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Originally published in 1939
Some of this information may no longer be current and in that case is presented for historical interest only.
Edited by GET NJ, COPYRIGHT 2003
Left on this road is HIGHTSTOWN, 1.5 miles (100 alt., 3,012 pop.), a bus,
market place for the surrounding farm country with several small factories. The
entrance to the town from the north is attractive, with grand old willow trees
grouped on the shore of PEDDLE LAKE (L), and an ornate stone FIREHOUSE (R).
Houses erected before 1800 are scattered about the village among buildings of late.
construction. Elaborate iron grillwork ornaments the porches of some of the old
houses. The SARAH B. SMITH HOUSE (private), 137 Stockton St., just behind the
railroad station, was built in 1770, and in 1819 became the community's first pos:
office. A modern touch is given Hightstown by the small concrete obelisks that serve
as street markers.
Founded in 1721, the town was named for John Hight, an early landowner and
miller. In 1834 it became a station on the Camden and Amboy R.R., the first railroad built in New Jersey. The PEDDLE SCHOOL is a private preparatory institution for
boys, established in 1864. Eighteen buildings serve approximately 260 students, and
the fine campus of 148 acres includes a private golf course.
Left from N. Main St. on Etra Rd. to JERSEY HOMESTEADS, 6.5 miles, built as
a project of the Resettlement Administration in 1935. Two hundred houses, built
of cinder-concrete blocks, with flat overhanging roofs, and provided with air-conditioning, oil furnaces, and other modern equipment, are in horseshoe-shaped
groups. Covering 1,200 acres in rolling, partly wooded country, Jersey Homestead
is a combined agricultural and industrial community, designed to move union needle
trades workers from the tenement districts of Philadelphia and New York. The colony
is organized on a cooperative basis. Each family contributes $500 to a general fund to
finance the equipment and operation of a women's clothing factory, and contracts
to buy a home with a long-term mortgage. A 414-acre farm is part of the experiment.
Net profits will be divided equally among all residents – factory workers, farm
workers, and clerks in the cooperative stores. One purpose of the project is to show
that an industry hitherto concentrated in the slum and sweatshop areas of large
cities can be decentralized, and that its workers can improve their own living conditions by cooperative methods. It is expected that the school and other public
property will be deeded over to the incorporated (1937) community. The well-designed modern factory will be purchased from the government. A notable feature
is the COMMUNITY BUILDING, a low, flat-roofed, brick and concrete structure
designed by Alfred Kastner in the modern International style. The design of the building is characterized by a vigorous treatment of the horizontal mass and an effective
concentration of detail. There is ample fenestration and free use of structural glass
brick.
Providing both recreational and educational facilities for the community, the building
has a large community hall and gymnasium, a library, spacious classrooms, and
a nursery. Of special interest are the hammered aluminum entrance doors, the
low-relief figures modeled by Lenore Thomas and executed by Otto Wester, and the bright murals in the lobby executed by Ben Shahn. The murals picture a brief
history of the Jewish people – their escape from Old World oppression and their
toil to better working conditions in the New World. On the grounds are a wading
pool and play areas.
South of the traffic circle US 130 by-passes Hightstown (L).
At 17 miles is the junction with State 33 (see Tour 20) which is united
with US 130 between this point and Robbinsville.
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