In the D&R Canal’s heyday, the bridge tender’s hut served an important function as a toll collector’s booth and as a warm, dry shelter from where to wait for barges and boats. At a speed limit of four miles per hour, the captain of a vessel would make a signal to alert the tender that he was approaching. The tender would then collect the toll and open the swing bridge to allow passage.
At Blackwells Mills there is not one but two bridge tender huts. The original toll booth, a simple nondescript structure, was moved from its original location across the street and attached via a breezeway to the rear of the Canal House. It serves a very useful purpose today as a storage shed.
The more picturesque hut gracing the entrance to the Bridgetenders Garden and the landmark that the site is known for, replaced the original hut and it has an interesting history of its own.
At Blackwells Mills there is not one but two bridge tender huts. The original toll booth, a simple nondescript structure, was moved from its original location across the street and attached via a breezeway to the rear of the Canal House. It serves a very useful purpose today as a storage shed.
The more picturesque hut gracing the entrance to the Bridgetenders Garden and the landmark that the site is known for, replaced the original hut and it has an interesting history of its own.
“In 1854, 20 years after the D&R Canal opened, the Millstone and New Brunswick Railroad was constructed from the main tracks of the New Jersey Railroad south of New Brunswick to East Millstone, with station stops at Middlebush, Clyde Road and Voorhees Avenue – all in Franklin Township. At one point, eight to ten passenger trains plus freight trains ran each day on the single-track rail line. Commuting to Newark, Jersey City and New York was now possible, and some early local businessmen did so. By the 1920s, auto travel was beginning to cut into the business of the Millstone line. It was a slow but steady decline. The Pennsylvania Railroad gradually phased out passenger service on the Millstone and New Brunswick line. Passenger service ended in 1930. After that, there was only an incidental freight train, carrying mostly coal to the rubber reclaiming factory in East Millstone.” Brahms, William B. Franklin Township, Somerset County, NJ: A History.
Having served as the railroad ticket office at Voorhees Station, the hut was moved to its present location in the 1920s, adding a beautiful and unique feature to the banks of the D&R Canal at Blackwells Mills.
But, there’s more to this structure’s distinction!
But, there’s more to this structure’s distinction!
“Of the many architectural styles prevalent in the United States during the Victorian era, the Stick Style was the most expressive of a building’s underlying structure. Decorative wood trim, called stick work, was applied to the exterior to emphasize the basic wood frame structure underneath. Popular between 1860 and 1890 and built predominantly in wood, there are few pure examples of the style remaining in urban areas. The Stick Style evolved from the work of architect Gervase Wheeler, an English immigrant. The Stick Style is characterized by verticality, angularity, asymmetrical composition, and, because it was expressed predominately in wood, a certain fragility.” wentworthstudio.com/historic-styles/stick/
General characteristics of Stick Style architecture include a pitched roof, functional appearing “stick work” resembling structural elements such as “X” bracing and gable ends projecting over walls. According to the 1982 D&R Historic Structures Survey, our Bridgetenders station, “humble as this structure may be, is an excellent example of this style” and the only one of its kind along the canal.
Our pretty garden accent has more historical significance than meets the eye and it has been not only a silent witness to two very different modes of transportation and industry but a survivor of each. Long may it stand!
Our pretty garden accent has more historical significance than meets the eye and it has been not only a silent witness to two very different modes of transportation and industry but a survivor of each. Long may it stand!