The Historic Hunt House

History & Establishment: The Hunt House was built in three sections. The oldest center section was built prior to 1762 and has a hall and parlor form, with two rooms downstairs and two upstairs. As the Hunt family prospered and their tastes changed, they began to add on to the house. The eight-room eastern section (the closest section to the Lawrence Hopewell Trail) was built in the 1790s. This section was considered the most grand because some of the rooms had fancy wood millwork. It wasn't until 1850 that the west wing was added, and by that time the Hunt Family was the second wealthiest in Hopewell Township. 

Mercer County acquired the house, surrounding buildings, and 12 acres of land in 1969 as part of Rosedale Park and in response to the community's desire to maintain open space. In 1988, the Hunt House was added to the National Register of Historic Places.

In 2001, the Mercer County Park Commission, aided by a grant from the New Jersey Historic Trust, completed a preservation study, discovering that the by-then rundown house was structurally sound. The decision was made to have the house restored and used as offices for the Park Commission. In 2009, construction began with funds from the Trust and the Mercer County Open Space Preservation Fund.

The Hunt House sits along the Lawrence Hopewell Trail and has public restrooms on the first floor, a rest stop with picnic tables, a water fountain, and a bicycle rack.

The Historic Hunt Barn: The Hunt House Barn is home to the Mercer County Naturalist Department. The Hunt Barn is currently closed to the public. 

The John Rogers House 

History & Establishment: Built in 1761, the John Rogers House is believed to be the oldest existing structure in West Windsor Township. The Rogers House was listed on the State and National Register of Historic Places in 1976; it is significant as a good example of 18th century pattern brick architecture. The house is laid up in Flemish bond with burned headers, forming a checker board pattern. The structure was deeded to Mercer County in 1970 when the lands around the house became Mercer County Park.

Based on park planning and programming location, the County preserved the historic brick walls as an “open-air” constructed ruin adapted for interpretation. The renovated Rogers House site includes adjacent landscape with porous paved walking paths, vehicle access roads, parking and outdoor interpretive signage. The interpretive signage tells the story of the Rogers’ farmstead and house within the local and regional history of the area. The renovated site serves as a public gathering space and a point of interest along the walking paths and trails.

The Rogers House Constructed Ruin Project was a joint project of the Mercer County Park Commission and County Planning Department, and funded through the Open Space Trust Fund, which funds open space, farmland, recreation and historic preservation in Mercer County. Work began at the site in June 2018 and was completed in late 2019. 

The Watson House

NJDAR State Headquarters - Watson House

History & Establishment: In May 1684, Isaac Watson emigrated to America with his father, William, and siblings from Farnsfield, Nottinghamshire, England. The Watson family arrived in Philadelphia and rented a house for four weeks before settling in the Township of Nottingham in West Jersey. Their plantation consisted of 700 acres and William built a log house on a bluff facing a creek, so the family had easy access the water routes near Philadelphia.

The Watsons were active in the civic life of the community. Both William and Isaac served as constables, among other positions.

After William died, Isaac built a stone house to the east of his father's log house. It was plain and for many years was considered the finest house in the township. 

When Isaac died the house was passed to his son. The last descendant of Isaac to live in the house was his grandson, Joseph. Joseph and his wife lived there for 20 years, and after they died the estate was broken up between the family who all held deeds to sections of the land. 

Mercer County is the present owner, and as part of the New Jersey Tercentenary Celebration in 1964, the New Jersey State Society of the National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) undertook the restoration of the Watson House. The house and its furnishings are all kept with the period in which the Watsons lived -- the 18th century -- and the house continues to be a cherished landmark.

Memorials: Mercer County Park is home to the 9/11 Memorial, located at the entrance to the Marina, and the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, located across from the soccer fields and basketball courts.

911 Memorial: In a solemn ceremony attended by hundreds of area residents, including emergency responders and led by Mercer County Executive Brian M. Hughes, the County marked the 10th Anniversary of September 11th by dedicating the new September 11 Memorial at Mercer County Park in West Windsor. The new monument is located in the center of the park, near the Marina.

On the 10th anniversary, Hughes reflected on the ongoing healing process across America.

“America has broad shoulders and a spirit unmatched anywhere in the world. Ten years later, it remains crucial that we unite as a community around the principles that make America special: tolerance, inclusion, caring and problem-solving,” Hughes said.

