1890: THE FASCINATING DEUTZVILLE JEWELRY MANUFACTURING COMPANY

 

Today it's just a hop skip and a jump from the Trenton city line. Originally a part of the old "Lalor Tract," Adam Deutz founded a jewelry factory in the little village and for many years successfully operated the firm. Stories proliferate on that factory. Each employee had to be carefully screened upon leaving to be sure there was no remnants large of small, of gold on their person. Deutzville, like Bromley, borders areas of the city of Trenton that have deteriorated as old line citizens became a part of what has become known as "white flight" to the suburbs.

DEUTZVILLE A VERY QUIET HAMILTON SUBURB

 

There is incredibly interesting history surrounding that section of Hamilton which is on the Trenton border. Established on part of the old "Lalor Tract" back in the 1880's, Deutzville was named for Adam Deutz who founded a gold jewelry factory. In early 20th century, Deutzville also had a school, appropriately named the Deutzville School. More on this interesting village in future posts.

1880: EMPLOYEES OF ADAM DEUTZ JEWELRY FACTORY

Except for those who reside in Deutzville, there are few citizens of the area who know about that little area of Hamilton that borders on the city of Trenton. Additionally, there are even fewer who know of Adam Deutz, the founder of that little section and the jewelry manufacturing business he operated back in the 19th century. With gold being one of the raw materials in the Deutz factory, employees had to be thoroughly searched upon leaving the plant each day.

1889: DEUTZVILLE: A FORGOTTEN TOWN?

I always considered Deutzville to be similar to my Bromley neighborhood; both border Trenton, and are far removed from the more affluent Hamilton areas of Hamilton Square, Yardville and other areas with their well maintained streets, litter free sidewalks and generally more "suburban" in character. Deutzville has a very interesting history. I'm sure a search of this blog will turn up information on the Deutz jewelry manfuacturing company and other interesting looks at the area that once was a part of the "Lalor Tract."

1921: DEUTZVILLE: THE FORGOTTEN VILLAGE

Few newcomers to Mercer County know there is an area on the border of Trenton known as Deutzville. In all my 77 years of living in Hamilton Township, I have seen little written or known about that little village situated south of Lalor Street in the old "Lalor Tract," and in close proximity to St. John's Cemetery. Back in the 1940's, I and my buddies were regular visitors to a junk yard that was once located in Deutzville,l and a number of others in the area have visited St. Jehosophat during the Easter season for some delightful home made perogies. Few people know that there was a Deutzville school, and the namesake of the town, and that Adam Deutz, operated a jewelry manufacturing operation. The above article is an extremely fascinating story of his amazing enterprise.

Areas such as Deutzville, Bromley, and Broad Street Park, sometimes seem to get less attention due to their proximity to the city of Trenton.

THIS FROM SJ BILL:

I'm not sure if Deutzville is still a predominantly Ukrainian residential area with a few churches and civic associations, but so didn't the Hungarians and Germans in my neighborhood. The village was comprised of small homes on open lots where the Burg had its row houses. I think that proximity to "The Swamps," where Trenton dumped most of its refuse, rubbed off onto the residents of Deutzville. In the late '60s, I recall a street being named for Taras Schevchenko, a Ukraianing freedom fighter.
Another thing: the youths from Deutzville, now in their 60s and 70s, didn't "get along" with us Burg and South Trenton kids down at Sturgey" or Sturgeon Pond. There were numerous turf related altercations, especially during ice skating season.

THIS FROM BOB WALTER, DEUTZVILLE NATIVE:

Hi tom, Just a few more facts about Deutzville. My family moved there when I was 5 years old. The jewelry factory later was a pottery which extended from Bunting ave to a little dirt alley behind our house (1206 Deutz ave). Deutzville was unofficially defined by from Bunting ave to Hewett ave (Roebling's wire mill),and from Lalor st to South st, (which we affectionatly called "the end") We were bordered by St Johns cemetery, the dumps, Peter Cracker's cardboard recycling, Granny Parent's house, the acid ponds from Roebling's waste, the Sturgy pond, the railroad tracks, Riverview cemetery, and not to far to the river. Allot for a young boy to do, most of which was forbidden by our parents. My good friend Alvin "nappy" Mitchell drowned in the river when he was 9 years old. My mother knew we were sneaking away to swim but that day She caught us (me and my brother) and kept us home. Much different for young boys to do now days. We, the young boys from Deutzville, were very protective of our "turf"from the boys from Goat Hill (across Lalor st and the city) and also from the Lamberton st group of boys who were called "the river rats". Both groups usually reciprocated when we "strayed" in to their space. As forthe street, the "DP's" (displaced persons) wanted to rename Deutz ave to Shevchenko Blvd. (Shevchenko was a poet who I think was jailed by the Russians). Well that was a no-no from most of the long time residents who were mostly Polish, Hungarian, and Slovakian, and there were demonstrations from these people and the street was not renamed. As for sjBill's comment about refuse rubbing off on Deutzville residents, he is wrong. He is probably still angry that maybe he was not allowed to come into Deutzville. His comment about not having row homes was wrong, hell, I lived in a row home (affectionatly known as "Bed Bug Row." They were all good families and every body knew each other. I have good memories of Deutzville. Thanks Tom Bob Walter

Anonymous said...

