George Williamson House and Store

George Williamson House (left) & Store (right), 2011.

Historical Overview

Standing at 864 Mapleton Road, on the Plainsboro side of the historic West Windsor/Plainsboro community of Scudder's Mills, is a large, old, building. This structure was two separate buildings later joined together: the George Williamson House and Scudder's Mills general store.​ Both have been longtime icons and contributing historic elements to the Scudder's Mills community.

It's unknown when either building was constructed. However, a store in Scudder's Mills appears in newspaper advertisements as early as 1836.[1] A map from 1876 (see adjacent image) shows it originally not part of the same property as the house. Instead, it was located about 300 yards to the northwest along Mapleton Road (near where the road turns about 90 degrees to the north).[2] Thirteen years earlier, Peter S. Boisnot had appeared in a newspaper ad as a community storekeeper,[3] followed by Charles R. Martin, who sold dry goods, groceries, hardware, drugs, medicine, and more.[4] Other known community storekeepers include H. R. Bayles[5] and Jared D. Wolfe,[6] and Thomas Thompson.[7] 

​According to former Scudder's Mill resident, Ida Louise Williamson Engelke, "After the store was abandoned as a store, it was for a time used as a Wednesday night prayer meeting place (by) students from (the) Princeton Theological Seminary ... Miss Araminta Williamson, my father's sister, opened and closed the building, laid out the hymn books, started fire in the little stove, and kept the place presentable. When the meetings stopped she was presented with a sterling silver watch as a token of appreciation for her work. that watch is now in my possession. It is still running."[8] Ida continued, "Later, when (Carnegie Lake) was built, the store building was given to George Williamson who moved it up to his property."[9] However, it's unknown when the two buildings were actually combined into one.

Scudder's Mills, 1876. Note the store.

The house itself first seems to appear in a map from 1840.[10] George Williamson purchased the property in 1887.[11] Prior to that year, it, and the store had been part of a larger tract containing most of the adjacent structures.[12] For a history of that collective tract, click here. 

George was the son of Elbert Williamson,[13] owner of the house next door at 870 Mapleton Road.[14] The 1900 census also shows George's wife (Mary) and daughter (Mabel) and lists him as a "grocer."[15] He also ran the community's paint store.[16] He also helped found the Community Club in the historic West Windsor community of Penns Neck.[17] Mabel was, for several years, principal of the J. V. B. Wicoff elementary school in Plainsboro.[18] After her death in 1965,[19] the property reputedly passed to a "Mr. Clare."[20] 

By 1982 (if not earlier), an architecture firm called "Short & Ford" (later Ford Farewell Mills and Gatsch, Architects[21]) had opened in the building[22] and used the store as their drafting room.[23] Also in the building was Preservation New Jersey, a statewide nonprofit historic preservation organization.[24] Ford Farewell Mills and Gatsch was replaced by 2002 (if not earlier) by GenuOne, an internet security firm. Also by  2002, the building - and the Elbert Williamson house next door - had been remarketed as the "Offices at Mapleton Mills."[25] Both remain longtime landmarks in historic Scudder's Mills.

864 Mapleton Road, April 2019. From Paul Ligeti.

Go to Scudder's Mills

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Bibliography

1. William Gulick, John C. Schenck, and George T. McDowell. (1836, November 259) "Valuable Mill Property At Auction." Princeton Whig.
2. Map. Map of South Brunswick Township. Philadelphia, PA, New Jersey: Everts & Stuart, 1876. 
3. Peter S. Boisnot. (1863, February 27) "Try It! It is entirely vegetable. Kahnweiler's American Bitters." Princeton Standard.
4. Charles R. Martin. (1865, August 11) "Charles R. Martin having opened the store formerly occupied by Peter Boisnot, at the Aqueduct, begs to leave offer to the public, his stock of dry goods, groceries, hardware, drugs and medicines, &c., &c., &c.,for cash only, as cheap, if not cheaper, than the same can be bought elsewhere." Princeton Standard.
5. "Burglars Foiled." Princeton Standard. December 18, 1868.
6. Jared D. Wolfe. (1869, February 5) "Flour, Meal, Feed, &c." Princeton Standard.
7. “Aqueduct.” Essay. In Old Princeton’s Neighbors. Princeton, NJ: Graphic Arts Press , 1939. Written by the Works Progress Administration’s Federal Writers’ Project.
8. Engelke, Ida Louise Williamson. “Broadside,” 1987. From the Spring & Summer 1987 "Broadside" newsletter, published by the Historical Society of West Windsor.
9. Ibid.
10. Hassler, F. R., & Gerdes, F. H. (1840). US Coast Survey - Princeton and Vicinity. map, Princeton and Vicinity, New Jersey. Scale 1:20,000
11. Hunt, Azariah P., Hunt, Harriet, Onderdonk, Peter C. “Indenture.” South Brunswick, 1861. Located in the New Jersey State Archives, Middlesex County deed Book 87 Page 189.
12. Snook, Alfred, Snook, Harriet W., Williamson, George E. “Indenture.” South Brunswick, 1887. Located in the New Jersey State Archives, Middlesex County deed Book 312 Page 338.
13. United States Census, 1870 - South Brunswick Township.” South Brunswick Township, 1870.
14. Conover, Gustavus A., Williamson, Albert S. “Indenture.” South Brunswick, 1853. Located in the New Jersey State Archives, Middlesex County Book 63 Page 6.
15. United States Census, 1900 - South Brunswick Township.” South Brunswick Township, 1900.
16. Engelke, Ida Louise Williamson. “Broadside,” 1987. From the Spring & Summer 1987 "Broadside" newsletter, published by the Historical Society of West Windsor.
17. “Aqueduct.” Essay. In Old Princeton’s Neighbors. Princeton, NJ: Graphic Arts Press , 1939. Written by the Works Progress Administration’s Federal Writers’ Project.
18. "Dr. Mabel R. Williamson." Town Topics. July 15, 1965.
19. Ibid.
20. Engelke, Ida Louise Williamson. “Broadside,” 1987. From the Spring & Summer 1987 "Broadside" newsletter, published by the Historical Society of West Windsor.
21. Short & Ford Architects. (1982, March 17) "Jr. Secretary-Person Friday." Town Topics.
22. "Review and Forecast/Architects." The Times. January 27, 1993.
23. 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.
24. Preservation New Jersey. (1982, October 10) "Morristown (The Cultural Center, 300 Mendham Rd.) - 'New Economic Life for Old Buildings,' conference all day Saturday." Sunday Star-Ledger.
25. "New Life for the Old Mill at Mapleton Road." U.S. 1/Princeton Info. January 11, 2002.