I’m patiently waiting for real life to catch up with theoretical physicists. I think they are the ones who suggest that an infinite number of universes exist at any given time, and that “any given time” exists within an eternal continuum. I can’t honestly wrap my head around any of that, but if it means that we might be able to access some ‘transport portal’ or ‘wormhole’ that would temporarily take us to another place in time, let us visit a bit, and come back safely! – count me in!
But until that happens, our visits to other places in other times are dependent on the research and creativity of those who share an interest in those places and times. And for those interested in the history of Ewing Township, the foremost ‘transport portal’ I know of is the Benjamin Temple House on Federal City Road, the home of the Ewing Township Historic Preservation Society.
There are no theoretical physicists there, nor frightening wormholes, nor even rickety, smoking time machines. Just a tirelessly dedicated team of volunteers with a passion for researching, gathering, understanding and interpreting Ewing’s rich historical tapestry for our benefit now, and for those yet to come. And all of this is housed in the Temple House, a lovely and extremely well-kept and preserved c.1750 farmhouse with an 1840 addition.
But many are not aware that the Temple House is also known as the Temple-Ryan Farmhouse, reflecting the fact that while generations of the Temple family built and occupied the home for a century and a half, eventually the home and surrounding farm was sold to Irish immigrant and farm worker Patrick Ryan in 1903. The Ryan family then continued dairy farming on the land, building a significant local dairy. Thus, two discreet families were central to the story of this home.
The story of the Ryan Family is the subject of the Society’s new exhibit at the Temple House, which opens this month on Sunday, October 13th at 2 pm. The public is invited to come and get a sense of the significance and contributions the Ryan family made to Ewing’s history, local dairy farming, and the preservation of the Temple home. The exhibit will remain at the Temple House for the foreseeable future, and will evolve as the exhibit expands.
But it’s interesting to remember that the home now situated at 27 Federal City Road is not in its original location, and that the land surrounding it is not the original Temple/Ryan farm. (I-295 is now on the land, and the house was moved to its present location in 1973, away from the Interstate’s path.)
The Temple/Ryan farm was originally located at 2306 Pennington Road (aka Hopewell-Trenton Road, or Route 31) at Bull Run Road (which may have come by that name due to the herd of 40+ dairy cattle, mostly Guernseys, grazing at the Temple/Ryan Farm!). That was the location where Benjamin Temple built his home in the mid 1700s, and his descendants worked the roughly 160-acre farm for generations.
But towards the end of the 1800s, there were few Temples able to care for the farm, and they needed assistance with maintaining and working the farm. Enter Patrick Ryan, a hard-working immigrant from Ireland in his mid-twenties, essentially functioning as a tenant farmer. He spent many years helping the aging Temple family with their property and farm, and earned their gratitude and respect. He additionally rented land from other neighboring farms, in order to build a dairy business.
Eventually, in 1903, Patrick Ryan purchased the Temple Farm on Pennington Road. That farm prospered under Ryan Sr. and his children’s hard work and care, becoming a thriving local supplier of milk and dairy products, even with a dairy store on Parkway Avenue. And it represents farming primarily done with manual labor and draft animals, progressing through the early 20th century and transitioning to more mechanization and refrigeration. It is that fascinating story as seen through the Ryan family’s experiences which is the subject of the new exhibit at the Temple House.
So come on back to Ryan’s Dairy Farm, c.1930s. NO wormholes required!
Helen Kull is an advisor with the Ewing Township Historic Preservation Society.
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