The LHT’s beloved Pole Farm segment, which runs through Mercer Meadows in Lawrence Township, has a rich history in telecommunications. From 1929 to 1975, the Pole Farm District was owned by AT&T and was the site of a large shortwave radio station used for international communications.
Radio antennas once covered the area and they were configured to communicate with cities worldwide. Our trail runs parallel to where the lines of giant towers once stood. When they were decommissioned, hundreds of tall timber poles that once held transmission wires remained. Hence the name Pole Farm.
Tomorrow night, join Dennis Waters, former Lawrence Township historian and current Lawrence Hopewell Trail board member, for a Zoom webinar hosted by the Mercer County Park Commission about this fascinating slice of Mercer County, and the outsize role it had in the history of telecommunications.
Register for free with the commission; the presentation is Thursday, November 19, 2020 at 7pm.
Mercer Meadows Pole Farm, courtesy William Brown Photography
Mercer Meadows Pole Farm, courtesy Sheetu Batra
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