Port Mercer Canal House
Historical Overview
A 2.5-story house sits at 4278 Quakerbridge Road in Lawrence Township, directly fronting the Delaware and Raritan Canal. This is the Port Mercer Canal House. It was historically one of the primary structures of the Lawrence/West Windsor community of Port Mercer and is now a museum maintained by the Lawrence Historical Society.
The house's exact date of construction is unknown; while some sources say it was built around the time of the Delaware and Raritan Canal's opening in 1834,[1] others assert that it was actually erected in the early 1840s to replace a mid-1830s predecessor (that may or may not have nevertheless stood at a nearby location through much of the 1800s).[2] The front porch was reputedly added in the 1850s-60s.[2] The house is similar in size to other bridge-tenders' houses, suggesting uniformity in construction by the Canal company. It was one of a reputed 66 homes along the canal (including "lock houses" and "bridge houses"). It has two first-floor rooms and two-second floor rooms, with an enclosed stairway and early fireplace in the basement that was eventually replaced by an early-1900s lean-to kitchen.[4] |
This was, for generations, the home of Port Mercer's "bridge-tender," who opened and closed the adjacent swivel bridge over the canal. The bridge-tender was said to have lived rent-free in return for his services. The bridge - which swung horizontally like a door - allowed traffic to pass over the canal between West Windsor/Lawrence and Princeton, and also acted as barrier to allow the bridge-tender to collect a toll from passing barges. The bridge-tender also reputedly served a communications function, relaying messages from passing barge captains to other vessels. He also sometimes slept on a cot next to a pot-bellied stove in a nearby "shanty" (demolished long ago) which gave him more immediate access to the canal. The Port Mercer post office was reputedly originally in a room set aside in the bridge-tender's house before moving to the store across the street - therefore, early bridge-tenders likely also served as the community's postmasters.[5]
Only a handful of bridge-tenders are known. The short list includes John Pitman (reputedly mid-1860s),[6] James McGuigan (apparently for over 40 years in the mid-late 1800s),[7] and John Arrowsmith - the last-bridge-tender, who, after managing a large farm on Princeton Pike, oversaw the Port Mercer crossing from the early 1900s until the canal's closing in 1932.[8],[9] John Arrowsmith and his wife, Anna, lived here with at least eight children: Fannie, Raymond, Carrie, Walter, George, Clark, William, and Ethel.[10] They attended the nearby Clarksville Schoolhouse[10] and Penns Neck School and grew up working on local farms.[11],[12] |
The family prided themselves on their house. Recalled Carrie Arrowsmith in the May 1981 Princeton Recollector: "In his position as bridgetender Father was good to all those passing along the canal, helping them with the ropes ... he planted lots of flowers on the banks [for Anne] and kept the grass well-trimmed and cut ... the years we spent at the bridge-tender's house were the happiest days of our lives..."[12=3]
In the same publication, Carrie's brother, George, recounted: "There was a lot of kids, 'cause the families them days had a lot more children then they do today. Havin' a big family, y'know, we had a lot of fun with the old canal. In the summertime, us boys used to pitch a tent down there. Then we'd have a war up there, and we'd swim, and we had boats that we'd float down the canal. In the wintertime, we could always skate on the canal ... When we were kids, there used to be a [company tugboat] ... where the men would live that worked on the maintenance crew. There wouldn't be about maybe fifteen, twenty men that lived on the boat ... and they'd invite us kids to supper. And that used to be a big thrill to eat on the shanty boat."[14] George continued: "During the daytime, my father would have jobs other places, and us kids would open the bridge ... There were very few boats that went through at night, unless it was an emergency or something, because they didn't have headlights ... [however] there was a lot of activity [during the day] ... all day long, sometimes."[15] |
Not all was idyllic, however. The Arrowsmiths tragically lost six-year-old William in 1915 when he drowned in the canal.[16] Recalled George Arrowsmith in the May 1981 Princeton Recollector: "That was a trying time for the family. He was missing. We looked and looked and looked and tried to find him ... My father said he had a dream that night that William was drowned and was found out on the sandbar. He went out in the morning and dove down in there and that's where he was."[17] Two other children also predeceased the Arrowsmith parents: Walter in 1926, from a motorcycle accident while working as a police officer, and Ethel, in 1935.[18]
Even after the canal closed, the Arrowsmiths were still permitted to reside in the house, albeit paying a nominal rent.[19] After John and Anna's deaths - in 1939 and 1943, respectively[20] - their daughter Carrie continued to live in the house until 1965. Following her, employees of the New Jersey Water Supply Authority (which managed the canal as a state water supply) were housed here.[21] In 1973, the Delaware and Raritan Canal, and many adjacent structures (including those in Port Mercer, such as the bridge-tender's house) were placed on the National Register of Historic Places.[22] The next year, the Delaware and Raritan Canal State Park was formally established[23] and in 1978, the Lawrence Historical Society - formed in 1975[24] - began restoration and preservation work on the house.[25] This nonprofit has maintained the Port Mercer Canal House as a museum ever since and periodically opens it to the public.[26] The structure remains a central contributing element in historic Port Mercer. |
Bibliography
- “Port Mercer Canal House.” Lawrence Historical Society. Accessed September 30, 2023. https://www.thelhs.org/port-mercer-canal-house.
- Chirco, Vicki. “Port Mercer Bridge House.” D & R Canal. Accessed September 30, 2023. https://dandrcanal.org/history/houses/port-mercer-bridge-tender-house.
