1869: REMOVING THE HISTORIC GREENE STREET MARKET

I have a fairly significant digital collection of columns relating to the various markets that once dotted the little town of Trenton. One of them has been written about many times by various writers over the years, including yours truly. The Greene Street Market was located at today's State and Broad Streets and was placed right in the middle of North Broad Street to around Academy Street. In the years markets were in style, farmers from miles around loaded their horse drawn wagons and headed into Trenton to sell fresh fruit, vegetables and other products in demand. There was always stalls set aside for butchers, bakers, and yes, probably even candle stick makers. 

HAMILTON SQUARE BAPTIST CHURCH

Those of us who are history minded are always excited to read and see any and all information on churches that have survived the ages. One of those churches is pictured above; the Hamilton Square Baptist Church on Nottingham Way in Hamilton Square. This beautiful old edifice is steeped in history. The well preserved graveyard adjoining the property has tombstones with the names of many  local citizens of the past. The 1967 directory of members of the church has many familiar names to me, and I'm sure to many other.

1909: TRENTON'S NEW CITY HALL UNDER CONSTRUCTION

The venerable old structure has withstood 100 plus years of rain, snow, wind and hurricanes. Here's a Daily State Gazette photo of the construction site as it was back in 1909 when construction was in the foundation stage.

TRENTON'S HISTORIC MILL HILL

 

There are MANY really informative files in the Hamilton Library Local History Collection in the "MILL HILL" folder. I always liken the small neighborhood to Philadelphia's "Old Town." This beautiful neighborhood has always fascinated me. Each week as I journey to Sacred Heart Church via Market Street, for just a block or two, Trenton as it was in early years comes into clear focus, even though the more recent buildings lend a suggestion of the original Mill Hill. The neighborhood is an incredible area historically. Washington's Retreat is an historic treasure. As I have opined many times over the years, one of the best sources of history lies within the pages of our newspapers. One of the folders I have relied on for valuable information is the "REMINISCENCES" folder wherein articles such as those above are retold by old time residents of the area. As can be seen in the Bill Dwyer extract above, he too saw the value of picking the brains of we "old timers." John Cleary's articles, Elma Lawson, and other historical sources from the past are a treasure trove of local history that seldom sees the light of day.

1935: THE ATLANTIC AND PACIFIC TEA COMPANY

 I have created an "AMERICANA" folder in the Hamilton Library's Local History Collection. It will recall many of the very popular places and things from the past as I recall them during my 80 years in Hamilton and the Trenton-Mercer County area. I, and many other seniors over the age of 75 remember when "Supermarkets" were strategically placed throughout the area. Ours was on Hamilton Avenue between South Olden and South Logan Avenues.The exquisite engraving above is a very accurate representation of the early "Supermarkets" long before bar code readers and plastic bags.It was here that we got to order  "Bokar", "Red Circle," and "Eight O'clock" coffee which was ground on site as we waited for the operator of the coffee grinder to bag it and add it to our order.

1938: POLITICS IN HAMILTON TOWNSHIP

"The more things change, the more they stay the same" is a time honored saying that has been around for years. It supposedly comes from a French intellectual from the very distant past, and the veracity of the saying has endured over many centuries. However, as can be seen in the article above, it certainly does apply to American politics, local and national. The above article details the outcome of the November, 1938 election wherein the Republican party regained the reins of local government in Hamilton Township. I have highlighted the paragraph where "housecleaning" will be the order of the day. As a non-political observation, house cleaning still exists today. My problem with that concept is that qualified and competent people should not be considered fodder for political "house cleaning."

STUDEBAKER: MY FIRST AUTO LOVE AFFAIR

"Clem" Studebaker was indeed a mover and shaker in the early years of the Studebaker Company. The top graphic was borrowed from the incredibly interesting Studebaker website, HTTP://STUDE100.COM. I always had a soft spot in my heart for a Studebaker auto. In the early 50's I had the opportunity to drive Bill Stewart's 1949 Commander and fell in love with it. I will always remember the quality "thunk" when I opened and closed the door on that well built auto. The new and at the time, very radical design also captured my imagination. In 1950, I bought a used 1940 Studebaker President with a "straight eight" engine. It was a work horse, and never ever had to have any expensive break down repairs. As I have mentioned in numerous other previous posts from the "AUTOMOBILIA" folder, Studebaker had the misfortune of being an "outsider" during the years when Ford, Chrysler and GM were the chosen auto favorites. 

