by Douglas Dixon
Here are some highlights of the 2024 additions to the History Project site, with links to more information, plus associated documents, maps, photos, and videos.
The purpose of the Hopewell Valley History Project is assemble an archive of reference material in local history, freely shared online in digital and searchable formats for education and research.
Now into its fifth year since the beginning of the project in August 2019, the History Project has continued to grow with the ongoing support of some 150 individual contributors. Over the past year, we processed some 200 new collections of material and added 58 new blog posts on local history.
At the end of 2024, the History Project hosted some 780 documents and maps, and 4610 images and videos, with a total of 5390 files available on the site after the addition of 650 files over the year.
Contents
- Local History Presentations – St. Michaels Orphanage, “Hopewell 57” / Rockwell / Smith
- Hopewell History Briefs – Hopewell Theaters, Grammar School Annex, St. Michael’s Cemetery, Hopewell Museum
- Hopewell History Map – Property Information
- Document Archives – Pennington, Police, School, Church, Railroad History
- Map Archives – Road Maps and Travel
- Local Features – Hopewell Legion Monument, Hopewell Drug Store Businesses, Straube Center and Cointreau, T. Johnson Design Metalwork, Pennington Bicentennial Quilts
- Image Gallery: 1950s of Pennington, 2016 Hopewell Valley Scrapbook, Railroad Photos, Hopewell Tomato Factory
- Video Channel – St. Michael’s Songs, Town Parades
Local History Presentations
The two major research projects for the History Project in 2024 (see History Project Events) – were the St. Michael’s Orphanage and the “Hopewell 57” / Rockwell / Smith saga.
Ten videos of History Project presentations are now available on the History Project YouTube channel, plus two additional external videos also based on History Project research.
Follow the links for the presentation videos, slides, and references, plus associated Briefs and other posts.
- See the Hopewell Borough History Briefs list with links to the associated presentation videos
- See the External Project Presentations, with two videos from the Hopewell Museum based on History Project research (Chocolate Factory and Tomato Factory)
St. Michael’s Orphanage
The St. Michael’s Orphanage: A Visual History presentation provides a visual history of St. Michael’s using photos and memories from a variety of contributors. We explore around the building to see kids playing on the playground and around the grounds. And we go inside the building to see the children in the nursery, school rooms, chapel, dining room, and dorm rooms.
St. Michael’s was a major local institution that operated just outside of Hopewell Borough for three quarters of a century (1898 to 1973), to provide support and education for abandoned and neglected children. St. Michael’s was home over the years to thousands of children, over a hundred Sisters of St. Francis who operated the facility, and other live-in staff, plus families living on the associated farm.
See the presentation references for more on the St. Michael’s photos, plus research material including census records ,and school and farm reports.
- See photos – Over 200 St. Michael’s images on the History Project site
- See video – Songs and Prayers of the Children of St. Michael’s Orphanage – 1930s
“Hopewell 57” / Rockwell / Smith Presentation
This Smith to Rockwell to “Hopewell 57” presentation chronicles the history of the “Hopewell 57” complex at the corner of Hamilton Avenue and Somerset Street in Hopewell Borough, which was first known as Smith Novelty, and then Rockwell and Kooltronic.
The story starts with saga of Hugh A. Smith, who chose Hopewell in 1901 to pursue his dream of establishing a manufacturing business. It then traces the evolution of the small Smith company into Rockwell, and the associated development of the company and the associated building complex.
- See the presentation References for more on the St. Michael’s photos, plus research material including census records ,and school and farm reports.
- See photos – Rockwell images and artifacts in the Image Gallery
Hopewell History Briefs
The archive of local historical materials at the History Project has been particularly helpful in researching a series of Hopewell History Briefs that provide historical information and chronologies on Hopewell Borough organizations, businesses, and properties – and the people that made them.
These research reports draw on the materials on this site, plus other sources including newspaper archives, deeds, and census records, plus information from local contributors. The History Project site finished the year some 40 History Briefs.
See also the Hopewell Borough History Briefs, 2022 Edition, a single download that assembles the research work on the History Project as of the end of 2022, including 40 History Briefs, with additional maps, summaries of the collections, and references.
- See the list of Hopewell History Briefs, and associated presentation videos
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 South Greenwood street was opened up around 1896 with the construction of Columbia Hall by the Hook and Ladder Company.
