Coachbult.com - J.S. Valentine



J.S. Valentine - 1880s-1910s - Trenton, New Jersey

In 1882 Valentine was listed as the head blacksmith at the long-standing Warren & Green St. blacksmith shop which was formerly owned by James S. Robinson. (1844 directory - Robinson, Jas. S., blacksmith shop, Green and Warren st.)

1882 directory - Valentine Jacob S., blacksmith, head Warren and Greene, h 463 Princeton av

At the time of the Battle of Trenton, according to William S. Strykers’ sketch of Trenton in 1776-77, there stood at the gateway site, the frame dwelling of Thomas Case, a Revolutionary soldier. His house is believed to have been the one that was later converted into shops for blacksmithing and wheelwrighting. For a number of years, James S. Robinson operated the blacksmithing enterprise. Later the building was demolished and upon its site was erected a brick carriage factory, owned by Jacob S. Valentine, his son-in-law. The carriage shop was demolished in 1891 to make room for the erection of the Battle Monument.

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In the nineteenth century, the immediate Five Points vicinity evolved as a center for artisans. The Thomas Case house, at the fork of North Warren and North Broad Streets, became a blacksmith shop, and was later replaced by the Valentine Carriage and Wagon Works. A coffin maker and tin shop were located on North Warren Street and a wheelwright and blacksmith shop on Pennington Avenue specialized in wagon bodies for nearby brickyards.

Early small scale industries concentrated south of Five Points including a pottery to the rear of Lamb’s Tavern, a tannery above Bank Street and a stone mill in “Honey Hollow” (east of North Willow Street by the Belvidere Division railroad). This mill was known as the “Coffee House” and was utilized for grinding spice and roasting coffee. A millpond on Petit’s Run supplied a conduit which turned a paddle wheel which, in turn, powered the mill. Later, however, horse power was utilized with a “sweep,” which proved an irresistible temptation to neighborhood boys for taking a ride. 6 However, as late as 1850, the Five Points area was surrounded to the north and to the west by open farm country and meandering livestock.

Among the later industries was The Fitzgibbons and Crisp Union Carriage Works (#77) established on Bank Street in 1868. The firm, housed in three and four story brick structures, was for many years a large producer of carriages, horse drawn trolley cars, and finally truck and automobiles bodies. The company, which exhibited at the Centennial Exhibition, was described as “one of the most complete” manufacturers of its kind in the country, ranking with the “great wagon manufacturers of the Northwest.”

For more information please read:

Beverly Rae Kimes - The Classic Car

Beverly Rae Kimes - The Classic Era

Beverly Rae Kimes - Packard: A History of the Motorcar and Company

Beverly Rae Kimes & Henry Austin Clark Jr. - Standard Catalog of American Cars 1805-1942

Richard Burns Carson - The Olympian Cars

Raymond A. Katzell - The Splendid Stutz

Marc Ralston - Pierce Arrow

Brooks T. Brierley - There Is No Mistaking a Pierce Arrow

Brooks T. Brierley - Auburn, Reo, Franklin and Pierce-Arrow Versus Cadillac, Chrysler, Lincoln and Packard

Brooks T. Brierley - Magic Motors 1930

Nick Georgano - The Beaulieu Encyclopedia of the Automobile: Coachbuilding