1949: SOUTH BROAD STREET AT GREENWOOD AVENUE

The truck in the photo is blocking the view of Greenwood Avenue where it met South Broad Street before they re-aligned the streets in that area. That section of Greenwood Avenue now dead ends a block or so down the street.

1949: THE "BROAD-CENTRE" DINER

This photo is just across the property of Sacred Heart Church at South Broad and Centre Street in Trenton.

2013: WITH THANKS TO MR. BOB LABATE!

This very little know postcard from White City was sent to me by Bob LaBate for inclusion in the "WHITE CITY" folder in the Hamilton Library's Local History Collection. It is a charming representation of the famed Lovers' Lane at Hamilton's White City. Thank you very much, Bob. This makes a nice addition to the many White City articles and photos in our collection.

BOB LABATE'S MCGALLIARD SCHOOL

I received an email from Bob with these class photos from his years at McGalliard.School. The large class picture upper right, goes with the hand written graphic below with the names of his class mates listed. Bob was apparently a classmate of my niece, Ellen Glover. Thanks for the graphic,Bob, it is now a living part of the Hamilton Township Public Library's digital Local History Collection for future generations to enjoy.

1I37: NORTH BROAD STREET

 

Here's a closer look at the Garden Theater on North Broad Street, 1937. Stern's was a very popular store during the depression years. As seen in the photo, they took up two buildings.

1934: E. STATE STREET TO STATE AND BROAD

The Trenton police officer under the umbrella traffic signal is a stark reminder of how things have changed over the years. The officer was ultimately replaced by traffic lights. This vantage point has been posted in other previous posts, but each one changes in character, as can be seen by the autos and trolley car and the beautiful views of the Stacy and Orpheum (Later to become the Mayfair) theaters.

NOTE TO NEWCOMERS TO THIS WEB SITE:: 

A NUMBER OF NEWCOMERS TO THIS SITE HAVE NOTED THAT THE IMAGES ARE TOO SMALL TO READ. RIGHT CLICK ON THE IMAGE AND CHOOSE

"OPEN LINK IN NEW WINDOW" AND THE GRAPHIC WILL BE ENLARGED.

1941: NORTH WARREN ST. APPROACHING "5 POINTS"

This interesting photo with all those beautiful 30's and 40's autos gives a lucid view of this area of Trenton as it was during the WWII years. I have segmented this photo in order to concentrate on the cleanliness of the neighborhood in the years prior to the arrival of thoughtless litterbugs.Note the striped railroad crossing gates in the background.

1946: GROPP'S WHITE HORSE TAVERN

It is a strange truth that I passed by this White Horse landmark countless times in my teen years and never stopped to realize what an historic treasure it was. I guess my interest in history took a back seat to my burgeoning fascination with the many young ladies who were the object of my affection. In retrospect, this photo of the old tavern is a sad reminder that we have lost many of our historic landmarks to the wrecker's ball. It was only after I matured, married, and had a family that my innate interest in history came to the fore. As that old Pennsylvania Dutch quotation goes, "Ve get too soon old, und too late schmart!"

2013: "Einstein" the Parrot: GOD DOES HAVE A SENSE OF HUMOR!

I received this link from my friend and Kuser School Alumnus, Harry Hall. I have filed it in the "WHIMSICAL" folder in the local history collection. Click on the link below and be amazed!

https://www.youtube.com/embed/nbrTOcUnjNYhttps://www.youtube.com/embed/nbrTOcUnjNY

1937: NORTH BROAD STREET

 

These old downtown Trenton photos are truly an historic treasure. With just a bit of imagination, one can stand on the sidewalks in the downtown Trenton and witness the essence of the city during the middle of the Great Depression. 

Can that auto in the center of the lower photo be what we used to call a "baby Austin?"

