1941: HARRY PODMORE'S "TRENTON IN BYGONE DAYS"

 

Harry Podmore, and John Cleary before him were always of interest to me as a young boy. I became an avid follower of these two historians and their "Bygone Days" columns right up to the time when the late, great Bill Dwyer took over the reins. Now to the above graphics. They are from the same January 1941 column and took up nearly 12 inches of the newspaper page. It occurred to me that it would be much more relevant to historians and researchers if extracts from different subjects were to be cut and pasted into an easily read article featuring one specific subject. Additionally, the original Dolton's Block Bygone Days portion was extracted, and from my own history database a vintage newspaper photo of the Dolton building was placed aside the BGD column with a mini map of the area showing where the building is located. Unfortunately, I am unable to determine whether the building was on the South or Northwest corner of the intersection. 
As this blog approaches 900,000 "hits," it is nice to know that part of its success is due to visitors who add historical articles, photos and maps to those which I post. Such was the case with visitor Rich Sauers who was kind enough to do research and come up with these two graphics which focus on the actual location of Dolton's Block. Many thanks Rich; your two scans are much appreciated and I can now remove the last line of my original caption "I am unable to determine whether the building was on the South or Northwest corner of the intersection."Rich's scans follow along with his email to me. THANKS, RICH!

Mr. Glover,

Great blog, been reading for quite a while.

Today's post about Dolton's Block caught my eye, and sent me online for a bit of internet research this evening.

A panoramic map of Trenton by Thaddeus Mortimer Fowler in 1874 had Dolton's Block highlighted as number 10. That view (detail from map attached) shows that the photo in your article shows Dolton's Block facing Warren Street, and from Google Maps it looks to have been directly across the street from today's Warren Street Plaza. Evert and Stewart's 1875 county atlas also marked the block's location (also attached).

1946: TRENTON INDUSTRY-AMERICAN SAW COMPANY

John Cleary, Harry Podmore, Bill Dwyer and Sally Lane are all my heroes who have enlightened all of us who are interested in our local historical heritage. The above is a digital copy of the "TRENTON IN BYGONE DAYS" series that ran so many years in the Trenton Sunday Times Advertiser. Most libraries disposed of their huge bound newspaper collection in favor of scratchy microfilm; long before computers and digital imaging was made possible.  Back in the early 1980's I saw the potential for historic preservation of these chronicles of local history and managed to save a 100 year run of Trenton newspapers. Included in the collection are bound copies of the Trenton State Gazette, Trenton Evening Times, Daily True American and the Trenton Sunday Advertiser from the 1930's and 1940's. Historians agree that one of the best sources of local history lies in the daily Trenton newspaper as articles and photos increase in historical interest as time passes. How true!

1932: JOHN J. CLEARY, TRENTON'S LOCAL HISTORIAN

 

My statistical research on this website has shown an average of anywhere from 300 to 450 visits per day. Many are those who are more interested in the more recent posts, such as the R.C. Maxwell-Duke University Library photos of the Trenton area of long ago. However, and this is a very important point, actual hard core history will always be on the front burner. I realize that there are many who could care less about Mahlon Stacy, the Old Barracks, Mill Hill, the old wooden Delaware River Bridge, the Raftsmens' Inn, Duck Island, Deutzville, Lamberton, Rose Hill, Goosetown, Coalport, Millham, etc. However, very little publicity is given to these lost vestiges of an evolving city, all of which have stories to tell. Along with the Trenton Historical Society, (www.trentonhistory.org) these stories will, and certainly should be told. As we senior citizens like to boast, "we've been around the block," so it is with our recollection of the incredibly interesting writings of Trenton's John Cleary who for years gave invaluable historic insight to the magnificent history of the city of Trenton. Over his many years as a Trenton Times employee, Cleary spoke with many elderly citizens and wrote about their collective recollections of the city as they remembered it. The results are a gold mine of local history. The Hamilton Township Public Library's Local History collection is well on its way to digitizing these writings,  going back to the early part of the 20th  century, along with those of his successor, Bill Dwyer whose articles are also an incredible retelling of Trenton History. The last half of the 20th century saw my beloved city of Trenton begin the descent from a viable town with beautiful homes and few drive by shootings, along with equally beautiful citizens who were instrumental in maintaining the character of the capital city of New Jersey.

2011: HERE'S WISHING YOU A VERY HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY

Let's remember who preserved, and still preserves the independence of our wonderful America!

"...one nation UNDER GOD with liberty and justice for ALL."

Anonymous said...

Well, thank you Tom! I had been trying to recall the name of an uncle. John Cleary from Bellevue Avenue was a fairly regular contributor to the Saturday Evening Post back in the 1950's. I think as kids, we cut our "reading teeth" on the Digest and The Post. Skipper

Hi Skipper: Every journalist has a hero. Mine was and is John Cleary. He was before Harry Podmore and Bil Dwyer. His knowledge of the history of the Trenton area was supreme. Not only that, he was a real gentleman and knew most of the old time old timers in Trenton back in the day.

Tom Glover

Mack said... One nation UNDER GOD. Amen :)

Tuesday, July 05, 2011

1905: TRENTON POLICE DEPARTMENT CAPTAIN JOHN J. CLEARY

When the Trenton Police Department's new history book arrives later this summer, you will undoubted read about Captain Cleary, along with contemporary photographs. This is just one of the hundreds of files in the Hamilton Township Public Library's Local History Collection. More to come.

"TRENTON IN BYGONE DAYS"

As a young boy, I eagerly went to the pages of the Trenton Sunday Times Advertiser to read "Trenton in Bygone Days." John Cleary and Harry Podmore made local history come to life. Their writings are a treasure trove of local history.
One of the very exciting aspects of my local history digitization project is the ability to preserve my collection of "Trenton In Bygone Days" columns. Most of the Bygone Days columns I have seen were pasted into scrapbooks, and through the natural aging process have faded and the scrapbook pages developed a "rippled" effect.
Thanks to computer technology, the pristine original newspapers in my collection allow for equally pristine reproduction of the many BGD columns available. For the benefit of the many senior citizens who are interested in history, these files are being scanned at high definition, allowing those who need large print to zoom in to a comfortable reading level.