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Flemington Junction Passenger Railroad Station circa 1885 demolished March of 2023.
(written by Carla Cielo)

Despite the fact that the train station is listed as a contributing resource in the Raritan/Readington South Branch Historic District, the unmaintained station fell into disrepair and was demolished in March of 2023. It was a 1½-story carpenter Gothic/Stick style structure with wide overhanging bracketed eaves, clipped gables, a decorative mix of board-and-batten and clapboard siding, tall windows and symmetrically-placed projecting bay windows. Gable-roofed Stick-style and arched porticos, which sheltered walkways to the stairs that led down to the railroad tracks, remained standing adjacent to the station on both ends. Historic photographs show that stairs and platform were also once sheltered. I did not get to see the interior but a few photos were taken by a township official.
This station was a stop on the Lehigh Valley Railroad just north of a rail link that extended into Flemington at the north end where a similar station remains today (abandoned). It was not connected to the South Branch Railroad which had a station in the center of town (remains in use as a bank), nor was it connected to the Belvidere Division of the Pennsylvania Rail Road which also came into Flemington. The station always confused me since the area that it served was predominately rural until recently. An old photo shows that cars (and previously horse and wagons) could pull up to the back of the station from circular driveway off River Road. This area is now occupied by Suburban Propane.

14 Rts 202/31 circa 1920, demolished 2023
(written by Carla Cielo)

This circa 1920 Craftsman style bungalow is a vestige from the residential and agricultural days before NJ Route 30 (Rts. 202/31 today) was built. The area was called “Muirheads” for the Muirhead farm. There was a railroad station stop nearby, a church, a graveyard and several farms. The road was rural and extended from what is today Dutch Lane and Amwell Road to Flemington. It was incorporated into Route 30 between 1926 and 1935.
I’ve watched the house deteriorate over the years – the porch collapsed and was later carted away; the roof partially caved in at the rear; and an unidentified wood-frame outbuilding evidently blew over in a recent storm. Much of its ¾-inch thick pale blue-painted cedar siding was recently removed exposing 5-inch wide solid pine sheathing (both flush boards and edgeand- center-beaded). Part of the foundation is rock-faced concrete block and part is smooth faced block suggesting construction in two phases. A concrete walkway with steps leading from what is now the highway suggests that they once served a neighborhood of walkers and slower paced cars. This was a suburban style property with a detached two-car garage in the backyard.
There are no remaining agricultural structures.
The interior is plain and has a three room plan with a kitchen at the rear. A staircase that lines the north gable end wall in the front room has a nice handrail with a paneled newell post. The kitchen has metal cabinets from the 1950s and a brick chimney with thimble to vent a stove pipe which suggests an original coal or wood-fired cook-stove.

Here is a photograph of the local grave of Revolutionary War veteran Jesse Pettit in Carman Cemetery on Open Space property recently acquired by Raritan Township, photo courtesy of Raymond Simonds. The headstone of Elijah Carman is shown below.

Well marked Green Acres and Open Space properties with parking for long walks in the fields.

A drive through the countryside in Raritan Township shows the rural texture of the Township with working farms and impressive historic residences dating from the eighteenth and nineteenth century with occasional historic markers. Signs marking Open Space and preserved farmland are notable.

If you have an outbuildings on your property, a root cellar, springhouse, smoke house, ice cellar, etc, and would like to work with us in documenting and photographing these structures, please let us know using the form below. We’ll be in touch in a hurry!