Old Mill Hill Society

Mill Hill is much more than history or architecture we are a neighborhood. In the 1960s, Mill Hill was saved from certain destruction by aggressive redevelopment supported by several Federal funding programs and the vision and courage of private citizens and enlightened public officials. Today, we have a very strong community with a clear and promising future. Protected as a registered historic landmarks area, Mill Hill boasts handsome Victorian brick townhouses with an occasional Gothic Revival wood frame house.

The community’s very effective civic organization -The Old Mill Hill Society – meets monthly and undertakes programs that advance the interests of the neighborhood through its many committees. Neighborhood residents energize the society through their time, talent, and everyday math active participation. Please continue on through this web site to learn more about us and our neighborhood.

EVENTS

Tuesday, February 1

5:00 pm City Council Conference, Docket Review for Thursday’s Regular Meeting, 2nd Floor, City Hall Wednesday, February 2 — Groundhog Day 6 p.m. and 8 p.m. Kim and Reggie Harris return to the Old Barracks to inspire audiences with traditional songs and spirituals and adult contemporary original music. The Harrises are an engaging and talented duo whose stunning voices and intelligent harmonies have been described as “vocal acoustic joy!” Their presentation is a revelation of the hope, the power and the eventual triumph shared by people of all races. Performances are $10 per person. Please call 609-396-1776 for reservations.

7:15 PM Trenton Peace Action Committee meeting. NEW LOCATION: The Community Room of Engine 9 Fire House, 1464 West State Street, Trenton. Call if you need directions: 599-2439 7:30 PM Old Mill Hill Society (OMHS) monthly meeting, Mill Hill Saloon, Broad and Market Street. 7:30 PM

Thursday, February 3
5:30 pm. City Council Meeting, 2nd Floor City Hall.
6:00 pm Rutherford Avenue Civic Association, Capital Health Systems, Mercer Campus.

February 3 to 27
What if we could sort through and rearrange our family’s history to gain a better understanding of our lives? Passage’s next show, Leslie Ayvazian’s new play Rosemary and I, will do just that when it premieres on February 3. The play was recently named as a finalist for the prestigious Susan Smith Blackburn international playwriting prize — along with several other plays recently on stage in New York and London!
Rosemary and I runs Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays at 8pm and Sundays at 5pm. Call 609.392.0766 to make your reservations, or email name, date and number of tickets you’d like to reserve to: info@passagetheatre.org www.passagetheatre.org

Saturday, February 5
6 – 9 PM Jersey Street Community Association 7th Annual Awards Banquet. Proceeds will benefit the Skelton Branch of the Trenton Public Library. $25 per person. For information call 394-8760. Postponed from 1/22 due to storm. 394-8760

Sunday, February 6
2:00 PM Robert Bullington, baritone, and Sara Kohane, piano, will perform an Afternoon of Art Song featuring the music of Robert Schumann and Ralph Vaughan Williams at Ellarslie, The Trenton City Museum in Cadwalader Park.
Admission: $20 non-members, $15 members of the Trenton Museum Society
Coming Up:

Friday-Sunday, Feb. 11-13:
The Prime Time Shootout is back! Top Notch High School Basketball Talent from around the country converges on the Sovereign Bank Arena. For tix, info, or to volunteer, visit www.primtetimeshootout.net or call Jill Harrity (609-341-4708)

Friday, February 11

Trenton Museum Society Hosts “It’s All About Chocolate” Second Annual Chocolate-Tasting Fundraiser from 7 to 9 p.m., just in time for Valentine’s Day. The chocolate tasting is being presented in conjunction with Sweety Peety, Trenton’s foremost confectionary. The event will feature sumptuous chocolate truffles made with libations such as rum, kahlua, grappa and peppermint schnapps. Demonstrators and volunteers will show guests how to make delicious gourmet truffle treasures, and attendees will have the opportunity to sample how well chocolate pairs with a wide variety of liquors. The event features several different stations, including a chocolate and liquor bar, chocolate and coffee bar, and chocolate, wine and cheese bar. Non-alcoholic chocolate treats will also be available, and the museum gift shop will feature wonderful chocolate Valentine’s Day gifts. Attendees can also take part in an auction to bring home even more special gifts and treats. “This year we’re incorporating an educational component into It’s All About Chocolate by introducing truffle making ‘Emeril-style’ to participants,” says Joanne Reilly, Sweety Peety. “We’ll teach everyone how to make their own truffles at home and how to pair chocolate with coffee, wine and liquor.” Sweety Peety is donating the coffee and freshly made chocolate for the event. They specialize in personalized gourmet gifts including cakes, cookies, brownies and chocolate and also cater event parties featuring unique dessert items like strawberry topiaries, chocolate breading puddings and fondue dishes. The cost to attend “It’s All About Chocolate”is $20 in advance; $25 at the door. To order tickets, please call 609-989-1191. Details on this and other upcoming events are available at www.ellarslie.org. or by calling 609-989-1191.

Sunday, February 13
10:00 a.m., St. Michaels Church, Trenton: Maria Jones, former president of the Trenton NAACP will be the keynote speaker at St. Michael’s Episcopal Church’s morning service. The church is located at 140 North Warren St., Trenton, across from St. Mary’s. The topic: Response of the Church to the Wake up Call. All are welcomed to attend.

