History Project References

Collections of references for popular topics on the History Project site, with links to associated posts, full History Briefs (PDF), images, and presentation videos.

Contents

– Hopewell Quarry Posts – Quarry History – Swim Club History –
– Photos – Videos – Talk Video & References –

More on Hopewell Railroads

Two railroads were built in the 1870 to connect Philadelphia and New York by travelling up from the Delaware River, through Pennington and Hopewell, and then north towards New York. The Mercer and Somerset opened in 1874, but was shut down in 1880. The Delaware and Bound Brook opened in 1876, and is the predecessor of the line that still runs through the area.

Hopewell Valley Railroad Lines (1870s)

The Railroads of the Frog War
History Brief – Hopewell Valley Railroad Lines (PDF)
The Hopewell and Pennington Train Stations (1876)
History Brief – The Hopewell and Pennington Train Stations (PDF)
Image Gallery – Hopewell Boro Railroad Images

The Frog War (1876)

The “Frog War” in Hopewell – with references on the event and the railway
Presentation / Video – The Mercer and Somerset Story and The Frog War – tracing the M&S route

Hopewell Railroad Presentations

Presentation / Video – Industrial Hopewell: Railroad Place – References
Presentation / Video – Life in 1900s Hopewell With the Arrival of the Railroad – References
Presentation / Video – Hopewell Train Stations: History and Art – References

Railroad and Train Station Artifacts and Artwork

Hopewell Valley Railroad Artifacts
Video – 1940s videos of people boarding trains at the Hopewell Train station (YouTube)

More on the Frog War

The “Frog War” is the name of the confrontation that took place on January 5 and 6, 1876 at a railroad crossing just south of Hopewell Borough, as the Delaware & Bound Brook Railroad (D&BB) needed to construct a “frog” so that the tracks of its new line could cross the existing tracks of the Mercer & Somerset Railroad (M&S). After a violent confrontation, the D&BB succeeded, and brought two rail lines across the Hopewell Valley.

The Frog War (1876)

The “Frog War” in Hopewell – with references on the event and the railway
The Railroads of the Frog War – with newspaper articles and more on the competing railroad lines
Article – The Mercer & Somerset Railroad and a Frog War” by John Kilbride (2016)
Article – “Battle of the Frogs” (reprint of Sunday Times-Advertiser, April 30, 1916)
Presentation / Video – The Mercer and Somerset Story and The Frog War – tracing the M&S route

Links on Industrial Railroad Ave. and Somerset St.

Industrial Hopewell: Railroad Place – and video of the associated presentation
Hopewell Chocolate Factory (1892) – Tomato Factory (1892)
Railroad Sidings / FCA (c1875) – J. B Hill and Sons (c1875)
Kooltronic / Rockwell / Smith (1900) – Rose & Chubby’s (c1890s)
Somerset Street – Brickyard / Rockwell (1890)

More on Industrial Hopewell – Railroad Avenue and Somerset Street

The arrival of two railroads in the 1870s spurred the growth of the town of Hopewell. But local boosters also saw a greater opportunity, and invested in developing Railroad Place as an industrial district that could support larger-scale manufacturing. Further down, Somerset Street also was used as an incubator area for starting new businesses.

Industrial Hopewell – Railroad Place

Presentation / Video – Industrial Hopewell: Railroad Place – References

Railroad Place

Industrial Hopewell: Railroad Place
The Hopewell Chocolate Factory (1892) — History Brief (PDF)
The Tomato Factory (1892) — History Brief (PDF)
Hopewell Borough Railroad Sidings / FCA (c1875) — History Brief (PDF)
J. B Hill and Sons (c1875) — History Brief (PDF)
Kooltronic / Rockwell / Smith (1900) — History Brief (PDF)
Rose & Chubby’s Luncheonette (c1890s) — History Brief (PDF)

Somerset Street

Somerset Street – Brickyard / Rockwell (1890) — History Brief (PDF)
Hopewell Valley Brickyards
Somerset – Rockwell Fire Brigade (c1927) — History Brief (PDF)

More on the Hopewell Inn – 15 East Broad

The Hopewell Valley Bistro & Inn building at 15 East Broad Street on the corner of Seminary Avenue was demolished in July 2022. Long known as the Central Hotel, the building had a nearly 150 year history as a residential home and store, bar and restaurant, and lodging and apartments.

