Hopewell Photographs by Gary Saretzky

Gary Saretzky has kindly shared his collection of black and white photographs of Hopewell Borough from 1978 to 1980, which also conveniently provide a record of the buildings and businesses of the time.

UPDATE – 9/15/21 – Added 7 more Hopewell photographs from Gary Saretzky

== See the Hopewell Photography album in the Image Galley for the full set of photos ==

Gary Saretzky is an archivist, photographer, and educator who was Archivist of Monmouth County from 1994 to 2019, and taught photography at Mercer County Community College for 35 years. He has been researching 19th century New Jersey photographers for more than thirty years, has published more than 100 articles, and lectures on the history of photography and preservation of photographs.

Saretzky lived in Hopewell from 1977 to 1980, when he created this collection of photographs. He also printed postcards with local scenes, and published a book of Hopewell photos (see below).

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Hopewell Views

Saretzky has an eye for both the buildings and the people of the borough, focusing in to catch details and carefully composing the angles.

• The Chubbys Luncheonette photo focuses on the corner of the building and the Jane Logan Ice Cream sign, with the Mini Park sign peaking out across the street.

• The John Hart’s Grave photo focuses in to the inscription on the familiar memorial, and shows the graveyard stretching beyond framed by the tree.

• The American Flag photo celebrates the pride of the Legionnaires in carrying the giant flag in the Memorial Day parade down West Broad Street.

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Lost Hopewell

Saretzky also has captured a record of Hopewell around 1980, with some now-lost views.

• The Firehouse photo shows the small extension on the Columbia Avenue side of the building, before it was replaced by the Emergency Medical Unit addition. The back of the Hopewell Public Library is in the distance.

• The Soupe du Jour photo shows an early view of the building in the snow, positioned to highlight the wonderful profusion of angles of the Italianate building behind, at East Broad and Blackwell.

• The Programmed Control photo shows the viewing stand for the Memorial Day parade, with the name of an earlier occupant of the former bank building at the corner of Broad and Greenwood, now the Dana building.

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Pharmacy Corner

Finally, Saretzky has four photos with multiple views showing the pharmacy and market buildings on West Broad at the corner of South Greenwood.

• The corner building (now the Hopewell Pharmacy) was the Rexall Drug Store, with the Hopewell Variety five and dime in the right half of the building (before the pharmacy expanded into the space).

• The building to the right (later the Brothers Moon restaurant) was the Hopewell Village Market, albeit without an identifying sign.

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Saretzky Online

Visit Gary Saretzky’s website, Saretzky Online, for more on his photography, research, talks, and exhibitions. His website includes an online photo book store, with more than 1000 titles for sale, including monographs, histories, exhibition catalogs, and photographic art periodicals. Copies of his 1980 work, Some Photographic Views of Hopewell, New Jersey, are still available, which includes ten of these and other photographs around Hopewell.

== See all Saretzky photographs in the Image Gallery,
including copies organized by address ==

Please keep the Hopewell images and artwork coming!