2013: CHECK OUT THESE GREAT LOCAL WEB SITES

"Variety is the spice of life!" Thus it is when it comes to internet content. The above 3 local history web sites are bringing fascinating local history to their respective neighborhoods. Don Whiteley is definitely the go to guy for information on Yardville Heights and the Yardville area. Jimmy Colello is a Broad Street Park historian who knows that old area inside out. Gary Lippincott, our resident Groveville historian has a site that is calculated to interest you in your quest for Groveville, the Groveville M.E. Church, and the Groveville Volunteer Fire Company. By all means, pay these sites a visit. We need all the local history historians we can muster as we journey into the second decade of the 21st century. I'm sure there are other area residents from Pennington, Hopewell, Ewing, Trenton, Hamilton Square, Mercerville, Lawrenceville and other knowledgeable Mercer County residents who could jump on the local history band wagon and share your photos, articles and knowledge with those of us who are interested. Think about it. Setting up a Google "Blogspot" web blog is free of charge except for a minimal amount of $$ for additional space. The process is amazingly easy, assuming that  you know how to scan and tweak various articles and photos.

2013: ANOTHER PLATEAU...ONWARD AND UPWARD!

You may have noticed that there has been a lull in my posts over the past few days. I must apologize for the inactivity. I was knocked for a loop with an incredibly serious bout of sciatica a week or so ago, and have been "bent and broken: in the intervening days. I am now back in circulation. It is not gone, but I can move without the incessant pain. I sure don't wish this thing on anyone. My right side was involved, from my derriere down through my right leg. What fun that was!.  HOWEVER, in the intervening days of my inactivity, you wonderful visitors have boosted this website up to 600,000 visits, and for that I am very grateful. Thank you and I hope you will stay with us; there's definitely much more to come!

I JUST CHECKED IN TO YOUR WEBSITE THIS MORNING AND WAS HAPPY TO SEE THE NUMBER 600,055.  THAT GOES TO SHOW THAT ALL OF YOUR HARD WORK IS BEING APPRECIATED.

CONGRATUATIONS!!!
ALICE

1949: HAMILTON FOOD MARKET AND STANTON HARDWARE

Tracy's "Five and Dime" is just out of the photo on the left in this very detailed view of two prominent merchants at Hamilton and Olden Avenue in Trenton. Further up Hamilton Avenue toward the east was Schnur's Five and Dime, Groh's Hardware, Jonclar's(?),. Brown's Luncheonette, Zotto's Bar, Millie's Beauty Salon, and an A&P Supermarket, I was a regular visitor to Jim Stanton's store, as well as many of the aforementioned merchants,. but never remember venturing into the Hamilton Food Store.

1937: NORTH BROAD STREET AND THE GARDEN THEATER

They say if you wait long enough and are patient, you will ultimately find one or more of the many things you search for. So it is with this photo. I have been after a photo of Trenton's Garden Theater for many years. I stumbled upon it quite by accident and am happy to post it herewith. The Garden was one of the "economy" theaters back in the day, as were the Gaiety and Centre, The theater had an inglorious end when X rated movies were featured.

1949: THE FIRST NATIONAL BANK OF HAMILTON SQUARE

CVS, Rite-Aide, PNC Bank, TD Bank, Wells Fargo, Bell Telephone...the list goes on and on. Where once we had community banks such as the late, lamented First National Bank of Hamilton Square, prime locations are now being occupied by the huge national banks. Even my Roma Bank has yielded to the large banks. Where once we had intimate relationships with our druggists, we now have large conglomerates who are sprouting up on many street corners.  Silk's Drug Store, Tracy's 5 & 10, mom and pop corner stores are all listed in the local "Americana" catalog of local history. Like it or not, it's called "progress."

1914 PETER CURTIN'S LUNCH WAGON

Long before we had 24 hour roadside diners, Peter Curtin slaved away at serving the public at his roll around diner on wheels. The photo of his lunch wagon presented herewith (thanks to Mrs. Roselie* Valenza Szmauz) has annotations written in by Roselie's father, Charles Valenza. You will note that those annotations indicate a Perry Street location. However, as you can see by the Curtin story immediately above, Peter moved around to quite a few different locations during his many years as a very popular street vendor. This is the part of local history that I love to read about and share with the public.

