Plainsboro
Historical
Society, Inc.

 

Exhibits


 

Come visit our 18 different exhibits featuring Plainsboro's history and people!

Here are a few brief descriptions of the exhibits. In order to see the real thing, just visit the Plainsboro Museum!

Aqueduct
A self-contained economic community located at Route 1 and Mapleton Road in Plainsboro. It included houses, stores, a wheelwright shop, a blacksmith shop, and four mills (saw, grist, carding, fulling), it is now flooded by Carnegie Lake.

Elsie the Cow
During World War II, our well known celebrity bovine showed her stars and stripes by raising $10 million for the war effort.

Family Farms - Parker Farm - Simonson Farm - Stults Farm - Groendyke Farm
Family farms played a critical role in Plainsboro's history. Exhibits include portraits of the Parker, Groendyke, Siminson, and Stults farms. The Parker Farm was a chicken farm.

Fire Company
Forty years of history of the Plainsboro Fire company is documented through text, photos, and fire apparatus.

Founding
Plainsboro was officially created on May 6, 1919. A timeline describes the actions that led to this momentous occasion.

Herman Carl Mueller, Ceramist
This well known Trenton ceramist created the tiles in the Wicoff House sun porch and the murals in then Walker-Gordon Rotolactor building.

Joseph Magnani and Ludwig Magnani Farms
Joseph and Ludwig had adjoining tenant farms on Scotts Corner Road.

Native Americans
The lives of Indians who inhabited the Plainsboro area thousands of years ago is documented with items unearthed locally by individuals and from the 1982 archeological dig at Scudders Mill Road.

Plainsboro Baseball
This exhibit explores Plainsboro's participation in the Twin-M baseball league from 1936 - 1951, including trips to the championship game by both the Plainsboro and Walker Gordon teams.

Plainsboro Rescue Squad
Thirty years of history of the Plainsboro Rescue Squad is documented though text, photos and Rescue Squad items.

Plainsboro Schools
Initially, the local community, under the jurisdiction of Cranbury and South Brunswick, was served by one-room, then two-room, school houses. In 1919, seeking to improve the educational facilities, local residents formed the Township of Plainsboro. The following year, the four-room Wicoff School was built.

Plainsboro on Postcards
Plainsboro life is documented in this large collection of photo postcards dated from 1903 to 1914.

Plainsboro Transportation
Exhibits include items about three trolley stations (1902-1937), two railroad stations, street signs, a trolley gong, and old toys.

Princeton Nurseries
The roots of some of the nation's most beloved trees - from the Princeton Elm to the October Glory red maple that thrives not just in Princeton, but around the globe in Europe and Australia - can be traced back to the Princeton Nurseries.

Trenton and New Brunswick Turnpike

Chartered in 1804 with a 99-year lease. Road was ceded to the townships through which it passed in 1903 and is now U.S. Route 1.

Walker-Gordon Gate House
This restaurant at the Plainsboro Road entrance to the farm catered to locals and travelers along Route 1. Built in 1933, it closed circa 1954.

Walker-Gordon Laboratories
The world's largest certified dairy came to Plainsboro in 1897. Though not involved in the dairy business since 1971, the company still owns many acres.

Wicoff Family and House
John V.B. Wicoff was a graduate of Princeton University, class of 1900, and New York Law School, class of 1903. He had a law practice in Trenton. This homestead, built circa 1880, housed three generations of the Wicoff Family.

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