Penns Neck Schoolhouse

Penns Neck schoolhouse and barn, June 4, 2022.

Historical Overview

A small, two-story building stands just a few dozen feet from Route 1. With an address of 3637 Brunswick Pike, this building, itself in front of a long, vertical-planked gambrel-roofed barn, was once one of West Windsor's old schoolhouses in the historic community of Penns Neck. It is also a member of West Windsor's "100 Club."

However, this was not the first schoolhouse in Penns Neck. According to the 1939 publication Old Princeton's Neighbors, "Tradition says that (the original schoolhouse) was built before 1760, and ... is supposed to have been built by the concerted efforts of all the able-bodied men in the community. It was a rather large building, made of huge timbers, and ... is said to have served as both a residence and school in the early days."[1]

This first schoolhouse presumably stood for over a century at the corner of the long-abandoned "Eden Way" (formerly Logan Drive), off of Route 1 and lower Harrison Street.[2] It seems to have been replaced between 1849 and 1860 by another schoolhouse on the northbound (eastern) side of Route 1, between Washington Road and Alexander Road.[3],[4]

Penns Neck schoolhouse, circa 1920s.

There is said to have been an effort to build a new school starting in 1859, but the money raised was reputedly used to pay bounties to Civil War soldiers instead.[5] Nonetheless, by 1875, the beams and windows of the original building had been moved to the Hendrickson farm on the southbound (western) side of Route 1 - where the building still stands in 2023.[6] Its only known teacher was Margaret W. Hall, in 1908-1911.[7],[8],[9] This building was used as a grade school until 1917, when the significantly bigger and more modern Dutch Neck School, and its long-gone identical twin, the Penns Neck School, were erected.[10]

Consequently, the old Penns Neck schoolhouse was auctioned off to Lester Mount for $410.[11] It eventually passed to Joe O'Neil, who, from at least the 1960s to the late 1990s or early 2000s, operated O'Neil's Puppy Kennel out of the property.[12],[13],[14] Since then, it has passed to new ownership. The rotting siding and windows of the house were replaced and restored between 2019 and 2022.[15],[16] Although its context has dramatically changed - from a little schoolhouse amid farmland to a small building owned by a biopharmaceutical company - the building still stands in the same place it has for many generations.

Penns Neck schoolhouse class of 1887.

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Bibliography

"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.
Otley, J W, and James Keily. “Map of Mercer County, New Jersey.” Map. Camden, New Jersey: L. Van der Veer, 1849.
Ibid.
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
"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.
“West Windsor Township.” Map. 1875 Historical Atlas of Mercer County, New Jersey - Map of West Windsor. Philadelphia, PA: Everts & Stuart, 1875. https://www. loc.gov/item/2010587333/.
“Penns Neck School Register - 1908-1909 - Margaret W Hall.” Trenton, NJ, 1908. Located in the Historical Society of West Windsor's archives at the West Windsor History Museum.
“Penns Neck School Register - 1909-1910 - Margaret W Hall.” Trenton, NJ, 1909. Located in the Historical Society of West Windsor's archives at the West Windsor History Museum.
“Penns Neck School Register - 1910-1911 - Margaret W Hall.” Trenton, NJ, 1910. Located in the Historical Society of West Windsor's archives at the West Windsor History Museum.
“To Vote on Sale of Four Schools.” Trenton Evening Times, October 29, 1917. Mentions that "...the children of the township (are) now being taught in the fine new graded schools at Dutch Neck and Penn's Grove."
“Three School Houses Bring Only $1,720.” Trenton Evening Times, November 28, 1911.
Joseph P. O'Neil's Puppy Farm Kennels. “PUPPY SALE.” Sunday Times Advertiser. Trenton, January 12, 1969.
Joseph P. O'Neil's Puppy Farm Kennels. “Pets for Sale.” The Jersey Journal. Jersey City, December 16, 1999.
“Google Streetview of 3637 Brunswick Pike - August 2009,” n.d. URL: https://www.google.com/maps/@40.3238085,-74.6474959,3a,75y,286.98h,81.68t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sOjV5S_t5FJnuUe4b_bTPIA!2e0!5s20090801T000000!7i3328!8i1664
“Google Streetview of 3637 Brunswick Pike - October 2019,” n.d. URL: https://www.google.com/maps/@40.3237918,-74.6474871,3a,75y,286.98h,81.68t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1smi6P4LJn1hATQ-MWxhugQA!2e0!5s20191001T000000!7i16384!8i8192
Ligeti, Paul. 3637 Brunswick Pike - Penns Neck Schoolhouse. Photograph. West Windsor, NJ, June 4, 2022. West Windsor History Museum.