Cornelius Low was a wealthy local merchant of Dutch descent. Around 1730, Low settled in the burgeoning port community of Raritan Landing, made up of roughly 100 residents and located across the Raritan River from New Brunswick. Goods from “The Landing,” flowed to New York City and New Brunswick. 

However, as much as the residents benefited from being so close to the Raritan River, they also suffered. In 1738, Cornelius Low’s home sustained severe flood damage. Low was through worrying about the floods, and in 1741, construction was complete on his new Georgian mansion atop a bluff overlooking present-day Landing Lane and the Raritan River. 

The once-bustling port community of Raritan Landing vanished by the mid-19th-century, but the more than 275-year-old Cornelius Low House still stands proudly as a testament to Raritan Valley’s substantial colonial heritage.