Hopewell Valley History Project

A volunteer effort to collect, digitize, organize, and share the history of the Hopewell Valley in Mercer County, New Jersey.

= Register for the Seminary Avenue Historic Walking Tour – May 21, 22, and 23 =
See References for the tour

Latest Update: Lost Hopewell Photos – Seminary & Broad
New: History Project YouTube channel
History Project book: Hopewell Borough History Briefs, 2020 – 2021 Edition
Recent Presentations: Hopewell Train Stations and Industrial Hopewell: Railroad Place

Site Organization (scroll down for an overview of each section):

• Visit Hopewell Valley Places – Town Indexes for quick links for information on specific local towns, including History Project reports, images, maps, and property documents.
• Explore the Hopewell History Map to browse properties in Hopewell Borough and view historical images and information.
• The Image Gallery contains property and town images from historic books and postcards.
• Use the Panoramic Aerials Gallery to explore 180 degree panoramic drone views.
• The Map Archives and Document Archives contain the primary reference materials of our local history, organized in interactive tables to browse and search.
• The Pamphlet Collections contain more recent leaflets and pamphlets from local towns and organizations.
• The Reference Guides are printable overviews of key materials and research references.
• The History Project YouTube Channel has both contributed videos and links to external videos.
• The Video Gallery highlights videos on Hopewell history from around the web.
• Follow the Blog and Facebook for updates on changes and additions to the site.

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Site Tour

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The Hopewell Valley History Project is a volunteer effort to collect and organize the important sources of our local heritage in digital form, and share them online for open and convenient access.

We are posting curated copies of materials already in digital format, including historic ebooks and scanned maps, and also seeking out paper documents and images to manually photograph and scan for the site.

Visit the Site Index to explore the organization of the site by different types of materials. Scroll down for previews of the major sections of the site.

