The Kooltronic / Rockwell / Smith Story

Revised 10/10/24

Completing our exploration down Railroad Place in Hopewell Borough, we have reached the large Smith / Rockwell / Kooltronic manufacturing facility at the end of Hamilton Ave. The building is now used for office space and storage, but was once a large manufacturing plant providing over 200 local jobs.

The facility is clearly composed from multiple buildings of different shapes, sizes, height, and materials. This another convoluted story of multiple companies, each with multiple names – and with an extensive list of additions and changes to the site as it grew from 10,000 to 100,000 sq. ft. through the past century.

The business began as the Smith Novelty Co. (1901-1929) and then the H. A. Smith Manufacturing (and then Machine) Co. (1929 – 1947), but is best remembered under the name of Rockwell (1947 – 1974), which was a major employer in Hopewell. The site was then used by Kooltronic (1975 – 1999), and since has been used for office space and storage.

The facility is bounded from the north to south by Somerset and Lafayette Streets, and west to east by Hamilton Avenue and a tributary of Beden Brook. The property then extends to the north side of Somerset Street to the railroad tracks, which is currently used as a parking lot.

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== View the full History Brief – Smith / Rockwell / Kooltronic – 57 Hamilton Ave. (PDF) ==

• See the Hopewell 57 Presentation Video and References
• See more on Rockwell Artifacts and Photos

• See previous posts along Railroad Place – The Hopewell Chocolate Factory, The Hopewell Valley Canning Company, The FCA and Hopewell Railroad Sidings, J. B. Hill & Sons, and Rose & Chubby’s Luncheonette.

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1900 – Smith Novelty Co.

The story of Smith Novelty / Rockwell Machine / Kooltronic in Hopewell begins with Hugh A. Smith, who came to Hopewell with his father, Alfred B. Smith, and started the Smith Novelty Company in 1901.

Hugh A. Smith (1834-1917) served on the Hopewell borough council, and was twice elected mayor of Hopewell. Later he offered and sold his residence at 28 East Broad St. for the use of the Hopewell Public Library and Museum, which continues to be the home of The Hopewell Museum.

Smith Novelty first focused on metal mechanical novelties powered by spring wound motors, and then expanded into special clock movements, water, gas and electric meter registers, and other metal manufacturing.

The company originally was based in a machine shop on the north side of Somerset St. east of the stream, and then moved to a building that was located in what is now a parking lot across Somerset St. from the current facility. This was originally two stories, and then added a third floor by 1910. The facility had 4,000 sq. ft. in 1909, and had some 40 employees by 1909.

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1927 – H. A. Smith Manufacturing Co. Plant

In 1915, Smith Novelty incorporated as the H. A. Smith Manufacturing Company. Around 1918, Smith left Hopewell and eventually moved to Belmar, N. J., while the business continued with his son, Alfred H. Smith.

In 1927, Smith Manufacturing moved across the street and built the first part of the current facility, on the south side of Somerset Street at the corner of Hamilton Ave.

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1929 – H. A. Smith Machine Co.

In 1929, Smith Manufacturing was sold to the Pittsburgh Equitable Meter Company, and then operated as the H. A. Smith Machine Company. It was run by Herbert S. Rockwell, who was the long-time general manager and president from 1929 until his retirement in 1975. (His brother, Col. Willard F. Rockwell, was the long-time president and chairman of the board of the Pittsburgh Equitable Meter Company, which became Rockwell.)

Herbert S. Rockwell (c1894 – 1976) also served as a director of the Hopewell National Bank, and then became director emeritus of Princeton Bank when he reached age 70.

Around 1929, the total plant area was approximately 11,000 sq. ft., and the company had 50 employees.

In 1935/7, Smith Machine constructed two additions to its large factory building. It then had approximately 53,000 sq. ft. and about 100 employees.

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1945 – Hopewell Division of Rockwell Manufacturing

In 1947, after the parent company changed its name to the Rockwell Manufacturing Company, Smith Machine became the Hopewell Division of the Rockwell Manufacturing Company.

By the late 1950s, the Rockwell Manufacturing Hopewell Division had added multiple additions including a Quonset hut on the east side, for a total area of 72,000 sq. ft.

In 1963, the Rockwell Taximeter operation was transferred to the Hopewell Division, consolidating sales, service, engineering and production.

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1960 – Lafayette St. Addition

In 1960, the Rockwell Manufacturing Hopewell Division built an addition on the Lafayette St. side, using the area of the former plant parking yard there. This expanded the facility to some 100,000 sq. ft.