- “National Register of Historic Places Inventory - Nomination Form - Delaware and Raritan Canal,” December 13, 1972. Well-known 1834 opening is repeated in this document.
- Chirco, Vicki. “Port Mercer Bridge House.” D & R Canal. Accessed September 30, 2023. https://dandrcanal.org/history/houses/port-mercer-bridge-tender-house.
- Arrowsmith, George. “Denizens of Port Mercer Were Alarmed By First Siren.” Princeton Recollector 6, no. 8, May 1981. https://theprince.princeton.edu/princetonperiodicals/?a=d&d=princetonrecollector19810501.2.2&srpos=5&e=------198-en-20-princetonrecollector-1--txt-txIN-%22cARRIE+ARROWSMITH%22------
- "Been Driving Teams For Nearly 40 Years." Trenton Sunday Advertiser. February 20, 1910.
- "Forty Years In One Place." Trenton Times. September 29, 1900.
- Arrowsmith, George. “Denizens of Port Mercer Were Alarmed By First Siren.” Princeton Recollector 6, no. 8, May 1981. https://theprince.princeton.edu/princetonperiodicals/?a=d&d=princetonrecollector19810501.2.2&srpos=5&e=------198-en-20-princetonrecollector-1--txt-txIN-%22cARRIE+ARROWSMITH%22------
- Arrowsmith, Carrie. “Carrie Arrowsmith Pens Port Mercer Reflections.” Princeton Recollector 6, no. 8, May 1981. https://theprince.princeton.edu/princetonperiodicals/?a=d&d=princetonrecollector19810501.2.2&srpos=5&e=------198-en-20-princetonrecollector-1--txt-txIN-%22cARRIE+ARROWSMITH%22------
-
- Arrowsmith, George. “Denizens of Port Mercer Were Alarmed By First Siren.” Princeton Recollector 6, no. 8, May 1981. https://theprince.princeton.edu/princetonperiodicals/?a=d&d=princetonrecollector19810501.2.2&srpos=5&e=------198-en-20-princetonrecollector-1--txt-txIN-%22cARRIE+ARROWSMITH%22------
- Ibid.
- Arrowsmith, Carrie. “Carrie Arrowsmith Pens Port Mercer Reflections.” Princeton Recollector 6, no. 8, May 1981. https://theprince.princeton.edu/princetonperiodicals/?a=d&d=princetonrecollector19810501.2.2&srpos=5&e=------198-en-20-princetonrecollector-1--txt-txIN-%22cARRIE+ARROWSMITH%22------
- Arrowsmith, George. “Denizens of Port Mercer Were Alarmed By First Siren.” Princeton Recollector 6, no. 8, May 1981. https://theprince.princeton.edu/princetonperiodicals/?a=d&d=princetonrecollector19810501.2.2&srpos=5&e=------198-en-20-princetonrecollector-1--txt-txIN-%22cARRIE+ARROWSMITH%22------
- Ibid.
- "Drowned Child's Funeral Thursday." Trenton Evening Times. September 21, 1915.
- Arrowsmith, George. “Denizens of Port Mercer Were Alarmed By First Siren.” Princeton Recollector 6, no. 8, May 1981. https://theprince.princeton.edu/princetonperiodicals/?a=d&d=princetonrecollector19810501.2.2&srpos=5&e=------198-en-20-princetonrecollector-1--txt-txIN-%22cARRIE+ARROWSMITH%22------
- Arrowsmith, Carrie. “Carrie Arrowsmith Pens Port Mercer Reflections.” Princeton Recollector 6, no. 8, May 1981. https://theprince.princeton.edu/princetonperiodicals/?a=d&d=princetonrecollector19810501.2.2&srpos=5&e=------198-en-20-princetonrecollector-1--txt-txIN-%22cARRIE+ARROWSMITH%22------
- Chirco, Vicki. “Port Mercer Bridge House.” D & R Canal. Accessed September 30, 2023. https://dandrcanal.org/history/houses/port-mercer-bridge-tender-house.
- Arrowsmith, George. “Denizens of Port Mercer Were Alarmed By First Siren.” Princeton Recollector 6, no. 8, May 1981. https://theprince.princeton.edu/princetonperiodicals/?a=d&d=princetonrecollector19810501.2.2&srpos=5&e=------198-en-20-princetonrecollector-1--txt-txIN-%22cARRIE+ARROWSMITH%22------
- Chirco, Vicki. “Port Mercer Bridge House.” D & R Canal. Accessed September 30, 2023. https://dandrcanal.org/history/houses/port-mercer-bridge-tender-house.
- “National Register of Historic Places Inventory - Nomination Form - Delaware and Raritan Canal,” December 13, 1972. Well-known 1834 opening is repeated in this document.
- Chirco, Vicki. “Port Mercer Bridge House.” D & R Canal. Accessed September 30, 2023. https://dandrcanal.org/history/houses/port-mercer-bridge-tender-house.
- “About.” Lawrence Historical Society. Accessed September 30, 2023. https://www.thelhs.org/about-us.
- Chirco, Vicki. “Port Mercer Bridge House.” D & R Canal. Accessed September 30, 2023. https://dandrcanal.org/history/houses/port-mercer-bridge-tender-house.
- “Port Mercer Canal House.” Lawrence Historical Society. Accessed September 30, 2023. https://www.thelhs.org/port-mercer-canal-house.