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Hopewell, New Jersey

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See also: Hopewell Township, Mercer County, New Jersey
Hopewell, New Jersey
Borough
Hopewell highlighted in Mercer County. Inset map: Mercer County highlighted in the State of New Jersey.
Hopewell highlighted in Mercer County. Inset map: Mercer County highlighted in the State of New Jersey.
CountryUnited States
StateNew Jersey
CountyMercer
Government
 • TypeBorough (New Jersey)
 • MayorPaul Anzano
Area
 • Total0.7 sq mi (1.8 km2)
 • Land0.7 sq mi (1.8 km2)
 • Water0.0 sq mi (0.0 km2)
Elevation
197 ft (60 m)
Population
 (2000)
 • Total2,035
 • Density2,963.7/sq mi (1,144.3/km2)
Time zoneUTC-5 (Eastern (EST))
 • Summer (DST)UTC-4 (EDT)
ZIP code
08525
Area code609
FIPS code34-33150Template:GR
GNIS feature ID0877244Template:GR
Websitehttp://www.hopewellboro-nj.us

Hopewell is a Borough in Mercer County, New Jersey, United States. As of the United States 2000 Census, the borough population was 2,035.

Hopewell was incorporated as a borough by an Act of the New Jersey Legislature on April 14, 1891, from portions of Hopewell Township, based on the results of a referendum held on March 21, 1891. Additional portions of Hopewell Township were annexed in 1915, and the borough was reincorporated in 1924.[1]

Hopewell was the town nearest to the estate owned by Charles Lindbergh and Anne Morrow Lindbergh in East Amwell.[2] Their firstborn son, Charles Augustus Lindbergh III, was abducted from their home and later found dead near the town. See Lindbergh kidnapping for more information about the incident involving the Lindbergh child.

Hopewell Township, the much larger municipality which surrounds Hopewell Borough, includes the land along the east side of the Delaware River to which George Washington and the Continental Army crossed from Pennsylvania. Once in Hopewell Township, the army marched to Trenton on Christmas Day, 1776. The Battle of Trenton followed. Today, Washington Crossing State Park commemorates this important milestone in American history.

Geography

Hopewell is located at 40°23′20″N 74°45′50″W / 40.38889°N 74.76389°W / 40.38889; -74.76389Invalid arguments have been passed to the {{#coordinates:}} function (40.389005, -74.764010)Template:GR.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the borough has a total area of 0.7 square miles (1.8 km²), all of it land.

Hopewell Borough is an independent municipality surrounded entirely by Hopewell Township.

Demographics

Historical population
CensusPop.Note%±
19301,467—
19401,67814.4%
19501,86911.4%
19601,9283.2%
19702,27117.8%
19802,001−11.9%
19901,968−1.6%
20002,0353.4%
2006 (est.)2,022[3]
Population 1930 - 1990.[4]

As of the censusTemplate:GR of 2000, there were 2,035 people, 813 households, and 561 families residing in the borough. The population density was 2,963.7 people per square mile (1,138.7/km²). There were 836 housing units at an average density of 1,217.5/sq mi (467.8/km²). The racial makeup of the borough was 95.43% White, 1.08% African American, 0.49% Native American, 0.98% Asian, 1.23% from other races, and 0.79% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2.31% of the population.

There were 813 households out of which 36.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 55.0% were married couples living together, 11.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 30.9% were non-families. 25.1% of all households were made up of individuals and 8.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.50 and the average family size was 3.01.

In the borough the population was spread out with 26.1% under the age of 18, 4.7% from 18 to 24, 30.7% from 25 to 44, 27.9% from 45 to 64, and 10.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females there were 94.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 89.3 males.

The median income for a household in the borough was $77,270, and the median income for a family was $91,205. Males had a median income of $52,656 versus $47,315 for females. The per capita income for the borough was $38,413. None of the families and 2.1% of the population were living below the poverty line, including no under eighteens and 5.2% of those over 64.

