112 The Roads of Blawenburg

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In previous blogs, we have discussed the main road through Blawenburg, Georgetown – Franklin Turnpike. It was a very old (thousands of years) Lenni Lenape trail, which was improved to become a turnpike between 1816 and 1820. The result of the construction of this 20.58-mile roadway led to the formation of the Village of Blawenburg. (See Blogs 4 and 11.) In this blog, we take a closer look at several other roads that encouraged the development and expansion of the village.

The Great Road, which is a portion of County Route 601 in Montgomery Township, Somerset County, begins at Georgetown – Franklin Turnpike in Blawenburg and continues south into Princeton, Mercer County, where it merges with Elm Road. While maps and street signs call it Great Road, we will use the original name, The Great Road, in this blog.

The Great Road

It isn’t clear how The Great Road acquired its name. When you see a reference to Great Road, it is often called The Great Road. Perhaps adding the definite article,”the”, to the name makes it special or evokes formality and stature. Whatever the reason, it was the first road in what would later become Blawenburg Village to be developed by the Dutch settlers who came to southern Montgomery in the mid-1700s.

The Great Road was built long before the Georgetown – Franklin Turnpike was envisioned. It was built at the request of the Blaw family, one of the earliest settlers in the Blawenburg area. In 1744, the quarter-mile road to Blaw’s Mill was built from the east-west Native American pathway along Blawenburg Ridge (The ridge was not named at the time.) to the three Blaw farms and mill along Bedens Brook south of the pathway.

Great Road is its current name, but old maps show it was called “The Great Road from Princeton and Blawenburg”. Such a name made it clear where it was located. But today, many like to call it by its more regal name, The Great Road.

The Great Road in Princeton

It didn’t take long for Princeton, south of Montgomery Township, to see the value in extending The Great Road into their town, and soon the road addition from Bedens Brook into Princeton was built. It went through a section of Princeton called Cedar Grove where Princeton Day School and the Tenacre Foundation are today. This addition was named Cedar Grove Road. Since Elm Road, which would continue The Great Road south to Route 206, had not been built yet, travelers on The Great Road in Princeton would turn onto Mountain Ave. They would continue to Bayard Lane, which later became Route 206, and then turn southeast. In about one mile, they would reach Nassau Street in downtown Princeton.

In 1930, the section of the roadway from Princeton Borough through Princeton Township that connected with The Great Road had three names: Elm Road in the borough, Cedar Grove Road in the township, and The Great Road in Montgomery Township. The governing bodies proposed to rename the whole route The Great Road. As sometimes happens with political bodies, they could only agree to drop the name Cedar Grove Road. Today, Princeton and Princeton Township are one governing body. The Great Road ends at Mountain Ave. in Princeton, but continues seamlessly as Elm Road until it reaches Route 206 in Princeton.

Other Roads in Blawenburg

Belle Mead – Blawenburg Road

As shown on the map below, Belle Mead – Blawenburg Road connects to the beginning point of The Great Road at the Blawenburg crossroads. It goes north through Belle Mead to join with Route 206 today.  This road combination of The Great Road and Belle Mead – Blawenburg Road formed a major north/south roadway for traffic until the state built Route 206 in 1927.

While it is unclear when Belle Mead-Blawenburg Road was built, it was likely early in the township’s history. This road was called Route 23 for several years and is called County Route 601 today.

The start of The Great Road and

Belle Mead – Blawenburg Road at Blawenburg crossroads

Note Burnt Hill Road on the right.

Burnt Hill Road

While technically not in Blawenburg Village, Burnt Hill Road was built as a way to get to or from Harlingen more quickly. It extends northeast from Georgetown – Franklin Turnpike  (Route 518) just east of Blawenburg to Sunset Road in Skillman. The exact year of its construction hasn’t been found in our quest, but we know it was likely before 1830.

