Waterloo Village New Jersey Canal Town During the Civil War

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Waterloo Village State Historic Site is located in New Jersey’s Allamuchy Mountain State Park in Stanhope, N.J. It was the midway point on the 102 mile Morris Canal which ran from Jersey City on the Hudson River, right across from Manhattan, to Phillipsburg in New Jersey on the Delaware River. The canal opened in 1829 and it was fully completed in 1834. While readers may think that by the time of the Civil War canals were in disuse, in fact the Morris Canal saw its tonnage growing during the war and saw its greatest use in 1866.

The canal brought anthracite coal from Pennsylvania to the factories in Northern New Jersey and to New York City and Brooklyn. The coal was also used for heating homes and powering steam locomotives. In the 1850s, the canal was widened so that boats carry up to 70 tons of coal could be hauled along its route. Locks were built along the canal to life ships 900 feet from start to finish.

Waterloo Village was largely abandoned in the early 20th Century. It became a “hobo jungle” during the Great Depression. In 1967, the Waterloo Foundation for the Arts started protecting the area and using it as a venue for music concerts. Performers like Bob Dylan, Muddy Waters, The Beach Boys, Arlo Guthrie, and Neil Young played there and three Lollapalooza concerts took place there. The concerts attracted hundreds of thousands of people to Waterloo up until 2007. Since then, the state has been trying to restore the village as an historic site.

If you go there today, there is no admission charged to tour the site and it is open “Dawn to Dusk” as the sign at the gatehouse says. Unless there is a special event, there is adequate parking for those visiting the site.

There is a map at the entrance. I took a picture of it to use for my own exploration, but there are also fold-out maps that you can access for free inside the park.

At the southeast end of the parking lot you will see this entrance to the village.

Right after the entrance you will see the canal.

A hundred feet past the entrance is the Waterloo Methodist Church. The church was built in 1859 and it is still active. It was dedicated on February 9, 1860. The church was funded by Peter Smith, the wealthiest man in town. He was the owner of Smith’s Store by the canal. While the church was being built, General John Smith, the father of Peter Smith, died and he was the first person buried in the church’s cemetery.

The cemetery has grave going back to 1859. Many people who were not members of the church are buried here because it was the closest cemetery to Waterloo. Several Civil War veterans are buried here.

Much of the interior furnishings of the church are originals that were donated in the 1800s.

Nearby, if you look across the canal, you can see the silhouettes of mules pulling a canal boat.

Further back you’ll the boat following.

Next to the church is the Parish House. This was the parsonage in the 19th Century.

Just a few dozen feet beyond the Parish House is the Tenant House. This was a stone two family house for the immigrant workers who kept the canal operational.

There are ample explanatory panels but they seemed to have deteriorated quickly.

There are several monuments scattered around the park.

Right next to the canal is Smith’s Store. On the side facing the canal is a wheel inside the building to use in hauling up goods from canal boats.

The general store was believed to have been built by 1830.

Below is the Homestead of Peter Smith.

Nearby is the Homestead Green Barn. This is one of the most photographed buildings at the site.

Below is the Blacksmith’s Shop. This was also built by 1830.

Parts of the canal are readily apparent.

Water is the medium here. Not only was coal moved on the canal, water supplied the energy to power the gristmill, plastermill, and the sawmill.

Children loved the waterways.

Photographers liked the romance of the ponds, rivers, and the canal all in the same park.

While the Morris Canal had locks, it also had several inclined planes to lift canal boats over hills.

The Grist Mill was built in the 1820s. Early records show that there was a grist mill near here dating back decades before. The mills ground corn, wheat, and rye.

The stone building on the left in the picture below is the 1820s Gristmill. The wooden structure on the right is a sawmill that was built in the 1970s as a “loosely-based” reproduction. There was also a plaster mill at this location.

A close-up of the gristmill.

The building in the photo below is the Waterloo Hotel and Tavern. The National Registry forms say that this hotel may have been built in the 1700s, but that it has been so renovated in the 19th and 20th Century that little remains of its original design. However, it shows that this area saw people travelling through this area long before the canal was built.