Government

Local government

Hopewell is governed under the Borough form of New Jersey municipal government. The government consists of a Mayor and a Borough Council comprising six council members, with all positions elected at large. A Mayor is elected directly by the voters to a four-year term of office. The Borough Council consists of six members elected to serve three-year terms on a staggered basis, with two seats coming up for election each year.[5] All legislative powers of the Borough of Hopewell are exercised by the Borough Council. These powers can take the form of a resolution, ordinance or proclamation.[6]

Paul Anzano is the Mayor of Hopewell (term expires December 31, 2011). Members of the Borough Council are Council President David Knights (2009), Sean Jackson (2010), David Mackie (2010), C. Schuyler Morehouse (2008), Mark Samse (2009) and Robert Lewis (2008).[7]

Federal, state and county representation

Hopewell is in the Twelfth Congressional District and is part of New Jersey's 15th Legislative District.[8]

For the 118th United States Congress, New Jersey's 12th congressional district is represented by Bonnie Watson Coleman (D, Ewing Township).[9][10] New Jersey is represented in the United States Senate by Democrats Cory Booker (Newark, term ends 2027)[11] and Bob Menendez (Englewood Cliffs, term ends 2025).[12][13]

For the 2024-2025 session, the 15th legislative district of the New Jersey Legislature is represented in the State Senate by Shirley Turner (D, Lawrence Township) and in the General Assembly by Verlina Reynolds-Jackson (D, Trenton) and Anthony Verrelli (D, Hopewell Township).[14] Template:NJ Governor

Mercer County is governed by a County Executive who oversees the day-to-day operations of the county and by a seven-member Board of County Commissioners that acts in a legislative capacity, setting policy. All officials are chosen at-large in partisan elections, with the executive serving a four-year term of office while the commissioners serve three-year terms of office on a staggered basis, with either two or three seats up for election each year as part of the November general election.[15] As of 2024, the County Executive is Daniel R. Benson (D, Hamilton Township) whose term of office ends December 31, 2027.[16] Mercer County's Commissioners are:

Lucylle R. S. Walter (D, Ewing Township, 2026),[17] Chair John A. Cimino (D, Hamilton Township, 2026),[18] Samuel T. Frisby Sr. (D, Trenton, 2024),[19] Cathleen M. Lewis (D, Lawrence Township, 2025),[20] Vice Chair Kristin L. McLaughlin (D, Hopewell Township, 2024),[21] Nina D. Melker (D, Hamilton Township, 2025)[22] and Terrance Stokes (D, Ewing Township, 2024).[23][24][25]

Mercer County's constitutional officers are: Clerk Paula Sollami-Covello (D, Lawrence Township, 2025),[26][27] Sheriff John A. Kemler (D, Hamilton Township, 2026)[28][29] and Surrogate Diane Gerofsky (D, Lawrence Township, 2026).[30][31][32]

Education

Public school students in kindergarten through twelfth grade attend the Hopewell Valley Regional School District, a comprehensive regional public school district serving nearly 4,000 students from Hopewell Borough (371 students), Hopewell Township (2,998 students), and Pennington Borough (497 students). Elementary school students from Hopewell Borough attend Hopewell Elementary School.

Schools in the district (with 2005-06 enrollment data from the National Center for Education Statistics[33]) include four Elementary Schools (K-5) — Bear Tavern Elementary School with 532 students, Hopewell Elementary School with 522 students, Stony Brook Elementary School with 522 students, Toll Gate Grammar School with 310 students — Timberlane Middle School with 952 students in grades 6 -8, and Hopewell Valley Central High School, which has an enrollment of 1,152 students in grades 9 - 12.

History

Pre-Revolutionary

The First Colonial Influence in Hopewell was the purchase of a 30,000 acre tract of land by Daniel Coxe a Royal British governor of West New Jersey, in the latter half of the 17th century. All land in Hopewell can be traced back to this purchase[34]. In 1691 Coxe transferred his land to a company called the The West Jersey Society of England, who intended to sell the land[35]. The society appointed an agent, Thomas Revell, to preside over the land and sell it to perspective buyers[36]. Revell then attracted settlers from New England, Long Island, and New Jersey with questionable incentives, saying that the land was fertile, and tame. However, the families that arrived in Hopewell only found vast stretches of wilderness[37]. The first settler in Hopewell Valley was Thomas Tindall who on November 10, 1699 bought a 300 acre tract of land from The West Jersey Society of England through Revell, for 'ten pounds per hundred acres’[38]. Other early settlers in Hopewell are said to be the Stouts, who immigrated from Holmdel to Hopewell in 1706[39]. Perhaps the first conflict between colonists in Hopewell was the dispute between Revell and the early inhabitants of Hopewell, who realized that there deeds where worthless due to Revell’s false claims. Fifty settlers then organized a class action law suit against Revell and the West Jersey Society. The Long and arduous trial took place in Burlington , and eventually ruled against the settlers, who were forced to repurchase their land or relocate. Many settlers weren’t able to repay and moved north into North Jersey and New York [40].

