Mercer Generating Station

Most coal fired generating stations are retired because they're outdated in one way or another. Many more are shuttered each year as a result of protests from environmental groups. Neither is the case for Mercer Generating Station, which was constructed on Duck Island in 1960.

Gottscho, Samuel H. Mercer Generating Station. 1962. Photograph. Library of Congress. Washington, D.C.

The new coal plant joined the Hudson Generating Station as the most modern workhorses in PSEG's New Jersey fleet. The new facility had an output of 632 megawatts, coming from two huge 3600/3600-rpm cross compound, six flow reheat steam turbine generators. Each unit consisted of two turbines. Steam would enter into a high pressure chamber first, then through medium and low pressure chambers before actuating the generator. The condensation in each chamber is collected and returned to the boilers. Steam that has cooled during the process goes into a reheater, after which it is forced into the high pressure section of the secondary turbine. The steam then leaves the high pressure chamber of the secondary unit, after which it is split between the medium pressure chambers of both units. The generating equipment was comically large, and overwhelmed anyone standing inside the turbine hall.

Despite being one of the most modern power plants in the state, the facility was upgraded with pollution controls a number of times, at tremendous expense to PSEG. The first of which were precipitators added to the plant in 1995. The purpose of this equipment was to reduce the amount of soot expelled from the plant. This was just the beginning.

Between 2004 and 2011 the company spent hundreds of millions of dollars trying to reduce pollution at the facility. A selective catalytic reduction unit set them back $100 million. Three years later, ten million was spent to swap out equipment that utilized mercury with simple carbon. Finally, $500 million was spent in 2010 to build state of the art baggers and scrubbers which further reduced toxic emissions. They spent the same amount at Hudson, the sister station in Jersey City, bringing the total bill to one billion dollars for pollution control in 2010 alone.

So much money and manpower was spent on pollution control that very little attention was directed to the generating equipment. Coal power plants were shutting down all across the nation as the cost of natural gas stayed low. Several coal powered facilities were being converted to burn natural gas but Mercer and Hudson wouldn't be so lucky. PSEG announced that both stations would be shuttered in 2017.

Mercer had already been on standby for nearly a year and a half before the closure. As a result the property was very quiet as we walked the fence line during our visit to the plant. Very few people had visited the facility since it closed, so we were on edge as we dashed across the still lot to the behemoth structure. We spent hours inside, taking photos and admiring the fascinating machinery few ever get so close to. After another year or so the plant became a favorite destination for the urban tourists of Instagram, and by 2019 the property was sold to Hillco Redeveloplent. They also purchased Hudson. Demolition work ramped up after the smokestacks were demolished in February of 2020. Only time will tell how long it will take for the Mercer Generating Station to fade from the collective memory of the state.

Westmont Theater

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The Westmont Theater opened in 1927 with 1,600 seats. The building was designed by architect William Wrifford, whose firm is credited with designing a few other south Jersey structures.

The theater showed silent films alongside what some say was the largest organ in New Jersey at the time. A short 14 years later, the Warner Brothers corporation bought out the theater and closed it. 

It wasn't until 1948 that the theater was renovated into a 1200 seat movie house. Prominant Philadelphia area architect William Harold Lee was tasked with modernizing the theater. Lee designed and remodeled over 100 theaters over the years, many of which were in southern New Jersey. 

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Four years later, Steven Speilburg would attend "the Greatest Show On Earth" at the theater. Spielberg himself has cited that movie as part of what inspired him to become a director. 

The building was twinned  in 1978, and lasted until 1986 before closing once again. A group moved into the theater in 1990, performing live shows for almost a decade until the town bought the theater in 1999 and closed it. 

I stopped to take some photos of the long abandoned theater building back in 2014. I had just picked up some food nearby and I didn't have my proper camera with me. I walked along the side of the building and found one of the large fire doors slightly ajar. With only my cell phone for light and photos, I popped inside and took a quick walk around. 

A few years passed and I happened upon a news article about the theater. Work had begun in 2016 to convert the theater into a Planet Fitness location. The entire structure was gutted including the sloped auditorium flooring. Despite that, the beautiful facade of the theater was painstakingly restored. Even the marquis was tenderly revived, glowing 24 hours a day since the gym rarely closes. 

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This is a perfect example of what can be done with a blighted historic building , even in an advanced state of decay. The interior of the building was a complete loss, it would have been very easy for the developers to claim hardship and have the building demolished. Instead the building can continue to serve the community for years to come.