The Columbia Hall building was replaced in 1940 by the current building, then the Colonial Playhouse movie theater. Starting in 1956 the building became the “Mirror of America” Gallup polling center, but was unused in the 1970s when it was rented to show old movies as the “Hopewell Theater.” In 1984 it became the Off-Broadstreet Theatre for live theater and children’s shows. The building was renovated in 2017 as the Hopewell Theater indie arts venue, which closed in February 2024 after weathering COVID.
- See the full History Brief report on the Hopewell Theaters (PDF)
Hopewell Grammar School Annex
The Hopewell Grammar School Annex building next to the former lumberyard on Model Avenue has had both business and residential occupants, but was used mainly for a variety of industrial purposes – including jewelry manufacturing, independent invention, serial entrepreneurs, guitar making, and metalwork
The Annex building was built in 1915 to provide additional space for the long building on the right side, which was originally built as the Hopewell Grammar School in 1888 (with two later additions on each side).
After the Grammar School moved to Princeton Avenue in 1926, the building was used for jewelry businesses including the Jacques Kreisler Corp. In 1949 it was purchased by George F. Bush as a laboratory for designing scientific instruments.
In 1978, the Annex was purchased by Richard Hargrave and George Vaughn and used for various associated companies, including the the LoPrinzi Guitar Company. In 2011, T. Johnson Design purchased the property to design and fabricate custom metalwork.
- See the full History Brief on Hopewell Grammar School Annex (PDF)
St. Michael’s Orphanage Cemetery
There was a cemetery at St. Michael’s Orphanage in Hopewell. It was located in a tree-lined lane set back from the south side of the building, where an estimated several hundred infants and children were buried.
After the orphanage was closed and the building demolished in 1973, the children’s remains were reinterred at St. Mary’s Cemetery in Trenton. Rev. Michael J. O’Farrell, the first Bishop of Trenton, and Col. Daniel E. Morris, a major early donor, were also interred at St. Michael’s, and then reinterred at St. Mary’s.
- See the full History Brief on St. Michael’s Cemetery (PDF)
The Hopewell Museum
The current Hopewell Museum building at 28 East Broad Street was constructed in 1877 as the Stout residence, acquired by Hugh A. Smith in 1906 as the family home, taken over by the Hopewell Public Library / Museum in 1924, and then became the Hopewell Museum in 1965 when the Library moved to its current home at 13 East Broad.
The Hopewell Museum building is a three-story, three-bay brownstone dwelling built in the Second Empire style, with a Mansard roof and full height projecting bays on the front façade. The front of the building went through four major phases as part of the changes in ownership: the original simple porch, a full-width porch added by Smith around 1920, a simplified porch but still with a wide base done around 1960, and the Museum restoration in 1999 that returned the front porch / portico back to the original design.
- See the summary History Brief on The Hopewell Museum (PDF)
Hopewell History Map
The interactive Hopewell History Map has been updated to display over 100 new property information summaries as you click to view local addresses. As you click on Hopewell properties on the map, it brings together other materials from the History Project site, displaying over 1700 property photos from the Image Gallery, plus the new property information summaries, and providing links to now some 100 detailed History Briefs and research reports on the local properties.
The History Map runs in any web browser, on computers and mobile devices. It automatically adjusts the panel layout to smaller smartphone screens, to alternate between showing the photo and information panels. When on the go, click the new Current Position button to use GPS to move the map to the area of your current location (or to the center of Hopewell if outside of town, or accurate GPS is not available).
Document Archives and Pamphlet Collection
The History Project Document Archives contains includes historic books from the mid 1800’s and early 1900’s and other published materials, including History Briefs.
The Pamphlet Collection contains leaflets and pamphlets distributed by local municipalities and organizations within the last 40-some years (e.g., “ephemera”).
The Property Reports are research reports organized by town and street address. These include Cultural Resource Survey documentation, and History Briefs from the History Project.
The History Project site finished 2024 with some 614 documents, pamphlets, and history and property briefs, with 175 files added during the year.
Pennington History
The “Pennington’s Heritage” Historical Pageant booklet for the Pennington Sesquibicentennial (250th) Celebration (1708-1958) documents this pageant performed at the Hopewell Township High School, in November 1958.
The Pennington Fire Company 125th Anniversary Booklet from 2016 includes photos and information on current and past officers, members, and equipment. There’s also a 85th Anniversary booklet from 1976.
Police History
The Hopewell Township Police 50th Anniversary Brochure (1994-2024) includes lists of current and past personnel, chiefs, and officers; Township officials; historical photos of the Hopewell Township and Hopewell Borough police departments; and descriptions of current police programs, divisions, units, and community programs.