On April 23rd, 1715 the settlers who stayed in Hopewell, most notably the Stout family, organized the Old School Baptist Church, and what is now known as Hopewell was then referred to as ‘Baptist Meetinghouse’[41][42] . One of the most valued members of the meetinghouse was Declaration of Independence signer John Hart who in 1740 purchased 193 acres of land in the north of current day Hopewell, and in 1747 as a sign of Hart’s devotion to the Church, donated a plot of his land to the Baptist’s[43][44]. The very next year the Baptist’s made good use of this land and in 1748 erected their meetinghouse on West Broad Street. The meetinghouse brought in Baptists from miles around to Hopewell and encouraged Hopewell's early growth [45] . Numerous lumber mills were established in and around Hopewell at this time to process the lumber that was generated from the clearing of forests for farms. In 1755, Isaac Eaton the first pastor of the Old School Baptist Church established his own school in Hopewell and latter relocated his school to Rhode Island and became Brown University[46].

Frog war

The first railroad to reach Hopewell was the Mercer and Somerset Railway, which was backed by the Pennsylvania Railroad. It was created largely to protect the monopoly the Pennsylvania Railroad had on New Jersey, by cutting off the first separately owned railroad in New Jersey, the Delaware and Bound Brook Railroad, by being built in the way of it. It was completed in 1874. The Delaware and Bound Brook reached Hopewell in 1876, but the railroad had to cross the Mercer and Somerset's track just to the northwest of Hopewell. A dispute occurred at the crossing known as a Frog, and escalated into each company parking Locomotives over the crossing to prevent the other company from moving trains over it. Eventually Militia had to be called in to keep the peace, and the Delaware and Bound Brook prevailed.[47] Soon after the Frog War the Mercer and Somerset was liquidated having failed at its purpose. Some of the abandoned right of way for the Mercer and Somerset in Hopewell became Model Avenue. The Delaware and Bound Brook was leased by the Philadelphia and Reading in 1879 for 999 years, and has become the CSX Trenton Line and is still in use today. The Frog was is also what gives Hopewell Elementary school it mascot, a "Frog" in honor of the Hopewell frog war[48].

Transportation

Roads

Hopewell has four major roads that travel through it. Route 518 Enters Hopewell from due west having come from Lambertville and then turns slightly northward, joining West Broad St. Route 518 then runs through Hopewell and exits Hopewell in the East and heads towards Rocky Hill. Pennington Hopewell Road enters Hopewell from roughly the southwest, and immediately becomes West Broad street when it enters Hopewell. It connects Hopewell with Pennington to the south. Princeton Avenue starts at Broad Street and continues south and becomes Hopewell Princeton Road, and connects Hopewell with Princeton. Greenwood Avenue runs north out of Hopewell and connects Hopewell with Amwell

Rail

New Jersey Transit has been planning to restore passenger commuter rail service to Hopewell for several years. New Jersey Transit plans on using the existing one track right of way that CSX owns through Hopewell, the former four track Reading Company Trenton Line. The proposed plan includes double tracking most of the CSX line to increase capacity, and construction a new rail station on somerset street instead of using the more than one hundred year old Delaware and Bound brook structure. The line would connect Hopewell with New York City, as well as Philadelphia via a SEPTA connection in West Trenton[49] and restore service to Hopewell which ended in 1982.[50]

