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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Watermills of the Stony Brook-Millstone Watershed
Presented by Richard Hunter
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Sun., January 23, 2022 - 2 pm ET
Online virtual presentation and in person at the Watershed Institute - Details to come Presentation on the history of water-powered industry and the several dozen or so watermills in the Stony Brook-Millstone watershed. These range in date from the early 18th through the early 20th centuries, and cover a wide range of mill types (mostly grist and sawmills, but also many others, e.g., fulling, carding, woolen, cotton, flax, plaster, oil, clover, etc.).
Richard Hunter has had a lifelong interest in mills going back to his pre-U.S. existence in the UK. His doctoral dissertation at Rutgers was a historical geographical study of mill siting in the Stony Brook-Millstone and North Branch of the Raritan watersheds. In his professional career as an archaeologist and cultural resource management specialist from the late 1970s onwards he has researched and excavated numerous water-powered industrial sites of many different types throughout the state and Mid-Atlantic region. He has a particular obsession with tide mills, which sadly are a hydro-geographic impossibility in the Stony Brook-Millstone watershed. Hunter is founder and President of Hunter Research, Inc. a Trenton-based historic preservation and cultural resources consulting business, and has served on numerous state and local boards and commissions. He is author of many articles and co-author (with Richard Porter) of Hopewell: A Historical Geography.
You can attend this event in person or online:
Co-sponsored by the The Watershed Institute, the Hopewell Valley Historical Society, and The Hopewell Museum. |
Stony Brook Mill
Richard Hunter
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The Revolutionary World of a Free Black Man: Jacob Francis, 1754-1836
Presented by Larry Kidder
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Thurs., February 3, 2022 - 7 pm ET
Online virtual presentation via GotoMeeting (or view at the Library, see below) Registration Required -> Register here (through the Mercer County Library) Note: The MCL uses GoToMeeting for video webinars - see GoToMeeting Installation Instructions (PDF) Born in Amwell Township to a free Black mother, Jacob Francis lived his 82-year life in a world of revolutionary change. He became caught up in the rising tide of revolution in the 1760s and 70s and served in the Continental Army, including at the Battle of Trenton, and then the New Jersey militia. Establishing himself as a farmer, he married an enslaved woman named Mary, freed her and they raised their eight children in the vicinity of Flemington during a period of rising interest in abolition. The story of Jacob Francis and his family provides us with an inside view of life in New Jersey in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries and the revolutionary changes affecting the lives of both free and enslaved Black people.
Larry Kidder is a retired history teacher who taught for 40 years, including 32 years at The Hun School of Princeton. He is a graduate of Allegheny College (BA 1967, MS 1969) and served four years in the US Navy. Larry has been a volunteer historian and historical interpreter for the Howell Living History Farm in Hopewell for over 30 years and is a member of the board of the Princeton Battlefield Society where he focuses on educational programs and battlefield tours. He is a past president of the Hopewell Valley Historical Society and has served on the board for many years. The author of two books on rural New Jersey history and three on aspects of the American Revolution in Mercer County, Larry is a frequent speaker throughout New Jersey. He has also been a presenter at conferences on the American Revolution in Pennsylvania, Virginia, and New York. For more of Larry's projects and books, visit his website, wlkidderhistorian.com.
Co-sponsored by the Hopewell Valley Historical Society, The Hopewell Museum, and the Hopewell Branch of the Mercer County Library. Note: In addition to the virtual online presentation, you also can reserve a seat in the Community Room at the Hopewell Branch Library to view a livestream broadcast of the program. To reserve a seat at the Hopewell Branch, please call 609.737.2610 or email hopeprogs@mcl.org. |
Headstones of Jacob and Mary Francis in the Flemington Baptist Church cemetery with veteran flag
Larry Kidder
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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!
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 in Pennington, the Pennington Public Library, the Hopewell Public Library, the Boro Bean coffee shop in Hopewell, 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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