I THOUGHT I WOULD LEAVE THE TWO "COMMERICALS" IN THE GRAPHIC. THEY GIVE A CERTAIN NOSTALGIC AMBIANCE AND ALSO ALLOWS FOR A NICE, EVENLY SPACED GRAPHIC.
Here are the "movers and shakers" from the era of the 1940's who served as officers in the various Roman Catholic grammar and high schools.
S.P. DUNHAM WAS A REGULAR SUPPLIER TO THE HAMILTON BOARD OF EDUCATION IN THE EARLY PART OF THE 20TH CENTURY, AS WAS CLAYTON TRAVER OF TRAVER'S BOOK STORE. HERE'S AN INVOICE FOR AN AMERICAN FLAG.
KUSER SCHOOL HAD ONE OF THESE BLACK BEAUTIES ON THE FRONT LAWN WHEN I WAS A STUDENT THERE IN THE 40'S. APPARENTLY THEY WERE STANDARD WITH THE TOWNSHIP SCHOOLS.
I don't know for sure, but I have been told that the Saturday night canteens we all loved and enjoyed are no longer listed on the high school local calendar. I was told that it was necessary to have police in attendance due to the fights, drugs and alcohol in certain areas. If that's true, it is really sad.
Here's a list of those men who were inducted into military service. There are many familiar names on the list.
Those who travel to the Hamilton Market Place have passed the corner on which the old Edgebrook School once stood. It was most recently that red brick building housing a VFW post. Here's an interesting graphic I created which is an ad placed by the township requesting quotes on the construction of a two room school.
ABOVE IS A REVERSE PHOTO OF AN EARLIER POST WHICH IS QUITE CONFUSING. I HAD A TOUGH TIME GETTING ORIENTED. I RECEIVED THE FOLLOWING EMAIL FROM YARDVILLE OLD TIMER GEORGE GOLDY. HE SUGGESTED THAT MAYBE THE PHOTO WAS ACCIDENTALLY REVERSED AT THE TIME OF PLACING IT IN THE PAPER. 
Not to be confused with the RKO Broad Theater which was also on South Broad Street, the original Broad Street Theater is illustrated above in a graphic I created especially remembering the late, lamented RKO Palace Theater which replaced the Broad Street Theater. I remember there was a little novelty shop across the street from the Palace when I was a boy. It was filled with all types of inexpensive novelties: magic tricks, cap guns, fake ink blots, fake broken glass, and other "junk store" stuff that we kids loved. The Palace? I was only there once, way back in the late 40's.
Here's another fascinating document listing the insurance value of all the schools in Hamilton Township in the year 1916. 
This incredibly interesting photo of the interior of the original St. James P.E. Church on East State Street has been reposing in my "St. James P.E. Church" folder for a number of years. It was from a glass slide, taken around during the Christmas season circa 1910-1912. Note the wood/coal burning stove.
I have been posting interesting historical graphics from St. James P.E. Church. The one hundred plus year old church started with a small group of Wilbur residents back in the 1890's, where they held their services in a place called the "Wigwam" on East State Street near North Olden Asvenue. The nearby area known as Millham (today's East Trenton) and Wilbur had many English immigrants who came to America to work the many potteries in the neighbhorhood. The little congregation grew rapidly and it soon became apparent that a more spacious facility was needed. The article above recalls the construction of their first real church building, built on a plot of land on East State Street, near the intersection of Garfield Avenue. The building is still there occupied by the Rehoboth Church.
"Projects" were a very important and popular part of the educational process when I was in grammar school. If our Geography subject was Holland as in the photo from Lalor school, we would all get together and decide what our project would be. How I remember that "sandbox" on the right in the photo! For me personally, it fired my imagination. I recall a sandbox project we had back in the 5th grade while we were studying knights, castles, serfs and vassals. We built a medieval castle complete with a moat. There are a number of classroom project photos from Kuser School in earlier posts.
