Place – Pleasures of the Text

Along the D&R Canal

Cover of Along the D&R Canal, by James and Margaret Cawley I found this charming book in the Princeton Room at the Public Library last week: Along the Delaware and Raritan Canal, by James and Margaret Cawley. As a result of our move to Princeton last month, I’ve recommitted myself to the region in the way I know best: exploring hidden nooks and reading obscure local histories. The Princeton Room is full of the later, to my great excitement. It was written by a husband-wife team, local experts who were fond of camping along the canal. James grew up in the area, and his childhood memories are interspersed in the text. Mr. Cawley also apparently took most of the contemporary photos in the book, and it was only when I was most of the way through it that I looked up and thought, “now this is a man who really loved his wife.” Not only did he bother to take photos of her along with all his shots of the scenery, he put several of them in the book, for no other reason that because he felt like it. And not only did he do that, but he went on to write silly, lighthearted captions for them. Whereas I’d been a little irritated by these shots until that moment, framing it as a sign of conjugal love changed the entire tenor of it (to wit, “When I Start Paying Attention“).

Atlantic Terra Cotta Co. — A remaining kiln from the defunct Atlantic Terra Cotta Company.

Anyways, the book has given me a bunch of ideas for places to go exploring. Yesterday, just because it was close, I spent some time in Rocky Hill, poking around the canal and river bridges and walking the tow path. I was looking for this, a kiln for the Atlantic Terra Cotta Factory, that apparently still existed in 1970 (when the book was published). I was looking in the wrong place, though. I’d thought it would be located near a local business that I believed to be a remaining building from the factory, but I could be wrong–not because I didn’t find anything (goodness knows it could be gone or I might not have looked hard enough)–but because another look at the caption on this photo says that the factory was on the canal, and I was looking on the West side of the Millstone River. Time for another expedition!

What is it? (American Cyanamid Edition)

What is this place? An old farm in West Windsor, New Jersey? A prime site for retail or mixed-use development? A not-so-prime site for development? An albatross around the neck of one of the most affluent towns in the state? An environmental juggernaut: too big of a problem to be addressed by the business sector, too small of a problem for the feds to care? Is it a perfect example of the American agrochemical industry in the 20th century? A site with great gothic attraction?

All of the above, of course.

And in the most basic terms, it is a 650-acre parcel of land in West Windsor, at the junction of Rt 1 and Quakerbridge Rd. It was used for much of the last century as a research campus for the American Cyanamid company, where crop treatments and livestock medications were developed and tested. As such, it housed an impressive number of attractions for fans of gothic abandonments:

A state-of-the-art “swine enclosure”
A site for detonation of volatile chemicals
two landfills, one rather more toxic than the other
A multi-million dollar greenhouse complex built in the 90s, just a few years before the site was abandoned

And that’s just scratching the surface. For the past few years I’ve been desultorily researching the site, and it’s my hope and plan to share some of what I’ve gleaned here.

Enticement to Wander

This sign may as well have said, “Welcome to a Very Interesting Place: come on in! [Katie, this means you.]” It was posted at the old campus of the American Cyanamid Company in West Windsor in ’11-’12, and it enticed me to do a little exploring there. It turns out that the company and the campus have long and colorful histories. More soon on all there is to know, from the swine enclosure to the radioactive landfill.

EPA notice at American Cyanamid — EPA sign posted at the old agricultural campus of the American Cyanamid Company, West Windsor, NJ.

The Sewing Dungeon

Here’s something about the new house: it might have a sewing room. If by “sewing room” you mean “basement chamber with a water problem, concrete floor, and cinder block walls.” But a room is a room, you know. And I’ve long felt that the only way I’ll ever, ever begin to use my sewing machine on a regular basis is if it stays open on a dedicated table. And here’s my opportunity. There’s even room in here to make a space for messy work, or maybe even bulky projects like, oh, finishing the inside of my childhood dollhouse!

Which brings up what this basement room of mine reminds me of: my grandfather. Chasie built my dollhouse (along with several other dollhouses, model ships, etc.) in his own basement workshop in Bronxville, NY. He used to take his grandkids down there to build dollhouse furniture or other little things. His specialty was cutting a circle of thin wood in half, then gluing the halves at 90 degrees to made a demi-lune table. He also made a very clever little display stand for the miniature costumed mice I collected like crazy in about 1983.

The last time I was ever down in Chasie’s workshop, it was maybe 15 years after his death, and right before my grandmother moved into nursing care. Most of his things had been cleared away, but amazingly enough, on the metal shelf that still had a few nails and screws on it was a jam jar filled with his cigarette butts. Man, I wish I’d taken that with me, as nutty as it would have seemed. It would have pride of place in my little den.

Grow Your Own Infrastructure Geeks

Brian Hayes’ “Infrastructure: A Field Guide to the Industrial Landscape” is a god among books. It is the purest most wonderful eye candy.

I hadn’t picked it up in years, but today my daughter, 4, started asking about utility poles on the way home from the park. So when we got home I pulled out “Infrastructure” and away we went. The writing is so fun and lively, and the kids loved relating what we were reading about to what we’d just seen. They had to assure me multiple times that they weren’t bored! It made my heart soar.
“Infrastructure” is out of print: a true tragedy.