History of Delaware Township

Hunterdon County, New Jersey

Located along the Delaware River in southwest Hunterdon County.

Communities in Delaware Township:

Locktown

Sand Brook

Sergeantsville – home to the township government, housed in a 225-year old municipal building. Here also is the Sergeantsville Inn and many charming old houses.

Headquarters

Rosemont

Sandy Ridge

Prallsville

borders Stockton Borough

Dits Corner

Bowne

Brookville

Raven Rock

Communities around Delaware Township: clockwise

Raritan Township

East Amwell Township

West Amwell Township

Lambertville City (on the Delaware River)

Stockton Borough (on the Delaware River)

Kingwood Township (on the Delaware River)

Franklin Township

Geology:

The township has two principal creeks: The Lockatong, crossed by an excellent metal truss bridge, and the Wickecheoke by the State's only remaining 19th century covered bridge.

Wickecheoke Creek rises from the Croton Plateau in Kingwood Township, descends through Delaware Township (past the Locktown Church and Green Sergeants Bridge), and joins the Delaware and Raritan Canal and Delaware River at historic Prallsville Mills.

History:

1700 – Mr. Thatcher first settled the village of Sergeantsville.

1721 – John Ladd owned a 300 acre tract opposite Bull’s Island, that became known as a part of Raven Rock.

1739 – Sand Brook began with a mill run by Henry Kitchen and his son Samuel Kitchen. The place was called "Kitchen's Mill." (Sand Brook was named for the brook that fed the mill, a tributary of the Third Neshanic River.)

1750 – the masonry abutments for the future Green Sergeants Covered Bridge built.

1775-1782 – Revolutionary War.

Sergeantsville named for Green Sergeant, a revolutionary soldier.

1794 -- John Prall bought the property that later became Prallsville.

1812 – Nathaniel Saxton purchased land in the future Raven Rock. The area became known as Saxtonville (when this was part of Amwell Township).

1817 – the future Raven Rock was known as Saxtons Vill until 1908.

1827 – Sergeantsville officially created when it became desirable to establish a post office.

1834 -- opening of the Delaware & Raritan Canal. In Prallsville, the Wichecheoke Creek flows into the Delaware and Raritan Canal. Any overflow spills into the Delaware River. Just downstream is the Prallsville guard lock built to protect the canal against Delaware River flooding.

1838 – the Township of Delaware created from old Amwell Township

1872 – the Green Sergeants Covered Bridge built. Using a modified Queen Post truss construction, Charles O. Holcombe was the designer and chief carpenter.

1873-1881 – Sand Brook contained a post office, Baptist Church, School, a store, a blacksmith shop, a gristmill and about 10 homes.

1874 -- in Prallsville, the original gristmill burned, ignited by a spark from a passing steam engine on the B&D Railroad..

1877 -- in Prallsville, a four-story gristmill was rebuilt on the old foundations. The seven buildings of the mill are unique in that they constitute the only historic multiple milling operation remaining in the state.

1880 – in Sand Brook, Hiram Mosore ran the mill, George F. Green ran the blacksmith shop, Joseph H. Crum operated the wagon shop, and John A. Moore was the Postmaster.

1881 – the teacher at the Sand Brook school was Joseph S. Fauss. The store was kept by Charles W. Moore.

1890 -- in Prallsville, the grain silo built.

1954 – death of Dr. Morris Leaver of Quakertown. He was a doctor, dentist and apothecary who practiced until his death. The Holcombe-Jimison Farmstead in Delaware Township, just north of Lambertville, has an exact replica of the medical office of Dr. Leaver.

1960 – the Green Sergeants Bridge was condemned as unsafe for heavy traffic.

1961 – Green Sergeants Bridge was dismantled and rebuilt by Chapman & Son with the addition of steel girders and other steel reinforcing to strengthen the original bridge lumber. The bridge is still is use but is used now for westbound traffic only.

2000 – the township had a total population of 4,478.

Sources:

Linda J. Barth 2002. Images of America: The Delaware and Raritan Canal. Charleston, SC: Arcadia Press.

Sand Brook Historical Association. History - SandBrook Local History. http://www.sandbrook.org/TownHis.htm

The Township of Delaware. http://www.co.hunterdon.nj.us/mun/delaware.htm