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1973 – Rockwell International / Shutdown

In 1971, Valley Oil, which had acquired the fuel oil business of J. B. Hill and Sons, purchased the north side of Somerset St. east of the stream from Rockwell.

The Hopewell Rockwell plant suffered severe flooding from Hurricane Doria during the evening of Friday, August 29, 1971. The entire basement or lower floor of the plant was under water at least three feet deep.

In 1973, the parent company changed its name to Rockwell International, with the merger of the Rockwell Manufacturing Company with North American Rockwell.

Also in 1973, Rockwell International began to transfer some manufacturing from the Hopewell plant, and in 1974 announced the closure of the Hopewell site. Alfred Merlin Smith, grandson of founder Hugh A. Smith, was the acting general manager of the plant, having worked there since high school on 1931.

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1974 – 1999 – Kooltronic

In 1974, Kooltronic, Inc. moved its cooling business from Princeton to the 100,000 sq. ft. Hopewell facility. The move was funded by a $400,000 loan through the New Jersey Economic Development Authority.

In 1984, Kooltronic received $2.5 million of financing from the N.J. EDA for purchasing new equipment and to expand the site. This apparently included removing and replacing the Quonset hut and other structures on the east side of the facility and replacing them with a single structure. A new facade also was added to the building in renovating it to office use.

In 1999, Kooltronic left Hopewell and moved into its current 170,000 square foot facility on Pennington-Hopewell Rd (Route 654) near Route 31.

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1999 – Hopewell Center Offices & Storage

The Hopewell building has since been used for office space and storage.

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1990s – Contamination and Remediation

Beginning around 1991, site sampling found that the soil on the site was impacted with volatile organic compounds, metals, and radium. Starting in1999, Rockwell International removed approximately 12,300 tons of contaminated soil.

Around 2006, a “pump-and-treat” system was installed in a building on the south side of Somerset St. to extract, treat, and discharge decontaminated groundwater. This process is expected to continue for many years.

Around 2008, the remaining houses on the south side of Somerset St., then vacant, were demolished. Monitoring and reporting on the site, and adjacent properties, continues to the present day.

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Smith / Rockwell / Kooltronic

Do you have additional pictures, artifacts, or memories of the Smith / Rockwell / Kooltronic facility or other properties down Somerset Street? We would love to share them!

See the full brief on the property for more on the businesses and people, plus additional images including maps and aerials.

== View the full Property Brief, with lots more details and images:
Smith / Rockwell / Kooltronic – 57 Hamilton Ave. (PDF) ==

As usual, we welcome comments, and more information and materials on our local history.

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More on Smith / Rockwell / Kooltronic

The large Smith / Rockwell / Kooltronic manufacturing facility at the end of Hamilton Ave. at Somerset St. expanded from a small job shop to a large manufacturing plant providing over 200 local jobs.

History

• Post – The Kooltronic / Rockwell / Smith Story
• History Brief – 57 Hamilton Ave. – Kooltronic / Rockwell / Smith (PDF)
• Post – Rockwell Fire Brigade on Somerset
• Post – “Hopewell 57” Historical Questions – and answers

Presentation

• Post – Hopewell 57 – Presentation Video and References
• Presentation video – Smith to Rockwell to “Hopewell 57” on YouTube Channel
• Presentation slides – Smith to Rockwell to “Hopewell 57” (PDF)

Documents

• Post – Smith Novelty Co. Business Invoices – c1910
• Documents – Rockwell brochures in the Pamphlet Collection

Media

• Post – Rockwell Artifacts and Photos
• Photos – Rockwell images and artifacts in the Image Gallery
• Presentation / Video – Hopewell with the Arrival of the Railroad – How Hopewell became a town – including Rockwell and Somerset Ave.

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More on Industrial Railroad Ave. and Somerset St.

Posts

• Industrial Hopewell: Railroad Place – and video of the associated presentation
• Hopewell Chocolate Factory (1892) – Tomato Factory (1892)
• Railroad Sidings / FCA (c1875) – J. B Hill and Sons (c1875)
• Kooltronic / Rockwell / Smith (1900) – Rockwell Fire Brigade on Somerset (c1927)
• Rose & Chubby’s (c1890s)
• Somerset Street – Brickyard / Rockwell (1890) – Lost Somerset Street

Media

• Presentation / Video – Hopewell with the Arrival of the Railroad – How Hopewell became a town – including Rockwell and Somerset Ave.