#2 | The Nelson House

Turn around to visit the Nelson House. This small 19th century building, which was not in existence during the historic crossing, has its own interesting tale to tell. It is the surviving kitchen and ice house of the Alexander Nelson Hotel, which was destroyed by a train derailment in 1904. 

There is no evidence of a structure on this site at the time of the Crossing. The colonial ferry house was and is the white frame farmhouse on the hill, just north of here and facing Route 29 (River Road) at an angle.

The ferry operated here until 1834, when both the first covered bridge and the canal were completed that same year. It was most likely Bernard Taylor who built the first tavern and ice house in the late 1820s or 1830s. Serving the ferry passengers for just a few years, the small stone tavern then catered to bridge and canal traffic. This structure then became incorporated into the 22 room hotel built by Alexander Nelson after 1846. It was known as the “Old Bar Room.” The main section of Nelson’s hotel was demolished by the Works Progress Administration (WPA) in 1936 , leaving this small back portion. It was renovated in 1980 by the first iteration of the Washington Crossing Association to serve as a hospitality house for displays and historical interpretation.

The house’s lovely garden is maintained by the Garden Club of Trenton.

MORE OF THE STORY:

The following is taken from a talk on the Nelson House by Park Historian Mark Sirak:

The property on which the Nelson House stands was first recorded as owned by Rut Johnson in the late 17th century. The tract was between 240-250 ares and the main house is what is known as the Johnson Ferry House today.

The land passed through several owners until the original tract was subdivided sometime after 1817. Around this period the local road network was improved, including better defining River Drive which runs through Titusville and ended at the ferry. Also River Road (or Route 29) was laid out.

Sometime in the late teens a small tavern, the “Old Bar Room,” was built. A portion of the original foundation remains as part of the canal embankment retaining wall. Therefore, it is a good possibility that the Old Bar Room would have served as the Ferry Tavern from around 1820 until 1834, when the construction of a bridge was completed.

Alexander Nelson bought the tract, including the Old Bar Room, in 1846. He made several changes over the years including two additions in 1850 and 1870.

In 1875, Nelson first advertised in the Trenton City Directory as the proprietor of the “Alexander Nelson Hotel.” The hotel was originally a 19-22 room hotel, most likely with a taproom to maintain local business. The remaining portion of the hotel, with servants’ quarters located upstairs, was a kitchen. The smaller room was the ice house.

An interesting aspect is the fireplace, built more like a late-18th or early-19th century fireplace with a beehive oven in the rear, rather than a mid-19th century style normally found at the time of construction. More research needs to be done but there is the possibility that this was an out-kitchen, or was attached to the Old Bar Room, and was incorporated into the larger hotel by Nelson. However an archaeological study would have to be undertaken to gain any certainty of that possibility.

During the 1850s the Belvidere & Delaware (or Bel-Del) Railroad was installed along the D&R Canal. This railroad had an important influence on the Nelson House both in its ascendance and demise. Between the road improvements in 1819, completion of the canal and river bridge in 1834, and the arrival of the Bel-Del in 1851, the Titusville area became a bustling little transportation center.

By 1875, when Nelson placed his first advertisement in Trenton, the Titusville area had become a popular summer resort with city residents. The Bel-Del provided easy access and a nice train ride up the river.

The final chapter of the Bel-Del influence on the hotel occurred in 1904. A train derailed and destroyed the Titusville Station while a flat car carrying steel beams spilled two beams into the main section of the hotel and caused heavy damage. The hotel, still inhabited by two of Nelson’s daughters, fell into disrepair. Finally, the main hotel was demolished between 1934-1937 as a project for the Works Progress Administration (WPA).

Nelson and his wife raised at least six children here, and Nelson and the two daughters who remained in the building after his death in 1893 are buried just up River Drive in the Titusville Presbyterian Church Cemetery.

What follows is an excerpt from an article in the Trenton Times on May 28, 1904, about the accident which destroyed the hotel:

Cars Wreck Hotel; Do Other Mischief

Four freight cars seriously damaged the Nelson Hotel at Washington Crossing yesterday afternoon. Another car was sent spinning on the platform of the Washington Crossing station, another found its way into the road and was responsible for a runaway, and two men tumbled into the feeder.

The accident was caused by the breaking of an axle of a car in a south-bound stone train.

The corner of the Nelson hotel was demolished Mrs. Alonzo Nelson of Chicago was in a room when one of the cars intruded and sent debris fling in every direction. She was uninjured.

The fifth car, on its way to the station platform, tore up many feet of track and the sixth one modestly slipped off into the road and frightened a horse driven by George White of Lawrenceville. The horse ran away but did no harm.

Two other cars quietly tumbled themselves over into the feeder of the Delaware and Raritan canal and the coke with which they were laden floated down the stream.

OWNERS OF THE NELSON HOUSE PROPERTY

Daniel Coxe: Late 1600s to 1709 as a land grant

Thomas Reed: 1709-1715

Rutger Jansen/Johnson: 1715-1748

Garret Johnson: 1748-1766

Rutger Johnson, Jr.: 1766-1770

Abraham Harvey: 1770-1801

Samuel Tomlinson: 1801-1802

Joseph Tomlinson, Jr., 1802-1817

Abner Tomlinson: 1817-1828
(Tomlinson inherited the southern, riverfront portion of the land, which is now divided length-wise. The Johnson Ferry House was no longer connected to the river front and the ferry service. This is most likely when this “certain tavern and ice house” were built.)

Alexander Nelson: 1846-1924
(Alexander enlarged and improved the building into a 22-room Victorian Resort Hotel and complex. He built the present-standing kitchen, servants’ quarters and spring house circa 1850, and advertised in the Trenton City Directory in 1875. His two daughters, Alexowna and Abby, lived here until the State of NJ purchased the property.)

State of New Jersey: 1924-Present
(The State purchased it from the heirs of Alexander Nelson. The structure fell into disrepair and was taken down in 1937-38, leaving just this small portion.)