11937: YES, I DO REMEMBER THIS TRENTON MEMORY

I was only a young boy o 8 or 9, but I do remember the now archaic custom of stationing city of Trenton police officers under an umbrella, on a platform with the rotating "STOP" and "GO" signs. This was just a small memory of the Trenton of 70-Plus years ago apparently before the advent of today's traffic light; delightful nostalgia, delightful history!.

1800's - 1900's:SEGREGATED TRENTON SCHOOLS

The history of the African-American community is and has been one of the subjects that has some very interesting historic facts. One of those subjects relates to the segregation of the African-American population not only nationwide, but locally here in the Trenton area. I have been researching material on local schools for a presentation for the Hamilton Township Historical Society which I will be making in the fall of this year. Along with such intriguing names as Friendship School, Edgebrook, etc. there are the schools which were set aside for the black children who lived in Trenton at the time. Thus far, I have found that there was a segregated school for the "colored" in the mid 1850's on Trenton's Hanover Street. Bellevue Avenue was originally known as Higbee Street. The teacher's log book shown above was from the time when the "Bellevue Avenue Public School" was located there. It is believed that this school was not a school for black students. The Lincoln School, then the Nixon School succeeded it and were schools for black children. Note that this is SPECULATION on my part, and subject to correction if someone should have information that will further enlighten those who are interested in researching the subject. 

 RALPH LUCARELLA said...

HEY MIKE, THIS IS RALPH, LETTING YOU KNOW I,M STILL AROUND. I'M GONNA BE 95 YEARS OLD IN AUGUST AND LIVING UP IN THE MOUNTAINS OF NORTH CAROLINA. IT'S A CRIME THAT MY BROTHER CHUCK PASSED AWAY SO YOUNG OR ELSE HE WOULD HAVE GONE ON TO BE SOME DOCTOR. BASEBALL WAS THE BIG THING IN BOTH OUR LIVES UNTIL THINGS CHANGED ALL THAT. I OFTEN RECALL THE HAMILTON BOWLING LANES ON ROUTE 33 IN 1954 AND WHAT MY BROTHER LOU AND I DID WE WENT OUT TO INDIANAPOLIS IN 1948 TO SEE CHUCK HELP WIN THE AMERICAN LEGION WORLD SERIES. MAY GOD BLESS HIM AND MAY HE REST IN PEACE .

Wednesday, March 19, 2014

 

 Anonymous said...

Ralphie:

Glad to hear from you, and learn you are still with us.

Chuck was 2 years ahead of me in school, and I knew him as a super nice, and very accomplished guy.
I was in Jr. 4 when the Schroths won the championship. Ronnie Holford, Andy Greener and Gino Silvestro as I recall were his teamates. They too were friends of mine. I also knew his wife, and her twin sister.
All great people in a far better time of our country.
Where are you in No. Carolina. I'm in Virginia, about a half hour from the State line with NC.

Be well, and Cent Anni.

Mike Kuzma

Wednesday, March 19, 2014

 

1958: TRENTON CHANGES FOREVER

It was called "Urban Re-Development." It changed the city of Trenton and the South Trenton area from a middle size town with run-down and aging "ghetto" attributes into a town with glass-encrusted high rise state office buildings. Old streets in South Trenton such as Cooper, Fall, South Warren and many others were either truncated (Greenwood Avenue) or completely eliminated.

Stephen Doyle said...

What is interesting is that the article mentions the concerns of one legislator who noted that while the City and State would sink a lot of money into the project, they would get nothing back. Looks like everyone ignored him and said the classic "it will stimulate private development" line- which is a myth. Thanks for posting- its very interesting to see how this was presented at the time! -sd

Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Michael Kuzma said...

Tom:

This was not only my old neighborhood, but just a year after this article, I went to work for the City of Trenton and watched the debacle up close.
Our family had moved out of the area two years prior to this published article. Having seen the fiasco the city created in the "Redevelopment" of Coalport, this project should never been undertaken. The Holland Administration came into power in 1960 during the "Development phase" His Director of Relocation, was typically out of the office sleeping it off. As a result, records were fudged, and hundreds of residents were never relocated
Like Coalport, there was not one iota of private development in the area. thousands were uprooted, business's were lost to the suburbs,and the State despite using our Police to respond to car break ins and robberies, and our Fire Department resources strained by the demands of those thousands of State workers that needed someone to put the fires out, paid a fair contribution to the city.

Like Coalport, Center City South, The Fitch Way didn't provide a return on our investment.

I must say that the only successful project undertaken in the 50's and 60's was one I was personally involved in; Mercer Jackson Rehabilitation Project, now known as Mill Hill. Seems like things have not changed much in all these years; All promises, no production.

Regards

Mike Kuzma

Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Thanks Steve and Mike. These first hand observations and comments go a long way to enlightening those who were not around when Trenton morphed into the glass encrusted high rises we have in the city today.

1946: Eddie Moylan - Trenton Tennis Star

Originally posted on Wednesday, October 01, 2008

This young man was a regular visitor to the Kuser Farm Tennis Club when Don Slabicki and I worked for Fritz and Edna Kuser in the 1940's. Eddie was the epitome of a role model. His quiet self confident manner impressed all who knew him. He was one of the few opponents who kept "Mr. Trenton Tennis," Fritz Kuser on the defensive. The last I heard of Eddie, he was the tennis coach (or is it tennis pro?) at Cornell University.

