Princeton Junction, New Jersey: Grave of Austin Powers

West Windsor Township is full of defunct hamlets and villages -- like Grover's Mill, of the "War of the Worlds" radio announcement fame -- that are only recalled in the names of roads, churches, and elementary schools. One of these is Dutch Neck, which was located somewhere near the current town (well, more of a Northeast Corridor train stop than a town) of Princeton Junction, and its former name is recalled in the First Presbyterian Church of Dutch Neck on South Mills Road.

A friend of mine once attended a funeral at this church, and wandered around in the accompanying cemetery to check it out. To her surprise, there was someone buried there whose name was Austin Powers! She told me about it, and a few months later we went back there to take pictures. The grave is quite old; it seems that Mr. Powers died in 1889. There is a line of text in the middle that neither of us could make out due to erosion, but the last two words appear to be "Reserve Corp" so we think this guy was in the military.

We laughed way harder than is appropriate in a cemetery. [Caroline M., 02/25/2006]