The May updates to the History Project were focused on the Seminary Avenue walking tour, with posts and briefs and images of the streets and properties along the route. Additional posts focused on Memorial Day observances, and told the story of of how the news came to Hopewell of its first son who was killed in World War II – Irvin D. Van Nest, Jr. (See Site Updates for more.)
By the numbers, we finished the month with 266 files in the Archives, including 130 documents and 136 maps and aerials. The Image Gallery now has 2790 files, and the Aerial Panoramas Collection has 23 images. The Pamphlet Collection has 156 documents, and the Property Reports Collection has 84 documents, with 58 Site Survey reports and 26 Property Briefs. The interactive History Map includes 775 addresses with 102 historic places in Hopewell Borough. Please keep the materials coming!
Seminary Ave. Walking Tour
The Seminary Avenue Historic Walking Tour was held the weekend of Saturday, May 21, and also included East Broad Street and South Greenwood Avenue. The tour was part of the kickoff of Hopewell Valley Heritage Week.
The References for the Seminary Ave. Tour include the tour Handout, plus new briefs on Seminary Ave. and East Broad / South Greenwood, and on individual properties along the route.
== See the list of References for the Seminary Ave. Tour ==
Seminary Ave. Property Briefs
The new briefs published for the Seminary Ave. tour include two street briefs covering the properties along Seminary Ave. and on East Broad / South Greenwood.
- Street Brief: Seminary Avenue (PDF, 22 pp.)
- Street Brief: East Broad / Seminary / South Greenwood (PDF, 7 pp.)
There also are two new property posts and briefs on the Harry Cox barber shop (6 Seminary), and on the building at 12 East Broad opposite the Hopewell Inn – used for grocery stores, the (Raymond) Cox barber shop, and restaurants (among others).
- Harry Cox – 6 Seminary – Harry L. Cox, Barber (1906) – Brief (PDF, 6 pp.)
- Corner Stores – 21 East Broad – Groceries / Cox Barber / Restaurants – Brief (PDF, 12 pp.)
Lost Photos
The discussion of the Seminary Ave. tour and the properties along the route helped discover four previously-unknown historic photos of buildings along East Broad Street and Seminary Avenue in Hopewell from around the 1920s.
The first photo, from Kyle Van Arsdale, shows the A&P Store on East Broad at the corner of Seminary (see above).
The next two photos, courtesy of Kip Leming, show front and inside views of Leming’s Market.
The final photo is from George Spencer, and shows the Clark’s Garage building which was originally a livery behind the now Hopewell Inn building at the other corner of East Broad and Seminary.
Memorial Day Observances
Memorial Day in the Hopewell Valley was marked by services and observances by the Hopewell Valley Veterans Association and by Hopewell Valley American Legion Post 339.
The Legion Post conducted cemetery and monument services at multiple locations at cemeteries and churches in Hopewell Township, Hopewell Borough, and Pennington Borough, in association with the borough parades.
These observances honor local residents including Irvin D. Van Nest, Jr. (1916-1943), who was the first son of Hopewell who was killed in World War II.
The story of how this news came to Hopewell was told by Dean Ashton, in his “Hopewell News” news-sheet distributed during the war, and extended into a book, Be It Ever So Humble, The Story of Hopewell, New Jersey, and its Servicemen During World War II, published in 1947.
Please contact us if you have – or know of – images and materials that we can share to help illuminate the history of our Hopewell Valley.