Earlier in 2011, Mercer County obtained a piece of steel recovered from the World Trade Center site in New York after the attacks on Sept. 11, 2001. The 10-foot, 2,108-pound section of I-beam steel is now the centerpiece of the memorial.

The design of the Memorial was commissioned by the Mercer County Park Commission leadership, and was designed by Clarke Caton Hintz: Architecture, Planning and Landscape Architecture.  The vast majority of the construction work was completed in-house by Park Commission staff.

The Memorial evokes the physical and emotional impacts of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, while also asserting our collective strength to overcome the fear and loss they engendered. The longitudinal axis of the Memorial is oriented north-to-south, a bearing of 180 degrees, the heading of the first plane that slammed into the World Trade Center. Four aluminum benches, representing each of the four hijacked planes, sit at the northern end of the Memorial, facing a monumental, unfinished concrete wall. Two flanking walls sweep inward and upward, suggesting the movement of an airplane, terminating abruptly at the concrete wall. The wall is concave—as if it has been forced inward—yet is unbroken. This wall serves as a backdrop for a composition composed of a 10 foot- long fragment of a massive steel girder from the World Trade Center and 13 steel cables that extend outward from the wall to grasp the girder. The cables represent the 13 municipalities of Mercer County (at the time of construction, Princeton Borough and Princeton Township remained separate municipalities). Steel cable has special prominence in Mercer County’s industrial heritage, since wire rope (cable) was invented and manufactured by the John A. Roebling & Sons Company of Trenton and utilized in many important bridge projects across the Country. The Memorial represents the collective strength and resiliency of the people of Mercer County to endure the terror attacks, with the cables set in dynamic tension, lifting the girder, echoing the continuing process of healing and recovery. Bronze lettering on the wall reinforces the message of the Memorial through the words of Booker T. Washington: “There are two ways of exerting one’s strength: one is pushing down, the other is pulling up.”

The section of steel was one of thousands of artifacts recovered from the World Trade Center site and catalogued by the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey, and the Port Authority then commenced a program to give the artifacts to local communities.

The Mercer County September 11 Memorial sits at a site where residents from around the area and visitors can reflect on those who lost their lives and the emotions of that day.

Mercer County was home to more than two dozen victims, and many first responders from Mercer, including firefighters, medical personnel, and law enforcement, worked for days at Ground Zero in the aftermath of the attack. Scores of emergency responders attended the event, standing in unison on a grassy knoll overlooking the memorial.

Vietnam Veterans Memorial: The memorial pays tribute to the men from Mercer County who lost their lives in the Vietnam War.

History & Establishment: In 1988, three Nottingham Little League coaches bonded over their experiences serving in the United States Military in Vietnam. Their passion to honor the 56 known servicemen from Mercer County who never made it home is truly inspiring. In addition there is an icon within the memorial that represents an additional 32 servicemen who passed away due to cancers or other illnesses.

The three coaches formed Vietnam Veterans United, Inc., a group responsible for the coordination and construction of the Vietnam Memorial in Mercer County Park. Through donations from the National Italian American Hall of Fame, National Community Bank in Hamilton, and private contributions the memorial was completed in September 1991. The memorial was officially dedicated on September 22, 1991.

The Memorial: The Vietnam Veterans Memorial is located by the soccer fields and basketball courts within Mercer County Park. In order to enter the memorial one must cross the bridge and walk a concrete path through an opening of trees. This design was created to give a sense of solace and reflection to those who gave their lives for our country.

When you first enter the memorial you see the “Fallen Solider Battle Cross,” which consists of a soldier’s helmet, rifle and boots. This symbolic representation of a cross shows honor and respect for those who have fallen at a battle site and dates back to the Civil War. As you continue through the memorial you will see four large monoliths displaying the following medals: National Defense Medal, Vietnam Service Medal, Vietnam Campaign Medal, and the Purple Heart Medal. These medals were awarded to soldiers who fought in the war. On the outside perimeter are markers representing each of the known casualties from Mercer County who were killed in Vietnam. In the center of the memorial stands the American flag, Prisoner of War (POW), flag and five service flags.

Since the dedication of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial a dogwood tree has been planted in honor of the POW’s and MIA’s of the conflict. In addition, the International Brothers of Electrical Workers, Local 269, donated their time and resources to add lights around the memorial which help illuminate it at night.

The Mercer County Park Commission maintains the memorial.