1916: HAMILTON'S BROAD STREET PARK - ROWAN SCHOOL

These LARGE graphics do not play well on Facebook, but here on www.glover320.blogspot.com they shine clear, legibly and brightly. This is about 90 percent of a full page dedicated to Hamilton's Rowan School as published in the Trenton Times during 1916 highlighting many of our local schools. The photo on the bottom, along with the Hamilton Library Local History graphic have been added as "fillers" and to complete the page. The very interesting mini articles by the various students adds a certain charm to the page.

1909: BROAD STREET PARK DIARY

As the article above which I wrote a number of years ago indicates, Lawson Tattler was a figment of my imagination, as was Eli Mount. I took my father's "veddy, veddy" English middle name "Eli," and combined it with my mom's maiden name which was Mount. ( My mom's Mount roots go back to John Adams, the Borden family, Lord Cornwallis, and COUNTLESS others who are connected genealogically 7, 8 and sometimes 9 times removed.) The Tattler surname came from the Trenton connection with the pottery industry, and Lawson was the name of one of my Kuser School-Hamilton High friends and classmate. Assuming this little 800,000 visits venture survives into the future, generations to come will be very grateful that those of us who believe in preserving our historic heritage took the time and sometimes arduous research to come up with a valuable historical database.

1921: WHITE CITY OPENS FOR THE SEASON

Above is an ad from the entertainment page of the State Gazette announcing the opening of Hamilton Township's legendary White City Park. Did you know that Broad Street Park area historian Jim Colello has a website dedicated to the Broad Street Park-White City area?Check out Broad Street Park Yesteryears at  bsp086.blogspot.com

Jim C said...

1921 was the last year the park operated as "The White City". New ownership took over in 1922 and named it "Boiling Springs Amusement Park". It operated for one year then went defunct.

Saturday, June 08, 2013

 

Tom Glover wrote:

 

See? I told you all to visit Jim's Broad Street Park website?

 

1905: FOREST VALLEY, CEDAR LAWN, BROAD ST. PARK

I have a special fondness for old maps. Indeed there are a number of digitized maps in the Hamilton Library's Local History Collection dated back to the 1840's and earlier. However, one of my favorites is from a 1905 Atlas of Trenton, New Jersey with only a smattering of Hamilton Township which is shown in the map above. Over the years, I have been asked to define the boundaries of Forest Valley. The adjoining community of]
Cedar Lawn makes the task impossible for me. Perhaps a visitor familiar with the area can determine which streets fall within which neighborhood.

1936: THE ABRAMS BROTHERS: MARSH TRAPPERS

We've all heard scary stories relating to the Abrams brothers who lived hermit lives in a shack way back in "the marshes" a in the Broad Street Park area. For all you folks who remember these two unusual characters, here's the full story on what they do and how they do it. On a personal note, I find something fascinating about living in the wild as free spirits as those two boys did back in the 1930's and 40's. I would assume that they made a respectable living with the wildlife they trapped. 

1940'S: RENNIE STREET, BROAD STREET PARK

Attention Jim Colello: Here's a nice vintage BSP photo for you to include in your "BROAD STREET PARK YESTERYEARS" website. ( www.bsp086.blogspot.com.) It will take someone far more knowledgeable than I on the Broad Street Park area to pinpoint this photo. I thought the building right behind the Kirby and Kirby sign was Hamilton High School, but a Google Earth search proved to be more confusing. 

Questions to our Broad Street Park Historian:

Is the photo taken with the photographer standing on Rennie? If so, what is the cross street at the intersection? What is the building on the right? SOS, Jim.

2012: BACK TO KUSER MANSION

A number of locals have been asking about the absence of my Kuser Mansion programs over the past couple years, and if I am planning any future programs. Thanks to Ms. Patty K. Hill and Cathy Tramontana, I am working on programs for the fall and winter season. Above is the "Coming Attractions" broadside I have composed for an on-screen/lecture program which I will be doing on Sunday, September 23rd. Jim Colello, my friend and fellow historian on the Broad Street Park area, will be there to share his knowledge on thi historical area of Hamilton Township. Jim's Broad Street Park website is avidly followed by many area residents as well as former residents outside of the area. Jim's website can be found at http://www.bsp086.blogspot.com. You will find many very interesting vintage and contemporary graphics on Jim's site, all carefully posted with tender loving care for maximum legibility. Even as we recall Hamilton's historically famous White City, we will be discussing Broad Street Park, the Rusling Hose Volunteer Fire Company, James Rusling, Andrew "Kedzie" Rowan, and numerous other subjects. It will be an entertaining and very educational program, and I look forward to a respectable turnout.

