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Rocky Hill, New Jersey
Excerpted from Rocky Hill Tercentenary Committee, Vivian Engelbrecht, 1976
Rocky Hill, New Jersey is a very old village. Located as its name suggests on a stone ledge, it was part of the lands belonging to the Unami, or "people down the river," tribe of the Lenni Lenape Indians.
In 1701, John Harrison was employed by the Governor and the Proprietors of East Jersey to take over title of all Indian lands in the province. In a deed obtained from Nowenock, the Indian chief, dated June 24, 1717, he is called "John Harrison of Rockie Hill." He owned many areas of land, and started the first grist mills on the Millstone River. He served as a member of the Assembly from Somerset County, 1703 and 1707.
Rocky Hill is the site of several of John Hart's mills. There, located along the Millstone River, the old grist mill can still be seen. John Hart, the most neglected Declaration of Independent signer, lived in Hopewell, but owned lands and several mills around Rocky Hill. This once wealthy farmer and landowner was left penniless by his generosity to the Colonial cause and also by British raids on his holdings. He died in 1779 of the privations of "hiding out" in the rocky caves of the Sourland mountains because of constant British harassment.
The following ad appeared in the Trenton Gazette in September 6, 1779:
FOR SALE: Two-thirds share of three undivided lots of land at Rocky Hill with the grist and fulling mills, being a part of the estate of John Hart, Esq. of Hopewell.
Another celebrity of these times, John Stevens, fared considerably better than poor John Hart. John Stevens was a brother-in-law to Lord Stirling, one of General Washington's most trusted officers. As a member of various governmental bodies, he actively aided the Revolution. A resident of Rocky Hill, he belonged to the Council of East Jersey Proprietors. He was a merchant until he retired in 1761, and occupied himself with management of his extensive landed estates and his copper mines at Rocky Hill.
Rocky Hill was a recognized community at the time of the Revolution and its few inhabitants were active in the cause of the Colonies. Although it was not the scene of a major battle, its terrain was well known to General George Washington. On January 3, 1776, he and the Army passed through Rocky Hill on their way to the bitter winter encampment in Morristown. After victorious battles at Trenton and Princeton, the General had planned to dash on to New Brunswick to capture British supplies there. At Kingston, they held a hurried council on horseback, and decided that the men were too tired from days and nights of fighting and marching. They took a side road to Rocky Hill, after destroying the bridge over the Millstone River. Before midnight the last of the Army had passed through Rocky Hill. They put the prisoners in the county jail at Somerset Court House (now Millstone), and slept on the frozen ground of surrounding fields. The following day the passed Pluckemin and went on to Morristown.
In 1778 on his way to the decisive battle of Monmouth, the last full scale encounter with the British in New Jersey, Washington and the Army marched through Rocky Hill. They left Valley Forge, and crossed the Delaware River at Coryell's Ferry (now Lambertville). On June 22, in record heat, they proceeded through Hopewell, Rocky Hill, and Kingston to meet the royal armies at Monmouth Court House (now Freehold).
Rocky Hill is famed most for Washington's prolonged stay in 1783. When Congress met in Princeton, they wanted him nearby to get his "assistance and advice in the arrangements for peace." They rented Rockingham for his (Washington's) use, it was one of Rocky Hill's farm "mansions." Situated just across the Millstone River, its balcony afforded a fine view of the village and surrounding hills.
Here General Washington lived from August 23 to November 10, 1783, with his aides and a suite of young New England yeoman's sons, who pitched their tents in the farmyard. Martha Washington accompanied her husband and remained here until October when she left for Mount Vernon "before the weather and roads should get bad.
In October, Congress concluded its business. News of the signing of the Peace Treaty in Paris arrived. Washington prepared his Farewell Address to the Armies of the United States, and legend says he read it to his attending soldiers from the balcony of Rockingham. It was published in the Philadelphia papers on the 2nd of November. On November 10th, General Washington left Rocky Hill.
Rockingham, after many owners and (three) moves is now situated on the west side of the Millstone River and the Delaware and Raritan Canal. (http://www.rockingham.net/)
After these dramatic moments in history, Rocky Hill returned to a quiet village surrounded by rolling farmlands.
During 1829-30 there was a great controversy in the New Jersey Legislature concerning the development of central New Jersey transportation. The sides were drawn up almost equally between advocates of the canal and the railroad. …Powerful Robert and John C. Stevens led the railroad group. The canal had equally astute backers in Robert F. Stockton and James Neilson.
It was finally decided to grant a charter to each company despite their utilizing the same general route. The Legislature adopted the "Marriage Act" which set up a Joint Company to operate both, with stock issued in the name of the Delaware and Raritan Canal Co. and the Camden and Amboy Railroad.
The canal, begun in 1830, was completed in 1834. The canal plus its supply branch was about 65 miles long. It cost $2,830,000. It traveled across central New Jersey from Trenton on the Delaware River, to New Brunswick on the Raritan River. It was an important highway for transporting goods to and from Rocky Hill. Lumber cam from Albany to Theodore Stryker's Lumber Mill for the new Methodist Church in 1869 and local farm vegetables were floated off to city markets.
Supplying New York with coal from anthracite mines in Pennsylvania was the main purpose for the canal. The coal barges were about 90 feet long and 10 feet wide. As the mules jogged along they supplied an interesting picture. A footnote to New Jersey folklor was added by the canny folks with houses along the canal. They would line their fences with large bottles and cans. The canallers could not resist the temptation to throw a clump at these targets as they passed along. This ensured many a householder with a supply of coal.
