Plainsboro Historical Society lauds new book on township history.
By: Gwen Runkle
Plainsboro Township started out as a quiet farming town with probably more cows than people. Today it’s a bustling suburban community with more than 20,000 residents.
So how did the township make this amazing transformation? Now you can find out in the latest addition of Arcadia Publishing Co.’s "Images of America" picture book series.
The book, entitled Plainsboro, was put together by longtime resident William Hart and tells the story of the township’s history from the late 1800s to the early 1970s using pictures and postcard images.
Mr. Hart began work on the 128-page book over the summer of 2002 with the help of Robert Yuell, director of the Plainsboro Historical Society.
"Arcadia had been after (Mr. Yuell) to do this book for four years," Mr. Hart said. "But he didn’t have the time and energy to do it."
"We had just opened our museum," Mr. Yuell said, "and as a small group of volunteers, the Historical Society only had so many hours in the day. That’s why I’m very happy Bill came on board. I really valued his expertise."
Mr. Hart, a vice president with The Bank of New York, became familiar with the Arcadia series while collecting postcards and wrote a book for the series about his hometown, East Orange, in 2000.
He has lived in Plainsboro for 18 years and was very excited to dig into the township’s past.
"It was a great opportunity to give a history and background about Plainsboro," he said. "So often when you read about something happening here, we’re described as a ‘town north of Princeton’, but we really are an important major town with an incredibly rich past."
Plainsboro has nine chapters highlighting everything from the township’s early founders to changes in transportation.
For instance, there are many amazing photos of roads such as Route 1, Plainsboro Road and Dey Road as they appeared long ago (simple dirt passageways), as well as shots of the township’s now defunct trolley system.
John Van Buren Wicoff, the township’s founder, is also featured with the story of how the need for more school space spurred Plainsboro’s formation.
The book also records the municipality’s many churches, schools and farms. There is a chapter dedicated to all the research conducted in the area, and even a chapter on the Walker-Gordon farm and Elsie the Cow.
Readers will be delighted with pictures of hovercraft and other high-tech machinery developed in the township as well as shots of the Walker-Gordon farm’s famed Rotolactor, a sort of merry-go-round for milking cows. There are also pictures of Elsie the Cow’s "Boudoir" done up in early "Barn Colonial" with churns for tables, milk bottles for lamps and a wheelbarrow for a chaise longue.
Plainsboro, a soft-cover book, is now available for $19.99 at the Plainsboro Historical Society, located in the Wicoff House in the Municipal Complex off Dey Road. The book can also be purchased at major bookstores, such as Barnes & Noble, or directly from Arcadia Publishing, at www.arcadiapublishing.com or (888) 313-2665.