1931: TRENTON ARENA BOXING PROGRAM

The graphic above has been re-formatted, placing the actual program events adjacent to each other as opposed to the original which placed them on opposite pages. Many locals recall the old Trenton Arena as a shining example of Trenton's boxing and wrestling matches, auto shows, and other community events. The arena burned down, as I recall in the 1960's. Should I be incorrect as to the date of the fire, please correct me so that the record can be set straight.

JoeZ said...

Tom: That's what one can call a complete program. We have boxing, wrestling, political ads, restaurants,cleaner, furniture and liquor. I enjoy reading all those ads. Thanks.

Wednesday, July 07, 2010

Ralph Lucarella said...

...I RECALL A WRESTLER, I BELIEVE HIS NAME WAS LEWANDOWSKI FROM TRENTON, WHO WAS PRETTY GOOD. WE HAD MANY GOOD BOXERS BUT NOT MANY WRESLTERS. THAT AD FROM JAHOS BROS, MY FATHER HAD SUITS TAILORED THERE. WE ALL WONDERED HOW HE COULD AFFORD TAILOR MADE SUITS ON HIS SALARY. HIS THEORY WAS BUY THE BEST, IN THE LONG RUN IT WOULD LAST LONGER AND BE THE CHEAPEST. HE FELT THAT WAY IN MOST OF THE THINGS HE BOUGHT. MY FATHER HAD A LOT OF CLASS BUT COULDN'T DO THE RIGHT THING AT WORK. HE DIDN'T WEAR A MASK WHILE WORKING WITH CLAY AND THAT KILLED HIM AT THE EARLY AGE OF 52, MAY GOD BLESS HIM.

MACK SAID:

Love seeing that Salamandra Ad in the 1930s. I walked past Salamandra at that location many quiet mornings on the way to deliver the Trentonian in the 1970s:)

1866: TRENTON'S WILSON WOOLEN MILL

In my estimation, Samuel K. Wilson was the wealthy "John D" of the Trenton area back in Victorian times. Coming on the scene in the mid 1800's, Wilson built up a real estate portfolio with countless parcels of land all over the city of Trenton. The site on which St. Francis Hospital, and much of the surrounding area was a part of his real estate holdings. His Wilson Woolen mill was known far and wide a source of quality textiles

1946: TRENTON WELCOME HOME TO SCHROTH'S POST 93 TEAM

Even in defeat, loyal Trenton Baseball fans gave the boys from Post 93 a rousing and very impressive welcome home. These two photos have been re-arranged and enhanced in order to give the best possible clarity to the person shown in the photo. I looked in vain for Reynold "Rennie" Funari among those Trentonians in the crowd. I'm sure he was there; he was a champion of local Trenton baseball.

1894: DRUGS DURING THE VICTORIAN ERA

TRENTON’S NARCOTIC CARE COMPANY

WEDNESDAY, JULY 17, 1894

GAZETTE

The Trenton Narcotics Company has been successful in effecting permanent cures in persons addicted to the liquor and opium and morphine habits at its intstitute, which was established last September. It is fitted with every comfort for the convenience and enjoyment of patients. This company owns the rights for Southern New Jersey, and expects to establish several other institutes in the near future.

At the annual meeting of the stockholders of of the Trenton Houston Narcotic Care Company held at the company's institute, 318 Chestnut Avenue on Tuesday morning, the following Board of Directors was elected:

Colonel Thomas S. Chambers

Dr. N.B. Oliphant

Hon. Barton B. Hutchinson

Robert C. Belville

John Guild Muirhead

Benjamin L. Disbrow

Dr. William A Clark

1913: ALEXANDER PEREY'S TRENTON-BUILT AEROPLANE

Perey's plane didn't take off on the following Saturday. A note in the paper said that he was already to take off, but found that the canvas on the wings of the plane had been caught in the rain on the preceding night and it was too heavy to get off the ground. 1,000 disappointed spectators left the field at "Cedar Lane and South Broad Street," and Perey postponed the effort, telling the crowd he was sure the plane would fly, and he would make another attempt.

(A note from Tom: I'll keep a lookout on Perey's "Aeroplane"
in subsequent Gazette pages.)

1938: "TRENTON IN BYGONE DAYS"

One of the interesting projects I have undertaken at the Local History Collection of the Hamilton Library is the digitazion of the John Cleary and Harry Podmore "Trenton In Bygone Days columns of the 30's and 40's. Many years ago, I went through a Podmore scrap book at the Trenton Library and found that the pages had become "rippled" as the glued in articles yielded to the aging process. Fortunately, my existing copies of "Bygone Days" are in excellent condition, as can be seen by the above graphic dealing with old City of Trenton Directories.

1885: A Walk In A Cemetery

This interesting article details a visit by a reporter to Trenton's Mercer Cemetery. He visits the grave site of many prominent Trentonians who were interred there.

1885: Local Trenton Baseball Teams

When I was a boy, I frequently walked over to Wetzel Field on Morris Avenue to watch the Trenton "Industrial League." One of the players I recall was Reynold "Rennie" Funari, a guy who could have made "the bigs." Panelyte, Roebling were two of the teams I recall, but that's about it. The accompanying clip from my BASEBALL folder reveals that the area was baseball minded back in the 19th century. There will be future baseball clips in future posts.