Updated 11/24/24 – More on moving the monument
You never know what you might find in that old photo album in the attic. So why is this photo interesting? It’s just some kids marching in a parade, with some buildings across the street.
OK, so this is an historic 1920s photo, courtesy of Joan Bratsko, that shows a parade coming up West Broad Street to Greenwood Avenue, in the center of Hopewell Borough. Plus, visible across the street are the drugstore and other buildings that still stand there today.
But the amazing discovery is the structure on the far left – This is the only known photo of the Legion monument that was installed at the center of town in 1925, and then moved to its current location at the Hopewell Elementary School in 1933.
The Legion Monument
This monument was sponsored by Hopewell, N. J. American Legion Post 273, which was formed in 1921 by veterans of World War I, but disbanded in 1926. (The current Hopewell Valley American Legion Post 339 then was formed in 1945 after Word War II. Also in this area were Skillman American Legion Post 292 from 1940 to 1959, and Pennington American Legion Post 413 from 1946 to 1978.)
The monument was erected by the Legion Post in 1925 at the intersection of Greenwood and Broad in the center of town, as part of rebuilding the roads in concrete:
To top off the finishing of the concrete road through the borough, the erecting of a fine granite monument by the American Legion at the intersection of Broad Street and Greenwood Avenue, the main corners of the town, has added a fine touch. [Trenton Times, Nov. 29, 1925]
The monument is some 13 feet high, with a large bronze eagle on top with wings spread wide:
The monument is cut in syenite blue Quincy granite and stands to a height of 13 feet. The back is rock faced, three feet in height and two inched square. The die resting on the base is rock faced and surmounting these a cap, symmetrically shaped. From the cap arises a shaft of about six feet, which is shaped by a rock facing into a pyramid cone rounded at the point surmounted by a large bronze eagle, made of solid bronze. [Trenton Times, Nov. 29, 1925]
The base has a bronze tablet honoring local veterans:
The bronze tablet on the die with crossed folded flags contains the inscription: “Erected by Hopewell Post, American Legion, in honor of those of Hopewell and vicinity who responded to the nation’s call to duty.” The emblem of the American Legion and the date 1925 is also shown. [Trenton Times, Nov. 29, 1925]
The designer and sculptor was E. E. (Edward) Seville, who partnered with William I. Reid in the 1880s at 9 Mercer Street before establishing his own business in Trenton by 1900. (See earlier post on Stonecutting in Hopewell.)
Moving the Monument
However, by 1930 it was clear that it was not such a great idea to have large monument blocking the middle of the main intersection in town.
It is alleged that motorists cannot be legally compelled to go around the monument and for the purpose of improving traffic management the street committee was instructed to investigate the problem of removing it. The local post of American Legion had the monument placed at its present location and it is not the aim of council to have it taken out of the borough but to have it erected on a more suitable site.
[Hopewell Herald, Aug. 13, 1930]
In 1933, as the result of a serious auto accident, the monument was relocated to its current location in front of the Hopewell Elementary School on Princeton Avenue. (The auto was wrecked, but the driver was not seriously injured):
Dense fog caused an auto accident at the corner of Broad street and Greenwood avenue early Friday morning, which resulted in the moving of the World War monument at that spot from its base about two feet. …
The crash, which occurred shortly after one o’clock in the morning, awakened several people in the near vicinity of the corner and was heard more than a block away. The monument was not only moved from its base but every section of it was loosened.
[Hopewell Herald, Nov. 8, 1933]
The county paid the $110 cost of moving the monument (since Broad Street was a county road), and the borough paid for the new base.
- See the post on Hopewell Borough Veterans Organizations for more on the American Legion and G.A.R.
- See the full History Brief report on Hopewell Borough Veterans Organizations: American Legion and G.A.R. (PDF) for more details on the history of veteran’s groups in the area, and on the monument.
The Buildings
The buildings across the street (and behind the leaves) in the 1920s parade photo still stand along West Broad, down from the corner at South Greenwood. There are three adjacent buildings – and they have had five separate storefronts.
The corner building on the left is 1 West Broad, with a “Drugs” sign in the parade photo.
The left side of the building has had a drugstore up through the current Hopewell Pharmacy.
The right side of the building (sometimes 3 West Broad) was used for a variety of retail businesses including 5 and 10 cent stores into the 1970s, until it was combined into the drugstore around 1987.
The left rear corner of the drugstore building originally also was used as a separate storefront, as 4 South Greenwood. The filled-in doorway and windows from Greenwood are still visible at the corner of the building.
It housed paint and wallpaper businesses in the 1950s, continuing until Saums Interiors moved out in the 1970s. The corner of the building then was closed off from the street and reincorporated into 1 West Broad.
The second building, with the step-up false front above the roofline, is 7 West Broad. In 1967, it became the Pagano’s Hopewell Village Market, and then the Brothers Moon restaurant until 2018. It then was sold with the expectation of partnering with the Hopewell Theater renovation, but further work was halted by COVID.
The third smaller building to the right, 9 West Broad, originally was used as storage for the Holcombe plumbing business. Later, it was incorporated into the Brothers Moon restaurant.
- Browse images of 1 West Broad in the Image Gallery
- Browse images of 7 & 9 West Broad in the Image Gallery
Thanks again to Joan Bratsko for sharing this and other fascinating family photos (see the previous post on the Tomato Factory).
Please contact us if you have more information or materials on the Legion monument, the drugstore buildings, or other local history
More on Veterans Organizations
Posts on the American Legion and other local veterans organizations
See also Town Events and Memorial Day
History
- Hopewell Borough Veterans Organizations – GAR & American Legion
- Mercer Street – Legion Hall and Stonecutting
- The Hopewell American Legion Monument – 1925
Activities
- Memorial Day – Hopewell Memorial Day Parades – 1960s & 70s
- Legion Carnival – 1978 American Legion Carnival – Gary Saretzky
Media / Materials
- Images – Veterans / Legion album in the Image Gallery
- Documents – Veterans / Legion materials in the Pamphlet Collection
