Hopewell Valley History Project
Preserving Our History
The May updates to the History Project included a video of the 1965 Titusville July 4th celebration and a 1975 video of the bar at the Hopewell Inn, plus historic images of William Howe’s “Dixie Farm” in Pennington, and video and references for the Hopewell Inn presentation. (See Site Updates for more.) By the numbers, … Continue reading May 2023 Update – Memorial Day
It’s Memorial Day weekend, with the Hopewell Borough parade on Sunday at 1 pm, and the Pennington Parade on Monday at 11 am. Local veterans groups will also be holding memorial services over the weekend – in Hopewell Township on Saturday, and Hopewell Borough and Pennington before the parades on Sunday and Monday, respectively. The … Continue reading Hopewell Memorial Day Weekend Parades and Veterans Services 2023
We have five fascinating historic (and snowy) images of 65 Main Street, known as “Dixie Farm” when it was the home of William P. Howe, Sr. from 1910 to around 1913. The postcard shows a formal view of the structure from around the 1910s, with a two-story circular colonnaded portico framing the front door and … Continue reading William Howe’s “Dixie Farm” on S. Main in Pennington
These first two images from around 1912 show the view from the Lincoln Grammar School on Model Avenue in Hopewell, as photographed by Ethel Holeman, a new teacher starting her career there. These are from the collection of her daughter, Eleanora McAlinden Kolbert. But in addition to celebrating this young teacher who thought to take … Continue reading Hopewell Grammar School Kids – c1912
The March updates to the History Project featured the updated Hopewell Borough History Briefs – 2022 Edition, plus a variety of fun contributions, and the upcoming talk on the Hopewell Inn. (See Site Updates for more.) By the numbers, we finished the month with 299 files in the Archives, including 149 documents and 150 maps … Continue reading March 2023 Update – History Briefs Edition
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 wonderful bandana with a Hopewell Valley map is by Ann Gross, and dated 1974. The map features our major places, roads, and rivers, and is decorated with fun illustrations of life in the valley, ranging across farms and barns, cows and birds, kids fishing and biking, skiers and golfers and painters, and even two … Continue reading Hopewell Valley Map Scarf by Ann Gross
The February updates to the History Project featured Hopewell schools, plus old phone directories and some more recent history with photos from 2000. (See Site Updates for more.) By the numbers, we finished the month with 291 files in the Archives, including 144 documents and 147 maps and aerials. The Image Gallery now has 3209 … Continue reading February 2023 Update – School Days
In the recent post about Hopewell School Mascots, we discussed the interesting names of some of our local schools, including Toll Gate (named for the gatekeeper of the toll road) and Bear Tavern (named for a revolutionary-era drinking establishment). But where did the “Timberlane” name came from? Nicole Gianfredi, principal of Timberlane Middle School, kindly … Continue reading The Timberlane School Name
Can you imagine what it would be like in the late 1890s to have local telephone service become available in your town? Now you could call around town to chat with friends or for shopping, and in emergencies you could summon a doctor or report a fire. And soon thereafter you could call to farms … Continue reading Early Telephone Service – 1908 Phone Book
