The Port Mercer canal house, which is located on Quakerbridge Road in the historic hamlet of Port Mercer, will undergo repairs to its roof and front porch and topped off by a fresh coat of paint.
The Lawrence Historical Society received a $35,000 grant from the Canal Society of New Jersey to make the repairs. The canal house is owned by the State of New Jersey, but maintained by the historical society through an agreement with the state.
Port Mercer itself is located near the crossroads of West Windsor, Lawrence Township and Princeton.
“We are thrilled that the Canal Society of New Jersey has made such a generous gift. This funding will help ensure that this historic structure is preserved for many years to come,” LHS trustee Jeff Lang said.
The Port Mercer canal house is one of 19 remaining canal houses along the Delaware and Raritan Canal. At its peak, there were more than 65 canal houses, which were home to the bridge tender and his family.
John Arrowsmith was the last bridge tender to live in the canal house at Port Mercer. He lived in the house with his wife and eight children from 1911 to 1932, when the canal closed. There are two rooms on the first floor and two rooms on the second floor.
Arrowsmith and his predecessors as bridge tenders were responsible for operating the swing bridge that crossed the Delaware and Raritan Canal on Quakerbridge Road. It allowed canal boats, sailboats, steam tugs, luxury yachts and naval vessels to pass through along the canal.
The Delaware and Raritan Canal runs between the Delaware River and the Raritan River. A canal was suggested by William Penn in the 1690s to shorten the trip between Philadelphia and New York City. It would have served as an inland waterway and avoided the need for ships to go out to sea from Philadelphia to New York City.
Work on the present-day Delaware and Raritan Canal began in 1830. Workmen, who were mostly Irish immigrants, dug the canal with hand tools. It was completed in 1834.
When the canal was completed, mules towed canal boats on the towpath. The canal’s greatest use occurred in the 1860s and 1870s when coal was transported on the boats from Pennsylvania to New York City.
The main section of the Delaware and Raritan Canal connected Bordentown and New Brunswick. From New Brunswick, freight was carried down the Raritan River into Raritan Bay and across to the New York Harbor.
Construction of railroads in the state contributed to the decline in freight transported on the canal. The canal closed every winter, but railroads did not. The Delaware and Raritan Canal closed for the winter of 1932-1933, and did not open in the spring.
Control of the Delaware and Raritan Canal passed to the State of New Jersey in 1937.
The Delaware and Raritan Canal and the canal houses were included in the National Register of Historic Places in 1973, and the Delaware and Raritan Canal State Park was established in 1974.