The Hopewell Township Police 25th Anniversary in 1999 was memorialized with a calendar and a 19-page brochure.
School History
These Hopewell High School 1927 Diploma and Autograph Book provide a personal view of high school life a century ago, in the 1920s.
These are the diploma and autograph book of Edna Moore, who graduated in 1927 from Hopewell Township High School (then in Hopewell Borough). These were kindly shared by her son, Rich Anderson.
Church History
Two Anniversary booklets for the First Presbyterian Church of Pennington, document the 225th Anniversary from 1934, and the 250th Anniversary from 1959.
These provide extensive histories of the Church and its buildings, biographies of its pastors, its activities, and lists of officers back to the 1700s.
Railroad History
A collection of twenty complete railroad timetables from 1945 to 1978 kindly contributed by Harry Abendroth document service between Philadelphia and Newark / New York over the former Reading line that still serves our area.
These illustrate how service began declining after World War II, until it was eliminated to Pennington in 1965, and to Hopewell in 1983.
Map Archives
The History Project Map Archives includes historic maps, municipal maps, and aerial images. The collection includes pages on all known key publicly available maps of the Hopewell Valley and its towns.
Also see the Panoramas Collection to pan/zoom in historic and more recent aerial images, plus panoramas from drones and other ground-level panoramas. Select an image to pan/zoom in the view, including panning 360 degrees in full-circle panoramas.
The History Project site finished 2024 with some 163 maps and aerial images, with 8 added during the year.
Road Maps and Travel
These historical driving publications and local road maps continue the story of the early days of driving and the development of the Hopewell Valley road network.
The c1932 “Questions and Answers Upon the Motor Vehicle Laws” brochure can help you you pass the written test for a New Jersey driver’s license from ninety-some years ago. It has 120 questions – and answers – including the driving laws and rules, plus the penalties for breaking them.
The A.L.A. Automobile Green Book Official Touring Guide is an early version of what we now know as AAA tour guides, with maps, travel information, and directions. These were published from c. 1920 through the 1940s and apparently into the 1950s.
The 1962 and 1972 Hopewell Township road maps show new roads from several now-familiar housing developments that were added during this period, particularly around Bear Tavern and between Pennington and Rocky Hill.
The three 1920s and 1962 Hopewell Road Maps show the original route of our Route 31 (previously Route 69), and then shows local roads in the process of being expanded and upgraded.
Local Features
Thanks to multiple contributors, the History Project also covered other interesting local topics.
The Hopewell American Legion Monument – 1925
This historic 1920s photo, courtesy of Joan Bratsko, 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 American Legion monument that was installed at the center of town in 1925. It soon was clear clear that it was not such a great idea to have large monument blocking the middle of the main intersection in town. In 1933, a serious auto accident that monument from its base “about two feet,” and it was relocated to its current location in front of the Hopewell Elementary School.
The Hopewell Drug Store Businesses
These the stories of the Hopewell Pharmacy and the two other buildings at the corner of West Broad and South Greenwood in Hopewell.
The three buildings are the Hopewell Pharmacy at the corner (1 West Broad), the adjacent one-story market building with the step-up false front above the roofline (7 West Broad), and another connected smaller storage building (9 West Broad).
The Straube Center and Cointreau Distillery
The Cointreau Distillery at what is now the Straube Center in Pennington operated in 1942 through 1967.
We now have images of colorful liqueur labels, collections of mini-bottles, and 1960s site photos, thanks to the Jamieson family.
The site now today is the Straube Center office complex, which was founded in 1976 by Win Straube. The site itself goes back to 1900, and was previously variously used by a foundry and heater company, wire and cable company, candy company, and a cosmetics company. The Straube story and the site history are detailed in two pamphlets kindly shared by Straube.
T. Johnson Design – Metalwork in Hopewell
T. Johnson Design has been creating custom metalwork designs in Hopewell Borough since 1994, combining 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.
Pennington Quilts
We have information on two Pennington Bicentennial quilts.
The Pennington U. S. Bicentennial quilt was created for the 1976 Bicentennial, and the earlier Pennington Methodist Church Bicentennial Quilt (1974/75) celebrated 200 years from the founding of the Pennington Methodist Church.
Both quilts are still with us, but we have few details about them and little information from documents, so please get in touch if you have more information to share about them.