Note: Spelling is correct per Ms. Szmauz: *Roselie, not Rosalie

1906: THE CHAMBERS FAMILY

The Hamilton Township Public Library's Local History Collection's "CHAMBERSBURG" digital history folder now contains 214 entries and occupies a respectable 153 megabytes of space in the Local History Collection, and is constantly expanding. There will be a near future on screen presentation on the Chambersburg we all knew and loved as soon as I can format and add them in to the very popular "Chambersburg" onscreen presentation which I presented a few years ago. In the article above, we read of Robert Chambers erecting a hotel at South Broad and Cass Streets. The Chambersburg of South Clinton Avenue, Dye Street, Mott, Bayard, etc. came along much later than the area settled by Robert Chambers.

1904: ANNUAL CHRONOLOGY OF TRENTON

I am an inveterate reader. Even if I don't have my morning newspapers, I will reach for the cereal box and read the contents. It is for like minded visitors to this site that I post this full page, very small type chronology for the period of May through December, 1904. I find it to be fascinating reading, but my 80 year old eyes confirm that one must have a high definition monitor in order to peruse the page.

1917: TRENTON DURING THE CIVIL WAR ERA

The highlighted in gray portion of this article erroneously placed Camp Olden over on North Olden Avenue beyond E. State Street. I have heard that there was Civil War activity in the area of the old RR yards off of Olden Avenue, but extended research has definitely placed the Camp over in Hamilton Township in the Kuser Road, Liberty Street, Hamilton Avenue area. As I recall, Trenton Historian Benjamin Franklin Lee also placed Camp Olden in the area of Camp Perrine. It is truly frustrating that there is no map extant that shows the historic Civil War boundary lines. However, even with Mr. Coffield's placement of the camp at the site of the old Hill's Brewery, the article gives an interesting look at Trenton during the war between the states.

1922: R.C. MAXWELL MERCER AUTOMOBILE CO. SIGN ALONG LAWRENCE ROAD

Here's a truly rural country road from 90 years ago. Perhaps a knowledgeable Lawrence visitor can pinpoint the location. I am completely unfamiliar with the Lawrence Road. However, the old vehicle traveling toward us is apparently on a dirt road. I wonder if our resident auto historian Ray Paskiewicz can identify that truck?

1897: REV. RANDOLPH OF SHILOH BAPTIST CHURCH

From the growing "AFRICAN-AMERICAN" and "SHILOH BAPTIST" folders in the Hamilton Township Public Library, this interesting article and engraving from the early years of Trenton's legendary Shiloh Baptist Church with at the time was located on Perry Street. With February recognized as "Black History Month," there will be numerous posts on the aforementioned folders. Stay tuned.

2013: ELEANOR BEEBE ADAMS REMEMBERS HER BROMLEY

My fellow classmates Alice Schmidt Mullen and Bob Shinkle, and other Bromley neighbors will appreciate these memories of Bromley as recalled by Eleanor Beebe Adams in her 3 page letter of memories above. The Beebe family and business are very well known to we members of the Bromley community. Bromley has taken a somewhat downward turn over the past 30 or 40 years. Its proximity to the Trenton city line and the loss of the squeaky clean homes, littered sidewalks, and lovely Bromley Place long ago gave way to "white flight" as the neighborhood became more multicultural. I have chosen to remain in Bromley where Tom and Judy Glover have resided since 1963 on Atlantic Avenue; still one of the prettiest streets in the township except for an abandoned home that is in sad disrepair. Thank you Eleanor, as I said in my email to you, I wish more of my viewers would take the time to record their memories of their neighborhoods. Such reminiscences will be eagerly viewed by future generations.

2013: A FAST AND CONVENIENT GOOGLE SEARCH TOOL!

This website has reached "maturity;" the point where there are 8,000 plus pages. With that maturity has come many pages with many differing subjects. Searching those many pages can be a daunting task. I find that Google provides a very fast and easy way to find a specific subject buried within the 8,000 plus pages. Use the information in the graphic and try it. You will find many pages dealing with the subject for which you are searching. This process also works for BING, ALTA VISTA, and probably others, but the search is not as productive, due to the fact that GOOGLE is the home of my website. Try it; you will be saving a lot of time and effort.  