Notable residents

References

  1. ^ "The Story of New Jersey's Civil Boundaries: 1606-1968", John P. Snyder, Bureau of Geology and Topography; Trenton, New Jersey; 1969. p. 162.
  2. ^ Gill, Barbara (1981). "Lindbergh kidnapping rocked the world 50 years ago". The Hunterdon County Democrat. Retrieved 2008-12-30. So while the world's attention was focused on Hopewell, from which the first press dispatches emanated about the kidnapping, the Democrat made sure its readers knew that the new home of Col. Charles A. Lindbergh and Anne Morrow Lindbergh was in East Amwell Township Hunterdon County.
  3. ^ Census data for Hopewell borough, United States Census Bureau. Accessed September 3, 2007.
  4. ^ New Jersey Resident Population by Municipality: 1930 - 1990, Workforce New Jersey Public Information Network. Accessed March 1, 2007.
  5. ^ 2005 New Jersey Legislative District Data Book, Rutgers University Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy, April 2005, p. 73.
  6. ^ Borough Government, Borough of Hopewell. Accessed October 10, 2006.
  7. ^ Hopewell Borough Council, Borough of Hopewell. Accessed June 29, 2008.
  8. ^ 2006 New Jersey Citizen's Guide to Government, New Jersey League of Women Voters, p. 59. Accessed August 30, 2006
  9. ^ Directory of Representatives: New Jersey, United States House of Representatives. Accessed January 3, 2019.
  10. ^ Biography, Congresswoman Bonnie Watson Coleman. Accessed January 3, 2019. "Watson Coleman and her husband William reside in Ewing Township and are blessed to have three sons; William, Troy, and Jared and three grandchildren; William, Kamryn and Ashanee."
  11. ^ U.S. Sen. Cory Booker cruises past Republican challenger Rik Mehta in New Jersey, PhillyVoice. Accessed April 30, 2021. "He now owns a home and lives in Newark's Central Ward community."
  12. ^ Biography of Bob Menendez, United States Senate, January 26, 2015. "Menendez, who started his political career in Union City, moved in September from Paramus to one of Harrison's new apartment buildings near the town's PATH station.."
  13. ^ Home, sweet home: Bob Menendez back in Hudson County. nj.com. Accessed April 30, 2021. "Booker, Cory A. - (D - NJ) Class II; Menendez, Robert - (D - NJ) Class I"
  14. ^ Legislative Roster for District 15, New Jersey Legislature. Accessed January 18, 2024.
  15. ^ Government, Mercer County. Accessed March 1, 2023. "Mercer County is governed by an elected County Executive and a seven-member Freeholder Board."
  16. ^ Meet the County Executive, Mercer County. Accessed March 1, 2023. "Brian M. Hughes continues to build upon a family legacy of public service as the fourth person to serve as Mercer County Executive. The voters have reaffirmed their support for Brian's leadership by re-electing him three times since they first placed him in office in November 2003."
  17. ^ Lucylle R. S. Walter, Mercer County. Accessed March 1, 2023.
  18. ^ John A. Cimino, Mercer County. Accessed March 1, 2023.
  19. ^ Samuel T. Frisby Sr., Mercer County. Accessed March 1, 2023.
  20. ^ Cathleen M. Lewis, Mercer County. Accessed March 1, 2023.
  21. ^ Kristin L. McLaughlin, Mercer County. Accessed March 1, 2023.
  22. ^ Nina D. Melker, Mercer County. Accessed March 1, 2023.
  23. ^ Terrance Stokes, Mercer County. Accessed March 1, 2023.
  24. ^ Meet the Commissioners, Mercer County. Accessed March 1, 2023.
  25. ^ 2022 County Data Sheet, Mercer County. Accessed March 1, 2023.
  26. ^ Meet the Clerk, Mercer County. Accessed March 1, 2023.
  27. ^ Members List: Clerks, Constitutional Officers Association of New Jersey. Accessed March 1, 2023.
  28. ^ Meet the Sheriff, Mercer County. Accessed March 1, 2023.
  29. ^ Members List: Sheriffs, Constitutional Officers Association of New Jersey. Accessed March 1, 2023.
  30. ^ Meet the Surrogate, Mercer County. Accessed March 1, 2023.
  31. ^ Members List: Surrogates, Constitutional Officers Association of New Jersey. Accessed March 1, 2023.
  32. ^ Elected Officials for Mercer County, Mercer County. Accessed March 1, 2023.
  33. ^ Data for the Hopewell Valley Regional School District, National Center for Education Statistics. Accessed March 11, 2008.
  34. ^ Seabrook, Jack and Lorraine Images of America Hopewell Valley (2000) Arcadia Publishing, Charleston, SC ISBN 0-7385-0431-9 pg 19 “This and all other farms in Hopewell Valley could be traced all the way back to Daniel Coxe, original owner of the 30,000 acre tract that was to become Hopewell Township”
  35. ^ Ege,Ralph Pioneers of Old Hopewell (1908), Race & Savidge, Hopewell, NJ, pg 15, quote “In the year 1691, Dr. Daniel Coxe transferred the right of government of West Jersey to a company of proprietaries called "The West Jersey Society of England," for a valuable consideration.”
