Roebling Museum

      Saturday, August 14, 2021: For years I would ride the RiverLine to and from Trenton, New Jersey, and along the way, one of the train stops was in Roebling, NJ. Outside the window, I would see large objects of metal in a large grassy area. Recently, I learned that this grassy field once held several buildings which functioned as the Kinkora Steelworks, once owned by the Roebling family. Around 2010, the building that was once the entrance building to the steelworks became a museum: Roebling Museum, 100 Second Avenue, Roebling, (Burlington County) NJ (609-499-7200). When I arrived, I saw a 15-minute film presentation about the Roebling Family, especially about John Roebling who invented steel cables. He started a factory for making these cables in Pennsylvania, and he later moved the factory to Trenton, NJ. When he decided to make his own steel for the cables, he needed more space. Therefore, he bought some potato and peach farms south of Trenton, cleared the land, built the steelworks, and the surrounding town. From the early 20th century, Roebling, NJ, was a company town for the workers at the steelworks. The Roebling family sold the steelworks in the 1950s, and the factory closed in 1974. Because the grounds became toxic, the Environmental Protection Agency torn down the metal works buildings—except for the entrance building, and cleared the grounds. Anyway, in this museum, in different rooms, I learned via exhibit items, pictures, and texts more about the Roebling family, their employees, everyday life in Roebling for about the first three-quarters of the 20th century, and how the Roeblings and Kinkora Steelworks contributed to many technologies. After seeing this museum, I’ll never look at Roebling the same way again! The factory in gone, but the town lives on.