UNKNOWN CASTLE ??

I received E-Mail that said:

There is a castle in the Boro of Raritan along the Raritan river. From what I learned it was or is a pump house to the late Doris Duke estate in Hillsborough. I really do not have anymore information on it, and would like to find out more.

Later, I received E-Mail that said:

The "castle" referred to is on the north bank of the river. (The estate is on the south side of the river.) It was constructed as the primary pumping station for the waterworks on the Duke Estate "Duke Farms" and is, I believe, still providing some water to the 1700 acre estate.

Duke hired James Leal Greenleaf to design the fantastic water works on his estate. This was Greenleaf's first major commission (He later became a well-known and very important landscape architect.) Greenleaf went on to become the Landscape Architect of "Blairsden" and a number of prominent estates on Long Island. .

The building referred to is a castellated construction of stone river boulders. It's approximately 3,000 sq. feet and contains mostly pumping equipment.

Information provided by Bill Lawton

Later I received a photo and E-Mail that said:

Are you still interested in getting a picture of the castle in Raritan NJ? It does look like an old stone castle, I will run over there and take a picture and send it to you.

On 12-19-07, I received E-Mail that said:

The castle is in the town of Raritan on the banks of the Raritan River. It is a part of the Duke Farms (former Doris Duke Estate) across the river in Hillsborough Township. It is the water pump house for the water system in "The Park" portion of the estate. It also fed the fire hydrant system for the estate by boosting pressure through the estate's reservoir. The estate used to have it's own fire department. Much of the estate was constructed by Italian laborers. I believe the pump house was also. They used local stone in the construction.

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Photo courtesy of Dawn Wilde.