Continuing in our effort to capture and archive the histories of the local Hopewell Valley churches, here is a presentation from 2002 created to celebrate and document the 125th anniversary of the Hopewell Presbyterian Church.
The presentation includes historical photos and information on the early church properties along West Broad and Louellen streets, a chronology of the current church buildings, and a timeline of church leaders back to 1877 – many with photos.
== View the full 2002 Hopewell Presbyterian 125th Anniversary Presentation (PDF) ==
Hopewell Presbyterian and St. Alphonsus – 1877
The presentation also includes photos of church activities for the 125th celebration, including joint activities with St. Alphonsus Roman Catholic Church.
Both Hopewell Presbyterian and St. Alphonsus were officially organized in 1877, and had a joint celebration of their 125th anniversaries.
These were the first new churches in town after the Old School Baptist Church, which had been formed in 1715. The original Old School Baptist church building was built in 1747, and then the current building replaced it in 1822 .
The current St. Alphonsus Church on Princeton Ave. was built in 1877.
- For more on the history of St. Alphonsus Church, see the 1977 100th Anniversary book.
The original Hopewell Presbyterian building, however, was the Presbyterian Chapel, which was built across Broad from the present church (the Chapel building is still standing, but was rotated 90 degrees for use as a residence). The current Presbyterian Church then was built in 1915.
- For more on the history of the former and current church properties still standing near the Broad & Louellen intersection, see Broad & Louellen Streets: Hopewell Presbyterian Church.
1800s Broad & Louellen – Blacksmiths and Wheelwrights
Before Hopewell Presbyterian purchased the triangle of property where Louellen Street meets West Broad Street in the early 1900s, it was occupied by S. Smith Ege’s blacksmith and wheelwright shop, which was established around the early 1870s.
The first photo from around 1910 shows Ege’s blacksmith shop filling the end of the triangle at the intersection. Blacksmiths were needed to shoe local horses and create other metal items, from nails to plows and knives to door hinges.
The second photo from the same time period shows the view from across Broad Street, with the same blacksmith building on the right and a wheelwright building on the left. Betty Gantz reports that the separate wheelwright shop was new as of around 1882, and was operated by A. W. Ketcham. Wheelwrights were needed to build and repair wooden wheels for horse-drawn vehicles.
Time Capsules
When the original Presbyterian Chapel building was sold in 1923, a collection of materials was found in a box which had been placed at the cornerstone ceremony in April 1877. The box contained a handwritten document, The Historical Sketch of the Village of Hopewell, which was presented as a speech as part of the town’s Centennial Celebration in 1876.
This provides us with a wonderful discussion of Hopewell’s early years, with historical properties referenced to their then-current names and owners.
- For more on this document, see Historical Sketch of the Village of Hopewell – from 1876.
So in 2002, for the 125th Anniversary, Hopewell Presbyterian buried a new time capsule in front of the building. Unfortunately, the presentation does not show its contents.
== View the full 2002 Hopewell Presbyterian 125th Anniversary Presentation (PDF) ==
- For more on these histories, local blacksmiths and wheelwrights, and the time capsule, see Hopewell’s Past by Betty Gantz (1987).
Please contact us if you have additional local church materials that we can share.
More on Hopewell Valley Churches
Historical information on Hopewell Valley churches.
See also the Document Archive for historical books on local churches.
Hopewell Borough
- Old School Baptist Church – Special Services (1993, 1993) – with histories (Pamphlet Collection)
- Calvary Baptist Church – 95th Anniversary book – 1966 – with extensive history (PDF)
- Calvary Baptist Church – Anniversary (1941) and Dedication of New Front (1952) – with histories (Pamphlet Collection)
- Hopewell Boro Church Anniversary Booklets (1966 & 1977) – Calvary Baptist (1966) and St. Alphonsus (1977)
- Hopewell Presbyterian – Broad and Louellen – History and Brief – 2020
- Hopewell Presbyterian Church 125th Anniversary – 2002 – Presentation and photos
- Hopewell Presbyterian Church 1908 Fundraiser – Postcard
- St. Alphonsus Church – 100th Anniversary book – 1977 – with extensive history (PDF)
- St. Alphonsus Church – Directory extracts – 2000 & 2010 – with history (Pamphlet Collection)
- Second Calvary Baptist Church – History and Brief – 2021
Pennington Borough
- Historic Churches of Pennington Borough Open House – 4/26/2015 – with histories (PDF)
- St. James Church – Cook Book extract – 1965 – with history (PDF)