The Port Reading McMyler Coal Dumper

Port Reading is a small unincorporated community in Middlesex County. Though technically part of Woodbridge, Port Reading was given the name as it was founded expressly for the needs of the the Reading Railroad. The port was tied to the main Reading artery by a line called the Port Reading Railroad which opened in 1892. Several unique historical features distinguish the region from the rest of Woodbridge. One such piece of history is the McMyler Coal Dumper, one of the most impressive industrial advances of the time.

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The McMyler Coal Dumper was invented in 1917 by the McMyler Interstate Company of Bedford, Ohio. The system relied on a combination of gravity, heavy machinery, and manpower. Full coal cars would ride up the track and come to a full stop. A "pig block" would catch the car underneath and bring it up a ramp.The McMyler would use a system of cables and platforms to lift and turn the car on its side to dump the contents into an metal arm which extended over a barge in the water below. Men on the barge would then work to distribute the coal evenly to prevent the water vessel from flipping. When the car was empty it was turned back over, where if successful it would leave the Dumper, ascend a steep grade, switch tracks, and leave on an exit track. With everything running smoothly the dumper could unload a full car every two and a half minutes. This complicated system can be seen in this video, filmed by a rail fan who built his own model McMyler.

One such dumper was erected in Port Reading the same year, making it one of the first put into service. The region had a huge demand for coal, as that was the most widely used fuel for generating stations and industrial facilities throughout the northeast. McMyler dumpers popped up in South Amboy, Perth Amboy, and Jersey City, shuffling tons of Appalachian coal from train to barge for decades.

In 1951 a large fire damaged the Port Reading McMyler. The machinery was pulled from the water, and rebuilt using the salvaged remains of one of the many other dumpers in the region. The newly rebuilt Port Reading McMyler continued to churn out coal until 1982. Coal had been falling out of favor due to its inefficiency and the toll it took on the environment. As power generation got more advanced, the massive old coal dumpers were rendered useless.

The site was listed by Preservation New Jersey as one of the top ten endangered historic sites in the state in 2004. Despite this the property was still abandoned, and nothing was done to stabilize the dumper. When hurricane Irene hit in 2011 she caused significant further damage. The cables holding the coal chute failed, and the entire arm fell into the river. A few years later the property was sold to a redevelopment company. They built a parking lot over the former dumpers spur, forever bisecting the McMyler from the rest of the Port Reading line, now owned by Conrail. The company that bought the land has kept an open mind towards the preservation of this crumbling piece of history. Unfortunately, given the condition it's in, its only a matter of time before it ones again sinks into the river again as it did in 1951. The next time it happens there will certainly be no rebuilding it. The Port Reading McMyler is the last of its kind anywhere in the region, and one of only a handful left anywhere in the world. If you want to go take a look, the time to visit is now.

MIller Street School

The city of Newark was booming at the turn of the century. The population increased 40% in the first decade of the 1900s. With this came a need for more public school buildings. The buildings that the city had been using in the late 1800's were small brick structures, and their floor plans were poorly designed. Instead of throwing up cheap utilitarian structures to replace these aging buildings, the city invested heavily in their new schools. Miller Street School originally opened in 1881, with additions made in 1887 and 1900. The old building was a prime candidate for replacement

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The firm of Guilbert & Betelle were the architects contracted to annex the old Miller Street School. The name should ring a bell, as Ernest Guilbert was responsible for designing the Morton Street School I wrote about recently. The new Miller Street School opened in 1912.

The structure was just over 43,500 square feet, and stood right next to the old brick school house. The main draw of the new building was a large auditorium that had a balcony level and beautiful plaster accents.

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In 1961 an additional 35651 square feet was added onto the structure. Included in this space was a new entrance at Frelinghuysen Avenue & Vanderpool Street. Right behind the doors was the entrance to the cafeteria. The old schoolhouse was demolished in the 1980's, leaving an empty lot between the remaining school buildings and the neighboring houses.

Citing a number of reasons, the Newark Public Schools commission shut down a dozen different schools between 2011 and 2015. The Miller Street School was among those closed in 2012. A structural evaluation report the following year deemed the school building to be in fair condition, but recommended for demolition due to its location and age.

The structure sat vacant for five years but was eventually sold to the Claremont Properties Group and renovated into apartments. Work began in 2019 and by the following year the school had been reborn. It's nice to be able to wrap up one of my posts with a happy ending for a change.

Krueger-Scott Mansion

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I remember when I first rode past the old Krueger Scott mansion as a young passenger in my father's car. I was fascinated by the long abandoned structure that had all the classic "haunted house" features. I was fascinated by the mansion, and I hadn't even yet discovered the long and interesting story of how it got there.

