T. Johnson Design has been operating in Hopewell Borough since 1994, creating custom metalwork designs that combine practical functionality with design aesthetics.
They design for private and municipal clients throughout the region, but a number of their works are visible as iconic and familiar installations around Hopewell, as shown here.
Some of these works are very familiar, like the frog weathervane on the gazebo in Hopewell Borough Park, while others are more subtle, including the railings at Nomad Pizza and Saint Alphonsus Church.
== View T. Johnson Hopewell Works in the Image Gallery ==
T. Johnson Design
T. Johnson Design is a father and son partnership of Tom and Terence Johnson, “designers and builders of contemporary metalwork.” They design and fabricate custom metalwork, including architectural elements (gates, railings, weathervanes, finials, etc.) and furniture and lighting.
They moved into a studio at 5 Railroad Place in 2001, and then into their current building at 20 Model Avenue in 2011. That building was originally built in 1915 as the annex to the adjacent Hopewell Grammar School, which was built in 1888. (See previous post.)
with Gazebo Weathervane, 1994
Their public work in Hopewell includes the iconic frog weathervane on the gazebo in Hopewell Borough Park, the girl pumping water weathervane on the Louellen Street Boro Pump House, and repairs to the rooster weathervane on the Calvary Baptist Church.
They also created the willow tree gate for the Old School Baptist Church cemetery, the railings for Saint Alphonsus Church and for the Hopewell Public Library, and the smoke railings and pizza oven truck for Nomad Pizza.
- See previous post on the Hopewell Grammar School Annex – Jewelry, Guitars, and Metalwork
- View the T. Johnson Design handout in the Pamphlet Collection
Frog Weathervane – Gazebo Park (1994)
The Hopewell Borough Park at South Greenwood and Columbia Avenues was created in 1994, with the iconic gazebo that has become the informal name of Gazebo Park. The elaborate weathervane has a Hopewell sign, decorated with a frog band playing in the grasses. The swirling decorations on the weathervane arrow also are echoed in the compass N-S-E-W directionals.
- See earlier post on the use of the gazebo in the “Welcome to Hopewell Borough” sign by artist François Guillemin.
Water Pump Weathervane – Louellen Pump House (1990s)
The Hopewell Borough Pump House feeding the town water supply is on the triangular corner at 18 Louellen Street and Model Avenue. The weathervane design on the cupola features a young lady working a traditional hand-powered water pump.
Rooster Weathervane Repairs – Calvary Baptist Church (c. 1996)
The Hopewell Calvary Baptist Church at 3 East Broad Street had a new steeple installed in 1993. A few years later, the rooster weathervane on the steeple was found to require repairs and strengthening to operate smoothly. The retrofitted weathervane also was gilded for better visibility.
Willow Tree Gate – OSBC Cemetery (c. 1998)
The rear gate to the Old School Baptist Church cemetery at Voorhees and Center Streets features a willow tree in a center circle. It is designed so that the full tree opens with the right side of the gate, instead of needing to be split in half.
- See earlier post with a Pictorial History of the Old School Baptist Church.
Front Railings – Saint Alphonsus Church (1990s)
Saint Alphonsus Church faces Princeton Avenue on the corner of East Prospect Street. The design of the metal railings on the front steps from the street and then up to the building echoes the tall thin arched windows of the church building (and the design of the entrance and door), with an additional subtle stained-glass-like effect at the top of alternating sections.
Revolutionary Memorial – OSBC Cemetery (2000)
This memorial and plaque was placed on July 4th, 2000 in the Old School Baptist Church cemetery at 46 West Broad Street (behind the right side of the church). A simple pedestal design that memorializes a lost stone that was “erected July 4th, 1886 to mark the final resting place of soldiers of the revolution, whose heroic deeds should not be forgotten by succeeding generations.”
Railings – Hopewell Public Library (c. 2006)
The metal railings on the front steps of the Hopewell Public Library at 13 East Broad Street are designed to be ADA compliant, with a brass handrail on the inner side of the railings. The outer railings are steel painted black, and the pedestal and finials are old cast iron antiques that were incorporated into the design.
Smoke Railings – Nomad Pizza (2010)
Nomad Pizza Company opened in 2010 in Hopewell at 10 East West Broad Street between Greenwood and Blackwell Avenues. The Nomad sign features a pizza truck with a built-in oven, with smoke curling up to cross the “A” in NOMAD. The design of the metal railings on the steps up from Broad Street and in front of the restaurant is based on triplets of vertical posts, with center sets where the vertical columns curve up to echo the rising smoke design.
Pizza Oven Trucks – Nomad Pizza (2010s)
The two Nomad Pizza Trucks are restored 1948 & 1949 REO Speed Wagons that bring wood-fired pizza to events and parties. The retrofit of the trucks made them self contained, with a built-in wood fired brick oven, commercial refrigerators, sinks, hot water heaters, and quiet generators – plus retractable awnings, lights, work and serving tables, and even sound systems.
Thanks especially to Ann & Tom and Terence Johnson, for sharing information and the photographs from the installation of their work (in addition to the others taken more recently).
== View T. Johnson Hopewell Works in the Image Gallery ==
We welcome additional information and material on these and other public artworks.
