Programs
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The Hopewell Valley Historical Society regularly sponsors community programs on local history, often in partnership with the Hopewell Museum and the Pennington Library. These programs typically are free and open to the public.
Upcoming:
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Note on Internet Webinars: These upcoming programs are presented as online webinars, typically using the Zoom or GotoMeeting video conferencing applications. You then view these presentations live on a computer, or on a mobile tablet or even a smartphone. (You also can use these applications for videoconferencing, using a camera with your device to send your own video and audio, but you don't need these features just to view the presentations.) See Using Zoom on the Pennington Library site for more information on setting up Zoom, and the GoToMeeting Installation Instructions (PDF) to set up GotoMeeting.
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HVHS Archives Reopen
June 2021
The Hopewell Valley Historical Society is pleased to announce the reopening of our archives on Friday, June 4. Located at the Hopewell Township branch of the Mercer County, we will be available on Fridays from noon to 4pm.
Space in the room is limited. Please email research requests in advance of your visit. This will allow us to gather your materials for review at a reading room table.
Please comply with all safety rules mandated by the library. We look forward to seeing you soon!
Space in the room is limited. Please email research requests in advance of your visit. This will allow us to gather your materials for review at a reading room table.
Please comply with all safety rules mandated by the library. We look forward to seeing you soon!
Industrial Hopewell: The Growth of Railroad Place
An Online Virtual Tour - "Trains, Tomatoes, and Chocolates"
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Thurs., June 10, 2021 - 7 pm ET
Internet Webinar via GotoMeeting Registration Required -> Register here (through the Mercer County Library) Note: The MCL uses GoToMeeting for video webinars - see GoToMeeting Installation Instructions (PDF) The arrival of two railroads in the 1870s spurred the growth of the towns of Hopewell and Pennington, as more convenient transportation brought greater opportunities for residents and businesses. But local boosters in Hopewell also saw a greater opportunity, and invested in developing Railroad Place as an industrial district that could support larger-scale manufacturing to provide more jobs and stronger growth.
In this online version of his historical walking tour, Doug Dixon of the Hopewell Valley History Project explores turn-of-the century Railroad Place as an open industrial area crisscrossed with railway spurs serving multiple factories and freight businesses. We’ll investigate the sometimes convoluted history of the larger industrial buildings that have been passed down to us from that era, including the Chocolate Factory (manufacturing bon-bons for 25 years), the Tomato Factory (canning tomatoes for 55 years), J. B. Hill’s (coal and then lumber for over a century), and Rockwell Manufacturing (back to Smith Novelty in the early 1900s). And we’ll discover other lesser-known stories, some missing from today’s landscape, including a shirt factory, vibrator company, farmers’ co-op, ice cream factory, and bobbin and spool factory.
Doug Dixon is an independent technology consultant and writer, now morphed into a history enthusiast. Doug is a board member of the Hopewell Museum, the Hopewell Valley Historical Society, and Heritage Week. In the past few years, he has developed the Hopewell Valley History Project (HopewellHistoryProject.org), which is working with many local contributors to collect and share digital copies of local historical materials – now with over 400 documents and maps, 1800 images, and an interactive historical map of Hopewell.
As a software technologist, Doug specializes in Web technology, databases, and digital media. He has consulted to the Aberdeen Test Center doing large data testing and visualization, and previously was a product manager and software developer at Intel and Sarnoff. He has authored four books on digital media, published hundreds of feature articles, and presented over a hundred seminars and talks. Co-sponsored by the Hopewell Valley Historical Society, The Hopewell Museum, the Hopewell Public Library, and the Hopewell Branch of the Mercer County Library |
Hopewell Chocolate Factory
(Hopewell Dainties)
Hopewell Tomato Canning Factory
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Historic Hopewell Postcard Honoring Carol Meszaros
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April 2021 - The Hopewell Valley Historical Society (HVHS) has joined with the Washington Crossing Card Collectors Club (WC4) to produce a historic postcard celebrating the life of Carol Meszaros for her dedicated service over the past half century as a volunteer and board member for both organizations.
The postcard is from the collection of Bob and Carol Meszaros, and shows the canal bridge in Titusville in c. 1907, with the hand annotation "P.R.R. Station and Canal Bridge, Titusville, N. J." The card is being distributed to the members of the two organizations, and is available for free at multiple locations throughout the Hopewell Valley, including the Hopewell Branch of the Mercer County Library, the Pennington Public Library, the Hopewell Public Library, Hopewell Borough Hall, and the Titusville Post Office. Please enjoy this snapshot of local history, and feel free to use the postcard to write a note to share with family and friends. |
Carol and Bob Meszaros
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