21 East Broad – Hopewell Groceries / Barbers / Restaurants

What do you remember about 21 East Broad Street in Hopewell Borough, the building at the entrance to Seminary Avenue?

The two-story structure seems unremarkable – a simple rectangular building split into two storefronts on the ground floor, with residential space above.

But this building has a long history of well-known occupants, back to its origins as a one-story single-width structure in 1899.

This post is a work-in-progress story of this building based on our current research – especially trying to work out the timeline of more recent occupants with the help of a number of locals. The chronology is laid out below, and comments and corrections are welcome!

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See the full history brief for more details, especially on the early history of the building.

== Read the full history brief on 21 East Broad Street (PDF) ==

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21 East Broad Timeline

This simple building also has a historic past, back to the original one-story structure from 1899 that began a half century of use as town grocery stores. The next phase of the building was as the home and businesses of Raymond and Ruth Cox, with a luncheonette, antique store, and Cox’s Barber Shop from the 1950s to the 1990s.

Then in the 1980s and into the 2000s, the building was home to a multitude of businesses, especially florists and hunting & fishing shops. And more recently it has been home to a variety of restaurants, which are still evolving and relocating within the town.

This timeline breaks down the businesses in the building by decade, showing the occupants of the left and right sides (as viewed from Broad Street).

The dates shown come from reference sources and contributors, so the actual date range could be longer. – We welcome comments, additions, and corrections to help complete this story.

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Groceries – 1900s – 1950s

The original building at this corner was a one-story single-width structure that was built in 1899 for the Morrell Bros. Cash Grocery Store. (They offered lower prices by not extending credit.) This was followed by Allen’s Bakery and Cash Grocery and then an A&P grocery store which remained until the 1950s.

Lemings Meat Market also occupied the building simultaneously with these stores. The original store had a separate back section that could have been occupied by Lemming’s. By 1927 the building was then expanded to the current design, with two store widths and and two stories, at which point Lemming’s could have occupied the second half of the building with the A&P store. But we have no specific description of this.

• Morrell Bros. grocery (Henry P. & Thomas P. Morrell) – 1899 – 1909
• Allen’s Bakery and Cash Grocery (C. N. Allen) – 1909 – 1915
• A&P Grocery (Lenz?) – 1915 – 1950s
• Lemings Meat Market (Russell H. Leming) – 1919 – 1957

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Cox – 1950s – 60s – 70s

Raymond and Ruth Cox returned to Hopewell after the death of his father, Harry Cox, in 1945. They lived upstairs in 21 East Broad, and opened several businesses in the building.

Cox’s barber shop operated from the 1950s into the late 1990s. Joe Quinn was the long-time barber who worked in the shop.

Cox’s Corner Luncheonette was on the left side of the building from 1947 until it was ruined in a fire in 1964.

Cox’s Coxweb Antiques was on the left side of the building after the luncheonette closed. But when the front of the building was occupied, is was in the back of the building, accessed by the side door at #2 Seminary Avenue.

• Cox’s Barber Shop – 1950s? – 1990s? – right side
• Cox’s Corner Luncheonette – 1947 – 1964 – left side
  • aka “Mom’s” / “Lamont’s” – 1951 – 1954 ?
  • aka “Inge’s Luncheonette” (Armand Mayer) – by 1964 ?
• Cox’s Coxweb Antiques – 1951 – 1980s? – left side and back

This timeline breaks down the businesses in the building by decade, showing the occupants of the left and right sides (as viewed from Broad Street).

** Anybody have firmer dates for these businesses? Photos or other artifacts? Memories of where the antiques store was located in the building?

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Florists / Podiatrist – 1980s – 1990s – 2000s (left)

While Cox’s barber shop was still operating in the right side of the building, a series of florists occupied the left side.

June Stewart opened the Hopewell Country Florist in the building around 1985, after moving from 57 Princeton Ave. Sherrie Van Arsdale took it over around 1995. Then starting in 1997, Jeff Smith operated the Buds and Bows florists in the same space.

• Hopewell Country Florist (June Stewart) – c1985 to 1989 ?
• Hopewell Country Florist (Sherrie Van Arsdale) – 1989 to c1995 ?
• Buds and Bows (Jeffrey Smith) – 1997 – 2004

After the florists, the left side of the building was used for a podiatrist office.

• Hopewell Foot and Ankle Center (Dr. Krausse, Podiatrist) – c2006 – x2008 ?

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Hunting & Fishing – 2000s (right)

After the Cox barber shop closed in the late 1990s, two different hunting and fishing businesses took over the right side of the building, overlapping the florists.

• Steve’s Bait & Tackle
  (Steve Varga) – c1998 – c2002 ?
• Slim’s Fins & Furs – Hunting & Fishing
  (Drew Slimmer) – 2003 – c2005 ?

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Restaurants – 2007 – present

More recently, both sides of the building have been used for an interesting variety of restaurants.

This trend started on the right side of the building with The Peasant Grill, which opened in 2007 and then relocated and expanded to 85 East Broad Street in 2018.

• The Peasant Grill (Barry & Michelle Klein) – 2007 – 2018
• Tomatello’s Latin Cuisine (Harold Tello) – 2018 –

And beginning in 2011, the left side of the building also saw a diverse series of restaurants. The most recent, Ottoburger, is now relocating to the Brick Farm Market at 65 East Broad.

• Da’s Kitchen (Da DeToro, Clark Reed) – 2011 – c2017 ?
• Thana Thai Cuisine (Thanaporn “Thana” Armour) – 2017 – c2018 ?
• Ottoburger (Otto and Maria Zizak) – 2020 – 2022

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== Read the full history brief on 21 East Broad Street (PDF) ==

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We welcome clarifications and additional information on the history of this building
and the businesses that made use of the space.