By Lea Kahn, Staff Writer
How did Cold Soil Road get its name? Where is the "pole farm," and what was grown there?
Lewisville Road still looks like a little country lane, but who lived on the road that runs between Princeton Pike and Franklin Corner Road?
The answer to those questions — and more — can be found in a series of historical research papers that are set to be published this month. October is Lawrence History Month, said Lawrence Township Historian Dennis Waters and Lawrence Historical Society President Laura Nawrocik.
The historical research papers, which are two to four pages long, cover topics as diverse as the history of the pole farm, the "suburbanization" of Lawrence Township, the origin and history of the Federal City neighborhood and the impact of Prohibition in Lawrence Township.
A similar series of articles was written in 1964, when New Jersey celebrated the 300th anniversary of its founding, Ms. Nawrocik said. Those articles are available at www.thelhs.org, which is the Lawrence Historical Society’s website.
Now, New Jersey is celebrating its 350th anniversary — and that is what inspired the Lawrence Historical Society to publish another series of historical articles, Ms. Nawrocik said. The historical society received a $2,000 grant from the Mercer County Culture and Heritage Commission to cover the printing costs.
The new articles are scholarly and well-researched, but written in an informal, non-academic style. The articles were written by Mr. Waters, Ms. Nawrocik, historical society member Janet Bickal, and Rider University history professor Brooke Hunter.
"We chose topics that we thought would be of interest and accessible to history buffs, or to the average citizen who wants to know more about Lawrence Township’s history. We wanted the topics to be relevant to what people are familiar with," Ms. Nawrocik said.
"You may know the names of the streets in Lawrence, but why were they named? You may know about Prohibition (but not its impact in Lawrence). A lot of what has been written about Lawrence Township is about how it was founded, but I think a lot of people are interested in more recent history," she said.
Mr. Waters, the township historian, agreed. Many books have been written about Lawrence Township history, he said, but "despite all the things that have been published, if you look across what has been printed, a picture book is nice and it is interesting, but it does not provide a narrative. The books are fragmentary."
The historical articles will become a permanent record, Mr. Waters said. He has given lectures about aspects of Lawrence Township history, he said, and "people often ask, ‘where can I learn more?’" He said he was responding to those requests by writing some of the articles that are to be published this month.
Several of the seven historical articles grew out of Mr. Waters’ lectures and presentations. He has researched the history of the AT&T Pole Farm, which is now part of Mercer County’s Mercer Meadows Park. AT&T built an international transmission facility on the 812-acre parcel that straddles Lawrence and Hopewell townships.
Mr. Waters also has written historical articles in the series about the suburbanization of Lawrence Township — how it grew from a farming community and developed into a bedroom community — and about the origins of Route 206, which was an Indian trail.
Ms. Nawrocik focused on how streets were named, and Ms. Bickal wrote about the history of the Federal City neighborhood, off the Lawrenceville-Pennington Road. Ms. Hunter contributed articles on the history of the Lewisville Road neighborhood, and on Prohibition in Lawrence Township.
"Going forward, we hope to write similar, more in-depth articles for the Lawrence Historical Society newsletters," Ms. Nawrocik said.
For more information about the historical articles and papers, visit the Lawrence Historical Society website at www.thelhs.org.