Examples: type in tom glover hamilton trenton Lucarella, or Kuzma, or Trenton Catholic, or Trenton high school, or Mott school, etc, and you will probably find any and all posts containing those search subjects.  

Diane Hoffman, you made my day, along with of the many visitors to this website! The above "Sandwich Menu" from what we called "The Glendale" has been posted for all of us fugitives from the 1950's to enjoy. When I was a young guy back in that golden era, the Glendale, Landwehr's.

 If you were really trying to impress your date, Lavender Hall was one of the IN places to take your best girlfriend on a Sunday afternoon. By the way, do you remember the big tree that grew right in the middle of the restaurant and through a hole in the roof at Lavender Hall? Another long forgotten "high class" destination was "Chubby's" way down in the area of the Camden County circle.

OLD LOCAL INVOICE COPIES

Were it not for my old friend Al DeMartin, the above digital copies of old local Trenton area merchant invoices such as those above would have been unceremoniously placed in the recycle bin and destroyed. One of the very sad and negative stories relating to this wonderful Township of Hamilton lies in the fact that incredibly valuable documents and memorabilia have been destroyed; probably due to their age and the need for space. Thankfully, there is a substantial number of very historic documents that I have preserved, thanks to the aforementioned, Al DeMartin.

1888: ANTHONY KUSER CHECK FROM FITZGIBBON & CRISP

This beautiful specimen came across my desk one day last month, and in my carelessness, I neglected to get the name of the gentleman who gave it to me. As any of the docents at Kuser Mansion will verify, Anthony R. Kuser was the epitome of "class." His endorsement signature reproduced in the graphic above brings into focus the idea among many of today's educators that the digital age and computing has rendered penmanship a moot subject, and of little value. I vehemently disagree. Anthony Kuser's endorsement signature is a testament to an era when penmanship was an important and necessary talent with incredibly beautiful flourishes in execution. With the Glover family being very close to the Fred Kuser branch of the family during their years at what is today's Kuser Farm Park, I naturally treasure any and all memorabilia that I find. This ephemeral specimen will be sent to Ms. Patti Krzywulak at Kuser Mansion for inclusion in the Kuser Farm Mansion collection.

1980: ST. JOACHIM'S HOME GROWN CLERGY

Here they are, a gallery of Priests who were St. Joachim born and bred as of 1980!

1911: TRENTON'S MORRIS PARK

I must have spent an hour or more trying to tie this field into the early years of Wetzel Field. My reasoning? The name Morris Field made it seem logical that Trenton's Morris Avenue was the location of the above field. WRONG! Further investigation reveals that a Mr. William Morris was an executive in the old Tri-State League. It turns out that Morris Field was probably named for him and was located in North Trenton on the site of Junior 5 near North Montgomery Street and Holland Avenue. Opening season of the "Tri-State League" included teams were from towns that were also a part of the old Interstate League.

1911: THE TRENTON HAY MARKET - MILL HILL

I really didn't know in which folder to post this digital file, so I saved it in the "TRENTON VIEWS," AND "MILL HILL" folders, respectively. Up until I discovered this article, I had never heard of Mr. Reed's Trenton Hay Market. Fascinating history!.

1912: COLONIAL GARDENS ON THE CAMP OLDEN SITE

This is the closest I have come to a definitive description of the Camp Olden area. Unfortunately, today's CAMP AVENUE, along with the realtor's reference to 100 acres, is a stumbling block. One hundred acres to the north? south? east? west? Bullets and other militaria I and other metal detector operators have been found adjacent to Colonial Fire Company at the Freedom Village complex when it was being excavated prior to its construction. The search for the mysterious Camp Olden Civil War encampment goes on!

1902: TRENTON CREDITED WITH FIRST SCHOOL IN NEW JERSEY

I found this to be a fascinating article relating to the early years of the local educational system. There is a large and growing collection of schools in the Hamilton Library's Local History Collection.

