Site updates for the month of August were widely varied, from Pennington aerials to the history of Seminary Avenue (and its barbers), to Hopewell train station art, and more.
By the numbers, we finished the month with 180 files in the Archives, including 77 documents and 103 maps and aerials. The Image Gallery now has 1605 files (with 1352 images of Hopewell Borough, 118 of Pennington, 52 of Titusville, 16 in the Township, and 67 images of Hopewell Borough events). The History Map includes 775 addresses with 102 historic places in Hopewell Borough. The new Pamphlet Collection has 107 files in 6 categories for 3 towns. Please keep the materials coming!
Images
Pennington Borough Aerials c1996
We posted three large aerial views of Pennington Borough circa 1996, showing South Main Street and West Delaware Avenue. Also see the Hopewell Borough Aerial Panoramas, shot by drone earlier this year. (These open in a new viewer window so you can pan / zoom in the images.)
(West Delaware west from Green St. / tennis courts to Route 31 / Pennington Market)
History Briefs
Two more history briefs posted in the Document Archives, presenting the result of research on topics of interest.
Seminary Avenue and Hopewell Barbers
This brief covers the History of Seminary Avenue, from East Broad Street to Columbia Avenue. Seminary is a fascinating street, with idiosyncratic architecture and many sub-divisions among its 14 buildings. And it has been home to a wide variety of businesses since c. 1880, including a hotel, theater, restaurants, groceries, bake shops, auto repair, clothing stores, and barbers.
As a bonus, this research lead to a companion brief on the well-known barbers of Hopewell, who occupied multiple buildings on the north east side of Seminary from 1906.
Hopewell Train Station Art
This brief on Hopewell Train Station Art covers three examples of local artists that produced train station artwork that you may have seen around – and the interesting backgrounds on each – Ranulph Bye, “Davis Gray” / Gray’s Watercolors, and FINAN.
This has kicked up a lively discussion on Facebook, so there will be more to come. We welcome additional information and examples.
Bonus Material
V-J Day in Hopewell – August 14, 1945
For the 75th anniversary of V-J Day, we posted a description of V-J Day in Hopewell – August 14, 1945, written by Dean Ashton. During World War II, Ashton, a Hopewell journalist, published the Hopewell News, a newsletter of hometown news for distribution to service members around the world. After almost two and a half years, and in his 43rd issue, Ashton finally was able to share the news of how Hopewell celebrated the end of the war.
History Project Article from Preservation New Jersey
Finally, the Preservation New Jersey newsletter has a nice article on the Hopewell Valley History Project, thanks to Rikki Massand, including coverage of our town and the amazing range of local historic and preservation organizations.