Constructed wrapped up on the gorgeous dwelling on 1889. The home was designed in a Queen Anne Victorian style by Henry Schultz, who was also designing the Kastner mansion at the same time. The new mansion at the corner of Court and High street was built for Gottfried Krueger, a German immigrant and beer magnate. Krueger came to America at the age of 15 and got to work at his uncles brewery. After familiarizing himself with the trade Krueger started his own brewery which would catapult him to success. His company is most notable for being the first to market beer inside cans.

Krueger's mansion was the largest home in Newark at the time it was completed. In addition, its location on High street was regarded as the most desirable residential area in the city. Despite the large, castle like abode Krueger was regarded as a generous man and philanthropist, a theme that would be common with the occupants of the mansion. In 1926 the Kruegers left Newark, and sold the mansion to the local Scottish Rite chapter of the Freemasons. Three years later city architects Guilbert & Betelle were called in to design a new 700 seat auditorium on the vacant land between the mansion and the old stables out back. Guilbert & Betelle should be familiar names to readers of this blog as they designed the cities greatest schools, each of which also boasted gorgeous auditoriums. One such example is the Morton Street School right down Court Street.

The mansion was once again sold in 1959, this time to one of of the most influential women in the history of the city. Louise Scott spent $85000 on the deed to the property. Rumor has it the sum was paid on the spot in cash. Ms. Scott moved to newark from South Carolina in 1938. She worked as a domestic during the day while going to beauty school at night. A tireless entrepreneur, it wasn't long before Scott owned an entire chain of beauty salons in the city. It is said that Louise Scott was Newarks first female millionaire. After purchasing the property she turned the mansion into the Scott College of Beauty Culture, where she tought young women the trade that made her wealthy.

Over the years the mansion became the Scott Cultural and Civic Center. The mansion was being used for a number of things, including a dentists office and daycare center, while still containing a beauty salon run by graduates of the Scott College of Beauty Culture. Even as Newark experienced a severe economic downturn the mansion was still a beacon of culture and success in the community. The late 1960s brought a lot of change to the area around the mansion. A tall apartment building was erected on the next block over, dwarfing the beautiful Victorian treasure and casting a shadow over it. Ms. Scott saw that the mansions future was uncertain, so she got the home listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1972. This was a critical move in assuring the mansion would stick around, even after she passed.

Louise Scott passed away in 1982, and the city of Newark assumed ownership of the mansion. As is often the case with historic properties under the stewardship of the city it was promptly abandoned. Looters worked their way inside and stripped out everything they could, leaving the Majestic home a barren shell. A handful of people banded together to try and save what remained. In 1991 the New Jersey Historic Trust spent more than $625,000 to stabilize the exterior of the mansion, which was matched by the city. Over the next few years Newark went on to spend $4 million to convert the home into a community center focused on the contribution of black citizens to the growth of the city. The federal government kicked in $1.5 million as well. However after 7 years of work the funding ran out, and the house was once again left to ruin. Very little has changed since then, aside from the auditorium and stables being demolished in the early 2000's. The mansion did manage to make it's way into pop culture though, appearing as a main location for the animated adult swim series "Venture Bros".

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In 2011 the site was listed by Preservation NJ on their annual list of endangered historic structures. A large barbed wire fence was put up around the property, which by this point was overgrown and covered in debris.

In 2017 plans to develop property with residential and commercial space were announced. The new development, dubbed "makerhoods", is planning full restoration of mansion. Tax breaks were approved for the project in 2019, and since then some minor work has been done.

No specific plans have been announced for the mansion yet, as far as what it will be used for. My hope is that the original plan to turn it into a community center comes through. Only time will tell.

Village Hall

Downtown South Orange is one of the last places one would expect to find a large vacant building. Despite this I kept driving past the old Village Hall and noticed it was falling into disrepair. One day I decided to park and investigate.

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The gorgeous tudor building with its looming clock tower and German half timber styling is arguably the most iconic structure in the bustling downtown. 

It was designed by E. K. Rossiter, who was best known for his work designing homes for the wealthy. The building originally functioned as offices and a courthouse. It opened in 1894, 25 years after the township was incorporated. 

In 1975 the building was added to the NJ Register of Historic Places. A year later it made it to the National Register. It seems that the space was vacated around 2010, when a federal grant was issued to restore the building. Work stopped after the interior was almost entirely gutted, and the structure stayed that way for nearly a decade. 

