MARKING LOCAL HISTORY: George Frisbie captured the Southbound Trolley at North Main and Delaware in this vintage print from the collection of the Hopewell Valley Historical Society’s George H. Frisbie Collection that will be on display in the exhibition, “Pennington Comes of Age” at the Pennington School’s Silva Gallery of Art from March 27 through April 25. There will be a special reception Wednesday, April 1, from 5 to 8 p.m. The exhibition is part of the 125th anniversary of the incorporation of Pennington Borough and features vintage images from 1890 to 1915. Silva Gallery hours are: Monday through Thursday, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.; Friday, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.; or by appointment. For more information, call Gallery Director Dolores Eaton at (609) 737-4133. (Image Courtesy of the Hopewell Valley Historical Society)

An exhibition of historic photographs from the Hopewell Valley Historical Society’s George H. Frisbie Collection goes on show at The Pennington School’s Silva Gallery of Art Friday, March 27. “Pennington Comes of Age,” will run through April 25 and there will be a special reception on Wednesday, April 1, from 5 to 8 p.m.

Curated by Jack Koeppel, the Historical Society’s archivist, the exhibition is part of the 125th anniversary of the incorporation of Pennington Borough and features vintage images from the first twenty-five years of the Borough’s incorporation, 1890–1915.

During these years George Frisbie, who had grown up in a family-run business on South Main Street, captured the world around him through the view-finder of his big wooden camera. His images not only document people and places, but record many of the changes that took place over this span of time. Descendants of Mr. Frisbie still reside in Pennington Borough, and in 1986 Alice Frisbie and her daughter, Mary Thornton, donated eight hundred negatives to the Historical Society.

The images selected for the exhibition will be accompanied by narratives written by Society historians Larry Kidder, Jack Davis, and David Blackwell. Areas in the display will discuss changes in architecture, transportation, and technology during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Images of the railroad, street railways, and horseless carriages will be accompanied by quotations and information gleaned from early newspapers and artifacts in the Society’s Archive of Hopewell Valley History.

Many of the photographs are being exhibited for the first time, including some showing important local Pennington residents such as Joseph Thompson, the flag crossing guard, and Charles Hendrickson, the town’s lamp-lighter.

Pennington Borough Council Member Catherine “Kit” Chandler and former Councilman Edwin Weed Tucker co-chair the Pennington 125th Anniversary Committee, which welcomes volunteers, sponsors, and patrons. For more information contact Borough Administrator Eileen Heinzel at (609) 737-0276 or eheinzel@penningtonboro.org.

The committee is working with other community organizations to plan events throughout the year.

For the latest information, visit: www.pennington125.org or visit Pennington 125 on Facebook.

Founded in 1838, The Pennington School is an independent coeducational school for students in grades 6 through 12, in both day and boarding programs.

“Pennington Comes of Age” will be on view at The Pennington School’s Silva Gallery of Art Monday through Thursday, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.; Friday, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.; or by appointment. All events and exhibitions at the Silva Gallery are free and open to the public. For more information, call Gallery Director Dolores Eaton at (609) 737-4133.