Hopewell Valley History Project
Preserving Our History
What did our local train stations look like in their heyday? We have five new Pennington and Hopewell train station photos from 1973 that provide a glimpse of the past. These not only provide good views of the station buildings, they also show the additional structures along the tracks that have since been lost – … Continue reading Hopewell & Pennington Train Stations and Buildings – 1973
Explore the forgotten history of the Hopewell Inn, and the people and families who nurtured and reinvigorated it over its almost 150 year history as a part of the town of Hopewell. Douglas Dixon, Hopewell Valley History Project Wed., May 3, 2023, 7 pm – Free and open to the public – Attend in person … Continue reading Talk: The Story of the Hopewell Inn – and the People Who Sustained It
This wonderful bandana with a Hopewell Valley map is by Ann Gross, and dated 1974. The map features our major places, roads, and rivers, and is decorated with fun illustrations of life in the valley, ranging across farms and barns, cows and birds, kids fishing and biking, skiers and golfers and painters, and even two … Continue reading Hopewell Valley Map Scarf by Ann Gross
This painting by Fred Schuster shows the Reading Railroad #602 steam engine travelling past the Hopewell train station. It’s fascinating, because Schuster took some artistic license in rendering the scene, imagining the old steam locomotive in the c1970s scene, and because Schuster is something of a mystery, since we do not have much information about … Continue reading Hopewell Train Station Painting with Steam Engine 602
This is the 2022 Edition of a compilation of some 40 Hopewell Borough History Briefs written over the past three years. These History Project research reports have been compiled into a book, which is now available as a free PDF download for convenient reference, searching, and printing. The goal of this ongoing work is to … Continue reading Hopewell Borough History Briefs – 2022 Edition
The February updates to the History Project featured Hopewell schools, plus old phone directories and some more recent history with photos from 2000. (See Site Updates for more.) By the numbers, we finished the month with 291 files in the Archives, including 144 documents and 147 maps and aerials. The Image Gallery now has 3209 … Continue reading February 2023 Update – School Days
Can you picture what our area was like twenty years ago, fifty years ago, a hundred years ago? We actually have a good collection of photographs of important local scenes across the Hopewell Valley around the turn of the century (1900), from postcards and some local photographers, and because local boosters were creating publications to … Continue reading History in Local Photos – 2000 and Today
Part of our Pamphlet Collection is a growing category of pamphlets from local schools, including the original Hopewell High School from the 1890s to 1920s (now the firehouse), and then Central High School from the 1930s. These include yearbooks, graduation programs, and programs for class plays. And now, courtesy of Roger Labaw, we have the … Continue reading Hopewell Elementary School 1952
In the recent post about Hopewell School Mascots, we discussed the interesting names of some of our local schools, including Toll Gate (named for the gatekeeper of the toll road) and Bear Tavern (named for a revolutionary-era drinking establishment). But where did the “Timberlane” name came from? Nicole Gianfredi, principal of Timberlane Middle School, kindly … Continue reading The Timberlane School Name
Can you imagine what it would be like in the late 1890s to have local telephone service become available in your town? Now you could call around town to chat with friends or for shopping, and in emergencies you could summon a doctor or report a fire. And soon thereafter you could call to farms … Continue reading Early Telephone Service – 1908 Phone Book
