1929: THE HAMILTON MUNICIPAL BUILDING

Here's on FABULOUS photo from my "Hamiltonia" collection, showing crowd that attended the celebration of the dedication of the Hamilton Township Municipal building at 2090 Greenwood Avenue.What fun I had with this photo! Thanks to the countless tweaks one can perform with "Photo Shop" CS2, I was able to convert this photo from grayscale to sepia. I also enhanced it to give an ever fascination look at the open area to the right of the building which at the time was a vacant, open lot, as was the area on the other side of the building (not seen in the photo). Also not seen in the photo foreground are the fire trucks from all the township fire stations which were lined all along  Greenwood Avenue. Trolley service was suspended during the dedication ceremony.

1929: DEDICATION OF THE HAMILTON TOWNSHIP MUNICIPAL BUILDING

During one of my lunches with my dear friend, the late Maury Perilli, the subject of the proposed "center city" relocation of Hamilton Township's municipal offices which is in the field across from the Hamilton Library and police station in what I believe to be known as the Morgan Tract. Relocation would of course mean the evacuation of that beautiful red brick colonial style building at 2090 Greenwood Avenue. Maury assured me that the move was well into the future due to fiscal constraints, but it would ultimately happen. Given the unhappy fate of that beautiful Trenton Central High school and the forthcoming wrecker's ball, I would hope that future town leaders would save that historic building which was built when Hamilton was still a largely rural community with large farms dotting the map.

About the photo: The original was a large panoramic photo of the area in front of the municipal building taken during the celebration of the dedication of the building at 2090 Greenwood Avenue. The clarity is amazing with a very interesting view of Greenwood Cemetery in the background. As to the "Enterprise Vol. Fire Co." and their gorgeous rigs, in my limited time as a Colonial Volunteer firemen, we referred to Enterprise ad "Hamilton-Enterprise."

1947:2090 GREENWOOD AVENUE

Whoa, does this photo bring back some vintage memories! With the Hamilton Municipal building just out of the photo, one gets a very interesting view of the open land that surrounded our local town hall back in 1947 when I was a Kuser Annex Hamilton High School freshman. I remember we used to walk from Kuser School to Greenwood School where township physician would give our class physical exams or perhaps a vaccination or some other kind of needle. I specifically recall that open field which now serves as a public parking lot where I have parked countless times.

1936: 2090 GREENWOOD AVENUE THEN AND NOW

I was 3 years old when this airplane photo of the Bromley section of Hamilton was taken with the Municipal Building as the point of interest. Notice the greenhouses and also the open fields around the building and Hollywood Drive in the upper left.Below is a 2014 Google Earth view of the 

same area as it is today.

1947:2090 GREENWOOD AVENUE IN FRONT OF THE HAMILTON TOWNSHIPMUNICIPAL BUILDING

I really like this photo. The truck on the left is an old International dump truck. To the right of the building you can see a vacant lot. Below is another photo from just up the street in front of Greenwood School giving an even better view of the vacant lot adjacent to the town hall. .

1928: HAMILTON'S NEW MUNICIPAL BUILDING

FROM THIS VANTAGE POINT, THE BUILDING LOOKS ABOUT THE SAME. BUT IF YOU WENT TO THE LEFT, YOU WOULDN'T SEE A PARKING LOT AND BELIEVE ME, THE ENTIRE AREA OF 2090 GREENWOOD AVENUE CHANGED DRASTICALLY OVER THESE 70-PLUS YEARS. THE ARTICLE REFERS TO THE LIBRARY WHICH WAS IN THE BASEMENT. I REMEMBER IT WELL. IN FACT, WHEN I FIRST GOT MARRIED IN THE EARLY 50'S IT WAS A SHORT WALK FROM MY FAIRLAWN GARDENS APARTMENT AT 212 MASSACHUSETTS AVENUE.

1929: THE DEDICATION OF HAMILTON'S NEW MUNICIPAL BUILDING

I HAVE DIGITIZED AN INCREDIBLY CLEAR PHOTO OF THE FIREMEN PARKED ALONG GREENWOOD AVENUE ON THE DAY OF THE DEDICATION OF THE NEW BUILDING. THE ORIGINAL WAS A VERY LONG PANORAMIC PHOTO ABOUT 30+ INCHES IN WIDTH. THIS IS ONE OF THE PHOTOS. THE HARTER NURSERY BUILDINGS ARE SEEN IN THE BACKGROUND ON THE LEFT., ALSO THE FENCED IN AREA WHERE TODAY THERE IS A
TOWNSHIP PARKIN LOT. NOTE ALSO THE OPEN LAND TO THE RIGHT OF THE BUILDING WHERE TODAY'S HAMILTON HEALTH DEPARTMENT BUILDING IS LOCATED AND TOWNSHIP PARKING.