Anthropologist Margaret Mead supposedly said: “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world: indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.”
Though Mead’s name always appears with the quote, there’s no indication she ever uttered those words, or wrote them in a study. Rather, the quote attributed to her appeared in a book four years after her death with no citation.
But whether or not the anthropologist deserves credit for those words, we often see evidence of small groups of people making big changes. In fact, in late 2020, while we were locked down due to the pandemic, leaders from four organizations came together to ink an historic agreement, which in part, now means the City of Bordentown has a new municipal building.
On Dec. 18, 2020, Bordentown City, the State of New Jersey, and D&R Greenway Land Trust closed on the purchase of acreage at 101 Park St. that the Divine Word Missionaries had owned for 81 years. This was also the remaining piece of property once owned by the exiled King of Spain, Joseph Bonaparte, Napoleon’s brother, and was known as Point Breeze.
The acquisition story began in February 2020. Bordentown Commissioner James Lynch, a lifelong Bordentown resident who has served as a local elected official since 1989, ran into Rev. Harrison Poole of Divine Word Missionaries while running errands.
Shortly thereafter, in early March, the two sat outside under a gazebo at Divine Word Missionaries—due to Covid—and talked.
Poole told Lynch that The Society of the Divine Word, the missionary’s parent organization, had decided to sell Point Breeze, a property it had purchased in 1941 from Harris Hammond. Hammond, a financier from California, had lost his wealth, and thus his estate, in the 1929 stock market crash. Since that time, the location has served as a seminary and then a religious retirement community.
Since childhood, Lynch has had a long connection to the Park Street property and the waterways it overlooks. The property sits above the confluence of the Delaware River and Crosswicks Creek, which articulates with the Abbott Marshlands to the north.
Lynch’s love for the river developed in 1968, when he was 12-years-old and his dad died. Lynch needed an outlet, he said, and that outlet was the Delware River where his uncle would take him fishing.
Lynch’s connection to the land came shortly thereafter. He attended the Bordentown Military Institute, located at 70 Park St., about a mile away from the Missionaries property.
Lynch played on the BMI basketball team, until BMI closed in 1972. As a BMI freshman, Lynch played his first game against the team of Divine Word high school seminarians at the gym which is still on the property.
The news from Poole about the upcoming sale of the property troubled Lynch.
“We had lost some significant, historical properties here in Bordentown,” Lynch said. He noted several buildings were destroyed by fires; but one of the biggest losses, he believes, was the old Bordentown railroad terminal, which was torn down. Lynch said the terminal could have been saved.
Lynch was also concerned about the potential impact of high density development on the property, including the potential for polluting the creek and the river. The river provides drinking water to 15 million people in the area.
Lynch grew even more concerned when he heard about the proposed building of warehouses on the site which would have seen 300 tractor trailers coming and going from the location.
“I knew I couldn’t let this [property] go on my watch,” Lynch said. “It was my mission to preserve this property as best I could on the city side.”
In its prime, young men from around the world arrived at the Divine Word Missionaries as they committed to entering the priesthood. According to The Divine Word alumni website, the organization’s Bordentown program changed sometime in the mid-to-late 1940s, and became a four-year seminary high school, also known as a minor seminary. A residence hall had been constructed for students.
The priests lived in Hammond’s mansion until February 1983, when it burned to the ground. The high school closed three months later, in May 1983. The seminarians who wanted to finish their studies were invited to attend St. Joseph’s Seminary High School in Princeton.
Hammond’s mansion was razed the following year. The history on the alumni website noted:
“The Society used the insurance money it received after the fire to transform the former high school classroom building into a residence for active and semi-retired Divine Word Missionaries. The structure was remodeled to add 32 private rooms, a chapel, conference room, laundry and a large living room. In the years following the fire, the community also hosted private tours of the grounds, retreats, education conferences, symposiums and other events upon request.”
As of 2020, only four retired priests remained, including Rev. Martin H. Padovani who, at the time of the sale, had lived at the Bordentown missionary for 60 years. In a video made for D&R Greenway, the 92-year-old priest spoke about arriving in Bordentown on a rainy day in 1961 and not being very impressed with his new home. But when the sun rose the next morning, and he walked the property, he was overcome by the beauty before him.
“I always felt we had a responsibility to this land that was given to us, and that we had a responsibility to take care of it,” Padavoni said. He worked the gardens on the grounds alongside those who came to Divine Word to study.
Many of the ornamental trees and flowering bushes on the property were planted by Bonaparte. The exiled king also created walking paths which traversed the property. Enhancing his property was something Bonaparte was well-prepared to do. According to a Dec. 3, 1885 article from the Trenton Times, when Bonaparte was King of Spain, he “studied landscape gardening” in Madrid.
Padavoni noted that he consistently told his colleagues that “this property belonged to the people of New Jersey and it must be preserved, and it must be taken care of. And, if it’s ever sold, it should be sold back to the people of New Jersey.” Father Padavoni said, “I felt it was a moral responsibility,”
While there was interest in the property from near and far, interests which would have brought development, Lynch respresenting the City of Bordentown, Linda Mead, the president and CEO of D&R Greenway, and representatives from the State of New Jersey Green Acres, worked with Father Poole to forge an agreement which would preserve the property forever.
Indeed, Divine Word Missionaries could have commanded many millions; but it was that moral responsibility to see the land returned to the people of New Jersey, as well the responsibility to protect Crosswicks Creek and the Delaware River that helped close the deal.
The state bought the 60-acre property for $4.6 million, and then made the City of Bordentown and D&R Greenway third-party owners. The sale had to be approved by Pope Francis, and the only contingency required The Society of the Divine Word to donate $250,000 to help build an orphanage in Madagascar.
As a third party, D&R Greenway bought an acre of land for just under $300,000. That acre includes Bonaparte’s Gardener’s House which sits in the original location on the property. A garden with heirloom plantings has been added. The organization intends to turn its holding into a Discovery Center.
The City of Bordentown purchased 5.5 acres for $1.6 million. That purchase included buying two buildings on the property—the gymnasium and a former retirement residence—which became the municipality’s new offices. On July 25, city personnel moved in, and the city reopened for business on Aug. 1.
Eventually, residents doing business at the new municipal building will be able to see historical relics, including a special document. Lynch hopes to frame the email from Rome which approved the sale.
The city will add a sallyport to the back of the building for the Bordentown City Police department. Sixteen city officers will relocate operations in about eight months time, Lynch said. The old City Hall at 324 Farnsworth Ave. will be sold.
Lynch still marvels at how quickly everything came together in about nine months time, but acknowledged all those involved were committed to the task. In addition to Lynch, Mead and Father Poole, others involved included Robin Madden and Fawn McGee from DEP, and Jenny Felton of New Jersey Parks. Mead, of D&R Greenway, said in a video presentation: “preserving this property was paramount; the preservation story is one that is a perfect example of what can happen when a community works together.”
For more on the history of Bordentown City Halls, check out Doug Kiovsky’s Bend in the River column.
Bordentown City’s new municipal complex, tucked away at the end of the long drive at 101 Park St., was formerly owned by Divine Word Missionaries. (Photo by E. M. Hume.),