  36. ^ Ege,Ralph Pioneers of Old Hopewell (1908), Race & Savidge, Hopewell, NJ, pg 15, quote :“This society appointed Thomas Revell their agent, and he claimed the right to sell lands and give deeds for the same in the name of the society.”
  37. ^ Ege,Ralph Pioneers of Old Hopewell (1908), Race & Savidge, Hopewell, NJ, pg 15, quote: “Great inducements were held out to the New England and Long Island settlers as well as to those of the older portions of this state… to avail themselves of the cheap and fertile lands of the thirty thousand acre tract, and scores of them were induced to come and settle, only to find that after they had subdued the wilderness and established their homes, that their titles were utterly worthless.”
  38. ^ Ege,Ralph Pioneers of Old Hopewell (1908), Race & Savidge, Hopewell, NJ, pg 13-14, quote: “This Houghton tract was surveyed by Thomas Revell, agent for the West Jersey Society, for Thomas Tindall, on February 27, 1696, and was without doubt the first farm located in the Hopewell Valley. On November 10, 1699, a deed was given by Thomas Revell, agent for "Ye Honorable The West Jersey Society in England" of the one part, and Thomas Tindall of the other part, for the above tract, the consideration being "ten pounds per hundred acres," or fifty cents per acre in our currency, which was the regulation price for all the societies lands of the thirty thousand acre tract. The above deed describes the 300 acres as a part of the thirty thousand acre tract "lying above ye fialls of ye Delaware.”
  39. ^ Griffiths, Thomas Sharp, History of Baptists in New Jersey'(1904), Barr Press Publishing Company, Hightstown, New Jersey, Ch. 5, pg 67, "Jonathan Stout, third son of Richard Stout, of Holmdel, a constituent of Middletown Church and who emigrated from Middletown (Holmdel) in 1706, the first settler of Hopewell"
  40. ^ Ege,Ralph Pioneers of Old Hopewell (1908), Race & Savidge, Hopewell, NJ, pg , quote “Fifty of these settlers (among whom is found the name of Thomas Houghton) entered into a solemn compact to stand by each other in a law suit with Dr. Coxe. After a long and tedious trial at Burlington, the case was decided against them, and this verdict caused the most distressing state of affairs in this township that was ever experienced in any community. Writs of ejectment had been served on them as "tenants" of Dr. Coxe to pay for their lands the second time or "quit." Many of them went to the northern part of the county which at that time extended to the New York state line, the county of Hunterdon, including Warren, Morris and Sussex counties, and an examination of the records of those counties between 1735 and 1750.”
  41. ^ Griffiths, Thomas Sharp, History of Baptists in New Jersey'(1904), Barr Press Publishing Company, Hightstown, New Jersey, Ch. 5, pg 67, "The Church was organized at Mr. Stout's house, April 23rd, 1715, and worshipped for thirty-two years in the homes of the Stouts"
  42. ^ Valis, Glenn [1], ‘JOHN HART Signer of the Declaration of Independence’, “Until well after the revolution, the area was thereafter call Baptist Meeting House”, Retrieved 1-08-2009
  43. ^ Valis, Glenn [2], ‘JOHN HART Signer of the Declaration of Independence’, “Around 1739-1740 John Hart bought the "homestead plantation" of 193 acres on the north side of what is now the town of Hopewell.” Retrieved 1-08-2009
  44. ^ Boro- History and Historic Sites, “The first church (Baptist Church) was constructed in 1748”, retrieved 1-08-2009
  45. ^ Seabrook, Jack and Lorraine Images of America Hopewell Valley (2000) Arcadia Publishing, Charleston, SC ISBN 0-7385-0431-9 pg 38, “The Old School Baptist Church... was a center for baptist from miles around.... Constructed in 1822, the building still stands... On West Broad Street”
  46. ^ [3] Hopewell history to 1921 taken from ‘’Help Hopewell Honor Her Heroes’’ published for Library Week May 21-30, 1921
  47. ^ Railroads of New Jersey Fragments of the past in the Garden State Landscape Lorett Treese 2006
  48. ^ http://www.hvrsd.k12.nj.us/hopewell/home/welcome2.html
  49. ^ New Jersey Transit system expansion [4]
  50. ^ RAILROAD.NET • View topic - West Trenton Line Article
  51. ^ JOHN HART: Signer Of The Declaration Of Independence for New Jersey - A Biography, accessed April 17, 2007. "John Hart lived in Hopewell Township, in what is now the town of Hopewell, which was then known locally as Baptist Meeting House, for the church there."
  52. ^ From Mexican Days to Gold Rush: Memoirs of...Who Grew Up with California. Edited by Doyce B. Nunis, Jr by Marshall, James Wilson & Edward Gould Buffum, accessed April 17, 2007. "Marshall was born at Hopewell, NJ, went to California in 1845, participated in the 1846 Bear Flag Revolt, and discovered gold at Sutter's Mill in 1848."

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