An exhibition of historic photographs, “Home on the Canal: Bridge and Lock Tenders’ Houses on the Delaware & Raritan Canal,” opens at the Plainsboro Public Library on Saturday, November 5. A reception will be held Sunday, November 20, from 2 to 4 p.m. There will be a screening of the children’s film, “Bridgetender’s Boy,” at 2 p.m. Barbara Ross and Vicki Chirco, the exhibit’s curators, present informal gallery talks at 3 p.m. The exhibition continues to Tuesday, November 29.
Drawing on research by Ross, the vice president of D&R Canal Watch, and Chirco, the historian for D&R Canal State Park, the exhibit includes previously unknown images dating from the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The film is an adaptation of the book by Linda Barth, author of “Images of America: The Delaware and Raritan Canal.”
Each lock and bridge along the canal had a canal house in which the lock or bridge tender and his family lived. 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.
Each house was occupied by a canal company employee whose duty was to tend the adjacent bridge or lock. These houses were provided as part of the compensation to 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.
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.
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.
The D & R Canal Watch (www.canalwatch.org) is a non-profit organization formed to help promote, enhance, and preserve the Delaware & Raritan Canal State Park. The D&R Canal State Park (wwwdandrcanal.com), established in 1974, offers a broad range of recreational opportunities and is dedicated to preserving and interpreting the natural resources and history of the canal.
Ross, a retired curator at Princeton University Art Museum, is preparing a guide to the D&R Canal State Park. Chirco, editor of “The Milepost,” the park’s quarterly list of events, is responsible for tours and programs, and is currently preparing a series of podcasts on the canal.
The exhibition design and production is by Jack Koeppel, curator of the “Ribbons of Life” exhibition at the D&R Greenway Land Trust.
Art Exhibit, Plainsboro Public Library, 9 Van Doren Street, Plainsboro. Saturday, November 5, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. First day for “Home on the Canal: Bridge and Lock Tenders’ Houses on the Delaware and Raritan Canal,” an exhibition of historic photographs. The exhibit’s curators, Barbara Ross, a retired curator at Princeton University Art Museum, and Vicki Chirco, park historian at D&R Canal State Park, present an informal gallery talk at the reception on Sunday, November 20, from 2 to 4 p.m. The reception begins with a screening of “Bridgetender’s Boy,” a children’s film. On view to November 29. 609-275-2897. www.lmxac.org/plainsboro.
