Caching on Friday in New Hope, PA & Lambertville, NJ 8/8/2008

Mom and I left early Friday morning for a trip down to Lambertville and New Hope, PA to do some caching and to tell you the truth it was another of those frustrating days of caching. We spent more time driving around looking for places to park to go look for the cache than we did caching. It sure would be nice if the people that list these caches gave a few directions for out of towners. Our first cache was in a park about a 1/2 mile from Sean's house in the woods and we found it quickly and were off to Lambertville by way of all the back roads in NJ. Then we drove to a small outlet mall and a cache on the back of a soda machine outside one of the stores. Next cache was a multi cache located in another small park where we had to figure out the coords from a monument and then find the final stage back in the woods amongst all the prickers. I'll tell you one thing my legs have taken a beating her in NJ in the woods. Then we were off to New Hope and a virtual cache where we had to find an object sitting on top of a building although the actual object was gone we still got credit for finding the cache. After finding the cache we walked around the town and saw many of the quaint old buildings, shoppes and restaurants.
Then we drove to Phillips Mill located in New Hope for a cache hidden under a bridge across a small stream. Phillips' Mill was built in 1756 by Aaron Phillips as a water powered grist mill. It also served as an informal community center for the local farmers and their families. Three generations of the family lived on the property prior to the purchase of the mill and adjoining farm in 1894 by artist William Lathrop. Lathrop's home and the mill studio emerged as the intellectual center of a growing community of artists, whose rigorous discussions of aesthetics, philosophy, and politics became well-known. Besides Lathrop, artists such as Daniel Garber, Edward Redfield, John Folinsbee, and Walter Schofield together with their lesser known contemporaries, Fern Coppedge, Walter Baum and Clarence Johnson formed the New Hope School. The New Hope group exhibited together in the United States and Europe, most notably between 1916 and 1918. The Phillips' Mill Community Association is responsible for the preservation of the Mill, which is now listed on the National Register of Historic Places. While we were there we also saw The Inn at Phillips Mill which was across the street from the actual mill. They have several romantic period rooms and a fine dining restaurant. The Inn at Phillips Mill is an 18th century stone barn on the National Historic Register. They offer romantic dining by the fire in winter and on a flower-filled patio in summer.
That was actually the last cache we found but in attempting to locate a puzzle cache south of New Hope we came upon Prallsville Mills which is a significant multiple structure industrial complex. We didn't find the cache but we sure did have a good time looking around all the buildings. Prallsville Mills, along with several houses in the vicinity, was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1979 and is recognized as a cultural resource of statewide significance. The buildings and structures date from ca. 1790 to the early twentieth century and include a 1790 linseed oil mill, a 1877 gristmill, a 1850 sawmill, a 1900 grain silo, a 1874 railroad trestle, a 1834 canal and several secondary outbuildings. Some structures, including the gristmill and railroad trestle, burned down and were replaced during the nineteenth century. The architectural integrity of the complex has been retained and serves as a good example of a mill complex. The industrial development of the area had begun by the time John Prall, Jr. purchased this site in the 1790s. A gristmill had been in operation for several generations and Prall, a local businessman and a veteran of the American Revolution, turned the small gristmill operation into an industrial complex that included the milling of linseed oil and lumber. Nearby, he ran a quarry that is believed to be the supplier of stone for the New Hope/Lambertville Bridge and numerous local structures. Prall, a leader in industry, was seen as a leader in the development of this community and a participant in the development of other communities in western New Jersey. After his death in 1831, the mills and surrounding land were sold to William Hoppock and John Wilson and significant advances in transportation took place under their ownership. The two most important transportation improvements of nineteenth century New Jersey, a canal and a railroad, crossed this site and served the industry's commerce needs. Hoppock and Wilson executed a deed with the Delaware & Raritan Canal Company in the 1830s to locate the canal on the property. Later in the 1850s, the Belvidere & Delaware Railroad, known as the Bel-Del, ran alongside the canal and gave additional transportation access to the industrial site. The mill changed hands several times during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries until it ceased operations in 1969. Its ideal location is evidenced by its success during three centuries. The mills were powered by the Wickecheoke Creek, which fed directly into the canal. This was a unique feat of engineering designed to ensure a sufficient supply of water to operate the mills. A close interdependence between the mills and the canal evolved under a special deed of right-of-way that allowed the canal to pass directly through the mill property. The relationship continues today as a wagon storage building has been restored and serves as the offices for the Delaware and Raritan Canal Commission. Preservation of this site was intended to include all buildings and structures in order to interpret the full history of the site to the public. Remnants of the millraces, canal locks and the railroad bed remain amid the historic buildings of the complex. The Delaware River Mill Society has restored the Gristmill and the Linseed Oil Mill, which are used by the society and the community on a regular basis. The only major building still in need of rehabilitation is the sawmill. The 1850 sawmill is a wood frame building built in three sections. The central unit is a large mid-19th century 2 1/2 story frame building, which probably served for storage space. The interior retains its massive 9x12 hewn oak timbers and weatherboards with cut nails and serves as a learning tool for 19th century construction methods. Under one end of this unit there are stone walled channels filled with water that may have provided power or canal access. The gable roof is covered with corrugated sheet metal. The second unit, ca. third quarter 19th century, runs along the linear façade of the earliest unit and has circular sawn framing and weatherboards with cut nails. The roof is shed-type. The last addition was provided in the early 20th century and runs halfway along the other linear façade of the original unit. This one story shed roofed section also has circular sawn framing, but has corrugated sheet metal walls. Large sliding doors provide access on the north and west facades. Most of the building is clad with wood clapboard, but there is also some vertical board and on the east addition some corrugated metal. The building was converted to storage some time ago and none of the machinery remains.
After we looked around there and looked for that cache we did head to the D & R Canal walking trail but we couldn't find it as our GPS brought us to the wrong side of the canal even though it was the closest spot to the cache and we didn't feel like driving around looking for it so we just decided to bag the rest of the caching for the day and head back to Sean's house as we were really frustrated. We got back and I did our logs and showered and Mom watched TV. We ordered sandwiches for dinner and watched some TV. Well time to say until tomorrow and we love you all.


Picture List: 1,2,3,4-Vansant House Circa 1743 the oldest stone house in New Hope, PA, 5,6,7,8,9-Prallsville Mills Historic Grist Mill Circa 1711, 10,11,12-Historic markers in front of the Grist Mill, 13-Grist Mill and Grain Silo, 14,15-Grain Silo Circa 1890, 16-Lumber Shed, 17-Feed Storage Shed, 18-Scale House, 19-Wagon Shed Circa 1850, 20-Saw Mill Circa 1850, 21,22-Original Linseed Mill Circa 1794, 23,24,25-Phillips Mill Circa 1756, 26,27,28-New Hope shoppes and restaurants, 29-Entrance to a home in Phillips Mill, 30-Black River & Western RR Depot, 31,32-Old Feed Mill in Flemington, NJ, 33,34-Older stone homes in Phillips Mill, 35-Bucks County Playhouse, 36,37-Chimney Hill Estate Inn Circa 1820, 38,39-Art Gallery in New Hope on the banks of the river, 40-Ringoes Historic Marker, 41,42,43-Ringoes Train Depot of the Black River & Western RR, 44,45-Wildflowers Restaurant in New Hope on the river, 46-South Branch of the Central RR Historic Marker, 47-Stagecoach Stop Historic Marker, 48-Three Bridges Historic Marker, 49-Old building in Three Bridges.