Category: kingston

News or events in Kingston which we participate in or promote

Five Canal House Open House a Success!

Locktender’s House Open House and “Five Canal House Challenge” was a great success. Thanks to the 40 groups who visited us on Sunday, September 14th.

KHS President Robert von Zumbusch covered part of the afternoon session, demonstrating the model of the canal lock and the A-frame swing bridge.
Archivists Ruth Randall and Charlie Dieterich take a break after welcoming Open House visitors

Attendees told us that it was hard to find the “Old Lincoln Highway” so we have added a new page to our website: https://www.khsnj.org/directions/ This has directions to the D&R parking areas by Kingston lock and other local destinations.

The D&R Canal Watch coordinated the “scavenger hunt”. The goal is to visit five of the remaining D&R canal houses from Lawrence Township to northern Franklin Township. Some were bridgetender houses, some were locktender houses, and Kingston’s was both. Members of local groups stamped your “Canal Passport” at each House to win a small prize.

Participating Locations and Organizations :

  • East Millstone Bridgetender’s House
    • Blackwells Mills Bridgetender’s House (Blackwells Mills Canal House Association)
    • Griggstown Bridgetender’s House (The Raritan-Millstone Heritage Alliance)
    • Kingston Locktender’s House (Kingston Historical Society)
    • Port Mercer Bridgetender’s House (Lawrence Historical Society)

Spring Talk Video: Carrie Fellows

Carrie Fellows, Executive Director of New Jersey’s Crossroads of the American Revolution Assoc. Inc. came to Kingston on June 10th to talk about RevolutionNJ, celebrations of the 250th anniversary of New Jersey’s role in the American Revolution. Below is a video of her talk.

To view the video, click the link below. You will watch the video streaming from Archive.org, a free, non-commercial website.
https://archive.org/details/khs-spring-2025-talk

This is the announcement of the talk LINK

Tea Time Videos 2025

Six short (20 minute) videos came out of the Kingston Historical Society’s “Tea Time Talk” series this winter. The videos are stored on Archive.org, and freely viewable (no commercials, no paywall.) You can also download them to your computer, or share the links with friends and fellow Kingstonians.

All talks were recorded at the Kingston United Methodist Church, Kingston, New Jersey. We thank them for providing the hall and space for tea and conversation. Thanks to Doug Miller for recording the February talks. Direct links shown at the end of each description

March 23rd Talks

Mapleton, Preserved: Karen Linder, president of the Friends of Princeton Nursery Lands, speaks on the preservation of land along Mapleton Road in Kingston. https://archive.org/details/mapleton-preserved

Everybody Wanted the King’s Town: KHS Secretary Charlie Dieterich traces the evolution of boundaries in Kingston– from the first English settlement to modern Girl Scout Cookie distribution. https://archive.org/details/everybody-wanted-the-kings-town

Bottled in Kingston: Kingston resident Alexandria Trevena shares research which started when she bought a bottle online. Learn about a half dozen bottle companies with links to Kingston. https://archive.org/details/bottled-in-kingston

February 23rd Talks:

The Kingston Green Belt: Tari Panaleo, president of the Kingston Greenways Association, describes the evolution of a preserved greenbelt around the village center of Kingston. https://archive.org/details/kingston-greenbelt-2025

Kingston in the American Revolution: Local historian and vice president of the Kingston Historical Society. He gives a brief overview of how the warring armies used the village of Kingston during the Revolutionary War. https://archive.org/details/kingston-in-the-american-revolution-2025

The Road Through Kingston in 1679: Kristina Hill, member of the archivist team, shares diary entries from Jasper Dankers. His was the first written description of the route from Piscataway to Trenton, NJ. Charlie Dieterich adds context. https://archive.org/details/road-thru-kingston-1679

April 5th Open House Photos

Although the day was cool and damp, our Locktender’s House opening day “open house” was a wonderful success.

Visitors from New Jersey and beyond saw our press release in local papers (including page 4 of Town Topics, page 10 of US1) and came in spite of the misty rain.

Daffodils in bloom at the side of the Kingston Locktender's House Words: "Kingston Historical Society Locktender's Open House April 5th, 2025"

Members of the Historical Society trustees and archivists pitched in to set up, bring refreshments and do demonstrations using our canal lock and swing bridge models. About two dozen visitors enjoyed a cold drink, a brownie or a Toll House Cookie.

