Hopewell Valley History Project
Preserving Our History
We are coming up on the 100th anniversaries for two of our local schools next year – Toll Gate Grammar School and Hopewell Elementary School. Groups at both schools are making plans, so if you have ideas and historic materials to share, please do get in touch. As a start towards celebrating the centennial of … Continue reading Toll Gate and Hopewell Elementary School Centennials
For another glimpse of long-gone school days, this is the April 1941 issue of the Hopewell Elementary School student paper, The Keyhole, kindly shared by the Kolbert family (see earlier post). It is fourteen typewritten pages with illustrations by Eleanora McAlinden, including news for what each grade was doing, personal updates on some of the … Continue reading 1941 Hopewell Elementary School Newspaper
The May 2025 updates to the History Project included the story of World War II bomber construction at Trenton / Mercer Airport, a comparison of Hopewell high school curriculums from the 1960s and 1970, and local Memorial Day events. There also are fun videos of local trains and past booklets on the Hopewell Valley, government, … Continue reading May 2025 Update – WW II Bombers At Mercer Airport
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
The April 2025 updates to the History Project included extensive detail on the contract and specification for the construction of a Hopewell house in 1938, and more information on Central High School in the 1930s in the form of over 10 photos of students in business classes. (See Site Updates for more.) Hopewell House Construction … Continue reading April 2025 Update – 1998 House Construction & 1960s High School Photos
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
The March 2025 updates to the History Project focused on the extended history of Franco’s Pizza and the Eagle Bakery in Hopewell, and extensive detail on the operations of Central High School in the early 1960s. (See Site Updates for more.) Piggott to Franco’s Pizza and the Eagle Bakery Franco’s / Vincenzo’s Pizza, and the … Continue reading March 2025 Update – Franco’s Pizza and Eagle Bakery
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
The February 2025 updates to the History Project include materials on the the stories of two teachers from the Hopewell Grammar School in the 1920s, a new Schools album in the Image Gallery with additional class photos from the 1920s to 1950s, artifacts from the Hopewell National Bank, and a variety of historical Pennington booklets … Continue reading February 2025 Update – Teachers and Schools
