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Friday, December 18, 2015

1939: THE LITTLE KNOWN "NEW ERA BREEDING FARM"

This is an interesting photo of rural Hamilton Township in the years before our population exploded into the megalopolis we have today. That huge building in the lower photo was located on Route 33 east. I speculate that it was on the southeast corner of Route 33 and White Horse Mercerville Road.
Years ago I procured a few "TRENTON" magazines from my old friend, Meredith "Med" Havens who was largely responsible for the Trenton Fire Museum. These old magazines are a treasure trove of Trenton industry and commerce in the 20's through the 40's.
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3 comments:

  1. AnonymousSunday, December 27, 2015


    Hi Tom,

    I just read your post on the New Era Breeding Farm. It was owned by Milton H Arndt. The picture of the factory located at the corner of rte33 and Whitehorse Mercerville rd produced battery (caging) equipment for raising chickens until the late 40's. The building was then converted to a seasonal department store, called Arndts I believe. He sold his chicken raising equipment locally and nationally through mail order catalogs, some of which I was able to find on eBay. Recently, I purchased the former residence and property of The Arndts which at one point included the New Era "Demonstration" farm. This was located on Nottingham way behind the Mercerville Shopping Center. It consisted of the primary residence (which is still standing) and 8 buildings where thousands of chickens and hens in all stages of production could be seen using his battery brooding method of raising chickens. One of the buildings was saved, converted to a bungalow, parceled out from the main property and sold as a separate residence circa 1945. It is the only house on Berkley st with a Berkley st address. Arndt also wrote and published several books on his battery method of raising chickens. I have several pictures and illustrations of the farm and catalogs which I would be happy to share if you are interested.



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  2. JohnnyMonday, March 28, 2016

    Hi All,

    Such an interesting article I wanted to see exactly where this building was located. To see it from the air go to http://www.historicaerials.com and paste in this GPS Location: N 40.23356 W 74.68739 - That's the intersection of Rt. 33 and Whitehorse Mercerville Rd. You can then choose the year you want to view - from 1931 to 2013. I see the large building mentioned above - and lots of open space too in the 1940 view.



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  3. UnknownThursday, September 13, 2018

    WOW! Times sure have changed!

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