The March updates to the History Project featured a new History Brief report on the Hopewell theaters on 5 South Greenwood Avenue in the Borough, photos of local train stations and of the recent COVID shutdown in Pennington, and booklets from the Pennington Fire Company 125th anniversary and the Hopewell Township Police Department 25th anniversary. (See Site Updates for more.)
By the numbers, we finished the month with 322 files in the Archives, including 160 documents and 162 maps and aerials. The Image Gallery now has 4130 files, and the Panoramas Collection has 50 images. The Pamphlet Collection has 267 documents, and the Property Reports Collection has 89 documents. The interactive History Map includes 775 addresses with 103 historic places in Hopewell Borough. The History Project YouTube Channel is hosting 29 videos, plus 18 external local history videos, including 7 videos of History Project presentations. Please keep the materials coming!
Hopewell Theaters on South Greenwood
The recently-closed Hopewell Theater Building at 5 South Greenwood Avenue in Hopewell has been the site of multiple different types of theaters since 1897 – from a community hall to movie theater, research center to oldies movie theater, live musical theater to indie arts venue.
The side was built as Columbia Hall, and then replaced with the Colonial Playhouse movie theater. Then the building became the “Mirror of America” Gallup polling center, the Off-Broadstreet Theatre for live theater and children’s shows, and finally the Hopewell Theater indie arts venue.
(1897)
Local Train Station Photos
This remarkable collection of 1960s and 70s photos of local train stations document the decline and end of passenger train service through our area. These 22 photos focus on the Hopewell Borough and Pennington Borough train stations, and also include views of the Belle Mead and Weston-Manville stations.
These were kindly shared by Harry Abendroth, a life-long train enthusiast and long-time railroad photographer, especially focusing on the railroad stations that once served the Reading and Jersey Central Railroads.
COVID Shutdown in Pennington
These images are a selection of photographs of life in Pennington in 2020 during the New Jersey COVID shutdown. They illustrate the impact of the shutdown on individuals, neighborhoods, organizations, and small businesses. They include shut down signs for businesses and churches (but with the food pantry still operating), stores open only for take-out, informal group get-togethers with social distancing, and neighborhood thank you signs for healthcare workers and teachers. Plus – there’s a COVID bingo card and the ubiquitous cow statue wearing a mask.
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Pennington Fire Company 125th Anniversary – 2016
This Pennington Fire Company 125th Anniversary Booklet was published in 2016, and includes 64 pages with photos and information on current and past officers, members, and equipment. There are also extensive sections on the history of the history of the Fire Company and the Ladies Auxiliary.
The Pennington Fire Company is one of only four 100% volunteer fire companies left in Mercer County. It has provided fire services to Pennington Borough, Hopewell Borough, Hopewell Township, and the surrounding areas in Mercer County since 1891.
Hopewell Township Police – 25th Anniversary
The Hopewell Township Police Department is celebrating its 50th anniversary as a full-time police department this year.
The Hopewell Township Police 25th Anniversary in 1999 was memorialized with a calendar and a 19-page brochure.
- The 25th Anniversary brochure (1974-1999) lists then-current department members and past officers, with photos.
It also has a law enforcement TV trivia page, and sponsor advertisements from local businesses.
- The 25th Anniversary 1999 calendar has profusely illustrated sections covering the decades from the 1970s to the 1990s. These cover activities including D.A.R.E. (Drug Abuse Resistance Education), Traffic Safety, C.O.P.P.S. (Community Policing), and the Police Basic Life Support Unit (BLS).
Plus there are looks at the state of the art in department computing, and the 24-7 communications center for emergency 9-1-1 calls.
Please contact us if you have – or know of – other images and materials that we can share to help illuminate the history of our Hopewell Valley.
