The HVHS Newsletter
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Since its organization in 1975, the Hopewell Valley Historical Society has published a Newsletter that includes well-researched articles and interesting stories pertaining to Hopewell Valley's rich history, illustrated with old photographs and maps.
The HVHS Newsletter has been published since 1975, with a total of 1005 pages through 2021. The full set of issues except for the most recent years are now available online to browse and search. The Newsletter has won awards in state competitions over the years for its excellent design and historical content. Each issue features one or more well researched articles that explore Hopewell Valley’s rich past, highlighting interesting places, structures, and people from Hopewell Valley's past. These stories bring local history alive, honoring the people who have lived here and their accomplishments, including their fine homes, farmsteads, churches, schools, and commercial buildings that are still standing. Membership in the Society guarantees first access to the Newsletter, four times a year. Make history come alive - join us today and stay informed about the past. |
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HVHS Newsletter Archive
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The Hopewell Valley Historical Society's Newsletter Archive is available online for interested readers and researchers - with the full text of the issues, and searchable.
As of January 2023, the current Newsletter Archive covers 47 years, from 1975 through 2021. This includes 124 issues containing 1005 newsletter pages, with some 250 feature articles, as well as updates on local historical activities. |
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Full Newsletter Archive
The Newsletter is posted as a single file, in PDF (Adobe Acrobat) format. The file is large (around 50 MB), so is best downloaded and viewed locally. The file contains the full text, and is fully searchable, so the reader can efficiently browse and search across all the issues at once. To assist readers, newsletters have been augmented with a full table of contents, a separate list of feature articles, and extensive indexes of terms and other categories including businesses, maps, names, and publications. The contents and index also are fully linked - simply click and jump directly to the corresponding page. Click to download the full HVHS Newsletter Archive file: |
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Newsletter Contents
Since the full Newsletter is a large file, the list of issues, table of contents, and feature articles are posted separately for quick download and reference. Click to browse and search the contents of the Newsletters: |
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Selected Newsletter Articles
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In addition, the HVHS is periodically posting individual articles of interest from the Newsletter, for example, related to the anniversaries of Women's Suffrage and the Frog War. The articles are posted on Google Drive in PDF format for convenient access and searching. See the articles list below for summaries of the posted articles. Click to view selected Newsletter articles:
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General
Stony Brook Runs Through It - Hopewell Valley Golf Club Reaches its 90 Year Milestone - Fall 2017, p 853
David Blackwell on the history of the Hopewell Valley Golf Club, including the earlier use of the property including the Native American village of Wissamencey along the Stony Brook, grist and saw mills from around 1720, the Moore family farm from 1798, and E. G. Wells, a horse breeder who named the Glenmoore train station in 1890.
William P. Howe, Pennington Visionary - Fall 2012, p. 673
Jack Koeppel on Pennington visionary William P. Howe - "No other single person in the history of Pennington did so much to guide, shape and make it a perfect place to raise a family. Howe created streets and building lots, planted flowering trees and bushes, and served as mayor twice. For many years he was the town’s largest employer [through his Howe Nurseries business]."
Women's Suffrage in Hopewell Valley - Part One: 1776 - 1916 - Fall/Winter 2020, p. 941
Series on the Women's Suffrage Movement in Hopewell Valley, by Joseph R. Klett, Executive Director of the New Jersey State Archives, president of The Hopewell Museum, and a life member of the Hopewell Valley Historical Society. The articles were inspired by the centennial of the passage of the 19th Amendment to the federal constitution granting women voting equality in the U.S.
Caring for the Poor in Hopewell Township [Poor Farm] - Spring 2018, p. 873
David Blackwell on the Hopewell Township Poor Farm, now memorialized by Poor Farm Road. The only role of early Hopewell township government in 1722 that required funding was relief of the poor, often by paid apprenticeships. In 1821 the Township purchased land and established a Poor Farm where the poor could live, work in a garden, and sell produce and firewood. Due to the use of foster homes and pensions, the use of the facility dwindled, and it was closed in 1951, the last Poor Farm in New Jersey.
The Finney and Fetter Steam Saw Mill - Summer 2008, p. 536
http://bit.ly/HVHS-Fetter-Mill
Jack Davis on the Finney and Fetter steam sawmill, built in in Hopewell in 1874 and run by Anthony G. Fetter, perhaps Hopewell Borough’s first industrialist.
