Hopewell Valley History Project
Preserving Our History
We’ve compiled together twenty History Briefs written over the past two years and packaged them up as a “book” (free PDF download) for convenient reference, searching, and printing. These History Project research reports provide historical information and chronologies on Hopewell Borough organizations, businesses, and properties, and the people that made them. See below for some … Continue reading Hopewell Borough History Briefs – The Book
It’s difficult to imagine life in Hopewell Township in 1880 – almost century and a half ago. It was an exciting time, since two train lines had been recently built though the township, accelerating the growth of the region. (See the Hopewell Railroads post.) We are blessed with some maps of the area, including details … Continue reading The Villages of Hopewell Township in 1883
Somerset Street is the lost street of Hopewell Borough. Yes, the street is still there, but the physical history is gone – all the homes and buildings, and even the remnants of foundations and the ground itself are lost. This was mostly the result of the clean-up in the 1990s of the contamination from the … Continue reading Lost Somerset Street
The December updates to the Hopewell Valley History Project site included historical photos of snowy views around the valley, the Hopewell train station, and some possibly false images around the area. Plus a 1924 high school program packed with ads for local businesses, and New York Times articles published directly after the Hopewell Frog War. … Continue reading December 2021 Update – Hopewell or Not
The webinar video for the Hopewell Train Stations: History and Art meeting and online presentation held on December 1, 2021 has been posted for viewing. See the References post for other associated material on the train stations, including the presentation slides, slide shows, associated briefs for the train stations and railroad lines, and information on … Continue reading Hopewell Train Stations – Webinar Video
Here are some chilly-looking seasonal views of perhaps familiar scenes around Hopewell. As a bonus these vistas seem much more open – with the snow on the ground, and the leaves off the trees you can really see the surrounding area. And the 1960 vintage cars just complete the picture. See more snowy images in … Continue reading 1960s Hopewell Snowy Views
If you’re interested in families and businesses from a century ago, then check out this December 1924 program for the annual Hopewell High School senior class play. The program lists some 23 names of student performers – plus has 59 small ads for local businesses in Hopewell, Pennington, and Ringoes. == View the full 1924 … Continue reading 1924 Hopewell High School Program and Ads
Are these photos of Hopewell Valley – or not? This is a challenge that the History Project team faces when trying to identify newly contributed historic images. So now it’s your turn to decide which of these scenes are from the Hopewell Valley area, and identify the locations. In this case, the images are a … Continue reading Hopewell Valley or Not – Challenge!
We think of the Frog War as a local Hopewell thing, and really rather goofy – with cute frog logos for the Elementary School (see earlier post). But the Frog War was very serious business for the two heavyweight contenders that were fighting to preserve (or break) a monopoly on direct rail service between Philadelphia … Continue reading The Railroads of the Frog War
References and links for the Hopewell Train Stations: History and Art presentation on the Hopewell and Pennington train stations that was held on December 1, 2021. These include the online video (to be done), the presentation slides (13 pp.), the associated slide shows on the two stations (75 images), and more detailed briefs on the … Continue reading Hopewell Train Stations: History and Art – References
