with local historian Doug Dixon

Why is there an Italianate villa standing alone in the Sourland Mountains above Hopewell Borough? And how was it a “dress factory,” where locals remember their mothers working? In this talk, Doug Dixon investigates the history behind these clues, using public records to reveal a quintessential early 20th century Hopewell story: newcomers who came to Hopewell to find a good home for a family — and an environment that supported their entrepreneurial ambitions.

The resulting chronicle starts with a young family — first-generation Italian immigrants — who came to Hopewell in the early 1930s to establish a family homestead. They then built and operated the dress factory business there, while also providing good jobs for the town. This Hopewell story also illustrates the larger issues of building a small-scale manufacturing business, including navigating changing social norms and fashions, adapting to competition from industrialization, and complying with state and even federal regulations.

Join Doug as he traces the historical threads to unravel the saga of the Hopewell dress factory at the Itialianate villa, and the family that created it.

About the Speaker

Douglas Dixon is an independent technology consultant and writer, now morphed into a history enthusiast and author. He is a board member of the Hopewell Museum and the Hopewell Valley Historical Society.

Doug also created the Hopewell Valley History Project in 2019 to digitize and freely share local historical materials to aid research into area people and places. With the assistance of some 160 local contributors, the site now hosts some 860 documents and maps, 4,720 images and videos, and an interactive Hopewell History Map. With these materials, Doug has presented over ten local talks, hosted historical walking tours, and authored over 40 Hopewell Borough History Briefs — over 500 pages of research reports on local organizations and properties.