Circa 1940: 1800 BLOCK OF SOUTH BROAD STREET

This original post of this photo has been removed and re-formatted. I enlarged it, lightened the darkened areas and darkened the lightened areas and brought the overall view into clearer focus. This is brings out the best in this nostalgic look at this popular "go to" place of the 40's and 50's.

Didn't we get our Hamilton High School class rings at Heitz Jewelers? My age has finally caught up with me. I will need Jim Colello or another Broad Street Park area old timer to tell me whether I am correct in identifying the street corner on the right as Sewell Avenue. My memory failed me on this photo. I always thought that Heitz Jewelry story was on the south side of South Broad Street. Comments, Please, so I can set the record to historic accuracy. Regardless of the historical accuracy, this is a beautiful photo of the road I have traveled countless times.

Tom, this photograph is wonderful. Thank you for posting. The street to the right with the fire hydrant in the foreground is Sewell Avenue. The street center background below the billboard is Lily Street. The corner occupied by Heitz Jewelers, Orlando Tailoring and Ely Radios is occupied by the building once occupied by Bob Lang Appliances and today is occupied by The Salvation Army Thrft Store and the studios of WIMG AM 1300. The three men are standing in front of Sam's Liquor Store. The image of the Park 5c & 10c further down is priceless. Jim C.

Tuesday, July 10, 2012

THANKS, JIM. I KNEW YOU WOULD BE ABLE TO I.D. ALMOST ALL THE BUILDINGS.

TOM

Lee Belardino said...

Tommy
We got our rings from Heitzs jewelers. I still got mine. I lived one street behind Broad on Genesee. Heitz was across the street from Tiltons bakery. Asterino's liquor store was on the corner Holy Angels was down the street.Freidman and Fromkins was our drug store down from Tiltons bakery.Broad street park was my neighborhood from Rowan to Hamilton.Great place to grow up.

Tuesday, July 10, 2012

THANKS, LEE. I WAS PRETTY SURE THAT'S WHERE WE GOT THOSE RINGS.

TOMMY

So glad to see this photo! My uncle Dr. John Dzienis and my aunt Vera lived on this corner in the 1940's. They bought the big white Victorian house because it was the perfect location for a Doctors office right next to the bus stop and on the corner of a main street (Broad and Sewell)
When I was a toddler we stayed here briefly until my parents bought their home in Broad Street Park. I remember watching the sign on the jewelry store blink on and off at night. There was a Barber shop and a dress shop across Broad Street which my parents patronized. The other corner of Broad and Sewell had a grocery store where I got my cherry ice pops! Near Tiltons bakery there was a doll repair shop and a Drug store at Harrison St.

Lyric

Tuesday, July 10, 2012

GREAT TO HEAR FROM YOU, LYRIC! THANKS FOR THE INTERESTING COMMENTS.

TOM

I can't imagine the Broad Street Park M.E. Church turning down "Kenzie" Rowan with the generous offer to turn his estate over to them ! However, in my many Broad Street Park files, I find that there was indeed a refusal by the church to accept his generosity. I have passed by the site of his former home and really been tempted to try my hand at relic hunting with my metal detector, but certainly don't want to be a trespasser.

1946: RUSLING HOSE 65th ANNIVERSARY

Here's the Times' coverage of the anniversary celebration of Hamilton's legendary Rusling Hose Volunteer Fire Company as it celebrated 50 years of service to Broad Street Park area residents of Hamilton. This is a duplicate post which I have re-posted as the fire company celebrates a milestone 65th anniversary.

Ralph Lucarella said...

HI TOM...RUSLING HOSE WAS JUST ONE OF THE VOLUNTEER FIRE COMPANIES IN HAMILTON TOWNSHIP. I OFTEN WONDERED WHY THEY HAD A POLICE DEPT. AND NOT A FIRE DEPT. THE VOLUNTEER COMPANIES WERE OUTSTANDING AND THAT MAY BE THE REASON WHY. BEST REGARDS.

Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Jim C said...

Hi Tom. Your heading and comment for this article is a bit confusing. You state that Rusling Hose Company celebrates its 65th anniversary in 2011. In fact, the Company is celebrating its 115th anniversary in 2011 having been organized in 1896.