The table of cookies, drinks and a visitor with Sharon sitting. On the left hand side is a slide show of KHS events.
The Refreshments Table was designed by KHS Trustee Sharon (seated).

Our archivist team provided demonstrations using two study models built by Paul Kane for the D&R Canal State Park twenty years ago.

Alexandria points out the drop gate on our model of the Kingston canal Lock
Archivist Alexandria demonstrates the operation of a canal lock

Archivist Maxwell demonstrates our model of an A-frame swing bridge.

The opening day celebration is a reminder that our historical society exists to educate the community. History is learned by sharing stories. We are thankful for those who braved the weather to visit!

Trustee Charlie and Archivist Ruth share lemonade in the North Room

Also thanks to Archivist Bob B. and his son Nick who helped set up, and Sheila for the cookies!

Charlie

KHS Trustees Plan “Opening Day” Open House

The Locktender’s House on the Delaware and Raritan Canal at the Kingston bridge is closed from December through March, so on April 5th we celebrate the re-opening of our display rooms.

Our open house begins at 10 AM and runs through 5 PM, with demonstration models of the Kingston swing bridge and canal lock.

You are welcome to come browse our current displays:

One of the displays in the center room celebrates 50 years of the D&R Canal State Park and Canal Commission
Kingston Lock: History Preserved in our center display room (Charlie Dieterich and Peter Shell, too)
Our North Room has a display on Kingston’s Main Street and several other items (and refreshments.)
Map of Kingston and Canal Area with Lock-Tender’s House (arrow)

February 2025 Tea Time Talks on Video

Three talks from Sunday afternoon, February 23, 2025 are now available as videos hosted on Archive.org.

– The Road Through Kingston in 1679 -Kristina Hill and Charlie Dieterich read from the 1679 travel diary of Jasper Danckaerts CLICK HERE FOR VIDEO LINK

– The Kingston Green Belt -Tari Pantaleo, president Kingston Greenways Association CLICK HERE FOR VIDEO LINK

– Kingston in the American Revolution (1776-1783) – George Luck, VP, Kingston Historical Society CLICK HERE FOR VIDEO LINK

And come to the March 23rd Tea Time Talks! FOR MORE INFORMATION, CLICK HERE!

KHS Annual Meeting featured talk by D&R Canal Commission Executive Director (Video added)

Annual Meeting November 12 at Kingston Fire House (Video added)

2024 KHS Annual meeting was held at 7:30 pm on Tuesday November 12th at the Kingston Firehouse; our speaker was D&R Canal Commission Executive Director John Hutchison, who gave an illustrated presentation including new drone video of the D&R Canal.

The full talk is available at: FULL PRESENTATION LINK

The drone video is available at: THIS LINK

John Hutchison, Executive Director of the Delaware & Raritan Canal Commission will present an illustrated program on the Commission. He will describe its role in preserving the Canal and its corridor and the process of a new master plan. The MasterPlan was last updated in 1989. As part of that process, the Canal is being documented by drone. A new video taken by drone,“Taking Flight on the D&R Canal: Raven Rock to Prallsville Mills” will be shown.

2024 is the 50th Anniversary of both the D&R Canal State Park and The D&R Canal Commission. Both the Park and the Commission were established by the D&R Canal State Park Law of 1974. The Park is the second most used State Park in New Jersey. Many are familiar with the Park. People are less familiar with the Commission and its mission to “prepare, adopt, and implement a master plan for the physical development of the Delaware and Raritan Canal State Park, review State and local actions that impact on the park to insure that these actions conform as nearly as possible to the Commission’s master plan, and coordinate and support activities by citizens’ groups to promote and preserve the Park.” The Commission’s regulations and continuing actions are essential in preserving not just a historic canal and a park, but a unique corridor of natural, historic and recreational resources in the center of the most densely populated state in the nation.

John Hutchison was appointed the fourth Executive Director of the Delaware and Raritan Canal Commission in 2017. He advises the Commission on its actions and serves as the chief administrative officer of the Commission. He is assisted by and oversees the operations of a professional staff of administrative and engineering personnel from the Commission’s office at the historic Prallsville Mills complex in Stockton, New Jersey. Prior to his appointment, he served as a Senior Policy Advisor to the Commissioner of Environmental Protection.

Volunteer!