FROM ONE OF MY EARLIER STUDEBAKER POSTS AND ALSO FROM OUR AUTO EXPERT RAY PASKIEWICZ:
 

Hi Tom, I, too remembered this photo, from one of your posts, a while ago. You published this photo on Sept. 12th, 2012. If you check the comments from that day, I gave a long dissertation on my experiences with Studebaker automobiles, as well as a brief history of all of the independent manufacturers, and their demise, during my lifetime. I have great admiration for the independents and have owned a couple of them. rayfromvillapark on STUDEBAKER: MY FIRST AUTO LOVE AFFAIR

1923: THE RURAL HAMILTON TOWNSHIP PUBLIC LIBRARY

When one considers the splendid and huge Hamilton Township Public Library of the year 2013 and compares it with the library as it was 90 years ago, a vision of a rural farming community comes into focus. As seen, local schools and prominent stores were repositories for books for local Hamiltonians.

1924: SOON THERE WILL BE AN EAST STATE ST. EXTENSON

Doing local history sometimes seems like a thankless endeavor; especially when one considers the very obscure and little known story of the East State Street Extension from the "STREETS-ROADS-HIGHWAYS" folder is digitized and part of the Hamilton Township Public Library's Local History Collection . Unfortunately, it seems that the only time schools, cities and municipalities and other governmental entities think of us, is when they are preparing for an anniversary or other historic event. Hamilton Township has a splendid historical heritage. Even little known articles such as above which tells of plans to extend East State Street from Klockner Road to Nottingham Way will be of value to someone, sometime, and some day in the near or far future.

EDGEBROOK SCHOOL - Circa 1900

The graphic above relates information on the old Edgebrook School which was located on the North West corner of Klockner Road and Route 13, across from today's sprawling Hamilton Marketplace. The old school served farm children from the area, including from the neighboring "Grafton" and Dilatush farms on the Hamilton-Robbinsville border. The hand written letter from Emily Moyer would have ended up in the recycle bin had it not been for my friend and former Mayor Al DeMartin who agreed with me that the material should be saved for posterity. Accordingly, there are many very historic documents in the collection I and Al saved from the recycle bin.

1941: THE NEW STUDEBAKER CHAMPION

How I loved Studebakers! Indeed, how I loved all the "mongrel" auto marques like Hudson, Graham, Kaiser-Frazer, Nash, and Willys Overland! All those "mongrels" were victims at the time of the big 3 auto giants that trade in values on these lesser known cars was nil when compared to Chrysler, GM and Ford.  We "mongrel" lovers would counter, that the trade in value of a Studebaker for a new Studebaker would be logical due to the fact that once you own one, you buy a new one at a good trade in price. My 1940 Studebaker straight eight four door President was a car I would love to own today. But alas, by the time I was financially able to buy one of those wonderful old examples of automotive Americana, they had all gone the way of the passenger pigeon. I note that one of the dealers carries a "Dilliplane" name. Dilliplane had a Studebaker dealership over in Pennsylvania (Yardley? Newtown?)

1944: BRING "MA BELL" BACK!

How I miss the New Jersey Bell Telephone Company! Those were the years when you had a phone problem, instead of "all of our representatives are busy. Your call is very important to us...." we had the luxury of speaking IMMEDIATELY to a real live person, and IMMEDIATELY getting a truck out to solve our problem. 

The above graphic is a treasure that reposes in my Local History Collection. Many if not most of the graphics on this blog take a substantial amount of tweaking and Photoshopping and re-sizing.  I have seen quite a number of my  graphics posted on Facebook and other social pages and with copyright issues involved, I am responsible for the content. I have been crediting the Duke University Library's R.C. Maxwell Collection, and any time anyone sends a graphic, they will also be credited as the source. Effective with this post, I will begin to "watermark" all of my blog entries as above, and as is the case with any and all historic material I post, the source will be clearly recognized and included in the graphic.

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.

1935: CLASS OF 1935 ALFRED REED SCHOOL

Once again, a number of personally familiar names in this old photo of one of Ewing Township's very popular schools.

1936: THE HINDEBURG 1 YEAR BEFORE THE DISASTER

We had an aluminum structural base that a family member found at the site of the historic crash and burn of the Hindenburg. Somehow, it got lost in the attic when the house passed into the hands of the beneficiaries. This article from the "AIRCRAFT" folder in the Local History Collection is a testament to the fascination the public had with that huge aircraft. View the British UK Pathe' news clip by clicking on the link below.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CgWHbpMVQ1U

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.

1937: ONE OF R.C. MAXWELL UTILITY TRUCKS

What a beautiful photo! R.C. Maxwell was indeed a "History Maker" as the company photographed their signs and in so doing and unbeknown to them at the time, were recording fascinating photos of the Mercer County area.I will leave it to our resident auto historian Ray Paskiewicz to identify that truck that looks like a Mack.

