Here’s a view of a snowy day in Hopewell in the early 1900s, thanks to the kindness of Bob Gantz in providing images from his family collection (and with annotations by Betty Gantz). This also shows an intriguing gap in the now-familiar Hopewell Borough streetscapes, but the buildings are still recognizable.
The photo shows the then-empty northeast corner of Broad Street and Greenwood Avenue, with George Pierson’s daughter Ruth standing in a comfy-looking outfit on the south side of Broad.
This corner, now occupied by the Dana building (2 East Broad), was originally developed as Cook’s Block, which was built in 1890 but then burned down in 1899. It was a large frame building covered in sheet iron, and was the home of the post office, telephone company, and other businesses including a drug story, grocery, tailor, and barber.
The lot then stood empty until the Hopewell National Bank built the current building in 1914 (moving from their first building at 13 East Broad, now the Hopewell Public Library). The postcard shows the Bank building in a similar view from further up the street.
In the center of the photo is the building behind the current Nomad Pizza, which you can see straight ahead when you walk up the steps from Broad past the Nomad gardens.
On the right of the photo you can see the side of the Italianate building at the corner of Blackwell (10 East Broad), which was built around 1875, and occupied by A. S. Cook during the period of the fire. (The distinctive front tower is obscured behind the tree in the photo, and partially visible in the postcard.)
The aerial image shows the same corner from a similar angle as it appears today, with Broad east from North Greenwood to Blackwell, and the partially visible red roof of the back building. But no snow!
