This was a fun winter project inspired by Bill Zamzow, former president of the Princeton Historical Society, who shared memories of Carl Huenerberg about the Water Street of his youth in the society’s February 2003 newsletter.
During one of Bill’s visits with longtime residents Carl and Florence Huenerberg, they compiled a list of Water Street businesses, by address, from the 1920s. The society published the south side businesses in February and the north side in the next edition.
I thought it would be fun to compile a similar list for each decade from the time Princeton was founded in 1848 to the 21st century, from the 1850s to the 2000s.
Most of the Water Street buildings had multiple occupants over a typical decade. I did not attempt to list all the businesses at each address in each decade nor the longest-tenured. I selected one business that, based on my research, residents of the day would associate with each address, or at least recognize.
The spreadsheet is so wide that it is best to download it to view on your computer. If you want to view in the window below, I suggest enlarging 400 percent before using scrolling bars at right and bottom to view the spreadsheet.
As always, please let me know if you spot any errors or have any suggestions.
Thank you for reading and caring about local history.
