Hopewell Valley History Project
Preserving Our History
The September updates to the History Project included several posts on the history of the Hopewell Quarry Swim Club, photos of the Van Doren lumberyard fires, and two upcoming talks. (See Site Updates for more.) By the numbers, we finished the month with 281 files in the Archives, including 136 documents and 145 maps and … Continue reading September 2022 Update – Hopewell Quarry
The August updates to the History Project included a new brief on the Finney & Fetter Saw & Feed Mill, two videos of Local History Talks by Jack Koeppel, new local railroad photos, and other goodies. (See Site Updates for more.) By the numbers, we finished the month with 280 files in the Archives, including … Continue reading August 2022 Update – Finney & Fetter
One of the most exciting developments of the last year of the History Project has been the discovery of previously-unknown images of the Hopewell and Pennington train stations. These not only help illustrate the history of the two stations, but also show now-gone station buildings including the passenger sheds and sidings, the Pennington underpass, the … Continue reading Images of the HOPE Switch Tower
The April updates to the History Project featured posts and briefs and images of Hoproco toys – and the Hoproco manufacturing site in Hopewell. The major new documents are transcribed versions of two Hopewell booklets – Healthy, Historic Hopewell from 1897, and 1909 Hopewell New Jersey – now fully readable and searchable. There also are … Continue reading April 2022 Update – Hoproco Toys
The March updates to the History Project featured three videos showing Hopewell parades in 1946, 1947, and 1948. The major new documents are transcribed versions of two special issues of the Hopewell Herald – the 1900 Souvenir Edition and the 1914 Progress Edition – now fully readable and searchable. There also are some fun photos … Continue reading March 2022 Update – Parade Videos
Oh, look! – A charming view down Railroad Avenue in Hopewell in the early 1900s. In the foreground are the flowers that decorated the train station, and down the street from right to left are the house at the corner of Blackwell Avenue, then the front of a barn, the back of another barn, and … Continue reading Fletcher’s Castoria
This is an amazing 1914 map of the entire Delaware & Raritan Canal system. The map was drawn by the Pennsylvania Railroad, who owned the canal from 1871 until 1933. The canal then reverted to the state of New Jersey and used as a water supply. The 70-mile Delaware & Raritan Canal State Park was … Continue reading 1914 Delaware & Raritan Canal Map
We are amazingly blessed to have some two hours of video, shot in and around Hopewell Borough eighty years ago(!) – from 1941 through 1947. The original 8 mm films were transferred to digital, and now are being posted on the new History Project YouTube channel. These provide a wonderful “slice of life” view of … Continue reading 1940s Hopewell Videos
Over the past couple of years we’ve collected and shared an extensive variety of materials covering the history of the Hopewell Valley – documents and pamphlets, maps and aerials, photos and postcards, and more. So now it’s time to add videos! The new Video Gallery is starting out with a collection of links to videos … Continue reading New Hopewell History Video Gallery
The mania of trolley construction in the United States in the early 1900s included one line from Trenton servicing Hopewell and Pennington from 1902 to 1931, and two competing lines to Lawrenceville and Princeton from 1899 to 1939. The rails have long since been torn up – apparently to be used as scrap for World … Continue reading Hopewell Valley Trolley Routes – 1902 – 1931
