Hopewell Valley History Project
Preserving Our History
The Hopewell Valley History Project and the Pennington Public Library are pleased to announce the release of the new Digital Edition of Margaret J. O’Connell’s comprehensive book, Pennington Profile, A Capsule of State and Nation. The book, previously out of print, was originally published by Margaret O’Connell in 1966, and was republished by the Pennington … Continue reading Pennington Profile – Digital Edition Released
It’s Hopewell Borough’s annual Town-Wide Yard Sale weekend, Saturday and Sunday, June 11 & 12. So as you clear out the attic and browse the sales – this weekend and this summer – please be on the lookout for historic artifacts that we can preserve and share here on the History Project site. Here are … Continue reading Yard Sailing for Local History
This is the story of how the news came to Hopewell of its first son who was killed in World War II – Irvin D. Van Nest, Jr. (1916-1943). The story is told by Dean Ashton, who published over 50 issues of his “Hopewell News” news-sheet during the war, with a distribution of over 500 … Continue reading Memorial Day – Hopewell’s First Fatality in WW II
We are lucky to have two booklets passed on to us from Hopewell boosters from over a century ago – Healthy, Historic Hopewell from 1897, and 1909 Hopewell New Jersey. Each is over 50 pages, with text plus 40-some photos to “set forth the advantages of Hopewell as a place of residence” – and as … Continue reading Hopewell Reference Books – HHH 1897 & 1909 Hopewell
We are very fortunate that our predecessors in Hopewell Borough wrote down and published the stories of their times. For example, we have Ralph Ege’s Pioneers of Old Hopewell book of local history (1908), several booklets promoting the town as a place for potential businesses and residents (1897 & 1909 – see below), and, of … Continue reading 1900 & 1914 Hopewell Progress Editions
== NOTE: See the Hopewell Borough History Briefs, 2022 Edition for an update to this earlier edition, now containing some 40 History Briefs. == 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 … 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
Gary Saretzky has kindly shared his collection of black and white photographs of Hopewell Borough from 1978 to 1980, which also conveniently provide a record of the buildings and businesses of the time. UPDATE – 9/15/21 – Added 7 more Hopewell photographs from Gary Saretzky == See the Hopewell Photography album in the Image Galley … Continue reading Hopewell Photographs by Gary Saretzky
The March updates on the Hopewell Valley History Project site included reports on the Second Calvary Baptist Church of Hopewell and the Hopewell Tomato Factory, photos of Tomato Factory artifacts and the back of the Chocolate Factory, new Hopewell Borough 1972 Aerials, and the full 1964 Mercer County Tercentenary booklet. By the numbers, we finished … Continue reading March 2021 Update – Hopewell & Mercer
In 1964, Mercer County celebrated the “300th Anniversary of New Jersey” with a wonderful commemorative book, Mercer County Tercentenary 1664-1964, which provides a broad snapshot of the time, with extensive discussions of the history, current status, and path forward for the county – from a rather optimistic and positive perspective. This book is in the … Continue reading Mercer County Tercentenary, 1664-1964