Hopewell Inn History

The Hopewell Inn / Central Hotel – Summary of the property’s history
Full History Brief – 15 East Broad Street, Hopewell – Hopewell Inn (c1878) (PDF)

Presentation

Presentation video and references – The Story of the Hopewell Inn – Video and References

Hopewell Inn Information

Hopewell Images During the Lindbergh Kidnapping (1932) – Exterior photos
Seeing What’s Different – Changes to the Hopewell Inn – 4 phases in the building’s design
Inside the Hopewell Inn – 1932 – Photos of the interior

Hopewell Inn Tours – 2022

Hopewell Inn Tours – Panoramas, Videos, Photos
Tour Panoramas – Browse 180- and 360-degree Pans in Panorama Collection
Tour Videos – Video walkthroughs of the first, second, and third floors (YouTube)
Tour Image Gallery – 130 images of a photo walkthrough of the entire building

Hopewell Inn Memorabilia

Hopewell Inn Memorabilia – Building and artifacts
Memorabilia Image Gallery – Hopewell Inn Memorabilia album

Hopewell Inn Media

Video – 1975 Video at the Hopewell Inn Bar – Clip of patrons at the bar
Photos – Hopewell Inn photos (15 East Broad) in the Image Gallery
History Map – 15 East Broad – Town map and historical images

Hopewell Inn Construction – 2023

Construction Image Gallery – Hopewell Inn Construction album

Hopewell Inn Demolition – July 2022

Hopewell Inn Demolition Updates – Photos and Videos
Demolition Image Gallery – Hopewell Inn Demolition album
Demolition Videos – Hopewell Inn Demolition Videos (YouTube)

More on Information from Local Photos

Even prosaic family snapshots of everyday life can be tremendously useful in understanding and illustrating local history, as they show more in the backgrounds, providing glimpses of people and places that were previously through to be lost.

Here are examples of the kind of information we can find from photo collections, that have been shared by several local families.

Yard Sailing for Local History – local discoveries
Easter Bonnet Photos – along the railroad tracks
Railroad Avenue – and Fletcher’s Castoria – display ads
Preserving Hopewell Yard Sale Artifacts – mementos
Hopewell’s Lost Liveries – liveries to auto repair
Hopewell 1913 Snowy Scenes – seeing the backgrounds
Memorial Day Snapshots – behind the Scenes
Snowy Day in Hopewell – 1910s – Blackwell & Railroad
Snowy Day in Hopewell – early 1900s – empty Broad & Greenwood
Memorial Day 1967 – Eagle Bakery
Hopewell Scenes – Memorial Day 1950 – 1990

More on Hopewell Phone Directories

Phone service in Hopewell started in 1899 with the Hopewell Telephone and Construction Company, which was acquired in 1904 by the Delaware and Atlantic Telephone Co., part of the Bell System. We have early phone directories from c1910. We also have the 1932 (Lindbergh) Hopewell Phone Directory that was compiled by the New Jersey State Police, who tracked toll calls made from the Hopewell area around the date of the kidnapping.

c1910 Phone Directories

Early Telephone Service – 1908 Phone Book – Phones come to the Hopewell Valley
PDF – 1908 Hopewell Area Bell Telephone Directory – Extract of Hopewell Valley & area listings
PDF – 1910 Hopewell Bell Telephone Directory – Extract of Hopewell listings
PDF – c1910 Annotated Hopewell Phone Directory (1908-1910) – Merged and annotated listings, 1908-1910

1932 (Lindbergh) Phone Directory

1932 Hopewell Phone Directory – From the Lindbergh kidnapping – Analyzing the listings
PDF – 1932 Hopewell Phone Directory Report – State Police directory
PDF – 1932 Hopewell Phone Directory – by Street – Listings sorted by street address

History Project References

More on the Hopewell Quarry and Swim Club

More on the Hopewell Harvest Fair

More on Town Events

More on Memorial Day Activities

More on Veterans Organizations

More on Hopewell Valley Schools

More on Hopewell Valley Churches