Grovers Mill Pond

Grovers Mill Pond in late 2021. The mill is in the top right in the distance.

Historical Overview

Grovers Mill Pond (part of West Windsor's "100 Club") was likely artificially created when the naturally-occurring Bear Brook was dammed near the intersection of Cranbury and Clarksville Roads in the mid-1700s to help power the old gristmill/sawmill around which the community of Grovers Mill formed. Grovers Mill Pond was originally called "Bergen's Mill Pond" when the Bergen family owned the mill from the 1770s-1816.[1],[2],[3] During Richard Thomas' ownership (1816-1837), the body of water was called "Bear Pond."[4],[5],[6] After him was Gottlieb Schwenger from 1837-1868 ("Schwengers Mill Pond"),[7],[8],[9] and finally, ever since Joseph H. Grover bought the mill in 1868, it has been called "Grovers Mill Pond."[10],[11]

​The mill pond is fed by two tributaries: Bear Brook to the southeast, and Canoe Brook (originally called "Turner Brook") from the west (near where North Mill and Clarksville Roads converge). It also has two regular outflows: (1) the concrete overflow channel which, since at least the 1930s[12] (if not much earlier), has helped with flood control, and (2) the now-defunct and filled-in "millrace" (a length of fast-moving water that turned a wooden water-wheel that powered the mill).[13] Pieces of gravel spelling out "Built by C. L. Dey" are embedded in the overflow channel walls - a remnant of Charles L. Dey, a 1930s-era mill-owner.

Overflow channel (flood control) and millrace (to power the mill).

Grovers Mill Pond has been a recreational area for many generations. Fishing, boating, swimming, and ice skating have been popular throughout the years (although the latter two activities are no longer permitted). Ice is said to have been cut from the pond until 1934.[14] Five years later, a publication called Old Princeton's Neighbors observed the following:

"The pond and its surrounding fields are restful and beautiful. Geese and ducks drift on its surface. An occasional snowy heron or long-legged crane wades along its shallows. Bass, pike, perch, sunfish, catfish and eels make it a delight for the fisherman. Nearby is a profusion of wild flowers in spring and summer. Grovers of trees, mostly maple and buttonwood, are alive with birds. Rabbits, coons, possums, skunks, pheasants and an occasional fox or deer tempt the hunter.

This pond was a favorite haunt of the late former President Grover Cleveland ... When it rained, he used to go hunting with James Robbins of Plainsboro, now 86 years old. Frequently he would refuse to shoot a rabit because 'the little rascal sits winking at me like a female lobbyist seeking favors.'

"William E. Dock of Grovers Mills, the oldest living miller in the county, tells many stories connecting another ex-President with the mill pond, the late Woodrow Wilson. Both he and Cleveland were intimates of Walter Grover and were occasionally entertained at the Grover home nearby. Tradition says that in the early days of Wilsons' career, when he was a professor in the university, he used to visit the pond and lie upon its banks to study..."[15]

Although we do not know the validity of much of this quote's claims, they nonetheless paint a picture of the pond's cultural significance.​

Skating on the pond, 1948: Linda, Allan, and Charles Dey; Grant Chamberlin; Jean Reed. Photo from Mrs. C. L. Dey.

In 1962, following the donation of a parcel of land off of Cranbury Road by the Van Nest family to West Windsor Township, Van Nest Park was created as our town's first formal park.[16] This property is a popular recreational area and abuts the pond with a wooden dock, providing fishing and photographic opportunities.

In 1988, Charles Lawrence Dey donated Grovers Mill Pond to West Windsor.[17] A dredging process in 2008 significantly cleaned up the pond, and also provided soil to build up the cricket pitch in Community Park.[18]

​Today, the fishing, photography, boating, and more are enjoyed here, as visitors are surrounded by nature and the historic West Windsor community of Grovers Mill.

