The June 2025 updates to the History Project included a new photo of the 1937-38 Hopewell Fire Department Rainbow Carnival, an amazing baby book from 1916, and additional railroad timetables. (See Site Updates for more.)
Hopewell Fire Dept. Rainbow Carnival – 1937-38
Before the Hopewell Harvest Fair (since 1987), there was Community Day (1970s-80s), the American Legion Carnival (1960s-70s), and the Hopewell Fire Department Carnival that ran from 1911 to 1953.
And now we have a second image of the Fire Department Carnivals in the late 1930s: the 1937-38 Rainbow Carnival, with the raised dance floor and large tent behind.
Lou Etta Laning Baby Book from 1916
This charming Hopewell baby book from 1916 is written as a love letter from the mother, addressed directly to her new baby daughter.
Besides recording the mother’s description and thoughts on the early years of her first child, this book also provides wonderful glimpses into the time and place, including copious photographs.
How and where were babies born? What were some of the first milestones in their development? How and what were babies fed in the first year? And what childhood ailments did babies have, and how were they treated? What was a typical family meal for a first birthday? How and where did families take their babies on outings?
1897 Railroad Timetable
A Reading Railroad 1897 New York & Philadelphia New Line timetable is now included in the set of Railroad timetables in the Pamphlet Collection. This shows the service only two decades after it was begun in 1876, running over what are our still-operating local rail lines.
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.
