The current Tomato Factory Antiques Center on Somerset Street in Hopewell is well named – it indeed once was a tomato cannery, which operated from 1892 to around 1950. We now have some additional photos kindly contributed by Joan Bratsko that provide a glimpse into its operation.
The pace of the canning business was astounding. The factory only operated when fresh tomatoes were being harvested, so it ran only for around six weeks a year, from early August through September, or until the first frost. The factory could pack 10,000 quart cans a day, and since each can required five or more tomatoes, it needed 50,000 tomatoes delivered each day, arriving from some 100 acres of local farms under contract for its business.
Keeping the business running at full speed required some 50 to 75 employees, the majority “women and girls,” especially skilled at quickly manually peeling the skins off the tomatoes, and hand-packing the cans to fill them to the top.
This wonderful but unfortunately undated photo shows some of these then playful ladies on the side loading platform of the building, surrounded by boxes of tomatoes. (See below for a wider view of the building.)
- See The Hopewell Valley Canning Company for more on the history, and the full History Brief research report.
Tomato Factory Building – Then and Now
The current Tomato Factory building was constructed in multiple sections, but the general shape today still matches the early building in the 1897 photo (albeit without the large smokestack).
The original pair of buildings run from Somerset Street south towards the railroad tracks. The wider front building was used for packing and storing, and the narrower rear building was used for canning. A single-story rear annex also extends further out the back.
The small separate building on the east side near the front of the building was the office, with the ground scales between it and the main building used for weighing incoming crates. The former office building still is in use for antiques.
The back of the east side facing the driveway has a side platform used for receiving tomatoes, which has since been enclosed.
Tomato Factory from Somerset – Then and Now
These two photos show the view of the Tomato Factory from further down Somerset Street, showing the full extent of the eastern side of the building.
The undated old photo shows the factory loaded with supplies, with boxes of tomatoes stacked on the side platform along the building (as in the photo of the ladies), plus more baskets and crates piled below on the lower level.
This photo was more recent than the 1897 image, adding the the detached office building and more storage along the side of the building.
The view from Somerset Street is very different from today, with a drastic drop-off along the side of the building to the second level of storage, instead of the current gentle slope down through the parking lot.
In addition, the detached office building is standing on pillars above the ground, instead of being at ground level today. The office building also has a door facing the street that leads nowhere. The door is gone today behind the siding, but actually still can be seen inside the building, and was still visible in 1998 photos.
We also can match this photo with the photo of the ladies by by zooming in to that section of the platform – the ladies are sitting a gap in the row of boxes in front of a pillar, with a distinctive “L” pattern of whiter boxes to the left labeled “IW.”
The longevity of this 1892 building is a tribute to the builders, who built it solidly, to house the canning machinery, crates of empty cans, many boxes of tomatoes, and the resulting crates of filled cans of tomatoes.
When you visit the Antiques Center today, notice the many columns in the building that keep it strong and standing.
Please contact us if you have more information or materials on the Hopewell Tomato Factory (or other local history).
More on the Hopewell Tomato Canning Factory
The Hopewell Tomato Factory on Somerset Street (now the Tomato Factory Antiques Center) began as the Hopewell Valley Canning Company in 1892, and operated for almost 60 years, from 1892 to around 1950, through four different companies.
Hopewell Tomato Factory History
- Post – The Hopewell Valley Canning Company – History, building, artifacts, and video
- Post – The Hopewell Tomato Factory – Then & Now – Photos in operation
- Post – The Hopewell Tomato Factory During World War II – Vignettes from the Hopewell News newsletter
- History Brief – Tomato Factory History Brief (PDF)
Media
- Image Galley – View photos of the Tomato Factory at 2 Somerset Street
- Video – The Hopewell Tomato Canning Factory (Hopewell Museum – YouTube)
Related Sources
- The Titusville Fruit and Vegetable Canning Company, Larry Kidder, Howell Farm (PDF)
- Commercial Canning in New Jersey: History and Early Development, Mary B. Sim, New Jersey Agricultural Society, 1951 (HathiTrust)
- Hopewell: A Historical Geography, Richard Hunter and Richard Porter, Township of Hopewell Historic Sites Committee, 1990
