February was focused on the expansion of the Hopewell History Map, including doubling the number of historic properties and adding over a hundred additional images (see Updates).
The History Map currently covers Hopewell Borough, as an experiment in providing an interactive map for exploring historical properties and displaying associated historical information and images (see the About page for more on how to use the History Map).
We finished the month with 142 files in the Archives, including 45 books and documents and 97 maps and aerials. The Image Archives now include 723 files, with 678 of Hopewell Boro, 32 of Pennington, and 12 of Titusville. Please keep the materials coming, as we expand coverage of Pennington and the Township!
New in the Digital Archives
The major new addition to the Digital Archives is another hidden treasure:
- A Stroll Through Historic Hopewell by Audrey Jones – a 2003 compilation of over 200 pen and ink drawings of buildings in historic Hopewell Borough (up to circa 1900). Please contact us if you know of additional copies of the book, or the Hopewell house tour brochures that she illustrated in 1999 and the early 2000’s.
There also are two new additions to the Map Archives to better visualize and understand the buildings in Hopewell Borough before 1900:
- The Annotated 1887 Fowler Panorama Map highlights the labels of buildings of interest and adds call-outs to explicitly identify each building.
- The associated Hopewell Boro Buildings in 1891 / Fowler Map Annotations document serves both as a key to the Fowler map, and extends the list with buildings that existed when Hopewell Borough was incorporated in March 1891, based on Hopewell’s Past by Betty Gantz (1987).
New in the Image Archives
The updates to the Image Archives feed directly into the data displayed for Hopewell Boro in the History Map, including another postcard collection and more current-day images:
- 60 historic postcards from Sam Castoro, mostly Hopewell Boro and some Pennington
- Historical images from the Hopewell Boro 1985 Site Survey
- 80+ more current-day images of Hopewell Boro addresses, along Model Ave
History Map Updates
The Hopewell History Map also has been updated to double the number of historic sites in Hopewell Boro, add the new images, and provide additional historic information (see the Help / About page).
- Displays overlay of 770 addresses in Hopewell Boro
- Addresses are linked to over 250 images
- And linked to over 50 Site Survey documents
- Plus over 100 address have historic site information
- The Map pop-up displays the historic site name and date
- The Info Panel also displays the source for the historic information and date
- The Property Table also lists other sources for information
There are lots more opportunities for improving and adding to the History Map. Your comments and suggestions are welcome.
