Trenton’s
Westward Residential Flow from 1840-1930
Arthur L. Finkle
The more successful immigrants and especially their children
moved to the Western part of Trenton, which, until the late 1890’s was generally
farmland. In quick succession, there was residential building.
The Calhoun Street Boundary
In 1830, ‘The country’ included
anything west of Calhoun Street Calhoun
Street passed through the little settlement of ‘Camptown,’ at West Hanover
Street and Calhoun Street (that served as a recruiting station during the early
years of the Civil War.
In 1849, Isaac L. Pearson, originally a resident of Philadelphia,
who, erected his summer home named "Glencairn." In 1926, this spot
later became the site of the luxurious, in its day, Glen Cairn Arms.
THE HORSE CAR LINE
The Horse
Car Line defined the westerly flowed of city residents. By 1883, The Horse Car
Line extended just beyond Calhoun
Street. Thereafter to Prospect Street.
BELLEVILLE
MANSION
"Belleville," a charming rural retreat dating
from Colonial times, stood on a site near
where Prospect Street now meets West
State. Sir John Sinclair (St. Clair), a baronet of Nova Scotia, was an early
occupant of this rural retreat. He
distinguished himself in Revolutionary history because an American General with
a British title. ‘Lord’’ Stirling took a
leading part in the Battle of Trenton. He was a resident of Somerset County and
commanded the New Jersey Continental Line at the beginning of the conflict.
THE MCCALL-MONTGOMERY ESTATE
Further west
on State Street stood "Berryville," formerly the Montgomery estate.
,In 1886, Patrick J. Berry purchased this tract to the fifteen-acre tract into
a new residential district of brick-row homes on State Street, West End Avenue,
Montgomery Place and North Fisher Place.
THE
HERMITAGE
Going West some more, a short distance west of "Berryville," was
the the Dickinson
estate. Prior to the
revolution, the Rutherford family built a
mansion, "Hermitage." General Philemon Dickinson ,in 1776,
shortly before the Battle of Trenton, purchased this mansion. It housed fifty Hessian mercenaries prior to the Battle. After the revolution,
famous visitors to this mansion included
George Washington, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, Alexander Hamilton,
Livingston, Benjamin Franklin, George Clymer (Pennsylvania representative,
Clymer was, along with five others, a signatory of both the Declaration of
Independence and the U.S. Constitution), Marquis de Lafayette,
(former soldier) Baron Fredrich von Steuben (American General), Jean-Baptiste
Donatien de Vimeur, Comte de Rochambeau, Louis Phillippe and Joseph Bonaparte.
In 1850,
Philemon Dickinson sold the mansion to Edward J. C. Atterbury. Atturbury
developed "Atterburys Woods” in 1904 into the residentiual streets
Atterbury Ave., Colonial Ave. General Greene Avenue, Hermitage Ave, Murray St.
and Boudinot St.
CADWALADER
PLACE
The
Cadwalader family owned the land west of Overbrook Avenue,
comprising about one-hundred-and-fifty acres.
Dr. Thomas
Cadwalader. In 1750, gave five-hundred
pounds to found the Trenton Library Company, which gave Trenton the honor of
having the first "public" library in New Jersey.
After the
death of General Thomas Cadwalader, his heirs developed the property into large
suburban., under the supervision of the famous landscape architect, Frederick
Law Olmstead & Company, with the help of
Trentonian Edmund C. Hill.
In 1896, the
first dwelling at 904 Riverside Avenue stimulated the extension of the electric
street car to Cadwalader Place.
1897 - Cadwalader Place (around
Cadwalader Park, including Berkeley and Carteret Streets)
The paving
and sidewalk records of the city bear the western expansion.
LOVERS’
LANE
Beyond Cadwalader Place was the roadway known as
"Lovers’ Lane" leading to
"Ellarslie," the original name of
the Calwalader Park mansion.
As the city
grew and traffic on the Belvedere division of the Pennsylvania Railroad
increased. danger of accidents. To avoid
accidents, the City built an entrance in the rear of the park. Then the City
built a tunnel in 1934 on Parkside Avenue.
George W.
Farlee, a New York broker, secured "Ellarslie." He developed the
Hillcrest residential tract.
Mr. Farlee
remained at Ellarslie" until he sold the eighty-acre tract to the city of
Trenton in 1888 for $50,000, as part of the Cadwalader Park tract.
The city the park authorities built an outdoor skating 1897, with 1500 skaters
on the scene. Across State Street, where Junior High School Number 3 now
stands, stood the Y. M. C. A. athletic field.
http://www.trentonhistory.org/Old&New.html#
Historical Chronology
In order to
understand the development of the park landscape, the park history is divided
into several major chronological periods. These are:
·
Settlement/The
Country Seat (1680–1743)
·
Ellarslie/The
Estate (1776–1888)
·
Park
Implementation (1888–1892)
·
Cadwalader Park
(1892–1911)
·
Cadwalader Park
(1912–1936)
·
Cadwalader Park
(mid-century).
We addressed
the first two periods. The park changed as did changes in American society.