I live in the house on the corner of deutz ave and henry st. When I purchased the home in 2006, the real estate agent told me I was the third owner of this home! I was amazed and fell in love with the home from the first moment I set eyes on it. The history of this area is amazing and I would love to know more about my home if possible...the address is 1101 Deutz ave...the RE agent told me that it was home to one of the relatives of the jewelery manufacturer....The woman who owned it before me was Katarina Fedorack (not sure about the spelling) she was known as the perogie lady and her son's name was Roman

1902: THE LALOR TRACT

THIS ARTICLE WAS POSTED IN JANUARY OF 2010. HOWEVER, THE IMPORTANCE OF THE HISTORY OF THE HOLDINGS OF THE LALOR FAMILY WHICH EXTENDED FROM THE DELAWARE RIVER, DEUTZVILLE-RIVERVIEW CEMETERY AREA TO AN AREA NEAR BROAD STREET PARK, AND NORTHWARD TO THE CASS STREET AND ADELINE STREET PLACE THIS HISTORIC ARTICLE IN THE CATEGORY OF HISTORIC SIGNIFICANCE.
(THE FORMER POST HAS BEEN DELETED AND MOVED UP TO RECENT POSTS.)
From deep within the millions of pages of Trenton newspapers comes this fascinating article telling interesting facts about the fabled "Lalor Tract." This 108 year old bit of history is quite difficult to classify. Along with interesting infomation on the Lalor family, there are tantalizing entries relating to Duck Island's tobacco and horseradish culture, Deutzville, Bow Hill, St. John's Cemetery, the D & R Canal, Jordan Mott and Roebling Companies, and numerous references to potteries. This article is a treasure trove of the South Trenton-Lalor-Bow Hill area of Hamilton Township.

1900; ILLEGAL ARMS ON A SUNDAY IN DEUTZVILLE

Constables Caeser, Shockley and Frawley were all named in many police related matters in Hamilton some 100 years ago. Here, Mr. Frawley doggedly trails a Deutzville resident who violated the Hamilton ordinance against firearms on the Sunday.

1888: Development of Homedell, Deutzville,Chambersburg etc.

Here's a fascinating graphic from the "NEIGHBORHOODS" folder. The "Jefferson Street" referred to in the Homedell segment is today's Liberty Street. Over the years, the Homedell section has been incorrectly listed as "Holmdale," and "Holmdell". Cedar Street is today's Cedar Lane.

1917 DEUTZVILLE SCHOOL

From my "Deutzville" folder, this interesting invoice from Broad Street Park's E.S. Willey company for lumber for use at the Deutzville School.

1905: DEUTZVILLE SCHOOL

There was an "issue" with certain Deutzville residents back in 1905 when the subject of a new school for the little village came before the town fathers. These 2 interesting and little known articles from the "DEUTZVILLE" folder reveals the issue and the construction of the school.

1875: DEUTZVILLE: THE FORGOTTEN COMMUNITY

Tucked away on the border of both Trenton and Hamilton, I have always felt that Deutzville was the forgotten community. During the early years when the Deutz family operated the nationally known gold jewelry factory, it was much more prominent. Except for the very viable and locally popular Easter festivities at St. Jehosophat parish, we hear very little news coming from that section of Hamilton. The map was scanned from an 1875 Evert-Stewart Atlas in my collection, now in the Hamilton Library Local History Collection.

1922: DEUTZVILLE'S JEWELRY FACTORY

1921: WAS DEUTZVILLE AN ORPHAN?

BACK IN 1921 THE RESIDENTS OF DEUTZVILLE, BORDERING TRENTON (AS DOES BROMLEY AND BROAD STREET PARK) ACCUSED THE TOWN FATHERS OF NEGLEGET OF SERVICES. MANY DEUTZVILLE CITIZENS FELT THE THE MORE AFFLUENT HAMILTON NEIGHBORHOODS WERE GETTING MORE ATTENTION. THE RESIDENTS WERE UP IN ARMS AS CAN BE SEEN IN THIS ARTICLE.

1918: Deutzville School Mothers

A week or so ago, I wrote a column in the "Times of Trenton" regarding Deutzville School. Here is still another document that was destined for the recycle bin. Fortunately, I was at the right place at the right time. Please people, think of me before you destroy material which you label as trash!