Raritan Water Power Canal

Last updated May 04, 2019

The Raritan Water Power Canal in Raritan, New Jersey was a three-mile long water power canal built during the early 1840s to power industries. The canal has been determined to be eligible for the National Register. The canal is included in Duke Island Park, as part of the Somerset County Park System.^[1]

Raritan is a borough in Somerset County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the borough's population was 6,881, reflecting an increase of 543 (+8.6%) from the 6,338 counted in the 2000 Census, which had in turn increased by 540 (+9.3%) from the 5,798 counted in the 1990 Census.

A Power Canal refers to a canal used for hydraulic power generation, rather than for transport of watercraft. The power canal was a major factor in the Industrial revolution in New England in the 19th century. Most early power canals were mill races used mechanically to transfer power directly from falling water to machinery in mill buildings. Later, the hydraulic power generated electricity locally for the same mill factories. These power canals were often filled in as electricity replaced the need for local water power, and road transport needs or city expansion needs reclaimed the land. Some hydraulic power canals were transformed into local electric generators, but most were closed. Remains of power canals can be seen in old mill towns and are often protected as historical structures today.

Duke Island Park is a Somerset County Park in Bridgewater Township, New Jersey. The park includes trails, which are part of the Raritan River Greenway and currently connects the southwestern corner of Bridgewater with Raritan center and Hillsborough Township. The park covers 339 acres (137 ha) and is bounded by the Raritan River to the south and by the Raritan Water Power Canal on the other three sides. The park is home to numerous trail, several sports fields, and a bandstand that has free summer concerts. The visitors center is home to the Park Ranger's office, restroom facilities, vending machines and maps and brochures of county facilities.

The canal was originally constructed by the Somerset Water Power Company. This company was incorporated on Feb 28, 1840 but went bankrupt. The Raritan Water Power Company was incorporated on March 24, 1863 and took over the canal, head gates, water power, water rights, and franchises.^[2]

The Raritan Water Power Canal Historic District was listed on August 27, 2001 with NJHPO ID#3633.^[3]

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The Delaware and Raritan Canal is a canal in central New Jersey, United States, built in the 1830s, that served to connect the Delaware River to the Raritan River. It was an efficient and reliable means of transportation of freight between Philadelphia and New York City, especially coal from the anthracite fields in eastern Pennsylvania. The canal allowed shippers to cut many miles off the existing route from the Pennsylvania coal fields, down the Delaware, around Cape May, and up along the Atlantic Ocean coast to New York City.

Blackwells Mills is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) located in Franklin Township, in Somerset County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the CDP's population was 803.

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Raritan Valley Community College (RVCC) is an accredited, coeducational, two-year, public, community college located in North Branch, New Jersey. RVCC offers Associate's degree programs leading to an Associate of Arts (A.A.), Associate of Science (A.S.), Associate of Fine Art (A.F.A) or an Associate of Applied Science (A.A.S.), as well as certificate programs and continuing education courses.

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The Meadows Foundation of Somerset County, New Jersey is a nonprofit corporation founded in 1978. It oversaw the restoration of seven historic houses in Somerset.

The Six Mile Run Reservoir Site, part of the Delaware and Raritan Canal State Park, is located in Franklin Township, Somerset County, New Jersey, United States. It is adjacent to the Delaware and Raritan Canal. It covers 3,037 acres (12.29 km²). The reservoir plan was to flood the Six Mile Run watershed. The Six Mile Run is a tributary of the Millstone River that, with its tributaries, drains a large area in central Franklin Township, Somerset County, New Jersey and western portions of North Brunswick and South Brunswick Townships in Middlesex County, New Jersey. It derives its name, along with other streams, from the distance early surveyors estimated it was from the point where the historic King's Highway left the Raritan River at New Brunswick to the point the roadway crossed the stream. The estimates were not very accurate but the stream names have remained in use ever since.

Six Mile Run is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) located in Franklin Township, in Somerset County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the CDP's population was 3,184.

The Blackwells Mills Canal House is located at Blackwells Mills Road and Canal Road in Franklin Township, Somerset County, New Jersey, United States, on the Delaware and Raritan Canal. Across the canal is Blackwells Mills, New Jersey.

The Port Mercer Canal House is a historic house along the Delaware and Raritan Canal. It is located at 4278 Quakerbridge Road in the Port Mercer section of Lawrence Township, Mercer County, New Jersey, United States, near the border of West Windsor Township and Princeton, New Jersey. The house was built in the 1830s as housing for bridgetender and his family. The bridgetender was needed to open the swing bridge when canal boats came through, then close it to allow traffic to cross over the canal. From approximately 1900 to 1934, the bridgetender was John Arrowsmith. He and his wife lived in the three bedroom house with their eight children. The Arrowsmiths loved living at the house and their children enjoyed sleeping outside by the canal in the summer and skating on the frozen canal to Trenton in the winter.

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The Nevius Street Bridge once carried car traffic across the Raritan River between Hillsborough Township and Raritan Borough in Somerset County, New Jersey, United States. In the 1840s a wooden bridge crossed at this location. The current 150-foot-long (46 m) bridge was built in 1886 by the Wrought Iron Bridge Company of Canton, Ohio. It is a double intersection Pratt truss bridge. The construction of the nearby John Basilone Veterans Memorial Bridge replaced the Nevius Street Bridge in 2005; the bridge now serves as a pedestrian bridge, connecting River Road in Hillsborough with the Raritan River Greenway. The bridge, described using its historic name, Raritan Bridge, was added to the National Register of Historic Places on November 12, 1992 for its engineering and method of construction.

Mile Run is a tributary of the Raritan River in New Brunswick, New Jersey, in the United States.

The Rocky Hill Historic District encompasses the historic core of Rocky Hill, New Jersey along Washington Street and Montgomery, Princeton, and Crescent Avenues. The village is approximately one square mile and traces its beginnings to the 18th century, when George Washington stayed at Rockingham, and its major growth period to the second quarter of the 19th century. The district encompasses 145 buildings, only 12 of which are non-contributing, and has sustained its historic character without the intrusion of modern structures or parking lots. The most notable landmark in the village is Dutch Reformed Church, built in 1856 in the Carpenter Gothic style. The district was added to the National Register of Historic Places on July 8, 1982 for its significance in archeology, architecture and commerce.

The Somerset Roller Mills, also known as the Jacobs Creek Grist Mill, are a small former gristmill complex, originally built in the early 18th century, in Titusville, New Jersey.

References

↑ Tomkins Historical Research - Projects Archived 2008-09-05 at the Wayback Machine .
↑ Reports of Cases argued and determined in The Court of Chancery, The Prerogative Court, and, on appeal, in The Court of Errors and Appeals, of the State of New Jersey, vol 6, 1871
↑ "New Jersey and National Registers of Historic Places - Somerset County" (PDF). New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection - Historic Preservation Office. February 12, 2018. p. 12.

Coordinates: 40°33′18″N74°39′35″W / 40.55505°N 74.65978°W / 40.55505; -74.65978

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[1] Tomkins Historical Research - Projects Archived 2008-09-05 at the Wayback Machine .

[2] Reports of Cases argued and determined in The Court of Chancery, The Prerogative Court, and, on appeal, in The Court of Errors and Appeals, of the State of New Jersey, vol 6, 1871

[NJRHP-3] "New Jersey and National Registers of Historic Places - Somerset County" (PDF). New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection - Historic Preservation Office. February 12, 2018. p. 12.