The May 2025 updates to the History Project included the story of World War II bomber construction at Trenton / Mercer Airport, a comparison of Hopewell high school curriculums from the 1960s and 1970, and local Memorial Day events. There also are fun videos of local trains and past booklets on the Hopewell Valley, government, and schools. (See Site Updates for more.)
Building World War II Bombers at Trenton Mercer Airport
As the United States geared up to enter World War II after the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, the General Motors automotive parts plant in Ewing / West Trenton was converted into manufacturing the Grumman Avenger Torpedo Bombers for the Navy. The result was a reworked and enlarged plant, additional buildings, and the construction of what is now the Trenton–Mercer Airport for testing the airplanes.
The rebuilt Trenton plant also needed workers, ramping up to over 12,000 people in 1944. The plant operated full time, around the clock and seven days a week, working ten-hour shifts to meet the production demand.
Central High School Curriculum: 1962 vs. 1976
These two books on the Central High School Curriculum: 1962 & 1976 show dramatic changes from the early 60’s to the mid 70’s.
As the class size almost doubled from 650 to 1240, the number of Standard Electives for grade 12 grew from 38 in 1962 to over 130 in 1976. The number of students continuing to post-secondary education increased from 55% to 66%. The number of different colleges that students were attending expanded from 66 to 256.
Hopewell Memorial Day 2025
Our annual post on local Memorial Day weekend activities covers the Hopewell Borough and Pennington parades and the Hopewell American Legion post observances, placing flags in the local cemeteries to mark the graves of military veterans.
This practice goes back to the beginnings of Memorial Day, begun in 1868 after the Civil War as Decoration Day. a day of remembrance, including visiting and “decorating” the graves of soldiers.
Local Train Videos
Three 2017 video clips posted by Shane Scanlon Blische showing train traffic in the local area were added to the Railroad Videos on the History Project YouTube Channel:
- One of the last Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailley circus train at Hopewell, N.J.
- CSX local passing historic Hopewell, N.J. passenger station
- CSX freight at Pennington, N.J.
Hopewell Valley Booklets
Three additional League of Women Voters booklets were added to the Pamphlet Collection covering Hopewell Valley from the 1950s 1990s:
- 1953 Mercer County Government (PDF)
- 1963 Hopewell Valley introduction (PDF)
- 1991 Know Your Schools: Hopewell Valley (PDF)
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.