1950: PERRY STREET AT N. WARREN AND BANK ST.

Here's another delightful photo of the area of St. Mary's Cathedral. The brick building in the foreground and to the right indicates that it is the Convent, and I assume also the school.

1939: Nottingham Way and Hamilton (?)

This photo mystifies me. In the fully enlarged version, the highway shown in the photo dips into a serious hill that I can not associate with Nottingham Way at Hamilton Avenue. Note that it is Route 33.

1923: RIVER ROAD, WEST TRENTON

I will need a visitor more familiar with the West Trenton area (once known as "Trenton Junction" to pinpoint this spot on the "Trenton Junction Road." It seems to bring back an earlier post where there was an Esso Station at the entrance to the Washington Crossing Bridge. I need help here.

1981: I DON'T RECALL THIS PLANE CRASH

Over the years, a number of people have asked me about the WWII aircraft that crashed over in the area behind Cedar Gardens. Somewhere in my files I have an account of that crash. I find it strange that I don't recall the Cessna crash pictured above.

UNDATED ENGRAVING OF THE ANDERSON HOMESTEAD

Hamilton has some very interesting local history sites that are relatively unknown. Beside the Fashion Stud Farm which was once located in the area of today's Grounds for Sculpture, the Anderson Farm was a HUGE piece of property which extended from the township line at So. Logan Avenue, nearly all the way to the Greenwood Cemetery area along today's Greenwood Avenue. The Bromley section of Hamilton was also the location of the old Rothschild factory which later became the Straus. Woolen Mills. The building was last used as a manufacturing facility when Atlantic Products took over the plant in the 1930's. 

Unfortunately, the only know photo of the old Anderson mansion is from this old offset news photo.

1938: THERE WAS "A FORD IN MY FUTURE"

Back in the 1940's the Ford Motor Company hired an advertising blimp to fly over the area with the lighted sign on the side reading, "Ford's Out Front; two great engines: Ford 6 and Ford V-8." How I loved to watch that low flying aircraft as it buzzed relatively silently overhead! My very first car at the age of 17 was a 1938 Ford V-8 "Business Coupe" that I bought from a guy in Morrisville for 25 bucks. I got what I paid for, but that old jalopy served me well for nearly a year.  After keeping Vince Calabrese's Tydol station in business with all the oil I burned in that old car, I moved on to a 1940 Studebaker President with a "straight eight" engine. Such fond memories!

1975: JACK RAFFERTY HAD IT RIGHT!

Wherever one goes in any town in contemporary America, one finds ugly graffiti scrawled over any surface that these "artists" can "tag" without being caught. Last year, I posted photos of the work of someone who decided it would be fun to scrawl their garbage on buildings adjoining the Kuser Farm property at the Loomis Avenue border. They even succeeded in scribbling their garbage on the historic Kuser windmill. These n'er do well law breakers have no regard for personal property and when caught in the act should be given a brush and graffiti remover to clean it up.
(Note that I also highlighted the word payed in the article. As is the case with music when someone sings off key, an unusual occurrence of a word will sound an alarm in a proof reader. However, when I googled "past tense of the word 'pay,' both are apparently acceptable. Wayne Davis seldom made editorial mistakes!)

1975: BEHOLD! MY HOME AWAY FROM HOME

Here's an article by my old friend Wayne Davis from the Mercer Messenger as well as an Amateur Radio colleague. Wayne who wrote of the dedicatory ceremonies for the new Hamilton Township Public Library back in 1975.  Little did I know those 38 years ago that I would ultimately finish my working career as the unofficial "Local Historian" of this wonderful Township of Hamilton. My Local History workshop (not office!) can be seen in the photo on the lower right. As you can see, there are 3 floors. The Local History Collection is the lower row of windows in the far right of the photo.

1965: HORNETS FROM THE CLASS OF 1965

This remarkably clear offset photo from the Hamilton Post features the class of 1965, Hamilton High West. Other schools will be digitized from this year as they are uncovered.

1965: LOCAL NOTABLES CONGRATULATIONS TO GRADUATES

"Congratulations" to the class of 1965 at area high schools. This vignette has photos of the high profile area educators and political persons of nearly 50 years ago.

1965: FROM THE "RESTAURANTS AND EATERIES" FOLDER

Here's an interesting page from a June, 1965 "HAMILTON LIFE" weekly newspaper showing some of the restaurants available during the 50's and 60's. The Old Heidelburg was a regular Sunday dining experience for my wife and I during that time, as was Jim's Country Diner.