Local folklore says that people on the farms in the southern part of Montgomery Township wanted a faster ride by horse or horse and carriage to the only church around, The Reformed Dutch Church of Harlingen. A group petitioned the Township Committee to build the road, and they complied.

In 1830, the Second Reformed Dutch Church of Harlingen, known today as Blawenburg Reformed Church, began construction. Burnt Hill Road would not have been as important once the new church was built; nevertheless, it provided a quicker route to other places in the township.

Mountain View Road

The Covenhovens lived and farmed this eastern area of Blawenburg. Mountain View Road, which had a view of Princeton Ridge to the south, started as a simple access road to the Covenhoven farm. The road was expanded as other farms and a development were built to the south. This old farm road, which terminates on Cherry Valley Road, remained unpaved at its southern end until the 2000s.

Mountain View Road

Van Zandt Road

The Van Zandt farm was an original anchor farm on the western side of Blawenburg. In the 1990s, it was sold, and a development was built west of the old house and barn.

Van Zandt Road

Wild Azalea Lane

Wild Azalea Lane was built to provide access to a development in the early 2000s. It begins midway between Blawenburg crossroads and Mountain View Road on the north side of Georgetown – Franklin Turnpike. It terminates at a connector called Covenhoven Road, which was named in honor of the original settlers in East Blawenburg, the Covenhovens. This connector road leads to Schoolhouse Corner Road, which feeds into Burnt Hill Road.

Wild Azalea Lane begins at Georgetown – Franklin Turnpike and connects to Covenhoven Road (not labeled). Covenhoven leads to Schoolhouse Road, which was named for the original schoolhouse in Blawenburg near this location. (See Blog 56.)

Blawenburg Village has spent most of its life with the same major roadways. The addition of the Cherry Valley development off the Great Road in the 1990s added new internal roads, but much of this area is not considered part of the village.

Thanks to the wise preservation of the Gallup family farmland, there are over 800 acres of preserved farmlands and a park adjacent to the southern side of the village. This Homeland Preservation tract cannot be expanded for more developments or roads.

Because the village and many of its structures are on the National and State Registers of Historic Places, Georgetown – Franklin Turnpike cannot be widened through Blawenburg Village, thus keeping it the way it is today.

It is good to know that Blawenburg Village and adjacent areas will remain much as they are well into the future.

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FACTS

1.    In colonial times, turnpikes collected tolls at booths along the roadway. A spiked wheel called a pike was used to block the passage until the patron paid the toll. The toll collector would “turn the pike” once the toll was paid, and the patron could proceed.

2.    Until the turn of the last century, Georgetown – Franklin Turnpike was not paved. The rise of the automobile forced the improvement of roads.

3.    It is difficult to learn the history of Burnt Hill Road. There must have been a fire on the road at one time, but where was it? The rise from Rock Brook south to Georgetown – Franklin Turnpike is the only hill on the road. Perhaps there was another reason for calling it Burnt Hill. Do you know how it got its name?

4.    An early effort to improve the pathway east and west before the Georgetown – Franklin Turnpike was built was done by the combined efforts of farm families.  The Covenhovens rebuilt the road from the east and the Neviuses and Van Zandts from the west in the area of the villages. Using a lot of manual labor assisted by horses and wagons, they leveled the roadway and put in drainage ditches on the sides of the roads.

5.    Route 206 was named State Road until it was renamed Van Horne Road in recent years. John Van Horne was a primary land developer of over 1000 acres in southern Montgomery Township in the 1700s. The land that makes up the Village of Blawenburg are among his original holdings.

SOURCES

INFORMATION

Name change article – Princeton Herald, 12/6/1929

PICTURES

Maps – Google Maps

Writer—David Cochran

Editor—Barb Reid

Researcher—Ken Chrusz

Email: blawenburgtales@gmail.com

Blog website: http://www.blawenburgtales.com

Author site: http://www.dcochran.net

Copyright © 2025 by David Cochran. All rights reserved.