In case you missed the PS in the last post, we have scanned and posted two anniversary booklets that were distributed by Hopewell Borough churches – the Hopewell Calvary Baptist Church (1966) and St. Alphonsus Church (1977).
The Hopewell Calvary Baptist Church 95th Anniversary booklet (1871 – 1966) (PDF) for the October 1966 celebration service is 19 pages. It includes an extensive history of the Baptist Church of Hopewell, along with the then-current church directory.
The St. Alphonsus Church One Hundredth Anniversary Commemorative Booklet (1877-1977) (PDF) is much more extensive at 106 pages, including many photographs. It, too, includes an history of the parish and its bishops and pastors, along with biographies and photos of other leaders.
And it’s a wonderful snapshot of life in 1977 (getting on to half a century ago), with extensive listings (and more photos) of church organizations and people, 10+ pages of portraits of the families of parishioners, and, as a bonus to historians, another 20+ pages of congratulations ads by local businesses.
From the histories:
The history of Baptist churches in Hopewell goes back to the First Baptist Church, first organized in 1715 and chartered in 1769. A century later, as part of the changes brought about by “The Great Awakening”, the Calvary Baptist Church was organized in 1871. The current church was built in 1872 for a cost of $5925, including the lot. (So the answer to the question in the previous post is that the church used the public school hall at 75 West Broad for evening services during the construction.)
The early records of St. Alphonsus Church were lost in a fire in 1956, so the earliest record of a baptism is in 1894. Construction on the current church started in 1877, with a cost of $632 for the land and around $5000 for the church. St. Michael’s Home for Orphans was completed in 1898, originally on the former VanDyke farm, and later adding the Drake farm of 150 acres to make it more self-supporting.
