Hopewell Valley – November 6, 2018 — New interpretive signs are popping up
around Hopewell Valley courtesy of the Hopewell Valley Historical Society. Intended to inform,
educate, and raise awareness among local residents and tourists, a series of large National Park
Service-style signs have been placed at choice landmarks in highly visible and easily accessible
locations around Hopewell Township. This signage program has been funded by a bequest from
the late Catherine Hoch and by a grant from the Mercer County Cultural and Heritage
Commission.
To date, four signs have been installed: at the iconic Hart’s Corner Schoolhouse (at the
intersection of Scotch Road and the Washington Crossing-Pennington Road intersection close to
the Township municipal building); in nearby Woolsey Park, where the prominent Woolsey family
and long-lost Mercer and Somerset Railroad are discussed; on the bend in the hamlet of
Marshall’s Corner, where the Continental Army turned and headed for the momentous pitched
battle at Monmouth Courthouse in the summer of 1778; and at the Mount Rose Distillery
(adjacent to the Lawrence-Hopewell Trail), where cider and applejack were made in the 19th
century. A fifth sign will shortly appear on the property of the D & R Greenway Land Trust at
the site of the former St. Michael’s Orphanage on the edge of Hopewell Borough.
Places we drive by and walk through, perhaps daily, contain reminders of some of Hopewell
Valley’s most vital and important history, including sites associated with the American
Revolution. These signs will help Hopewell Valley residents and visitors travel back through
time and see how these areas looked and functioned in the past for a better understanding of life
here in the present.
The public is invited to come to the official unveiling of these signs on Tuesday, November 13, at
4:00 PM at Woolsey Park (formerly known as Alliger Park), located at 221 Washington
Crossing-Pennington Road, Titusville, NJ. Representatives from Hopewell Township, Mercer
County, and Hopewell Valley Historical Society will present the Woolsey Park sign followed by
the Hart’s Corner Schoolhouse sign