Red Lion Inn

Former Red Lion Inn & Parsonage, October 2022. From Paul Ligeti.

Historical Overview

Standing at 261 Washington Road is a 2-story, 5-bay structure with a one-story rear extension. This building, currently (2023) used by the nonprofit Homefront as housing for single mothers, is now known as "Haven House." However, for generations prior, it was the parsonage of the adjacent Princeton Baptist Church and, for decades before that, an inn and one of the main focal points of the historic West Windsor community of Penns Neck. It is also a member of West Windsor's "100 Club" and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

This building has multiple bedrooms, two separate staircases, and a slightly off-center stair hall, presumably to provide more room for public gatherings on the ground floor. Its attic is unusually roomy and accessible, suggesting that it may have hosted less discerning guests who wanted to save a few pennies when staying the night. In the basement are beams with bark still on them, and several fireplaces historically heated various rooms on each floor.[1]

The inn was constructed around 1807 by William Kovenhoven,[2] who five years later also donated an adjacent plot of land for the purpose of constructing the church.[3] Inns and churches often operated side-by-side as centers of spiritual, social, and political life. Kovenhoven's inn was originally located directly at the eastern corner of the crossroads of Route 1 and Washington Road, facing Route 1.[4] At the time, there was no traffic circle and both avenues were dirt farm lanes.

​The first known innkeeper was John Joline, who successfully applied for a tavern license in December 1807.[5] He seems to have been succeeded by George Follet.[6] Both Joline and Follet also owned popular taverns in Princeton and were known for "(dispensing) hospitality and good cheer." Follet is said to have hung the sign of the Red Lion outside of each of his inns; thus, although no proof exists that he, specifically, called his Penns Neck tavern the Red Lion Inn, it was certainly referred to by this name in the late part of the same century.[7],[8]

Tavern rates fixed by Middlesex County, 1807.

In 1808, Town Committee, which had previously solely met in the Dutch Neck Inn a few miles way, also began meeting in the Penns Neck inn, and would continue to do so on and off for the next several decades.[9] During this time, other  innkeepers are said to have been Kenneth Dey, Elijah Davison, Major Gilbert Giberson, Asher Temple, a man named Donaldson, Widow Jackson, James Davison, and others. Some of these individuals also managed a competitor inn across the road.[10]

In 1819, William Kovenhoven formally sold the Red Lion Inn to Asher Temple,[11] a West Windsor Constable.[12] In 1827, due to unpaid debts, his property was seized by Middlesex County and sold to Gooden Hall.[13] However, Hall appears to have permitted Temple to remain as innkeeper. Temple also sponsored horse racing in the area. Around this time, the tavern was called the White Horse.[14]

Backside of the Red Lion Inn (center), viewed from Washington Road, 1800s.

In 1838, Hall sold the property to William Woodmanse.[15] Following him in ownership were:

• Voorhes Kovenhoven (starting 1842).[16]
• Ralph Kovenhoven (starting 1843).[17]
• Joseph and Sara Taylor (Starting 1848).[18]
• John S. Cocks (Starting 1852).[19]
• Wlliam M. Cocks (Starting 1852).[20]
• Uriah Bosenbury (Starting 1853).[21]
• Margaret Bosenbury and Henry Trout (starting 185?).[22]
• Henry Dunn (starting 1855).[23]
• Margaret and William Wyckoff (starting 1855).[24]
• John V. D. Konover (starting 1868).[25]
• Susan and Israel Pierson (starting 1869).[26]

In 1873, the Piersons swapped their inn with that of Noah Reed, who owned the Princessville Inn (Lawrence Township).[27] Within the next six years, however, Reed was dead, and the inn presumably shuttered.[28]

Parsonage, probably late 1800s.

In 1879, Reed's estate sold the property to the Princeton Baptist Church,[29] which had long viewed it as a source of corruption of the neighborhood's youth. Its earlier role as a center of community life, elections, auctions, and more had ended under changing times. The church, undergoing a revitalization of its own, converted the former inn into a parsonage.[30] The pastor at the time, L. O. Grenelle, wrote that "this is the next best thing the Church as ever done, (next) to the erection of the house of worship."[31]

Some time in the early 1900s, shingles were placed over the parsonage's clapboard siding.[32] In 1925, it was divided into two duplex apartments.[33] After Rev. Charles Fredericks arrived in 1927, a furnace and bathroom were added.[34] Perhaps most notably, in 1929, improvements to Route 1 necessitated moving the parsonage about 150 feet southeastward, to its current location.[35]

In 1989, the old Red Lion Inn was accepted into the National Register of Historic Places.[36] In 2022, after several years of renovations, the building was dedicated as "Haven House."[37] While its current use is vastly different than its historical purposes, it nevertheless remains one of Penns Neck's oldest and most historically-significant sites.

Front of Red Lion Inn viewed from Route 1, probably 1910s-20s.

