Elbert Williamson House

Frank Williamson House, March 2019. From Paul Ligeti.

Historical Overview

Standing at 870 Mapleton Road in Plainsboro is a 2-story building with barn-turn-garage behind it. On the east and north sides of the house, near the intersection of Mapleton Road and Route 1, is an old (perhaps 1800s-era) dry-laid fieldstone wall. These all constitute the Elbert Williamson property - a longstanding and significant contributing element to the historic West Windsor/Plainsboro community of Scudder's Mills.​

The home's date of construction is unknown, but it is listed in a deed from 1853.[1] At the time, this was part of a much-larger property, then owned by Gustavus A. Conover, that included several other structures, including the mills at Scudder's Mills, and a blacksmith's shop, directly east of the house and facing Route 1.[2] For a history of that full property prior to 1853, click here.

In 1853, the Elbert Williamson house, its outbuildings, the blacksmith's shop, and a little over an acre of land were sold to Elbert (AKA Albert) Williamson and Martha Williamson (perhaps Elbert's sister) for $875.[3] The 1870 federal census lists Elbert as a blacksmith with a wife, Elizabeth, and 10 children: Araminta, Alexander (also a blacksmith), Theodore (blacksmith), Mary, Anna, John, George, Charles, Addison, and Frederick.[4]

Route 1 and Mapleton Road, facing southeast, 1904. Blacksmith and wheelwright's shops on the right. From the Historical Society of Princeton.

At an unknown point, a wheelwright's shop was constructed facing Route 1, just  southwest of the blacksmith's shop.[5] A runway joined the second story of both stores. By means of this, carriages were drawn up to the platform at the top of the runway and taken into the paint shop over the wheelwright's shop.[6]

​It was perhaps after Elbert's death in 1886[7] that Frederick, inherited the property. Frederick was the last known blacksmith,[8] with the part-time assistance of Theodore. Meanwhile, George was the painter and Charles the wheelwright.[9] These stores were demolished by the late 1930s, if not earlier.[10]

After Frank died in 1921,[11] the property was reputedly sold to the Rockefeller Foundation and later acquired by Princeton University.[12] In the 1980s and '90s, it housed the U.S. 1 newspaper publishing business.[13],[14] Around 2002, it became part of the "Offices at Mapleton Mills" office park, alongside the George Williamson house to the west, and housed the Regional Planning Partnership, a nonprofit planning and advocacy group.[15] At the time of this writing (2024), a sign stands out front marking the Elbert Williamson house as a dental studio.

Elbert Williamson house, 2019. From Paul Ligeti.

Go to Scudder's Mills

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Bibliography

1. Conover, Gustavus A., Williamson, Albert S. “Indenture.” South Brunswick, 1853. Located in the New Jersey State Archives, Middlesex County Book 63 Page 6.
2. Ibid.
3. Ibid.
4. United States Census, 1870 - South Brunswick Township.” South Brunswick Township, 1870.
5. Engelke, Ida Louise Williamson. “Broadside,” 1986. From the Fall & Winter 1986 "Broadside" newsletter, published by the Historical Society of West Windsor. The specific article is titled "The Aqueduct Story."
6. Engelke, Ida Louise Williamson. “Broadside,” 1987. From the Spring & Summer 1987 "Broadside" newsletter, published by the Historical Society of West Windsor. The specific article is titled "The Aqueduct Story" and is a follow-up to the newsletter's Fall & Winter 1986 publication.
7. ​Princeton Baptist Church. (n.d.). Princeton Baptist Church graveyard. West Windsor. Princeton Baptist 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.
8. “Aqueduct.” Essay. In Old Princeton’s Neighbors. Princeton, NJ: Graphic Arts Press , 1939. Written by the Works Progress Administration’s Federal Writers’ Project.
9. Engelke, Ida Louise Williamson. “Broadside,” 1987. From the Spring & Summer 1987 "Broadside" newsletter, published by the Historical Society of West Windsor. The specific article is titled "The Aqueduct Story" and is a follow-up to the newsletter's Fall & Winter 1986 publication.
10. “Aqueduct.” Essay. In Old Princeton’s Neighbors. Princeton, NJ: Graphic Arts Press , 1939. Written by the Works Progress Administration’s Federal Writers’ Project.
11. ​Princeton Baptist Church. (n.d.). Princeton Baptist Church graveyard. West Windsor. Princeton Baptist 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.
12. Engelke, Ida Louise Williamson. “Broadside,” 1987. From the Spring & Summer 1987 "Broadside" newsletter, published by the Historical Society of West Windsor. The specific article is titled "The Aqueduct Story" and is a follow-up to the newsletter's Fall & Winter 1986 publication.
13. Richard K. Rein. (1986, November 12) "Magazine Publishing." Town Topics.
14. US 1. (1992, September 12) "Attention Job Hunters." Town Topics.
15. "New Life for the Old Mill at Mapleton Road." U.S. 1/Princeton Info. January 11, 2002.