 |  | |
 |
|  |
 |  | |
| | |
|
| |
| | |
|
|
Originally published in 1939
Some of this information may no longer be current and in that case is presented for historical interest only.
Edited by GET NJ, COPYRIGHT 2003
At 36.9 miles is the junction with a macadam road.
Left on this road is HOPEWELL, 3.2 miles (180 alt., 1,467 pop.), a quiet, sedate
town that has settled back to normality since it was a newspaper date line in the
Lindbergh kidnaping case. The town is much like a village Janet Gaynor might
come from in any of her motion picture roles as a "small town" girl. Hopewell resi-
dents-who speak resentfully of those who arrived from the cities during the Lind-
bergh episode live in homes set well back from broad, tree-lined streets. The OLD
SCHOOL BAPTIST CHURCH, W. Broad St. (L), built in 1748, replaced an earlier
structure erected 33 years before. It is a simple two-story brick building painted
bright red, with heavy paneled doors and arched windows. The building was used
as a hospital during the Revolution. A MONUMENT To JOHN HART, a signer of the
Declaration of Independence and donor of the church site, stands directly beside the
church. The plain granite shaft was erected in 1865 by the State legislature. Hart
died from hardships he endured when the British and Tories chased him from one
hiding place to another for three years. Next to the monument is an old SPEAKING
BLOCK, made of granite squares with a sandstone slab carrying an inscription set
into the side. Joab Houghton stood on the block and inspired men to enlist in the
Colonial militia when he brought the news of the battle of Lexington to Hopewell.
The ARTHUR KING HOUSE (private), W. Broad St. near the center of town (R),
was built in 1756 for the Rev. Isaac Eaton, who was the head of a Latin school
here. James Manning of Piscataway was Eaton's first pupil. Manning became a
founder and the first president of Brown University. The house is a three-story,
white frame, Colonial structure with blue-shuttered windows. It stands far back
from the sidewalk, behind a terraced lawn dotted with giant sycamore trees. The
HOPEWELL MUSEUM AND LIBRARY, W. Broad St. or. Blackwell St. (open Mon..
2:30-5; Wed. and Sat. 2:30-5 and 7-9), is a three-story, brownstone, converted resi-
dence with a mansard roof and a wide veranda that runs across the front and curves
around the side. The first two floors have narrow bay windows with brown shutters.
The museum contains many Indian and Colonial relics.
Right from Hopewell on Princeton Ave. 1.1 miles to the place where the body of
the Lindbergh baby was found. A footpath, marked by a grayish-white rail on two
posts resembling a hitching bar, leads a few paces into a dense thicket (R). Here
the body of Charles A. Lindbergh Jr. was accidentally discovered by a Negro truck
driver, two months after the kidnaping in 1932. (The former Lindbergh home, 3
miles from Hopewell, is closed to visitors, and not visible from the highway. A
Hearst photographer, who jumped on the running board of a Lindbergh car to snap
a picture of his second son, young Jon, climaxed episodes of newspaper publicity
so distasteful to the aviator and his family that the Lindberghs moved to England.
Characteristically, Lindbergh announced the departure only to the dignified New
York Times; the newspaper's executives locked every door and cut off all telephone
service while an extra was rushed to press.)
|
|
|
Return To |
|
|