1929: TRENTON SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL BOBASHELA

That majestic and beautiful building that was once located on Hamilton Avenue and Chestnut Avenue also became the victim of the wrecking ball. I often wonder if citizens back then were as interested in saving that historic edifice and utilizing it for other purposes. A recent news story in the local press quoted a high profile Trentonian calling for the demolition of the current Trenton High School on Chambers and Greenwood Avenue. From my uninformed viewpoint, and not being an authority on architecture, but assuming that a brick structure is a sturdy structure, ignorant citizens such as I wonder if the interior of the building can't be stripped, leaving the sturdy brick structure in place, and re-building from the inside out with rafters and  roof replaced, thus maintaining the historically significant building, and adding an addition if there is not enough room for the current student population. Please note these are my personal observations and I hasten to add that I know little or nothing about the condition of the brick foundation of that beautiful old building. Also note that I am not qualified to assess the viability of destroying the old and replacing with a new structure. Any time an historic building is endangered, I and many others wonder if all options are legitimately considered.

1930'S: SOUTH WARREN AT BRIDGE STREET Ca. 1936

I was not familiar with this corner even back in my early teen years. However, the incredible detail on this segmented R.C. Maxwell photo with the Tattersall "just phone 8201" on the building along with the vintage car make this a completely charming photo. I will leave it to our auto expert Ray to identify that auto.

1936: SOUTH BROAD STREET AT LIBERTY

I was only 3 years old when this photo was taken. The old bank is still there on the corner as is the fabled red brick building with the "widow's watch" on top which has changed hands many times over these many years. 

1935: ST. RAPHAEL'S WHITE HORSE 15TH ANNIVERSARY

 

As stated in the post below, "Maureen" was kind enough to advise that this or another St. Raphael graphic was missing. Herewith the corrected and re-posted page.

 

This interesting article and photo of the original St. Raphael's Church lists MANY of the more prominent and old time residents of the White Horse area. McClain, Booz, Gropp, Stemhagen, and Rabatie to name a few. I will undoubtedly come upon the 1920 dedication of that grand old parish when I begin perusing the October, 1920 edition of the local press. Stay tuned.

3 comments:

SJBill said...

Was this church building replaced by the current structure in the 50s?

Thursday, June 03, 2010

1935: ST. RAPHAEL'S CHURCH

Back in 2008 or 2009, there was a massive problem with Google's Blogspot hosting service. As a result, I lost MANY graphics and they were replaced with a "!" in a black triangle. "Maureen," a recent visitor to the site, commented that the graphic was absent. I am re-posting the defective post herewith. Thank you Maureen for pointing out the graphic absence. With over 7,200 pages, it is a daunting task to find these posts and if any visitor finds another, PLEASE E-mail me with the heading as above.

This was originally a black and white offset photo from the Trenton Times. My photo imaging software features a "hand color" feature that enhances a black and white ("grayscale") photo to give it a bit of color. The original church as illustrated above was on White-Horse Avenue.

I would also like to take this opportunity to thank the seniors of St. Raphael's "Elderberry Club" for hosting my Christmas sing-along at Bordentown's Town and Country Diner on December 20th. Special thanks to Len DiMaio, Program Chairman.

1912: TITANIC DISASTER 4 DAYS LATER

I have been watching the "TITANIC" mini series on Cable. It is truly a fascinating look back at the turmoil and struggles the builder and the unions brought to the forefront. The above full page article from the TRENTON TRUE AMERICAN is a natural for historic digital preservation. No scratchy printout of a microfilm reproduction could bring anywhere near the clarity of this 101 year old page. There are many more Titanic-related articles to be digitized and posted; stay tuned.

1922: BOOST SOUTH WARREN STREET

 

 

We have been reading quite a lot about the wonderful effort being made to revitalize Trenton's South Warren Street area. It took quite a bit of time to digitize these three pages from the 1922 "BOOST SOUTH WARREN STREET' feature which was published by the THE STATE GAZETTE. The city of Trenton has, and is currently going through very painful times socially, economically, and politically. Thankfully there are folks like those citizens who have faith in the future of the city and have succeeded in revitalizing the historic neighborhood in today's South Warren Street; may God assist in their efforts.