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

HI JIM:

I GUESS THE CONFUSION LIES IN THE HEADING "1946 - 2011;" RUSLING HOSE 65TH ANNIVERSARY. AS YOU CAN SEE, I WAS PARAPHRASING THE ARTICLE WHICH TELLS OF THE 1896 GENESIS OF THE ORGANIZATION. I JUST ASSUMED THAT MOST VISITORS WOULD SEE THE DATE 1946 AND REALIZE THAT THE 65TH ANNIVERSARY WAS CELEBRATED DURING THE YEAR 1946. I HAVE CHANGED THE POST FROM 2011 - 1946..." TO JUST PLAIN "1946."

1982: "RUSLING SCHOOL NO. 10"

As regular readers of my numerous local news columns and followers of the website will attest, I have an intense interest in the history of the school system in Hamilton and the city of Trenton. I wrote the above article as a mini series detailing all I could find on the genesis of Hamilton's early schools. The above article I wrote and the pen and ink drawing I made are now part of Hamilton's local history and more specifically, in the "BROAD STREET PARK" folder.

1891: "SILVER SPRING" AT BROAD STREET PARK

This exquisite photo is from a very popular and quite rare publication entitled, "TRENTON ILLUSTRATED." I have digitized most of the photos and will be posting them as time permits. This photo gives an idea of the lake before the amusement parks of the 20th century. Back in 1889, the Broad Street Land Association was advertising theis beautiful area, inviting visitors to visit Spring Lake and Lookout Point.

Anonymous said...

Those are beautiful designs. The boats are low so not affected by the wind and have a nice "work platform" at the stern. I have to wonder if they pulled the boats or sunk them end of season to keep the swollen so they didn't leak or get ice damage. That was the custom up north. Lord Tom, it is hard to visualize that area in a pristine state since it has been marsh since I was a kid in the 1950's. Now I should have remembered this a week or so ago when you had the article about Asay Springs which is close, but I didn't so allow me the liberty now. I remember a nice fellow Ray Londahl or Londell who sold bait (live killies or worms), and rented row boats right where the bridge crosses on Route 206 and I think you can see remnants of the property on the north bound side. Thank you again for these wonderful memories and they were wonderful times, indeed! We are just not nostalgic fools.

Ed Millerick

Friday, August 12, 2011

Many thanks for the input, Ed. It's folks like you who make all the hard work worthwhile.

Tom Glover

1950's: Florence Yoth's Broad Street Park Civic Association

I am posting this list of members of the Association as it appears in an aging scrapbook, diligently kept by Mrs, Florence Yoth. One wonders how many of the names still reside in Broad Street Park. Don't miss my friend Jim Colello's Broad Street Park blog. The link is on the right of this page.

1987: THE ELI MOUNT BROAD STREET PARK DIARIES

Broad Street Park has always been a place of interest to me. As neighbors who were just across the old St. Mary's Pond back in the 1940's, and the very familiar Rusling Hose fire alarm that rang out at all hours, my interest was increased as I learned about the splendid historical heritage of the area. My friend and colleague Jim Collelo has a site devoted to Broad Street Park. Click on the link on my home page.

1986: BROAD STREET PARK DIARY WEEK 1 MESSENGER

Earlier today, I posted Part 2 of a multi-week column I wrote which brings persons and events in Broad Street Park into focus, as we look back on life as it was lived there during the very early years of this vintage Hamilton Township neighborhood. Ladies and gentlemen, the Harry Martin family of Broad Street Park!

1986: BROAD STREET PARK DIARY

Anyone experienced in history knows that there has to be a certain "hook" when writing about things historic. There is nothing more boring than reading a small and insignificant community article in the daily paper. However, when these community articles are arranged in chronological order, and given a fictional person to relate to those articles, the end result is an interesting chronology. Such is the case with numerous columns I have written over the years. The above Broad Street Park retrospective kept by the fictional Harry Martin family is one. The actual dates and events in the diary re-edited into diary form and accurate as published..

1934: ROWAN SCHOOL PUPILS LISTED FOR HONORS AND ATTENDANCE

What do these old grammar school student listing have to do with local history? Well, first of all, it is posts such as these that gives a listing of some of the older residents of our area "back in the day." This type of listing will always be a part of this blog for the benefit not only of genealogists, but those of us who remember many of the family names listed. I personally found over 25 names that were related to students who were familiar names during my years at Kuser grammar school and Hamilton High School before it became Hamilton High School West Watson.