Railroad / Frog War
Clues from Hopewell Valley’s Long Lost Railroad [Mercer & Somerset] - Fall 2007, p. 507
The saga of the Mercer & Somerset Railroad and the Frog War, by Jack Koeppel, former president of the Hopewell Valley Historical Society. Includes a tour along the path of the M&S, pointing out some of the remaining artifacts.
Includes: On Railroads in Hopewell Valley
Original notes of Mrs. Isabel Clarkson, who came to Pennington in 1870 as the wife of Daniel A Clarkson, builder of both the still-existing Hopewell and Pennington train stations, and the first Mayor of the Borough of Pennington. She discusses the development of the Mercer and Somerset and the Delaware and Bound Brook lines and stations in Pennington.
Celebrating America’s Centennial - 1876 / Delaware & Bound Brook Railroad Opens - Summer 2010, p. 593
Jack Davis on the Delaware & Bound Brook Railroad, which opened in the Centennial year of 1876, after Hopewell’s famous Frog War in early January. Local towns celebrated the Centennial with parades and cannons and fireworks and orations. Trains to Philadelphia were jammed with visitors for the Centennial Exposition, which was open from May to November
Includes: Railroad Communities in Hopewell Valley: Glenmoore
Jordan Antebi on the Glenmoore station of the Delaware and Bound Brook Railroad, which also had stations in Pennington and Hopewell. Originally called "Moore’s," Glenmoore was essentially created by the railroad and got its name from the Thomas Moore estate, which later became the Hopewell Valley Golf Club. The property included a gristmill (Hopewell’s first) referred to as "Moore’s Mill," which ground grain to manufacture flour. The Glenmoore station was built by the mid to late 1890s and operated to 1951. It also was used for trolley service from 1903 to 1924.
Includes: Railroad Communities in Hopewell Valley: Moore’s Station
Jordan Antebi on the Moore’s Station of the Belvidere and Delaware Railroad Company ("Bel-Del"), which was the first railroad in Hopewell Valley, when it laid track in 1850. The Moore’s Station stop was at the western end of Pleasant Valley Road, where Moore’s Creek empties into the Delaware River, 12.7 miles from the passenger terminal in Trenton and 1.8 miles from the station in Titusville. The stop was eliminated by 1931, although the area continued to serve as a siding. The Bel-Del was eventually abandoned, and the rails were removed in 1979. The former railroad right-of-way is now a recreational trail for the Delaware and Raritan Canal State Park.
Stoutsburg
In Search of Stoutsburg - Late Summer 2011, p. 623 - 628
Jack Davis provides an extensive description of Stoutsburg as a thriving crossroads village at Route 518 on Province Line Road. In the early 19th century, Stoutsburg featured a tavern, blacksmith and wheelwright shops, a medical practice, and a nearby mill.
From Slavery to Freedom: The African American Blew Family of Stoutsburg - Late Winter/Spring 2017, p. 835
Jack Davis on the story of the African American Blew Family of Stoutsburg, property owners related to Moses Blew, who was a dynamic, risk-taking African American businessman in the early 19th century.
Stoutsburg Cemetery and The Hamlet That Gave It Its Name - Summer 2001, p. 289
Jack and Lorraine Seabrook on a Memorial Day visit to the Stoutsburg cemetery, up Province Line Road from Route 518, past the Hunt house, where the Battle of Monmouth was planned. The Stoutsburg Cemetery Association was formed to provide a place for African American burials, and the site has some 200 gravestones, back to William Stives, who fought in the American Revolution and died in 1839.
Stony Brook Runs Through It - Hopewell Valley Golf Club Reaches its 90 Year Milestone - Fall 2017, p 853
David Blackwell on the history of the Hopewell Valley Golf Club, including the earlier use of the property including the Native American village of Wissamencey along the Stony Brook, grist and saw mills from around 1720, the Moore family farm from 1798, and E. G. Wells, a horse breeder who named the Glenmoore train station in 1890.
William P. Howe, Pennington Visionary - Fall 2012, p. 673
Jack Koeppel on Pennington visionary William P. Howe - "No other single person in the history of Pennington did so much to guide, shape and make it a perfect place to raise a family. Howe created streets and building lots, planted flowering trees and bushes, and served as mayor twice. For many years he was the town’s largest employer [through his Howe Nurseries business]."
Women's Suffrage in Hopewell Valley - Part One: 1776 - 1916 - Fall/Winter 2020, p. 941
Series on the Women's Suffrage Movement in Hopewell Valley, by Joseph R. Klett, Executive Director of the New Jersey State Archives, president of The Hopewell Museum, and a life member of the Hopewell Valley Historical Society. The articles were inspired by the centennial of the passage of the 19th Amendment to the federal constitution granting women voting equality in the U.S.