THANKS TO JOHN STINGER FOR HIS REMINISCENCES OF HIS EARLY YEARS IN TRENTON. JOHN SENT ME THE FOLLOWING EMAIL ALONG WITH A LINK TO HIS ART WEBSITE. THANKS, JOHN.
(SORRY FOR THE SMALL TYPE IN THE GRAPHIC; THE ORIGINAL WAS
It wasn't nearly as sumptuous as the Mayfair, Lincoln, Capitol, or Trent, but I attended many
That grand old edifice was long gone before I came along, but in its heyday it was the venue for performers from all over the country. It hosted everything from old vaudeville programs to dramatice stage plays.
This is an interior photo of the original St. James P.E. church which was located on E. State Street near Garfield Avenue. The building is still there. See the following post for additional information on the history of the church. Note the wood/coal burning stove in the front of the church.
Back in the 1890's, the St. James Wilbur area Protestant Episcopal mission was organized, meeting in a building known as "the Wigwam" on E. State Street in Wilbur. As the congregation grew, a larger building was constructed and served the parishioners until 1913 when the So. Logan and Greenwood Avenue church was built. This building still exists on E. State Street, diagonally opposite Garfield Avenue. It is currently the home of the Rehoboth Church.
This is a fascinating glimpse at the Trenton public school system as it was in the 19th century. A map of the South Trenton area is on by website. I remember wondering what the school was which was adjacent to the First Baptist Church on Centre Street. The article helps to clear up the matter.
Many Trentonians found Lakeside Park to be the ideal summer getaway back in the early 20th century. These "bungalows" could be had for a price which today seems incredible. I wonder if there are any Lakeside Park visitors to my website who can identify this house.
Amateur photographer Warren Donaldson took this photo of Gropp's Lake as it looked in 1922. With the very limited number of photos in my collection, I have to admit that I have a really rough time identifying the building in the background. That mysterious building in the upper right is a real puzzle. I do have a very old and very faded photo of the building once on the site when it was Lowrie's Mills, but I can't seem to tie it in with the building above. Perhaps local residtents of the area such as Gary Lippincott or Harold Yaede can enlighten us.
HERE'S AN ARTICLE ON THE LATE, LAMENTED LANNING SCHOOL. A NEIGHBORHOOD SCHOOL THAT DIDN'T SURVIVE THE WRECKING BALL. LANNING SERVED COUNTLESS OLD TIME NATIVES OF THE EWING TOWNSHIP AREA FOR MANY YEARS.
Next week I will be presenting one of my "The Music We Grew Up With" to the residents of Morris Hall, the historic "home for the aged." It, along with St. Michael's Orphanage in Hopewell, were part of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Trenton's effort to provide for the less fortunate in the area.
If memory serves me, the Deutzville School was built in 1905. Above is an invoice for services perfomed on the school by carpenter Mahron from nearby Jersey Street.
Tucked away on the border of both Trenton and Hamilton, I have always felt that Deutzville was the forgotten community. During the early years when the Deutz family operated the nationally known gold jewelry factory, it was much more prominent. Except for the very viable and locally popular Easter festivities at St. Jehosophat parish, we hear very little news coming from that section of Hamilton. The map was scanned from an 1875 Evert-Stewart Atlas in my collection, now in the Hamilton Library Local History Collection.
In the 19th century, much of Chambersburg was considered to be somewhat rural with cornfields, orchards, and a number of smaller farms. With the expanded industrialization of Trenton, housing developments began to spring up and the area began to draw immigrants from Germany and Italy.
Each week during the "teens," the Trenton Times dedicated a page to Wilbur on one day, and Chambersburg on another. They have provided a fascinating incite to the activities of those communities. Hamilton's Bromley neighborhood was often included in the Wilbur page.
No, they weren't vigilantes. Rather they were community-minded citizens. Rather, they were there to make sure that the punishment fit the crime. "Law and Order Leagues" were commonplace in many 19th century communities.
