CANAL HOUSE PHOTOGRAPHS EXHIBITION

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CANAL HOUSE PHOTOGRAPHS EXHIBITION TO OPEN JANUARY 11

AT THE LAWRENCEVILLE SCHOOL

An exhibition of historic photographs, “Home on the Canal: Bridge and Lock Tenders’ Houses on the Delaware & Raritan Canal,” will be on display at the Lawrenceville School's Gruss Center for Visual Arts (2500 Main Street, Lawrenceville, N.J. 609-620-6026) January 11-February 25. The exhibition is sponsored by the D&R Canal State Park and D&R Canal Watch.
All are welcome to attend both the opening reception (Friday, January 11, 6:30 p.m. -8:00 p.m.)
 and a PowerPoint presentation on the bridge and lock tenders’ houses by Barbara Ross titled, “Canal Houses in Lawrence Township, Then and Now” (Saturday, January 19, 11:00 a.m.).

The Gruss is open Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday from 9:00 a.m. - noon and 1:00 p.m. - 4:30 p.m. Visitors are also welcome on Wednesdays and Saturdays from 9:00 a.m. - noon. The center is open to the public, free of charge.

While lock tenders and lock houses were regular features on most canals, the D&R also required bridge tenders and bridge houses for its swing bridges. Of the total 15 lock houses and 51 bridge houses identified by recent research, only 19 remain today. Photographs of 49 of the 66 houses are included in the exhibition.

Drawing on research by Canal Watch Vice President Barbara Ross and D&R Canal State Park Historian Vicki Chirco, the exhibit includes previously unknown images dating from the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Exhibition design and production is by Jack Koeppel, curator of the “Ribbons of Life” exhibition at the D&R Greenway Land Trust.

Each lock and bridge along the canal had a canal house in which the lock or bridge tender and his family lived.  These houses were provided as part of the compensation for lock and bridge tenders and their families, about whom little is known. The job was a family affair in many cases, and it was not unusual for a bridge tender to die at an advanced age while still employed or for a widow to take over as bridge tender. A few bridge tenders lived out the rest of their lives in the houses as renters after the canal closed in 1932.

The majority of houses that remain today are owned and administered by the state and are in various states of preservation. Some are successfully managed by nonprofit organizations, a few have recently seen restoration and now await a useful purpose, and others are barely hanging on. The intent of this exhibition is to showcase these canal structures, reveal a little of their architecture and history, and highlight the significance of those that remain.

Founded in 1810, The Lawrenceville School offers a comprehensive, coeducational program for 819 students in grades nine through post-graduate, who come from 32 states and 34 countries. The school is located on 700 acres in the historic village of Lawrenceville, N.J. For additional information, please visit www.lawrenceville.org.

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