Five Canal House Challenge ’25

The Kingston Lock will be part of a three-county history adventure.

Get your motor (or bicycle) running! D&R Canal Watch is coordinating a “scavenger hunt” for a Sunday afternoon. 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. Get your “Canal Passport” stamped 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)

From the Lawrence Historical Society’s Website:

The Canal House Challenge is an annual event held in September at which all five historic homes along the Delaware & Raritan Canal are open to the public. It is the only time of the year that all are open at the same time.

Participants are challenged to visit all homes in a single day. While visiting each site, participants can learn about the history of the home. Participants who visit all sites win a prize.

The event, which is free, helps to promote New Jersey’s canal heritage. Donations are purely voluntary, but gratefully accepted at each house;

these funds go toward the preservation of our historic homes along the D&R Canal. 

Here’s a post about last year’s Canal House Challenge