We are lucky to have two booklets passed on to us from Hopewell boosters from over a century ago – Healthy, Historic Hopewell from 1897, and 1909 Hopewell New Jersey.
Each is over 50 pages, with text plus 40-some photos to “set forth the advantages of Hopewell as a place of residence” – and as a place to start a business.
Extracted Editions
In addition to scans of the original booklets, the History Project also has “extracted” editions of both works, reformatted as documents with the text extracted and edited for convenient reading and searching.
All the photos and advertisements are also included, again with the caption text.
And, as a bonus, the photos have been annotated with the now-current street address of the properties.
Hopewell Valley Town References
These, and other key reference books for historical information on Hopewell Valley places, buildings, and people are now listed on the new Hopewell Valley Town References page.
Many of these have links to versions that are available directly on the History Project site, many also with extracted editions.
See the Information link for posts with more details, and links to the original scans.
Healthy, Historic Hopewell (1897)
Healthy, Historic Hopewell was created by Prof. Nomer Gray, who was appointed principal of Hopewell public schools in 1894 at the age of 23.
The booklet is 57 pages, with 40 photos, mostly full-page, with 32 of buildings (residences and businesses) and 8 of local people.
Some 13 pages break down the features of “progressive” Hopewell: Historical Sketch, Schools and Colleges, Building Facilities, Banking Facilities, Railroads, Manufactories, Mercantile Businesses, and Real Estate.
== View the Healthy, Historic Hopewell extracted edition (PDF) ==
== View the Healthy, Historic Hopewell original booklet (PDF) ==
1909 Hopewell New Jersey
1909 Hopewell New Jersey was compiled by Rev. Edwin S. Fry, pastor since 1907 of the Calvary Baptist Church, and the Church’s Young Men’s League.
The photographer was E. R. Whitehead, who ran an Ice Cream Parlor and Restaurant on Blackwell Ave. and also had an ice cream factory on Somerset St.
The booklet is 54 pages, with 36 photos, some repeated from the 1897 booklet, plus many business ads.
It begins with four pages summarizing the progressive spirit of the town: Historical Sketch, Hopewell of To-Day, Educational Advantages, and Progressive Spirit.
Both booklets were printed by the then publishers of the Hopewell Herald, C. E. Voorhees and then Race & Savidge, respectively.
The 1909 booklet is also available in a new edition, done a century later by Roberta A. Mayer, who published an update that includes both the original pages, plus new current-day photos of the same scenes: 1909 Hopewell, New Jersey One-Hundred Years Later (Blurb, 2009).
== View the 1909 Hopewell New Jersey extracted edition (PDF) ==
== View the 1909 Hopewell New Jersey original booklet (PDF) ==
Some of these materials and photos also appeared in two special issues of the Hopewell Herald – the 1900 Souvenir Edition and the 1914 Progress Edition (earlier post). These provide a wealth of information on local businesses and people – over 120 listings in all – plus over 100 photos of local places and people.
Thanks again to Carol Errickson for her kindness in editing these and other historical materials.
We welcome additional materials like these, especially for other areas around the Hopewell Valley.
