-Kelan Amme
-My friend Todd and some views from our fishing spot.
After finishing my freshman year of college and having free time for the first time in a long time, I decided to hit one of my local fishing spots, which we simply call “The Spot" with my friend Todd. As we stood on the stone bridge overlooking the Carnegie Lake wash-over and the Millstone River, the history major in me couldn't help but wonder about the stories behind the large red structure next to me.
Even though I’ve stood here over two-dozen times, I never really thought about WHAT I was standing next to? I was only thinking about the bait, the heat, or if I could actually catch a fish for once in my life? Here next to me was this faded red, paint-peeling building, almost literally in the water! After spending many days "at The Spot" and doing some serious research, looking at it now, it was one of the first instances where I considered the part that this eighteenth century building played during the age of the American Revolution. The Kingston Mill is located along Lincoln Highway, Route 27 and Route 206 in Kingston, New Jersey, just between downtown Princeton, South Brunswick, and Rocky Hill. This mill was built in 1755 by Jacob Skillman to serve as a gristmill, which grinds grains into flour and other fine materials. Its location proved to be useful, as the route it connects to was one of the most well traveled roads in both the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries because of its easy access to New Brunswick and Trenton, via Lincoln Highway, Route 27. Unfortunately, as the fight for independence strengthened and Britain continued to push wave after wave of its armies through the colonies, the mill was subsequently burned to the ground during England’s occupation of Trenton and Princeton. (1)
Outside of the area around the mill, there are still structural remains of one of the many original stone bridges that was used as the original Route 27 before the main road was built. On the same path as the bridge, there is an older building overlooking the Delaware-Raritan Canal that details a few historical facts about the area. This bridge as well as the Delaware-Raritan Canal State Park make up the surrounding edge of Kingston, while the trail for the canal stretches far across central New Jersey.
-Views of both the old stone bridge and the D&R Canal House.
Heading north, back towards the town of Kingston, there is a marker outside the cemetery for the Kingston Presbyterian Church that reads:
“By this route. WASHINGTON. With his army retired to Morristown after his victory at Princeton, January 1777.” (Cited from my own image).
Not only did the Kingston Mill see significant interaction from the British Army, it too saw the journey of America’s first president George Washington as he led the Continental Army back up through New Jersey in hopes of constructing an encampment in Morristown.
This mill has always been special to me because it has been a location that I have driven or biked by countless times over my life. My first significant memory of this area dates back to 2012 when I was just about ten years old fishing with my dad. At that time, I sat in our red lawn chair on the dirty concrete runoff ramp without a care in the world. My only thought then was about the fish I was very impatiently trying to catch. Since then, the mill has been renovated by Schulte Restorations (a company that I have seen work on many buildings throughout the Princeton area) into a historic home with fresh windows, bright red paint, new materials, and huge white letters that read “Kingston Flower Mill”. Now, when I go to “The Spot” and see this mill, I look at it as a historian and consider the importance of the structure, the perseverance of the people involved with its restoration, and the role it played in our history.
(1) Robert W. Craig (Field Supervisor of the Princeton Architectural Survey in coordination with the Princeton Join Historic Sites Commission), submission for the site to be placed on the National Register of Historic Places. Signed by “(Ineligible) McPherson'', April 10th, 1986. Cited on pg. 7 of the PDF document. https://npgallery.nps.gov/NRHP/GetAsset/NRHP/86000707_text
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