Caring for the Poor in Hopewell Township [Poor Farm] - Spring 2018, p. 873
David Blackwell on the Hopewell Township Poor Farm, now memorialized by Poor Farm Road. The only role of early Hopewell township government in 1722 that required funding was relief of the poor, often by paid apprenticeships. In 1821 the Township purchased land and established a Poor Farm where the poor could live, work in a garden, and sell produce and firewood. Due to the use of foster homes and pensions, the use of the facility dwindled, and it was closed in 1951, the last Poor Farm in New Jersey.
The Finney and Fetter Steam Saw Mill - Summer 2008, p. 536
http://bit.ly/HVHS-Fetter-Mill
Jack Davis on the Finney and Fetter steam sawmill, built in in Hopewell in 1874 and run by Anthony G. Fetter, perhaps Hopewell Borough’s first industrialist.
Railroad / Frog War
Clues from Hopewell Valley’s Long Lost Railroad [Mercer & Somerset] - Fall 2007, p. 507
The saga of the Mercer & Somerset Railroad and the Frog War, by Jack Koeppel, former president of the Hopewell Valley Historical Society. Includes a tour along the path of the M&S, pointing out some of the remaining artifacts.
Includes: On Railroads in Hopewell Valley
Original notes of Mrs. Isabel Clarkson, who came to Pennington in 1870 as the wife of Daniel A Clarkson, builder of both the still-existing Hopewell and Pennington train stations, and the first Mayor of the Borough of Pennington. She discusses the development of the Mercer and Somerset and the Delaware and Bound Brook lines and stations in Pennington.
Celebrating America’s Centennial - 1876 / Delaware & Bound Brook Railroad Opens - Summer 2010, p. 593
Jack Davis on the Delaware & Bound Brook Railroad, which opened in the Centennial year of 1876, after Hopewell’s famous Frog War in early January. Local towns celebrated the Centennial with parades and cannons and fireworks and orations. Trains to Philadelphia were jammed with visitors for the Centennial Exposition, which was open from May to November
Includes: Railroad Communities in Hopewell Valley: Glenmoore
Jordan Antebi on the Glenmoore station of the Delaware and Bound Brook Railroad, which also had stations in Pennington and Hopewell. Originally called "Moore’s," Glenmoore was essentially created by the railroad and got its name from the Thomas Moore estate, which later became the Hopewell Valley Golf Club. The property included a gristmill (Hopewell’s first) referred to as "Moore’s Mill," which ground grain to manufacture flour. The Glenmoore station was built by the mid to late 1890s and operated to 1951. It also was used for trolley service from 1903 to 1924.
Includes: Railroad Communities in Hopewell Valley: Moore’s Station
Jordan Antebi on the Moore’s Station of the Belvidere and Delaware Railroad Company ("Bel-Del"), which was the first railroad in Hopewell Valley, when it laid track in 1850. The Moore’s Station stop was at the western end of Pleasant Valley Road, where Moore’s Creek empties into the Delaware River, 12.7 miles from the passenger terminal in Trenton and 1.8 miles from the station in Titusville. The stop was eliminated by 1931, although the area continued to serve as a siding. The Bel-Del was eventually abandoned, and the rails were removed in 1979. The former railroad right-of-way is now a recreational trail for the Delaware and Raritan Canal State Park.
Stoutsburg
In Search of Stoutsburg - Late Summer 2011, p. 623 - 628
Jack Davis provides an extensive description of Stoutsburg as a thriving crossroads village at Route 518 on Province Line Road. In the early 19th century, Stoutsburg featured a tavern, blacksmith and wheelwright shops, a medical practice, and a nearby mill.
From Slavery to Freedom: The African American Blew Family of Stoutsburg - Late Winter/Spring 2017, p. 835
Jack Davis on the story of the African American Blew Family of Stoutsburg, property owners related to Moses Blew, who was a dynamic, risk-taking African American businessman in the early 19th century.
Stoutsburg Cemetery and The Hamlet That Gave It Its Name - Summer 2001, p. 289
Jack and Lorraine Seabrook on a Memorial Day visit to the Stoutsburg cemetery, up Province Line Road from Route 518, past the Hunt house, where the Battle of Monmouth was planned. The Stoutsburg Cemetery Association was formed to provide a place for African American burials, and the site has some 200 gravestones, back to William Stives, who fought in the American Revolution and died in 1839.