Recent Updates

• Add Lost Hopewell Photos – Seminary & Broad
• Add 21 East Broad – Hopewell Groceries / Barbers / Restaurants
• Add Harry L. Cox, Barber – 6 Seminary Ave.
• Add Seminary Avenue Historic Walking Tour – see References
• Add Mystery Objects: Shaving Mug and Angle Tool
• Add Hoproco – Hopewell’s 1920s Toy Company post with briefs on the Hoproco Toys and the Burton Ave. factory, plus new album of 30+ photos of the toys
• Add Easter Bonnet Photos post
• Add Hopewell Reference Books – HHH 1897 & 1909 Hopewell
• Add Anderson Hopewell Parade Videos 1946-78
• Add 1900 & 1914 Hopewell Herald Progress Editions newspapers and post
• Add 1914 Delaware & Raritan Canal Map and post
• Add new History Project YouTube channel and post on 1940s Hopewell Videos
• Add Scouting Your History post – Hopewell Boy Scouts 100th Anniversary Scrapbook
• Add post and property brief on the Rockwell Fire Brigade – 8 Somerset St
• Add new Video Gallery – and post on the Video Gallery
• Add Rockwell Artifacts and Photos post
• Add Hopewell Valley Trolley Routes – 1902 – 1931 postwith paper by Jim Klaiber
• Add History Project book – “Hopewell Borough History Briefs, 2020 – 2021 Edition” post – Full version (315 pp) and Digest version (36 pages)
• Add The Villages of Hopewell Township in 1883 post and Lost Somerset Street
• Add 1960s Hopewell Snowy Views and 1924 Hopewell High School Program and Ads
• Add Hopewell Valley or Not Challenge
• Add Railroads of the Frog War post
• Add Hopewell Train Stations: History and Art presentation references
• Add Hopewell Train Station Art by Jerry Cable post
• Add Hopewell Photos by Ken Kaplowitz and Hopewell Photos by Gary Saretzky
• Add Ralph Curcio Railroad Photos post, Pennington Train Station Underpass
• Add Hopewell Train Station Photos post, courtesy of Judy Faherty
• Add Hopewell Valley Towns in the Early 1900s post
• Add Hopewell National Bank Dollars post
• Add Investigating History in Hopewell Maps – St. Michael’s post
• Add Hopewell Inn / Central Hotel post and associated property brief
• Add 9 Mercer Street – Legion Hall and Stonecutting brief and Hopewell Valley Brickyards brief
• Add Soupe de Jour brief
• Add Postcards of Pennington and Hopewell Memorial Day Parades – 1960s & 70s
• Add Industrial Hopewell: Railroad Place – Video, presentation slides, and references
• Add Railroad Place sites – The Hopewell Chocolate Factory, The Hopewell Valley Canning Company, The FCA and Hopewell Railroad Sidings, J. B. Hill & Sons, Kooltronic / Rockwell / Smith
• Add Rose & Chubby’s Luncheonette and Historic Chubby’s Lunch Menus
• Add The Second Calvary Baptist Church of Hopewell
• Add Our Fascination with Lindbergh and 1932 Hopewell Phone Directory
• Add Explore Historic Mount Rose with documents and images
• Add The Confusing Hopewell Firehouse (and Boro Hall and High School)
• Add The Mercer & Somerset Railroad and a Frog War from John Kilbride (2016)
• Add Be It Ever So Humble and Hopewell News – 1943-1946 by Dean Ashton
• Add Hopewell images during the Lindbergh kidnapping (1932) from Jim Davidson
• Add post on Hopewell Valley Historic House Tours and Hopewell Boro Architecture Tour
• Add Hopewell Train Station Art Gallery (post) to Image Gallery (direct link)
• Add Pennington Historic Walking Tour Guide (c1990) – with Pennington History & Tour site
• Add brief on Seminary Avenue History in Hopewell Borough and Hopewell Boro Barbers
• Add Hopewell & Pennington Histories by David Blackwell
• Add brief on the Hopewell Borough Fire Companies
• Add John Hart Farmstead Plaque Dedication (1959)
• Add briefs on History of the Hopewell Public Library and Broad & Louellen Streets (Presbyterian Church)
• Add five Hopewell Valley Cultural Resource surveys

Contribute

Help share our local history with the community – for more information, email info@hopewellhistoryproject.org.

• Collect and organize historical material on interesting topics
• Digitize and transcribe historical materials
• Write summaries on important people, places, houses, etc.

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Hopewell Valley Places – Indexes By Municipality

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Hopewell History Map – Properties and Images

The interactive Hopewell History Map provides a map interface for exploring information and images on historical properties in Hopewell Borough.

Browse the street addresses in the Map or Table, and click a property to view the available information in the other panels, including photo and postcard views in the Info Panel, and documentation on selected properties.

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Image Gallery – Towns and Properties

The Image Gallery is focused on photos and postcards of buildings and streets for each of the towns in the Hopewell Valley region. It also includes albums on Artwork and Photography collections, Memorial Day Parades, and Mementos.

The town files are named by street address and year for convenient searching and sorting – and to compare images along the same street, at the same address in different years, or from different sources.

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Pamphlet Collection – Local Organizations

The Pamphlet Collection includes scans of leaflets and pamphlets distributed by local municipalities and organizations within the last 40-some years (e.g., “ephemera”). These are typically short informational handouts that capture interesting information on towns and businesses and people. See the Books Archive for longer-form historical material.

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Reference Guides

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Book and Map Archives – Tables of Resources

The Book and Map Archives contain copies of the available resource files for convenient browsing. Browse all materials, or specific types:

• Full Archives – All Document and Map materials
• Document Archives – Historic documents, including books and pamphlets, back to the early 1900’s (large PDFs)
• Map Archives – Maps of the Hopewell Valley region, including historic maps covering the region, municipal maps (e.g., tax and zoning), and other formats.

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Recent Blog Posts – Site Updates

Searchable listing of all Blog posts with updates on new additions.