Anonymous said...

THANKS, TOM...IN READING THIS I FOUND MY FATHER'S SIBLINGS AND REALIZED THAT, IN 1934, THEY WERE LIVING IN BROAD STREET PARK AREA WHILE MY MOM'S SISTER [ANNABELLE AVE] WAS ALSO IN ATTENDANCE AT THE SAME SCHOOL THOUGH MY PARENTS DIDN'T MEET UNTIL THE LATE 30'S AND NEVER KNEW THAT THERE WAS A CONNECTION AS EARLY AS 1934. WONDERFUL "TREAT" FOR MY FAMILY'S GENEALOGY...KATHY

Sunday, December 19, 2010

THANK YOU KATHY. I'M ALWAYS HAPPY TO HEAR FROM A VISITOR WHO HAS FOUND A RELEVANT POST THAT TIES IN WITH A FAMILY MEMBER.  THANKS ALSO FOR VISITING; I HOPE YOU RETURN OFTEN.

TOM GLOVER

BROAD STREET PARK QUESTION

Peg Mills wrote the following regarding her request for info on Broad Street Park's Spring Lake, A copy of this email is being sent to Jim Collelo, Broad Street Park historian:
I grew up using that area as my play ground in the 1950s. I can remember two brothers who lived in the swamp area beyond spring lake. they had a junky old red pick-up truck and i can still see them rumbling down the big hill at the end of Sewell Avenue. They would go down the hill, make a right turn, go all the way down to the wooden bridge and across. From there they turned right and their property was some distance on. They made a living trapping and hunting I was told. They were like hermits. If you got too close to their property, they would shoot over your head or turn their dogs loose. I have been trying to remember their surname. I used to know it, as did anyone who lived in that area. I was wondering if you, or someone belonging to your blog would remember their name.

Any information would be greatly appreciated.

Peg Henderson-Mills

THIS FROM MY HHS 1951 CLASSMATE, BOB WALTER:

Hi Tom:
The brothers in question were Russ and Bill Abrams, who lived near the White City Lake with their many dogs. they were responsible for patrolling all the land and swamp around the high tension wires, and the cat walks for Public Service. it was all private property. Me and some of my friends used to trap muskrats and duck hunt, illegally i guess, on the property. Russ, more than Bill used to find your traps and keep them, and if he could see or catch you he would put the dogs on you or shoot (rock salt loaded) shot gun at you. Russ was almost like a legend and feared by all the trappers and hunters,(mostly teenagers) like me. I do not know what ever happened to them, and Peg's question brought back memories,good and bad. On a good day you could go from bare ------ beach (white city lake), across the cable bridge on to the cat-walk all the way to the railroad tracks below Deutzville and the Sturgeon Pond near the old " brick yards". thanks,

Bob Walter

THIS FROM PEGGY REGARDING
BOB'S ANSWER TO HER QUERY:

TOM AND BOB THANKS FOR FINDING THE ANSWER TO MY MYSTERY HERMITS. AS SOON AS I READ THE NAME, A LIGHT WENT OFF. AS KIDS WE WERE FULL OF STORIES, HALF TRUE AND HALF FABLE OF THOSE TWO BROTHERS. OUR PARENTS KNEW ABOUT THEM AND DID ALWAYS WARN US TO STEER CLEAR. AGAIN THANKS SO MUCH.

PEGGY HENDERSON-MILLS

MANY THANKS BOB!

1987: ELI MOUNT FAMILY'S BROAD STREET PARK PART 1

In the eleven years between 1981 to around 1992, I wrote over 500 weekly columns for the MERCER MESSENGER and later the HAMILTON OBSERVER. My Messenger "The Way We Were" columns were a mix of history, nostalgia, and things whimsical. Above is the first of a column featuring the early years of Broad Street Park as experienced by the fictitious Mount family. (My father's middle name was Eli, and my Mom's maiden name was Mount; thus the family name.) I am currently digitizing these columns and as you might imagine, it is a herculean task which will slowly bring the project to fruition. The second of the Mount diary appears following this post.

1987: ELI MOUNT FAMILY'S BROAD STREET PARK PART 2

Here is installment number 2 of the Eli Mount Broad Street Park Diary.