Rick Epstein
Frenchtown's Boys 'Over There'
WORLD WAR I – As the Great War was heating up in Europe, the American armed forces were not prepared. Neither were our poets, as...
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Rick Epstein
May 24, 20202 min read
The Barn Theatre
BARN THEATRE – opened in 1939, air conditioned, with a knotty-pine lobby and 477 comfortable seats within. Its 4-acre site between Upper...
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Rick Epstein
May 23, 20201 min read
Annie Oakley Shot Here
OAKLEY, Annie – (1860-1926) was the sharpshooting star of Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show, a Western-themed circus that entertained...
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Rick Epstein
May 22, 20202 min read
Our First Garbage Man
TRASH DISPOSAL – There was a big dump south of town on the old river road, but there were also lesser dumps. Marguerite Sipes said that...
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Rick Epstein
May 21, 20203 min read
Odd Fellows Became Old Fellows
LODGES – flourished in Frenchtown from the mid-1800s into the mid-1900s. Most, but not all, of them were for men. They mixed mystical...
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Rick Epstein
May 20, 20201 min read
The Lizard Menace of 1925
STUNTS, GAGS and SHENANIGANS -- Lizard menace – Before Frenchtown High School was built in 1925, the Star reported that Bert Trimmer and...
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Rick Epstein
May 19, 20204 min read
Frenchtown Gets Electrified!
ELECTRICITY – On Dec. 23, 1903, the Frenchtown Star reported, “An electric plant is being put in to run the Worman Mills by dynamos. The...
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Rick Epstein
May 18, 20201 min read
Polly Want a #&@#!?
LOPER, Raymond “Butch” – (1888-1956) son of William and Cora, had a butcher shop/IGA grocery store at 108 Harrison Street. He also worked...
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Rick Epstein
May 17, 20206 min read
The Rise of "The Lower"
Alexandria Hotel – also known as “the old brick tavern,” was built in 1805 by Paul Henry M. Prevost in what is now the Bridge Street...
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Rick Epstein
May 16, 20203 min read
Hooray for The National
THE NATIONAL HOTEL – was built in 1850 by Robert L. “Uncle Bob” Williams. He didn't like selling liquor, so he didn't keep the hotel for...
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Rick Epstein
May 15, 20202 min read
Tom Sipes: Soldier, Sailor, Carny
SIPES, Thomas M. /James Ross – (1900-1953) was a son of Mina and William H. Sipes, editor and publisher of the Frenchtown Star. In an...
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Rick Epstein
May 14, 20206 min read
Worst Employee Ever Kills Family in Mt. Pleasant (1917)
On June 7, 1917, a surly farm hand set fire to the Holland Township home of the Queen family and killed them with an ax. The farmstead,...
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Rick Epstein
May 12, 20202 min read
Kerr Chicks in Manhattan
Kerr Hatcheries, headquartered in Frenchtown and with hatcheries in four states, were hatching and shipping baby chicks by the millions...
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Rick Epstein
May 11, 20202 min read
The Big Nishisackawick Creek
THE NISHISACKAWICK CREEK enters the Delaware River at Frenchtown. There are two Nishisackawicks. The Big comes in from the northeast, and...
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Rick Epstein
May 10, 20202 min read
Our Obsolete Fountain
WORMAN MEMORIAL FOUNTAIN – Philadelphia liquor distributor Samuel C. Worman (1836-1912) had a farm near Frenchtown. When he died...
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Rick Epstein
May 9, 20203 min read
Del Val News' First Editor
ZICH, Gerald E. “Jerry” – (1907-1987) became a reporter for the Hunterdon County Democrat in 1928, and helped cover the Lindbergh...
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Rick Epstein
May 8, 20203 min read
Screams Scare Off Bank Robbers
THE BANK – The Union Bank of Frenchtown was organized in 1856 and established at 22 Second Street in a newly constructed...
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Rick Epstein
May 7, 20202 min read
Cradle Robbery on Sixth
A old scrapbook kept by Frenchtown hotel owner William C. Apgar contains the following item clipped from an unspecified newspaper. It is...
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Rick Epstein
May 6, 20202 min read
Cars Come to Frenchtown
AUTOMOBILES – Frenchtown entered the Automobile Age very quietly on July 2, 1900. The Star barely gave it a mention: “The first...
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Rick Epstein
May 5, 20201 min read
An Extreme Coincidence
Birthday boys – On Feb. 21, 1934, a birthday party was held at the Presbyterian manse to celebrate the statistically unlikely fact that...
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