Port Mercer Canal House facts for kids
The Port Mercer Canal House is a special old house located right next to the Delaware and Raritan Canal in New Jersey. You can find it in a small area called Port Mercer, which is part of Lawrence Township. This house was built a long time ago, in the 1830s. It was made for a very important person: the bridgetender and their family.
What is the Port Mercer Canal House?
The Port Mercer Canal House was home to the person who operated a special bridge called a swing bridge. This bridge would swing open to let canal boats pass through. Then, it would close again so people and wagons could cross over the canal. It was a busy job!
Life at the Canal House
From about 1900 to 1934, a man named John Arrowsmith was the bridgetender. He lived in the three-bedroom house with his wife and their eight children! Imagine how lively that house must have been. The Arrowsmith family loved living there. In the summer, the children would even sleep outside by the canal. In the winter, when the canal froze, they would skate all the way to Trenton! Around 1900, a kitchen was added to the first floor. Before that, Mrs. Arrowsmith, who was known as a great cook, made all the meals for her big family and their friends in the basement fireplace.
The Canal Today
Today, the Delaware and Raritan Canal and its historic houses, like the Port Mercer Canal House, are part of the New Jersey State Park system. This means they are protected and open for people to visit and enjoy. In the 1970s, a group called the Lawrence Historical Society started working to restore the Port Mercer Canal House. They wanted it to look like it did between 1890 and 1920. The house and the Port Mercer area are also listed on the National Register of Historic Places, which means they are recognized as important historical sites. Outside the house, you can see pretty gardens and even an old outhouse that was built before the American Civil War.