2013: REST IN PEACE, MY FAVORITE RADIO COMMENTATOR

It isn't easy being a senior senior citizen in this year of 2013. America's social values have changed drastically since the years of my youth. Back in the 1960's when I was "on the road," one of my favorite radio segments were those inciteful observations of Paul Harvey whose signature sign off was, "Paul Harvey, Good Day," If you click on the link below which is from the "CRIME, MORALS, SOCIAL VALUES" folder, you will be amazed at the incredible accuracy of the 3 minute broadcast.

http://stg.do/9LDc

"Snopes" and "Urban Legends" are two on line source to either verify or deny what some might consider controversial content, whether "politically incorrect" of fact. Below is the source of this Paul Harvey audio which was deemed as a "mixture" by Snopes. The audio was an excerpt of a column Mr. Harvey wrote for his syndicated newspaper columns.

 

1911 AND 1914: THE BROAD STREET THEATRE

As can be seen in the articles above, the early version of Trenton's famous "Palace" theater had a very shady past. As I read the articles and the "vulgar" behavior which was part of the programs during the theater's burlesque oriented years, I moved forward nearly 100 years to the present where such behavior would be seen on prime time television for our youngsters to see. Mayor LaBarre shut the old Broad Street Theatre down during that spring of 1914, and it reopened a few weeks later with a change in format to music and musical movies. Back then, societal behavior was by majority rule. Enough citizens complained about the bawdy and sometimes obscene that the Mayor acted.

1848 AND 1937: LOCUST HILL; THE ALLINSON FARM

I would loved to have met Mr. Allinson. My dear friend, the late Bob Simpkins lived across the street from the Allinson Farm. Bob's family had the Simpkins Dairy Farm. He told of the time when he was a boy when Mr. Allinson took him to the attic in the old Burholme homestead and showed him the markings on the wall that were made by tenants who were fleeing the south via the Underground Railroad. Over the many years that the Allinson Farm was in existence, going way back to the earliest years when William Allinson acquired the property.There are many classified ads advertising the sale of chickens, eggs, apples, apple and other fruit trees.

THE HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF HAMILTON TOWNSHIP CURRENTLY HAS ON PUBLIC DISPLAY A NUMBER OF RARE RELICS FROM THE EARLY YEARS OF HAMILTON TOWNSHIP, INCLUDING MATERIAL RELATING TO THE ALLINSON FAMILY OF HAMILTON.

1904: NURSERY CLUB FOR TRENTON'S LINCOLN SCHOOL

Apropos of Black History Month, this article from the growing "AFRICAN-AMERICAN" folder in the Local History Collection, this article detailing the activities of the Lincoln School Nursery which was founded by the parents in the original Lincoln School when it was located on Bellevue Avenue.

1946: KUSER SCHOOL: WAY BACK WHEN

 

Those who have followed the hundreds of columns I have written over the past 30 years will recall that Kuser School is very close to my heart. My years in that 114 year old house of learning has gone through many changes since I trod the halls as a "Kuser Kat." Things have really changed since those innocent years when we knew little of what today's children are gleaning from a declining pop culture which has seriously infested many young minds. That last sentence needs no explanation to those of us who had proper English, Penmanship, Self Control, Discipline and moral values drummed into us from Kindergarten (Reception Grade) to high school graduation. .

1934: SCHROTH'S POST 93 BASEBALL

Thank you, Mary Ellen Devlin for this photo of the 1934 Schroth team as they visited President Franklin Roosevelt's Hyde Park home. It's a happy coincidence that I have a news photo of the team as published in the Trenton Times back in 1934.

2013: ELEANOR GOLDY GUEAR HISTORY OF MEMORIAL BAPTIST CHURCH

If there was one other place I would love to live beside my Kuser School neighborhood, it would be in that incredibly beautiful area of Hamilton Township known as Yardville Heights. Of course, the "Heights" appendage is due to the fact that the little neighborhood that is more like a village, is located on a prominent hill along the Crosswicks Creek. Eleanor Guear's history of the Memorial Baptist Church is an integral part of the history of Hamilton Township. Speaking of Yardville Heights history, my good friend Don Whiteley's family are pioneer residents of this incredibly beautiful and attractive neighborhood. Don has two very interesting websites dedicated to Yardville Heights. Check them out at  http://www.donremembers.blogspot.com and www.donwhiteley.com.

1949: SOUTH BROAD STREET AT GREENWOOD AVENUE

The truck in the photo is blocking the view of Greenwood Avenue where it met South Broad Street before they re-aligned the streets in that area. That section of Greenwood Avenue now dead ends a block or so down the street.

1949: THE "BROAD-CENTRE" DINER

This photo is just across the property of Sacred Heart Church at South Broad and Centre Street in Trenton.