Work finally began again in 2019 to restore the building and open a restaurant inside. The restoration is full swing, and the restaurant is expected to open later this year. 

St Michaels Hospital

The story of St Michael's Medical Center is one of the longest of all the Newark care facilities, going all the way back to 1868. At the time a rented space on Bleecker Street was being used for a hospital.  Land was purchased and a small, simple building with a chapel on Central Avenue was erected and opened in 1871.

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There was also a home on the property which was used as a temporary hospital, which is a common theme with most of the general hospitals in the region. Rumors say one of the first times Black and White folks ever marched together was during a dedication ceremony for the laying of the cornerstone for the building.

The Franciscan order who commissioned the hospital had the idea that the city would help sustain the facility. At the time the city of Newark desperately needed medical care facilities. Unfortunately the city had no interest in taking on any expense. After they decided not to be involved, local Catholics were asked to donate money to help keep the hospital operating and expanding. Donors were promised a bed in the hospital if ever necessary. The hospital advertised "130 beds open to all, without distinction of race or color" in the 1874 Newark City Directory. The need for more hospital space was increasing, so the hospital underwent a large expansion project in 1888. Renowned local architect Jeremiah O'Rourke was tasked with designing the new wing, as he was the chief architect for the Archdioece of Newark at the time. O'Rourke is better known for designing the Basillica of the Sacred Heart, but he can also be found on this blog for his work on Jersey City's St Lucy's Church.

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The new building absorbed the original structure somewhat seamlessly. Pressed tin was thrown up throughout the halls. This covered the original skylights that once lit the halls of the structure. An emergency exit was added onto the right side of the original building, capped with a peak giving the impression of a tower. Most importantly, a large chapel was incorporated into the new design. The space featured a vaulted ceiling with tight ribbing and plaster ornamentation.

The corners of the ribs were decorated with colorful stenciling. The relatively small room had the grandeur of a much larger worship space, a true testament to the skill of Jeremiah O'Rourke.

In addition to being beautiful the hospital was also developing quite a reputation by the turn of the century. The hospital claims to be the site of the first open heart surgery in the state. They also take credit for instituting the first cardiac catheter program.

The hospital wouldn't continue to grow so handsomely, however. Over the years the hospital became a mash up of different architectural styles. The mansard roof over the original structure was removed, and an extra floor was added to the structure. An art deco wing was added to the left of the O'Rourke building at some point in the 30's or 40's. By 1960 modern buildings were popping up on the property, drawing away from the beauty of the O'Rourke building. After the rebellion of 1968 property values in Newark dropped significantly, and the hospital capitalized on this by purchasing a large portion of property on the block behind the complex. Many homes were demolished, and In 1969 the most disruptive construction to date began.

A large new white building sprouted up behind the original buildings. The hospital now resembled a short T. By this point it was impossible to tell that the property used to be 2 separate blocks. A few decades later the most modern section of the hospital was built. It was around this time that hospital operations moved out of the oldest buildings on the property. The hospital chapel was deconsecrated, and the buildings were left to rot. The hospital slowly began to decline, and was shuffled around quite a bit. In 2008 Cathedral Health Services sold the building to Catholic Health East. Two years later plans were unveiled to transform the campus with a massive redevelopment, but those plans never came to fruition.

I first tried to get inside the hospital as a teenager back in 2012. I ducked into the basement with the hope that I could find a stairwell that would bring me into the now abandoned portion. My goals were dashed as a large security guard caught me almost immediately and escorted me out of the hospital. I was disappointed, but at the time the interior of the hospital was sheathed in drywall and drop ceiling so I didn't think I was missing much. I nearly forgot about the hospital until they announced that they were filing for bankruptcy protection. The hospital was then sold to Prime Healthcare, who took control of the hospital in 2016.

I tried several more times to get inside during and after the sale, finally finding a way inside shortly after the complex changed hands. I was pleased to find that the inside had been partially gutted. The ugly modernization work had been stripped away, revealing the expert craftmanship of the 1800s carpenters. The buildings had tall pressed tin ceilings and lancet doorways.

I spent the next several years visiting the hospital regularly with friends. Very few people had discovered the entrance, so my friends and I mostly had the place to ourselves. Unfortunately by late 2017 the hospital fell victim to Instagram popularity. The urban tourist crowd came through and began to destroy the building. Thankfully it didn't last too long, as redevelopment plans were approved the following year. By 2019 renovation was in full swing, and the former hospital was well on it's way to a mixed use conversion. Construction is expected to be complete by the end of 2020.