Walking Tour of the AT&T “Pole Farm”: 10/23/2010

Free Historical Walking Tour of the AT&T “Pole Farm”
Lawrence & Hopewell Townships, Mercer County
by Lawrence Historical Society ( http://www.thelhs.org/ ) Saturday, October 23, 11a.m.

This is a free event but pre-registration is required. To register, visit http://bit.ly/d4NMyu.
This is expected to be 1-2 hours, 1.75 mile.

The 800-acre "Pole Farm" section of Mercer County Park Northwest began the 20th century as farmland, but then was converted by AT&T into what
was for several decades the world's largest shortwave transmitting station, with more than 2,000 poles supporting antennas carrying phone
calls to cities around the world. However, by the close of the century it had reverted to open parkland set aside for passive recreation, one
of the few major 20th century industrial sites in New Jersey to have vanished almost completely. Join Lawrence Township Historian Dennis
Waters for a walking tour to learn about this important story in the history of communications and to visit several locations where traces
of the past can still be seen.

About the walk: We will meet at the "pole" near the Federal City Road entrance to the park at 11:00 a.m. sharp and walk to the parking area
near the Keefe Road entrance. This will be a leisurely 1.75-mile walk on well-maintained trails over generally flat terrain, though you
should be prepared for possible wet or muddy spots and there is one small stream crossing. We may wander a short distance off the trail
once or twice. Plan on two hours, but longer if you need to walk the 1.75 miles back to your car. If you do not want to walk back, you are
encouraged to carpool and leave a car at each end. Please note that there are no restroom facilities at the park.

The rain date is Sunday, October 24th, same time.