The
Coryell and Lambert families certainly had their differences, but they
did seem to be philosophical in accord on at least one key aspect of
life—at journey’s end one should expect to find comfortable lodgings, a
satisfying meal and proper refreshment. In 1732, Emanuel Coryell proved
his business savvy by the purchase of a strategic parcel of land along
the Delaware River in the royal colony of New Jersey. He was also
granted a charter at that location to operate a ferry crossing. The
connected settlements on both sides of the Delaware would become known
as Coryell’s Ferry. And though the area was mostly wilderness and
sparsely populated, it marked the halfway point on the most direct
route between New York and Philadelphia. Those making the arduous
two-day trip between cities, either by coach or on horseback, welcomed
an overnight stay at Emanuel Coryell’s newly constructed inn and tavern
called the Ferry House.
In 1812, the Honorable John Lambert, a former Acting Governor of New
Jersey, and now a United States Senator and resident of Coryell’s
Ferry, petitioned the Postal Service to establish an office in his
community. In that same year, construction began on a wooden bridge
spanning the Delaware. Within two years, the town would have a new way
to cross the river, and their own post office. A contingent of grateful
citizens, with probably the support a few close relatives of Senator
Lambert, decided to rename
the town in his honor. The Senator’s
nephew,
Captain John Lambert, was appointed the town’s first postmaster, and he
conducted his postal duties from his recently erected tavern and hotel
on the new road leading up to the bridge. This change of fortune would
do little to ingratiate the Lambert family to the heirs of Emanuel
Coryell, and most likely led to the closing of the Ferry House and its
conversion into a private residence.
Throughout the remainder of the nineteenth century, modes of transport
would greatly impact the economic welfare of Lambertville. The opening
of the Delaware and Raritan Canal in the 1830s and the arrival of the
railroad in the 1850s fueled industrialization and created a good deal
of wealth for the town’s luckier citizens. And those that were the
beneficiaries of this new prosperity built impressive homes that
reflected their status and security. By 1866, the local newspaper
referred to the northern section of town as the “Land of promise.” Here
was a collection of Italianate and French Second Empire structures that
rivaled anything that had been previously built in America.
The twentieth century though would usher in another round of change
that would prove to be much less promising for the town’s overall
fiscal health. Much of the manufacturing had moved on or was closed
even before the Stock Market Crash of 1929. And by 1937, the Delaware
and Raritan Canal, which had become the property of the Pennsylvania
Railroad, was officially abandoned. The former “Land of promise” on the
north side of the community would see many of its stately mansions fall
into neglect and disrepair. But on the southern edge of town there was
a transition taking place that would be an early harbinger of
Lambertville’s eventual
revitalization.
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The unique backbar adds character
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