The Confusing Hopewell Firehouse (and Boro Hall and High School)

This could be the most confusing building in Hopewell Borough – The current firehouse and former Borough Hall on the corner of Columbia Avenue and South Greenwood Avenue (2-4 Columbia Avenue).

Yes, these three images are the same building – The tall three-story High School built in 1910, the squat two-story Borough Hall renovated in 1940 with two fire engine garages, and then the spread-out Fire Department building that we know today.

== View the full Historic Property Brief on 2-4 Columbia Ave. (PDF) ==

The original Hopewell High School was built in 1910 to relieve overcrowding in the school building on Model Avenue (12-14 Model), and in response to state mandates requiring a four-year high school program.

(The Model Avenue school was built in 1888, expanded several times, and then continued as a grammar school until 1926, when it was replaced by the current Hopewell Elementary School.)

The new High School was built at a cost of $20,000, but within two decades it too was overcrowded. This resulted in a 1928 vote to choose between expanding the Hopewell school (estimated cost $85,000), or building a new school in Pennington that was more central in the Township ($160,000). The result was a new Central High School in Pennington that opened in 1929, with 200 students from Hopewell Borough, Hopewell Township, and Pennington.

The “old high school” building in Hopewell then was essentially abandoned in 1929 (at the start of the Great Depression), with no visible plans for its use. The newspapers report that it was used during the 1930’s by various local service organizations, primarily as a Y.M.C.A. youth recreation center, but also for Boy Scout meetings, and as a WPA playground in the second half of the 1930s.

Finally in 1937, the building was given to Hopewell Borough by the Hopewell Board of Education, for $1.

Meanwhile, at the dawn of World War II, both Hopewell Borough and the Hopewell Fire Department were looking for new and permanent facilities, as Columbia Hall (built in 1896 as the fire house), was being demolished in order to build a new theater (now the Hopewell Theater at 5 South Greenwood).

So in 1940 the Borough remodeled the old high school building into a municipal building and firehouse. The total cost of the renovations was $18,257, of which approximately S4,500 was donated by the Fire Department.

Which brings us to the big mystery of this building – What happened to the third story of the building? Some people have heard that there was a fire, but we have no record of a fire, and no documentation of renovations to remove the third floor, either in local newspapers or in the Fire Department histories in the Anniversary booklets. You would think that an important detail like that would have been mentioned somewhere!

In the following years, the building was extended with additions on each side, with the four fire engine bays on South Greenwood Avenue, and the three Emergency Medical Unit bays on Columbia Avenue, completed in 1953. Finally, in 2009 the Borough moved to 88 East Broad as the new Borough Hall, and the Fire Department took over the building.

Today, the building still is confusing. The original building is completely invisible from South Greenwood Avenue behind the addition, and is still difficult to see on the diagonal from Gazebo Park, with the big Christmas pine tree in the way.

But from Columbia Avenue you still can see the front of the original municipal building that matches the 1940s photos, with the stone first floor with doors on each side, and the brick second floor with three center windows under a triangular peak with a small circular window.

** Does anyone have records of how and when the building lost its third floor? Or more information on how it was used during the 1930s? Or dates and details on the additions to the building?

Thanks again to the many kind contributors who have provided the photos and postcards, and records and Fire Department brochures, that allow us to assemble these stories. Please keep them coming!

== For more see the full Historic Property Brief on 2-4 Columbia Ave. (PDF) ==

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More on Hopewell Valley Schools

Posts on school materials, including yearbooks, graduation programs, and plays.

• See also post on St. Michael’s Orphanage and School

Browse all School materials in the Image Album and Pamphlet Collection:

• Hopewell Schools History Posters – Hopewell Elementary School at the Harvest Fair
• Images – Hopewell Valley Schools Album – Class photos, classrooms, etc. (search by name, etc.)
• Pamphlets – Hopewell Valley Schools – Yearbooks, commencements, etc. (select by town, name, etc.)

Hopewell Valley Schools – History

• Post on Hopewell School Mascots – and the Frog – School names, mascots and logos
• Post on The Timberlane School Name – The Timberlane Drive development
• Post on Learning Your Letters – School Signs – Princeton High School (1919 / 1920)
• Post on Toll Gate and Hopewell Elementary School Centennials (2026)

Hopewell Borough Schools History – Grammar & High Schools

• Post on Hopewell Elementary School History – Hopewell Schools History posters
• Documents on Hopewell Borough Schools – Briefs and Posters

Hopewell Grammar School (Model Ave.) – 1888 – Posts & Materials

• Post on Model Ave. Grammar School Annex – Jewelry, invention, guitars, metalwork
• Post on c1912 Hopewell Grammar School Kids – Photos on Model Ave.
• Post on 1920s Hopewell Teachers – Scott & Scharring-Hausen
• Brief – Hopewell Grammar School Summary Brief (PDF)
• Brief – Hopewell Grammar School Annex Summary Brief (PDF)

Hopewell Elementary School (Princeton Ave.) – 1926 – Posts & Materials

• Post on the Hopewell Elementary School Centennial – history and additions
• Post on Hopewell Elementary School Class Plaques – 1926-1966 – Photos and names
• Post on 1941 Hopewell Elementary School Newspaper
• Post on 1952 Hopewell Elementary School – Graduation program and yearbook
• Pamphlets – 1956 Hopewell Elementary School “Hi-Lights” Newsletters
• Pamphlets – All Hopewell Elementary School Pamphlets – with yearbooks, graduation programs, newsletters
• Brief – Hopewell Elementary School Summary Brief (PDF)

Pennington Grammar School – Posts & Materials

• Post on 1950s Memories of Pennington – Mike Thomsen – Building evolution

Hopewell High School (Columbia Ave.) – 1910 – Posts & Materials

• Post on The Confusing Hopewell Firehouse – and Boro Hall and High School (1910)
• Post on 1917 Hopewell High School Yearbook – “Blue and Gold”
• Post on 1920s Hopewell High School – Commencement / Class Day books
• Post on 1924 Hopewell High School Program and Ads – Senior class play
• Post on 1927 Hopewell High School Diploma & Autograph Book
• Pamphlets – All Hopewell High School Pamphlets – with yearbooks, graduation programs, diploma

Hopewell Valley Central High School(s) (Pennington) – 1929 / 1958 – Posts & Materials

• Post on 1950s Memories of Pennington – Mike Thomsen – Buildings, school days
• Post on Central High School 1962 Practicum Report – School operations
• Post on Central High School 1961 Student Handbook – Rules & Clubs
• Post on Business Classes at Central High School, c. 1966 – Typing & bookkeeping
• Post on Central High School Class of 1966 – 2016 Reunion Scrapbook – Valley Images
• Post on Central High School Curriculum: 1962 & 1976 – Booklets
• Pamphlets – All Central High School Pamphlets – Yearbooks, graduation programs, curriculum

See also the Document Archive for additional historical school materials.

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More on Hopewell Valley Fire Companies

Hopewell Borough – History

• Hopewell Borough Fire Companies – Full History Brief (PDF)
• Somerset St. – Rockwell Fire Brigade Brief (c1927) – Full History Brief (PDF)
• Hopewell Valley Fire Departments
• The Confusing Hopewell Firehouse – and Boro Hall and High School (1910)
• Van Doren Lumberyard Fires

Hopewell Borough – Documents & Media

• Hopewell Fire Department 100th Anniversary Booklet – and Mystery Photo
• Hopewell Fire Department 75th Anniversary Booklet – and 50th Anniversary
• Hopewell Parade Videos 1946 – 1948 – Memorial Day & 1948 Firemen’s videos