Isaac DeCou

          Isaac De Cou's selling of his approximately 250 acre farm to the Broad Street Land Association on January 2, 1889 played an integral role  in the development of Broad Street Park.  See Isaac De Cou Label.

Abbott - DeCou Mansion

Abbott - DeCou Mansion

58 Soloff Drive

        Once at the end of a  long lane leading from South Broad Street, the house in which Lacey and Sally Abbott settled was built in 1797.  Lacey was the grandson of Timothy Abbott, the son of John Abbott, who came to this country from England in the early 1700s, and settled on this land later known as Spring Lake Park.  Later John bought land a mile east of the Watson plantation.

                The home is referred to as the old DeCou mansion because Peter DeCou purchased it in 1892.  DeCou's wife, Martha, was known to many as "Aunt Martha," a generous and civic-minded person.  For example, when a school on South Broad Street was necessary, Aunt Martha donated a large plot of land for a playground.  The former DeCou School and the DeCou Hose Company are named in her honor.

                  Source: Old Nottingham, Historical Association of Hamilton Township

         The above image depicts what was originally the rear (north elevation) of the house with the rear (south elevation) toward the Delaware River being the main entrance.  The house is on the National and State Registers.  It is privately owned. 

1849: When Livestock Roamed

Trenton State Gazette, August 16, 1849

This reads:  Came to the residence of the subscriber, living in Hamilton Township, Mercer County, a sheep, which came about June 1st, and a hog, which came about July 1st, 1849.  The owner is requested to come for them, prove property, pay charges and take them away, or they will be dealt with as the law directs.  AARON LEE.  Hamilton, Aug. 15, 1849

This advertisement gives an insight into the very rural nature of Hamilton in the mid nineteenth century.  Aaron Lee acquired his farm from Joseph Watson, circa 1815.  Lee sold his farm to Isaac DeCou in 1866 who sold the farm to the Broad Street Land Association, the developer of Broad Street Park, in 1889. 

1936 WPA Project

THE WORKS PROGRESS ADMINISTRATION (WPA) WAS THE LARGEST AND MOST AMBITIOUS PROGRAM EMPLOYING MILLIONS OF UNSKILLED WORKERS TO PERFORM PUBLIC WORKS PROJECTS DURING THE GREAT DEPRESSION.

1962: Indian Relics Unearthed

 Trenton Evening Times, July 25, 1962

 

Early inhabitants of the of the White City Park area were the people who referred to themselves as the Lenni Lenape.  These people are often referred to as the Delaware Indians.  They had an amicable relationship with the first Quaker settlers but friction developed and by 1800 the Indians had disappeared from the area.