Return to Penns Neck Homepage

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Bibliography

1. “National Register of Historic Places Registration Form.” West Windsor, November 28, 1989. For the Princeton Baptist Church and Red Lion Inn. Approved.
2. Joline, John. Ms. West Windsor, 1807. John Joline’s application for a tavern license. Located in the New Jersey State Archive’s Manuscripts Room - Middlesex County Tavern License collection (1758-1826).
3. Grover, Joseph, Kovenhoven, Mary, Kovenhoven, William, Stout, Joseph, Vaughan, William, Wilson, Ezekiel R. “Indenture.” Windsor, 1812. Located in the New Jersey State Archives, Middlesex County Deed Book 9 Page 601.
4. Red Lion Inn, 1800s. Photograph. West Windsor, New Jersey, n.d. West Windsor History Museum. Shows Red Lion Inn at intersection of Route 1 and Washington Road.
5. Joline, John. Ms. West Windsor, 1807. John Joline’s application for a tavern license. Located in the New Jersey State Archive’s Manuscripts Room - Middlesex County Tavern License collection (1758-1826).
6. Follet, George. Ms. West Windsor, 1810. George Follet’s application for a tavern license. Located in the New Jersey State Archive’s Manuscripts Room - Middlesex County Tavern License collection (1758-1826).
7. Woodward, Evan Morrison, and John Frelinghuysen Hageman. History of Burlington and Mercer Counties with Biographical Sketches of Many of Their Pioneers and Prominent Men. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: Everts & Peck, 1883.
8. ​"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.
9. ​​“West Windsor Township Meeting Minutes, 1797-2012.,” n.d. Original Township Committee meeting minute database located in the Municipal Center.
10. Woodward, Evan Morrison, and John Frelinghuysen Hageman. History of Burlington and Mercer Counties with Biographical Sketches of Many of Their Pioneers and Prominent Men. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: Everts & Peck, 1883.
11. Kovenhoven, William, Temple, Asher. “Indenture.” Windsor, 1819. Located in the New Jersey State Archives, Middlesex County Deed Book 13 Page 714.
12. ​​“West Windsor Township Meeting Minutes, 1797-2012.,” n.d. Original Township Committee meeting minute database located in the Municipal Center.
13. Hall, Gooden, Woodmanse, William. “Indenture.” Windsor, 1838. Located in the Mercer County Clerk's Office, Mercer County Deed Book A Page 145.
14.  “Penns Neck Races!” Monmouth Democrat. September 1835.
15. Hall, Gooden, Woodmanse, William. “Indenture.” Windsor, 1838. Located in the Mercer County Clerk's Office, Mercer County Deed Book A Page 145.
16. Kovenhoven, Voorhees, Woodmanse, William. “Indenture.” Windsor, 1842. Located in the Mercer County Clerk's Office, Mercer County Deed Book E Page 15.
17. Cocks, John S., Taylor, Joseph M., Taylor, Sarah. “Indenture.” Windsor, 1848. Located in the Mercer County Clerk's Office, Mercer County Deed Book W Page 279.
18. Ibid.
19. Ibid.
20. Cocks, John S., Cocks, William M. “Indenture.” Windsor, 1852. Located in the Mercer County Clerk's Office, Mercer County Deed Book W Page 277.
21. Bosenbury, Uriah, Cocks, William M. “Indenture.” Windsor, 1853. Located in the Mercer County Clerk's Office, Mercer County Deed Book Z Page 291.
22. Bosenbury, Margaret, Dunn, Hugh, Trout, Henry T. “Indenture.” Windsor, 1855. Located in the Mercer County Clerk's Office, Mercer County Deed Book 32 Page 424.
23. Ibid.
24. Dunn, Hugh, Wyckoff, Margaret, Wyckoff, William S. “Indenture.” Windsor, 1855. Located in the Mercer County Clerk's Office, Mercer County Deed Book 32 Page 426.
25. Konover, John V. D., Wyckoff, Margaret, Wyckoff, William S. “Indenture.” Windsor, 1868. Located in the Mercer County Clerk's Office, Mercer County Deed Book 73 Page 392.
26. Konover, John V. D., Pierson, Israel. “Indenture.” Windsor, 1869. Located in the Mercer County Clerk's Office, Mercer County Deed Book 75 Page 464.
27. Pierson, Israel, Pierson, Sarah, Reed, Noah. “Indenture.” Windsor, 1873. Located in the Mercer County Clerk's Office, Mercer County Deed Book 96 Page 149.
28. Princeton Baptist Church, Walter, Isaac G. “Indenture.” Windsor, 1879. Located in the Mercer County Clerk's Office, Mercer County Deed Book 122 Page 125.
29. Ibid.
30. Wilson, Peter. “History and Notes on Princeton Baptist Church at Penns Neck, New Jersey.” West Windsor, NJ: Princeton Baptist Church, 1878 (and later additions in the 1880s).
31. Ibid.
32. “National Register of Historic Places Registration Form.” West Windsor, November 28, 1989. For the Princeton Baptist Church and Red Lion Inn. Approved.
33. Ibid.
34. Ibid.
35. Ibid.
36. “National Register of Historic Places Registration Form.” West Windsor, November 28, 1989. For the Princeton Baptist Church and Red Lion Inn. Approved.
37. “Facebook Post by Haven House, Inc. on Dedication of Haven House.” West Windsor, NJ, October 24, 2022. https://www.facebook.com/HavenHouseNJ/