Delaware & Raritan Canal State Park: Rocky Hill
Washington Street, Rocky Hill, Franklin Township, Somerset County, NJ

Directions:

There is parking at the Day Use Area a short ways down Washington Street west of the bridge over the canal.

History:
 

late 1700's -- copper mine near Griggstown.

1764  -- before this date the Rockingham house (later to be Washington's headquarters when he was in the area) was built.

1783 -- from August 24, 1783 to November 10, 1783 -- Congress leases Rockingham for Washington's stay there. Washington wrote his famous Farewell Address and then delivered it to his assembled staff from the Rockhingham balcony. The widow of Judge John Berrien (who died before the Revolution) was his hostess. The judge was a Princeton university trustee and Supreme Court Justice of the State. 205

1802 -- Rockingham purchased by Frederick Cruser.

1819 -- Mrs. Berrien dies at age 95.

1830 -- Rockingham sold to David H. Mount.

1872 -- Rockingham goes to Martin Howell. They leased it to the Rocky Hill Quarry Company who quartered laborers in the house.

1897 -- Rockingham saved by Washington's Rocky Hill Headquarters Association. 206-207

(Source: Beck, Henry Charlton. 1984 from 1934 original. The Jersey Midlands. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press.)

mid 18th century -- Rocky Hill began with saw and grist mills along the Millstone River. After that there was little development for almost a century.

1834 -- according to a report this year there were twelve to fifteen houses, two stores, two taverns and a woolen manufactory, a grist mill and a saw mill.

1834 --- the D & R Canal opened.  Across the canal was McCloskey's Tavern a favorite spot for the boatmen. Barney McCloskey was well-known in Rocky Hill, his fame increased by his being the star of the local baseball team.  (The tavern site is now a parking lot for canal park users.)

1864 -- Camden and Amboy Railroad. Rocky Hill functioned as a transshipment point for local products and a receiving area for goods manufactured throughout the region.

1860s -- quarrying began near here of diabase to pave the streets of Jersey City and Newark. They used the D&R canal to transport the rock. They later switched to the railroad for transportation. Some quarries are still active in the area.

1872 -- Rockingham goes to Martin Howell. They leased it to the Rocky Hill Quarry Company who quartered laborers in the house.

1873 -- canal traffic peak.

1897 -- Rockingham saved by Washington's Rocky Hill Headquarters Association. 206-207

end of 19th century -- the canal business was finished. Luckily, by this time, Rocky Hill had moved its focus up the hill.

1907  -- the Atlantic Terra Cotta Company was formed from the consolidation of three separate firms to manufacture decorative tiles for buildings. (The tiles covered the Woolworth building in New York City and the Philadelphia Museum of Art.) The firm was drawn to Rocky Hill by the clay pits, the canal and the railway in the area. The company had 300 employees.

By 1900 -- the town was firmly established and continued to prosper.

1925  --  the bridgetender's house burned.  It was replaced by the mule drivers' bunkhouse at Bordentown.  

1943 -- the Atlantic Terra Cotta Company went out of business.  (The only remnants are the brick powerhouse, an office building now a residence, and two kilns.)

1950s --  the railway line discontinued operation to the quarry. 

Today -- Rocky Hill looks very much like it did in 1900.

(Source: Beck, Henry Charlton. 1984 from 1934 original. The Jersey Midlands. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press.)

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

Trail:

Across the street from the parking lot by the bridge are the remains of the foundations of the bridge tender's house that has been reconstructed.

PLANT LIST:
Dr. Patrick L. Cooney
* = blooming on date of trip, November 28, 2003

Trees:
Betula nigra (river birch)
Juniperus virginiana (red cedar)
Platanus occidentalis (American sycamore)

Shrubs:
Cornus amomum (swamp dogwood)? planted as a hedge
Pieris sp. (andromeda) planted
Rosa multiflora (multiflora rose)
Rubus phoenicolasius (wineberry)

Vines:
Lonicera japonica (Japanese honeysuckle)
Toxicodendron radicans (poison ivy)

Herbs:
Artemisia vulgaris (common mugwort)
Aster sp. (a purple aster) *
Barbarea vulgaris (common wintercress)
Cirsium arvense (Canada thistle)
Plantago lanceolata (English plantain)
Rumex obtusifolius (broad dock)
Taraxacum officinale (common dandelion) *
Trifolium pratense (red clover)