Presented by Douglas Dixon, Hopewell Valley History Project
Thursday, October 27, 2022 – 7pm
Hopewell Train Station, Railroad Place, Hopewell, NJ
Sourland Conservancy Train Station Series
Advance registration is required as space is limited
Join Doug Dixon of the Hopewell Valley History Project to explore how the arrival of train service in the 1870s along the foothills of the Sourlands drove the growth of the small village of Columbia into the town of Hopewell.
We’ll explore the story both from the business perspective of a growing town that provided opportunities and jobs and services for residents and businesses and farms across the area (“100 girls wanted for shirt factory”), and from the personal perspective of having convenient transportation for farmers and work and fun (including visiting the 1876 Centennial in Philadelphia).
To the huge Pennsylvania and Reading Railroads, Hopewell was just the crossroads of one part of an ongoing competition to maintain monopoly power, resulting in the Frog War. But for local entrepreneurs, Hopewell provided a welcoming environment to start and grow businesses that provided outlets for products and jobs, including saw mills, coal and lumber yards, factories, and manufacturing.
And for local business people and farmers, Hopewell provided the opportunity to expand their markets, including by creating co-op canning factories and grain and feed stores.
The people of the town also came together in business and volunteer organizations to create the infrastructure needed for a growing and family-friendly town, including churches, schools, libraries, newspapers, fire companies, banks, and public water.
Thanks to the opportunities brought by the railroads, the Hopewell area became a place that supported new residents and families, had low-cost starter housing and storefronts for starting small businesses, and provided facilities to attract industry to provide good jobs.
- See more on the growth of Industrial Hopewell: Railroad Place (see video)
- See more on the Hopewell Train Stations and Railroad Lines (see video)
- See post on The Railroads of the Frog War
- See all Hopewell Borough History Briefs
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