Hopewell Valley History Project
Preserving Our History
The 37th Annual Hopewell Harvest Fair is Saturday, September 20, 2025, from 9:45 am to 4 pm, at the Hopewell Elementary School, 35 Princeton Avenue, Hopewell, NJ. The rain date is Saturday, October 4. This volunteer community event has been providing fun and entertainment for Hopewell Valley families and friends since 1987. Walk the Town … Continue reading Hopewell Harvest Fair – 2025
The August 2025 updates to the History Project included the Builders’ Guide to Hopewell Valley Construction Projects, the Toll Gate and Hopewell Elementary School Centennials, an odd Rorer Funeral Football Ladle, and additional material, especially for area schools. (See Site Updates for more.) Builders’ Guide to Hopewell Valley Construction Projects The Builders’ Guide to Hopewell … Continue reading August 2025 Update – Builders’ Guide and School Centennials
We know the stories of some of our historical buildings – but who actually designed and built them, and to what specifications? Who designed and built St. Michael’s Orphanage and its additions, or the school buildings on South Main in Pennington, or other town halls and residences, schools and churches, banks and theaters? It turns … Continue reading Builders’ Guide to Hopewell Valley Construction Projects – 1888-1940
We’re coming up on Memorial Day weekend, featuring the Hopewell Borough and Pennington parades on Sunday and Monday, respectively. As it does each year, the Hopewell American Legion post has been placing flags in the local cemeteries to mark the graves of military veterans. This practice goes back to the beginnings of Memorial Day, begun … Continue reading Hopewell Memorial Day 2025 – Flags, Parades, and Veterans Observances
These two Curriculum booklets describe the subjects and courses available to students at Central High School in Pennington – first in 1962, and then more than a decade later in 1976. There were dramatic changes from the early 60’s to the mid 70’s. Both booklets list both college preparatory and vocational tracks, but with significant … Continue reading Central High School Curriculum: 1962 & 1976
These amazing photos from the second half of the 1960s show classrooms at Hopewell Central High School – providing a view of that time and place – the teachers and students, the classroom setup and equipment, and the information being taught. These photos show two classrooms for business classes taught by Edith Kostron: a typing … Continue reading Business Classes at Central High School, c. 1966
What was high school like a half-century ago? We have some ideas from class photos and yearbooks, and some glimpses of school life from reports of class trips and the like. But what about daily school life? Now we have a better and more complete answer. As part of the education major in the 1960s … Continue reading Central High School 1962 Practicum Report
This 1961-62 Student Handbook for the Central High School has several very different collections of information that students need to know. The Handbook starts with an extensive discussion of school Rules and Regulations, both for normal operations and for exceptions and problems. This is followed by descriptions of the 40-some school Clubs and Activities. Near … Continue reading Central High School 1961 Student Handbook
Why does a 1900 Hopewell National Bank check have what looks like a postage stamp on it, and why is it cut through in the middle? These checks from 1886 and 1900 help us take a look into banking in this area around the turn of the century. The two 1886 checks are drawn on … Continue reading 1900s Hopewell Bank Checks
This fun photo is annotated as “Mrs. Scharringhausen & Miss Scott, my 7th & 8th grade teachers.” The note was written by Edna B. Moore, who graduated from the Hopewell Grammar School on Model Avenue in 1923 (after 8th grade), and the Hopewell High School (in Pennington) in 1927. Mrs. Scharring-Hausen (as usually spelled) and … Continue reading 1920s Hopewell Teachers – Scott & Scharring-Hausen
