From 1853 to 1914, Hopewell was a borough and a laboratory for progressive farming, milling, and educational practices. Samuel Dickey (1769-1835) was an agricultural innovator, and the Dickey family pioneered the establishment of area schools. Spurred by available water power, the family developed this valley between 1815 and the 1870's, and much of its 19th-century character endures in the land and its buildings.