actual Surveys By D.J. Lake and S. N. Beers. Assisted by F. Beers, L. B. Lake and D. G. Beers. Philadelphia, PA: C.K. Stone and A. Pomeroy, 1860. https://dspace.njstatelib.org/xmlui/handle/10929/34112?show=full.
Sesquicentennial History: 1816-1966. West Windsor, New Jersey: First Presbyterian Church of Dutch Neck, 1966.
“Dutch Neck.” Hightstown Gazette, October 30, 1890. "Miss M. L. Andrews, teacher, sends the monthly report of the Dutch Neck school for class work and examination."
“Dutch Neck.” Hightstown Gazette, November 24, 1910. "Miss Mollie Pierrepont, principal of the Dutch Neck school, has given up her position on account of the lack of a janitor’s service in the school."
“Dutch Neck School Register - 1908-1909 - Molly Pierpont.” Trenton, NJ, 1908. Located in the Historical Society of West Windsor's archives at the West Windsor History Museum.
“Dutch Neck School Register - 1909-1910 - Nellie A. McGalliard” Trenton, NJ, 1909. Located in the Historical Society of West Windsor's archives at the West Windsor History Museum.
“Dutch Neck School Register - 1910-1911 - Margaret Ray Snell.” Trenton, NJ, 1910. Located in the Historical Society of West Windsor's archives at the West Windsor History Museum.
“Dutch Neck School Register - 1913-1914 - Stella Norris.” Trenton, NJ, 1913. Located in the Historical Society of West Windsor's archives at the West Windsor History Museum.
“Dutch Neck.” Hightstown Gazette, August 31, 1911. "Mr. Melville Tindall, putting in the lowest bid, will transport the school children to the Dutch Neck school the coming year."
"Penn’s Neck.” Essay. In Old Princeton’s Neighbors. Princeton, NJ: Graphic Arts Press , 1939. Written by the Works Progress Administration’s Federal Writers’ Project.
"Dutch Neck.” Essay. In Old Princeton’s Neighbors. Princeton, NJ: Graphic Arts Press , 1939. Written by the Works Progress Administration’s Federal Writers’ Project.
“Three School Houses Bring Only $1,720.” Trenton Evening Times, November 28, 1917.
Perrine, Nora. “Some Interesting Facts Regarding the ‘Old Dutch Neck School.’” West Windsor, NJ, July 16, 2021.
Dutch Neck Presbyterian Church. (n.d.). Dutch Neck Presbyterian Church graveyard. West Windsor. Dutch Neck Presbyterian Church graveyard gravestones, which often list birth dates, death dates, and ages of those buried there - including those of many of West Windsor's oldest families.
Perrine, Nora. “Some Interesting Facts Regarding the ‘Old Dutch Neck School.’” West Windsor, NJ, July 16, 2021.
Dutch Neck Presbyterian Church. (n.d.). Dutch Neck Presbyterian Church graveyard. West Windsor. Dutch Neck Presbyterian Church graveyard gravestones, which often list birth dates, death dates, and ages of those buried there - including those of many of West Windsor's oldest families.
Perrine, Nora. “Some Interesting Facts Regarding the ‘Old Dutch Neck School.’” West Windsor, NJ, July 16, 2021.
“West Windsor Township Meeting Minutes, 1797-2012.,” n.d. Original Township Committee meeting minute database located in the Municipal Center.
Perrine, Bruce, Perrine, Nora L., Walton, Evelyn H. “Deed.” West Windsor, 2000. Located in the Mercer County Clerk's Office, Mercer County Deed Book 3860 Page 98.