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
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
The January updates to the History Project featured Hopewell school mascots, plus historic photos of “railroad trains and flooded bridges.” (See Site Updates for more.) By the numbers, we finished the month with 290 files in the Archives, including 143 documents and 147 maps and aerials. The Image Gallery now has 3195 files, and the … Continue reading January 2023 Update – School Mascots
Bulldogs, Timber Wolves, Bears, Frogs, All-Stars, and Alligators, oh my! These are the mascots of the schools of our Hopewell Valley Regional School District. Some of the schools use official logos that pretty much ignore the mascots, like Bear Tavern and Toll Gate, while others like Central High and Timberlane and Hopewell go all-in on … Continue reading Hopewell School Mascots – and the Frog
Here are two pairs of images of local scenes of railroad trains and flooded bridges, thanks to family photos from two kind contributors. The first pair show a “Bel-Del” Railroad train near Titusville in the 1940s – and the Washington Crossing bridge during the 1955 flood. The second pair shows a Reading Railroad train at … Continue reading Railroad Trains and Flooded Bridges
by Douglas Dixon Here are some of the highlights of the 2022 additions to the History Project site, with links to more information, plus associated documents, maps, photos, and videos. The purpose of the Hopewell Valley History Project is assemble an archive of reference material in local history, shared online in digital and searchable formats … Continue reading Hopewell History Project – 2022 Highlights
The arrival of railroad service in the 1870s along the foothills of the Sourlands helped drive the development of Hopewell into the town that we know today. See below for the presentation video and slides, and references from the Life in 1900s Hopewell With the Arrival of the Railroad presentation by Douglas Dixon, held on … Continue reading Hopewell with the Arrival of the Railroad – Video and References
The October updates to the History Project included several posts on the railroad in Hopewell, plus the Model Ave. Lumber Yard, more on the Twin Pine airport, and Hopewell toys of the 1920s. (See Site Updates for more.) By the numbers, we finished the month with 284 files in the Archives, including 137 documents and … Continue reading October 2022 Update – The Railroad in Hopewell
Tomatoes and milk, chocolates and lumber – just some of the products that helped Hopewell grow after the arrival of the railroads in the 1870s. This Thursday, October 27, Doug Dixon will present Life in 1900s Hopewell with the Arrival of the Railroad, exploring how the arrival of the railroad drove the development of Hopewell … Continue reading When The Railroad Came to Hopewell
Here are some amazing artifacts of the early railroad service in the Hopewell Valley, courtesy of Rich Anderson and family. And they raise interesting questions … The first railroad to arrive in the area was the Mercer and Somerset (M&S), which started service in 1874 as part of the Pennsylvania Railroad system. The Delaware and … Continue reading Hopewell Valley Railroad Artifacts