The canal was opened about 250 days annually, from April 1st to mid-December. In the winter the canal was drained, although enough water was always left to cover the bottom, and it offered excellent ice skating. On March 20th, the dams were opened for the passage of fish.
Nearly 60 bridges crossed the canal. Rocky Hill had a swing bridge.
There was a toll gate at Rocky Hill as well as a boat basin. Barges could pull in there and unload or spend the night. The toll rates varied, through generally "rough freight" such as coal, sand, and timber cost about 2 cents per ton mile, while "superior freight" such as produce, grain and manufactured goods cost about 5 cents per tone mile.
From 1850 the canal company operated a fleet of steam-tugs. The wash from these power boats began to erode the bank and so a "rip rap" of lining of stone was applied to the banks to a depth of 3 ½ feet below the water line.
The Pennsylvania Railroad Co. leased the Joint Companies on June 30, 1871 for 999 years. It was not interested in the canal. It wanted the railroad which had a rail connection with New York City and a waterfront on the Hudson. With the expansion of the railroads, the coal traffic was shifted to them. The canal could not show profits without the coal, and so it could not continue in operation.
Pleasure boats continued to whistle at the bridges, but there was little freight traffic. In 1934 the State of New Jersey took over operation of the canal and it was closed to commercial navigation.
In 1839, the Camden & Amboy Railroad Company constructed the first railroad line located in the vicinity of Rocky Hill. It was a single track railroad extending from Trenton, and generally followed the winding contour of the Delaware and Raritan Canal to Princeton and Rocky hill, then east to Monmouth Junction.
During the Civil War, it became apparent that the single track was not adequate to handle the increasing volume of traffic. In 1864, a double track system was installed, in a straight line between Trenton to Monmouth Junction a mile or two east of the original line. This avoided excessive curing and maintenance difficulties. This relocation away from Rocky Hill necessitated a branch line to serve industries located there.
Therefore, in 1864 the Rocky Hill Railroad and Transportation Company was organized to construct this spur from Rocky Hill east to a connection with the Camden & Amboy near Kingston, a distance of over two miles.
The late 1880's were busy days for the Rocky Hill railroad. There were frequently 100 to 200 passengers on excursions such as Salt Water Day when they had to put on 7 or 8 extra cars for the seashore trip. During peach season dozens of farmers, with their wagons piled high with crates, waited for their fruit to be packed on the train. There were sometimes 15 or 16 carloads of peaches. Later as the Terra Cotta factory grew, a spur line was run down to the company kilns. Terra Cotta plant along the canal is of note. Its work adorns the Philadelphia Art Museum tile roof of red and blue. The Woolworth building in New York City extensively used the terra cotta products of this company. Locally, the Terra Cotta work can be seen at the St. Paul School and the First National Bank, both in Princeton. The coping around the top of the Rocky Hill Firehouse was made there.
After the automobile appeared, the passenger service fell to half a dozen people a day. When the line took its final run to Jersey City on September 29, 1928, the train regularly consisted of 2 cars for bagged, express mail, freight and passengers. It made 2 round trips daily.
Rocky Hill was long a part of Montgomery Township, which was incorporated at a meeting in March 1772 at the home of Williams Jones at "Rocke Hill."
In 1890, Rocky Hill withdrew from Montgomery Township and incorporated as an independent Borough. Reasons given for this move were economic. Rocky Hill had many tax ratables, and the surrounding farm lands had few. Therefore, in order to control its own tax monies, it came independent.
It is a small borough, less than one square mile. The population has held remarkably steady through the 1900's. In the first decade, the population stayed around 500. It rose to 600 before World Word I when the Terra Cotta works was at its peak. It feel below 300 in 1927 and stayed there during the depression years. It returned to 500 in the 1940's and stayed there until the housing development of Princeton Ridge, added 200 in 1962-63. The population from the last census totaled 662.
Under the provision of an Act of Legislation of 1882, a Borough Commission first governed the town. In 1896, a legislative enactment abolished that method and the Borough Commission reorganized under the designation of mayor and common council which is still used today.
The mayor and the council met monthly in the Borough Hall at the corner of Princeton Avenue and Crescent Avenue. This building was originally Voorhees Hall, and presumed to have been built by the Voorhees family as it was located on a corner of their land. Its actual construction date is unknown and 1877 is the earliest title. It was constructed as a building for the use of the community for plays, dances and suppers. For many years it was the meeting place of local patriotic lodges.
Later when taken over for the Borough administration offices, two portable jails were put in. The basement was fixed up for a youth recreation center through the generosity of Mr. Linus R. Gilbert in 1940's.
(Now the Borough administrative offices are located at the Borough Hall, located on Montgomery Avenue, which was the site for the Rocky Hill School.
The Rocky Hill Hook & Ladder Co. No. 1 was organized in 1902. William N. Stults, a leader in its establishment was elected its first chief. Three years later they purchase their original equipment, a hand-drawn pumper. In 1923 the present two story brick building was erected on Washington Street on a lot purchased from Mr. Williamson for $500.
The Fire Company, still volunteer and still self-supporting, now depends on pancake breakfasts, roast beef dinner and direct solicitation for its support.
The Rocky Hill First Aid & Rescue Squad was organized on June 30, 1949, with Steve Bognar as its first president.
Rocky Hill has several green spaces. A large baseball field lies in the north-east corner of town. This municipal park is named Panicaro Park honoring George J. Panicaro who was killed in World War II. The Fireman's Carnival Grounds, located on Crescent Avenue are owned and maintained by the firemen. In 1964, the Borough acquired about 22 acres, behind the Borough Hall, along the Millstone River under New Jersey's Green Acres program.
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