Frenchtown then & now

Race Street is in better shape nowadays, and current parental “best practices” preclude parking babies on it. Note the National Hotel in the background on the right. The PRINTING sign marks the site of William Sipes’ shop and office of his Frenchtown Star newspaper, and indicates the photo was taken no earlier than 1879 and sometime before 1885, when Sipes’ operation had moved to the other side of Race Street. The buildings on the left were among the five demolished in 1954 and replaced by the yellow-brick building that wraps around the inside corner of Bridge and Race. The redeveloper was Edward Flecker, who did the plumbing for Hunterdon Medical Center and Del Val High School. The old photo is artificially colorized and maybe doesn’t do justice to the carpet the baby is sitting on. —Rick Epstein