Survey work ongoing despite icy conditions
Investigation to determine if land was Lenape site
BY JESSICA SMITH
Staff Writer

MONROE - While freezing temperatures have stalled a portion of the archaeological survey at the proposed high school site in Thompson Park, the process is still moving forward.

"It's not like they're sitting there with their hands under their butts, they are definitely doing things," Township Business Administrator Wayne Hamilton said of the state-required study to determine if the park site was once part of a American Indian village. "They haven't lost any ground because they've been able to do some of the other work that is not field work."

According to Hamilton, the process should still take the originally slated six to eight weeks to complete. Richard Grubb & Associates of Cranbury, which is performing the work, is now doing other phases of the investigation, including interviews and historical research.

The state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) asked for further investigation into the site proposed for the new Monroe Township High School after claims were made that the Leni Lenape Bethel Mission Settlement may have stood there.

The settlement dates back to 1746, and was included on Preservation New Jersey's "10 Most Endangered Sites" list for 2006. According to the organization's Web site, the settlement was led by Presbyterian minister David Brainerd. It consisted of 200 people, a church and a school. The Lenape who lived there had converted, under Brainerd's guidance, to the Christian faith. In 1801, the settlement was broken up because of ill feelings toward the Lenape from white men during the violence of the Seven Years' War.

It is unlikely that the plans for the new high school would be stopped, regardless of the survey's results, Assistant Township Attorney Peg Schaffer said. Some are saying the site is a Lenape burial ground, which would make for more extensive work than if other artifacts were found, according to Schaffer. The town's historical commission will make the determination of what will be done with whatever is found at the site.

"What I think they're looking for are human remains or artifacts that will either prove or disprove that there was a burial ground there," Board of Education President Kathy Kolupanowich said.

Township Historian John Katerba conducted research, and his findings indicated that the settlement had not been located on the site, but representatives of Park Savers have said otherwise, according to Schaffer.

Park Savers and other environmental groups have been vocal opponents of the high school in Thompson Park, and have challenged the proposed land swap in a pending court case. The swap would involve the township trading 172 acres of property for 35 acres of park land from the county.