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
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
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 Industrial Sites on Model Avenue
Model Avenue was the first site of industrial development in Hopewell Borough after the arrival of train service in the 1870s, followed by Railroad Place.
Hopewell with the Arrival of the Railroad
- Presentation / Video – Hopewell with the Arrival of the Railroad – References
Finney & Fetter Saw & Feed Mill (1874)
- Finney & Fetter Saw & Feed Mill
- History Brief – 93 Model Ave., Hopewell – Fetter Saw Mill (PDF)
Golden & Van Doren Lumber Yard (1892)
- Model Ave. Lumber Yard – Golden & Van Doren
- Van Doren Lumberyard Fires
- History Brief – 24 Model Ave., Hopewell – Lumberyard (PDF)
- Image Gallery – Van Doren / Golden mementos – Lumberyard Fires
The Hopewell Creamery (c. 1887)
- The Hopewell Creamery
- History Brief – The Hopewell Creamery (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.
Upcoming Talk – May 3, 2023
Hopewell Inn History
- The Hopewell Inn / Central Hotel – Summary of the property’s history
- History Brief – 15 East Broad Street, Hopewell – Hopewell Inn (c1878) (PDF)
- History Map – 15 East Broad – Property map and historical images
Hopewell Inn Tours – 2022
- Hopewell Inn Tour – Panoramas, Videos, Photos
- Panoramas – Browse 180- and 360-degree Pans in Panorama Collection
- Videos – Video walkthroughs of the first, second, and third floors (YouTube)
- Image Gallery – 130 images of a photo walkthrough of the building and the basement
Hopewell Inn Memorabilia
- Hopewell Inn Memorabilia – Building and artifacts
- Image Gallery – Hopewell Inn Memorabilia album
Hopewell Inn Demolition – July 2022
- Hopewell Inn Demolition Updates – Photos and Videos
- Image Gallery – Hopewell Inn Demolition album
- Videos – Hopewell Inn Demolition Videos (YouTube)
More on Hoproco Toys
Hoproco, the Hopewell Products Company, operated from 1923 to 1929 at 18 Burton Avenue in Hopewell, and is still remembered for the five known metal toys it created.
Hoproco History
- Hoproco – Hopewell’s 1920s Toy Company – Summary of the company and the toys
- Hopewell Toys of the 1920s – More on toys of the period and how Hoproco fit into the market
- Hoproco – Hopewell’s 1920s Toy Company – Talk & Exhibits – Talk description
- Hoproco Toy Company – Video and References – Talk video and references
Video
- Talk Video – Hoproco – Hopewell’s 1920s Toy Company – 11/2022 (YouTube)
- Talk Slides – Hoproco – Updated version of the presentation slides (PDF)
Briefs
- Hoproco History Brief – Hoproco Tin Toys (1920s) (PDF)
- Factory History Brief – 18 Burton Avenue – Stair / Toy Factory (1897) (PDF)
- Handout – Hoproco Toys Handout (PDF) – One page summary of the five Hoproco toys
Images
- Image Gallery – Hoproco Toys album – 45+ images of the toys and materials
Map
- History Map – 18 Burton Avenue – Property map and historical images
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
