Talk: Memories of the Hopewell Quarry: Stones to Swimming

The story of the Hopewell quarry that made crushed stone for local roads in the 1890s, and of the Quarry Swim Club that developed in the 1920s as the quarry pit filled in with water, which then was sustained and enhanced for over a century, and now has been preserved as open space.

Douglas Dixon, Hopewell Valley History Project

Wed., Sept. 6, 2023, 7 pm – Free and open to the public
– Attend in person – Hopewell Presbyterian Church, 80 W Broad St., Hopewell
– Or join online via Zoom – Click to Register Only for the Zoom Presentation

Hopewell Public Library Speaker Series
Co-sponsored by the Hopewell Valley Historical Society and The Hopewell Museum

== See the Presentation Video and References for this talk ==

– Hopewell Quarry Posts – Quarry History – Swim Club History –
– Photos – Videos – Talk Video & References –

The Hopewell Quarry Swim Club, west of Hopewell Borough, was once the site of a rock quarry that operated from the 1890s to around 1920, making crushed stone for local roads. And the stone crusher equipment there did provide the name for the adjacent Crusher Road.

In this profusely illustrated presentation, Doug Dixon will survey this century and a quarter of local history, from stones to swimming.

Quarry Swim Club and rock wall 1930s [Lowe Family]

First, we will drill into historic maps and newspapers to trace the development of quarries in Hopewell, which saw strong demand to improve the local dirt roads.

Then, we will do a deep dive into a large collection of photos contributed by multiple generations of “quarry rats” to fathom how the site evolved as a swim club over time.

The result is a story of the growth of the Hopewell area, and of the dedicated efforts by a handful of entrepreneurs and families to preserve and enhance this local resource for over a century.

Quarry history: After the rock quarry closed and the deep pit filled in with water around 1920, the site began to be used as a local swimming hole.

Over time, the Quarry transitioned into a more organized swimming club, which was managed until 1977 by several generations of the Bond family, including Dezzie Casey and Forrest Lowe.

After being sustained by two more owners, Bill James and Jim & Nancy Gypton, the Quarry was preserved as protected open space in 2021 through the Friends of Hopewell Quarry.

== View more on the History of the Hopewell Quarry and Swim Club ==

About the speaker: Doug Dixon is an independent technology consultant and writer, now morphed into a history enthusiast and author. He is a board member of The Hopewell Museum and the Hopewell Valley Historical Society.

Since mid-2019, Doug has developed the Hopewell Valley History Project to collect and freely share digital copies of local historical materials to aid research into area people and places (HopewellHistoryProject.org). With the assistance of over 130 local contributors, the History Project now hosts some 560 documents and maps, 3400 images and videos, and an interactive historical map of Hopewell to aid research into Hopewell area people and places.

With these materials, Doug also has authored some 40 Hopewell Borough History Briefs: 500 pages of research reports on local organizations, businesses, and properties – and the people who made them.

As a software technologist, Doug specializes in Web technology, databases, and digital media. He has consulted for the Aberdeen Test Center doing large data testing and visualization, and previously was a product manager and software developer at Intel and Sarnoff. He has authored four books on digital media, published hundreds of feature articles, and presented over a hundred technical seminars and talks.

This event is free and open to the public

– Attend in person – Fellowship Hall at the Hopewell Presbyterian Church, 80 West Broad Street, Hopewell, NJ 08525

– Or join online via Zoom – Click to Register Only for the Zoom Presentation