February 21
5:30 PM-7:30 PM, Wine and Cheese Social , Sponsored by the Trenton Democratic Committee, Annette Lartigue Chaiperson. Hosted by: Hazel & Sterling Holloway, 712 Parkside Avenue, Trenton, New
Jersey 08638, Corner of Parkside Avenue and Prospect Street Donation:
$20.00 per person, Please RSVP: Marge Caldwell–Wilson at 396-8016 or caldwell-wilson@msn.com Kevin Moriarity at 393-4501

Wednesday, February 23
How many of us remember that 2005 marks the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Niagara Movement, the precursor of the National NAACP? Maria Jones will be the keynote speaker on that very topic at the NJ Dept. of Corrections, Ft. Dix Black History Celebration. Free breakfast with program to follow. All are welcomed to attend but you will need to register – it is a correctional facility. All the details are not available call Maria at
(609) 575-4138 for more information.

6:30 – - 9:30 pm Public Issues Summit: An Intergenerational Dialog on Americans’ Role in the World, (Keynote: TBA) at The College of New Jersey. With the war in Iraq and the tsunami relief effort Americans must once again ask themselves what role the United States should play in world affairs. The answers to this question are an important part of the legacy one generation
of Americans gives to the next.

Pair up with a member of a different generation (younger or older) and come out for an evening of citizen-to-citizen discussion on Americans’ role in
the world.

Participation in forum is free. A light dinner will be served. Space is limited. Please register online at http://publicleaders.tcnj.edu/PIS or call
609 771 2706 Sponsored by the Leadership in Public Affairs program at TCNJ
and the Times of Trenton. Supported with a gift to the College by Albert Stark.

Thursday, February 24
MTAACC’s Annual Black Executive Awards Reception “Solidifying the Diaspora,” will be held at the Trenton Marriott hotel. The following is a list of executives who are slated as potential honorees this year: Attorney General Peter Harvey; Joann Mitchell, Vice President and Chief of Staff at the University of Pennsylvania; and Gail Jackson, owner, Negril Tree House Resort, Jamaica.

Saturday February 26
6:00 pm The 4th Annual Black History Month Special Event “Motivation” will be held at the Masonic Temple, Downtown, Trenton, NJ. The $35 donation
includes: Featured Motivational Speakers, Dinner, Entertainment and Networking. Tickets can be purchased at Just a Little Something, 40 Lafayette Street, Downtown, Trenton NJ. For information call Success Links, LLC at 609 695-9455.

Sunday, February 27
Please join the Trenton Film Society for its 2nd Annual Silver Screen Soirée Benefiting ~ Trenton Film Festival 2005. Walk the red carpet at Conduit, 439 South Broad Street, Trenton, New Jersey. 7:00 p.m. ~ 8:00 p.m. Champagne Cocktail Reception; Airtime 8:00 p.m. ~ Best Picture is announced Come watch the Oscars® while enjoying delicious food, the silent auction,
movie trivia and more … Complimentary beer and wine ~ Cash bar for
cocktails Black tie preferred

Ample free guest parking available Please RSVP by February 13, 2005 Contact Michelle Emerson (609) 396-6966 or gala@trentonfilmsociety.org
This event is not affiliated with nor endorsed by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Tracing the history of our house isn’t easy. A lot of the city records were destroyed in a huge fire in 1975, among them many of the tax records that are key to dating any structure.

Our best guess is that the house was built sometime between 1845 and 1860. It was a modest home, two floors, an attic and a basement. There was a fireplace on each floor and the foundation is made up of rubble stone.

We do know that our house was built before the brick one next door, which first appeared on tax maps in the mid-1860′s. We don’t know when the storefront was added or torn down.

Originally an unassuming frame building, the house underwent an “updating” probably sometime in the 1890′s. Trenton, like most of the country, was booming at that time and the owners put some money into redoing the house. The gable in the front was most likely added at this time in an effort to make the house fit in more with it’s younger, more elaborate neighbors.

This is the earliest picture we’ve come across of our house. It is from a photographic survey done during the Depression. The structure to the right was a storefront that stands where our driveway is now. We’ve used this picture as a template for our restoration.

This is how the house looked by 1970. Somewhere along the line the wooden porch and steps were replaced with cast concrete ones; the twin front doors filled in and replaced with a single slab door; the storefront was razed and a “soft siding” (heavy asphalt paper with the look of courses of brick) was applied. A lot of this had to do with minimizing the upkeep of a building in a declining neighborhood.

When the house was redone in the early 1970’s, the area was an urban renewal district. Redevelopment was subject to less stringent requirements than under the Landmark status that came later. Aluminum siding, vinyl clad windows, driveways, etc. were frowned upon by restoration purists, but perfectly legal at the time.

For the last quarter of a century, this is how the house looked. It had a typically low-maintenance exterior with pseudo-Victorian touches, which made it both standout from and yet blend-in with the feel of the neighborhood.

My wife and I have lived here ever since we were married. Over the years we’ve done some work on the interior of the house and debated about the exterior. In the summer of 1999 we decided to restore the facade to something resembling what the house looked like a century ago.

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The first step was to remove the aluminum siding to see what remained underneath. Fortunately, most of the clapboard was still there and in pretty good shape. The existing windows were undersized for the original openings, but we had planned on replacing them anyway. Maybe now the house won’t be so drafty!

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It took a while to decide on a contractor to do the work. Finding reliable, competent trades people who are affordable and sensitive to the peculiarities of older buildings can be a real challenge. In the meantime, our “naked house” withstood tropical storm Floyd and we spent the month between Thanksgiving and Christmas dealing with a lack of front steps. Finally, we had most of the painting done and our new stoop was built.
By mid-spring our new front doors, the centerpiece of the restoration, were installed. A little paint on the foundation, new basement windows and the work was all but done. It’s questionable if you are ever “done” with any house, certainly that applies even more so to an older home.