Image Gallery
The History Project Image Gallery is organized into albums of images for local towns (organized by street address), for local places and events (e.g., Memorial Day, Harvest Fair, Railroads), for Mementos of local places and businesses, and for Artwork and Photography collections. There are also several historical Slide Shows.
The History Project site finished 2024 with 4528 images, including photos, postcards, and panoramas, with 464 files added during the year.
- See over 200 St. Michael’s Orphanage images in the Image Gallery
- See 40-some Rockwell images and artifacts in the Image Gallery
1950s Memories of Pennington – Mike Thomsen
Mike Thomsen has kindly contributed some 75 photographs of Pennington from around 1958, up to when he completed high school.
These include scenes of the buildings and businesses along Main Street and Delaware Avenue, views of the train station and other area bridges, and fun views of the local schools, Memorial Day parades, family, and Pennington in the snow.
Thomsen also contributed a companion book that features descriptions of many of these photos.
2016 / 1966 Hopewell Valley Scrapbook and Photos – Charlie Hunt
The 2016 / 1966 Hopewell Valley Scrapbook by Charles Hunt includes a collection of over 230 images of sites across Hopewell Valley from 2016, plus recollections of them back to 1966.
These are from a reunion scrapbook prepared for the Hopewell Valley Central High School Class of 1966 at their 50th reunion in 2016. The scrapbook also includes clippings of ads from 1966 newspapers, recollections from high school days, and discussions of changes to the Valley over the years.
Railroad Photos – Harry Abendroth
A collection of some 30 1960s and 70s photos of local train stations kindly shared by Harry Abendroth 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.
Hopewell Tomato Factory
These photos of the Hopewell Tomato Factory when it was in operation around 1900 were kindly contributed by Joan Bratsko.
These include playful ladies on the side loading platform of the building surrounded by boxes of tomatoes, and a wider view of the whole building, with crates of tomatoes stacked along the length of the building.
Video Channel
The History Project YouTube Channel was added in 2022, and finished 2024 with 34 hosted videos plus 22 external videos of local interest, with six hosted videos added during the year.
The channel features contributed videos from back to the 1940s, current-day videos including the Hopewell Inn tours and demolition, and History Project presentations.
St. Michael’s Songs
The Songs and Prayers of the Children of St. Michael’s video features the audio recording of Cecille Haggerty O’Brien singing and reciting the songs and prayers familiar to the girls of St. Michael’s Orphanage in the 1930s.
Cecille (“Cece”) Haggerty O’Brien was at St. Michael’s from 1933 to 1943 (almost age 3 through age 13).
Town Parades
Short video of the 1984 Pennington Memorial Day parade, with glimpses through the trees from a front porch on South Main.
Four short videos of local parades and events from the early 1990s, plus photos of the 1990 Pennington Memorial Day parade. These include the 1992 Pennington Memorial Day parade, Titusville Fourth of July parades from 1992 and 1994, and a May Day celebration (with maypole) at Toll Gate Grammar School in 1992.
- See the Parade Videos Playlist on the History Project YouTube Channel
It’s been another busy year for the site, which has been operating since August 2019. Thanks again to the contributors who have provided information and materials to help illuminate the history of our Hopewell Valley. Please do contact us if you have – or know of – other images and materials that we can share, to preserve this history before they could be lost..
History Project Yearly Highlights
Yearly highlights for the History Project, including presentations (and videos), Hopewell History Brief research reports, the Document Archives, and Pamphlet Collection, and Property Reports Collection, the Map Archives and Panoramic Aerials, the Image Gallery and Panoramas Collection, the YouTube Video Channel, and the Hopewell Valley History Map.
List of key History Project Presentations (marked by “#”), History Briefs, and other major focuses:
- 2025 Highlights – #Ferrante Dress Factory, Pete Hurley, Hopewell Schools
- 2024 Highlights – #St. Michaels Orphanage, #Smith / Rockwell / “Hopewell 57”
- 2023 Highlights – #Hopewell Inn, #Hopewell Quarry, 2022 Edition Book
- 2022 Highlights – #History Online: Seminary Ave., #Growth of Hopewell, #Hoproco Toys, Pennington Profile book
- 2021 Highlights – #Industrial Railroad Place, #Train Stations, Chocolate Factory, Tomato Factory, Chubby’s
- 2020 Highlights – #Using the History Project, History Map, Panoramic Aerials, History Briefs, Pamphlet Collection
- 2019 Highlights – #History Project, Site, Blog, Image Gallery, Facebook
For more details, see the full list of History Project Site Updates.