Return to Grovers Mill Homepage

---

Bibliography

1. Bergen, Jacob G. “To be SOLD.” New York Gazette and Weekly Mercury. August 22, 1774. Jacob G. Bergen listing the Joint Tract at Grovers Mill for sale - August 22, 1774
2. Schwenger, Gottlieb, Thomas, Richard. Ms. Deed. New Jersey State Archives, 1816. Found in New Jersey State Archives Manuscript Room - Middlesex County Deeds - Middlesex County Deed Book 32 Page 161.
3. “Grover’s Mills.” Essay. In Old Princeton’s Neighbors. Princeton, NJ: Graphic Arts Press , 1939. Written by the Works Progress Administration’s Federal Writers’ Project.
4. Schwenger, Gottlieb, Thomas, Richard. Ms. Deed. New Jersey State Archives, 1816. Found in New Jersey State Archives Manuscript Room - Middlesex County Deeds - Middlesex County Deed Book 32 Page 161.
5. Schwenger, Gottlieb, Thomas, Richard. Ms. Deed. New Jersey State Archives, 1837. Found in New Jersey State Archives Manuscript Room - Middlesex County Deeds - Middlesex County Deed Book 32 Page 161.
6. “Grover’s Mills.” Essay. In Old Princeton’s Neighbors. Princeton, NJ: Graphic Arts Press , 1939. Written by the Works Progress Administration’s Federal Writers’ Project.
7. Schwenger, Gottlieb, Thomas, Richard. Ms. Deed. New Jersey State Archives, 1837. Found in New Jersey State Archives Manuscript Room - Middlesex County Deeds - Middlesex County Deed Book 32 Page 161.
8. Grover, Joseph H., Labaw, John T., Schwenger, Sarah. Ms. Deed. New Jersey State Archives, 1868. Found in New Jersey State Archives Manuscript Room – Mercer County Deeds - Mercer County Deed Book 73 Page 461.
9. “Grover’s Mills.” Essay. In Old Princeton’s Neighbors. Princeton, NJ: Graphic Arts Press , 1939. Written by the Works Progress Administration’s Federal Writers’ Project.
10. Grover, Joseph H., Labaw, John T., Schwenger, Sarah. Ms. Deed. New Jersey State Archives, 1868. Found in New Jersey State Archives Manuscript Room – Mercer County Deeds - Mercer County Deed Book 73 Page 461.
11. “Grover’s Mills.” Essay. In Old Princeton’s Neighbors. Princeton, NJ: Graphic Arts Press , 1939. Written by the Works Progress Administration’s Federal Writers’ Project.
12. "ESRI ArcGIS Map Viewer - NJ 1930 Black & White Imagery,” n.d. Online interactive map viewer published by ESRI. One layer shows NJ 1930 black & white imagery - including in West Windsor. Accessed via the url: https://www.arcgis.com/apps/ mapviewer/index.html?layers=4e7de8d868c248f99c3fddc5bf8c0386.
13. “Mercer County, New Jersey. Fire Map. West Windsor.” Map. Mercer County 1890. Scarlet & Scarlet, n.d. 
14. runo, Elise, Robert W Craig, Mrs. Charles Lawrence Dey, Luci DiPolvere, Edward DiPolvere, Cynthia Koch, Vivian MacPherson, Ronald Rogers, Ralph Vierno, and David O Wright. “A Brief History of Grover’s Mill: Part II,” 1995. Spring 1995 “Broadside” newsletter, published by the Historical Society of West Windsor.
15. “Grover’s Mills.” Essay. In Old Princeton’s Neighbors. Princeton, NJ: Graphic Arts Press , 1939. Written by the Works Progress Administration’s Federal Writers’ Project.
16.  Ms. West Windsor Township Meeting Minutes - August 13, 1962. West Windsor, 1962. Mention of the recent acquisition of Van Nest Park. Minutes located in the Municipal Center
17. “West Windsor Township Meeting Minutes, 1797-2012.,” n.d. Original Township Committee meeting minute database located in the Municipal Center.
18. Jersey, Central. “West Windsor: Grovers Mill Pond Dredging Project Is Completed.” Central Jersey Archives, November 14, 2008. https://archive.centraljersey.com/2008/11/14/west-windsor-grovers-mill-pond-dredging-project-is-completed/.