The Country
Seat period, for instance, represents a time in American settlement when
wealthy individuals built retreats from the crowded, dirty cities. often as
summer homes, on the rural edges of urban areas.
The period at the turn of the
century was a golden era for the building of urban parks and park systems in
the U.S, known as the city Beautiful Movement.
One of the foremost leaders was Frederick Law Olmstead, Many of these parks
were designed by the same Olmsted Brothers firm, a famous landscape architectural
form.
In 1858, he
and his partner Calvert Vaux beat out thirty-two entrants to design the famous
Central Park in New York City. Over the next fifteen years, Olmsted and Vaux
designed Prospect Park and Fort Greene Park in Brooklyn, Washington and Jackson
parks in Chicago, and the Buffalo park system.
Then,
working on his own, Olmsted planned the park at Mount Royal in Montreal and
Belle Isle in Detroit. In 1884, his stepson, John C. Olmsted, became his
partner. The two men developed the extensive system of Boston parks known as
the “Emerald Necklace.”
Two years
before they began work on Cadwalader Park, the Olmsteds’ started planning the
park system of Rochester, NY; and in 1891 they initiated the design of the park
system of Louisville.
Cadwalader Park and Frederick
Law Olmsted
By 1890.
Olmsted, five years from retirement, began to design Cadwalader Park. Cadwalader Park the only New Jersey park Law
Olmsted designed. Between 1890 and 1892, Olmsted worked on planning Cadwalader
Park as well as planning residential subdivisions adjacent to park. One
development, Cadwalader Place, extended from Overbook Avenue to Lenape Avenue
(the street west of Junior 3) along State St. to the Water Power. Another area,
across Parkside Avenue, was Cadwalader Heights. The Olmsted firm returned to
plan Cadwalader Heights more fully during 1905-11.
Olmsted did
not write an extensive report about Cadwalader Park, apparently because he
expected that it was going to be considerably enlarged.
The Olmsted Plan of September
1891
The
“Preliminary Plan” of 1891 represents the final version of Frederick Law
Olmsted’s design for Cadwalader Park. The plan presents Olmstead elements
including making full use of the landscape qualities and a coherent system of
walks and drives by which parks users ae able to enjoyt the scenery in all
kinds of weather.
Scene
at Cadwalader Park illustrates open quality beneath tree canopy typical of
early park
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A concourse
provided a spacious gathering place for the carriages of those using the
refectory: it also overlooked the music stand in the adjoining concert grove.
By this means, Olmsted introduced a feature that he and Calvert Vaux had first
used in Prospect Park in the 1860s—a concert area designed for both pedestrians
and people in carriages.
Initial city
improvements simply added park features, such as benches, tables, and a
temporary bandstand and demolished agrarian estate features, such as the fences.
The
Ellarslie residence transformed into space for a natural history museum and a
restaurant. Citizens began to donate small animals and birds to the park, thus
establishing a menagerie. City officials converted old stable and other
outbuildings to accommodate this “zoological garden” and the variety of animals
grew to include larger animals such as deer, monkeys, and a black bear cub,
brought to the park by Edmund Hill.
Playgrounds and Team Sports
Facilities
Olmstead
also planned for “Cadwalader Playgrounds,” or “Cadwalader Common.” He improved
the e improvedH“common” by
laying out a baseball diamond and cricket field.” The Olmsted plan included a
sidewalk and rows of shade trees along Parkside Avenue and the northern border
(i.e., along Lenape Avenue).
In 1912, the
Olmstead firm proposed a tunnel to carry the canal feeder to the Delaware and
Raritan Canal. The city completed this tunnel in 1932.
CADWALADER PARK (1892–1911)
In 1892, a
new mayor, backed by groups opposed to further major expenditure on parks,
proceeded to scale down Olmsted’s Plan. The state legislature established a
Park Commission appointed by the mayor
In 1911, the Olmstead firm
designed a Lower Recreation Area to include tennis courts, a running track and
two small toilet/locker room facilities.
CADWALADER PARK (1912–1936)
Cadwalader
became a city focal point for parades, picnics, reunions, celebrations and
visitors strolling along its paths. The park advertised itself with displays of
annuals beds spelling “CADWALADER PARK” along the canal embankment. The Park
Greenhouse grew assorted annuals in 1908.
In 1913, the
city built an enclosure for the park deer. The menagerie buildings, adapted
from the Ellarslie carriage house and stables, converted into a new monkey
house, animal shed, and aviary; and the Park Commission enlarged the nearby
bear cage was enlarged.
WPA Projects
The Works
Progress Administration of the New Deal era brought some long-term changes with
consequences for West Trenton and Cadwalader Park. Ellarslie mansion became the
site of a monkey house for the park menagerie.
Another WPA
project of the New Deal era filled in most of the Delaware and Raritan Canal in
Trenton. Although a feeder canal that
passed through Cadwalader Park, all possible navigation ceased in the city.
The D&R
Canal abandoned in 1933; deeded first to the state and, in 1936, to the city.
Later, the D & R, the city adapted parts of the property as a water supply
system. See Cadwalader Park Master Plan
