{"id":11539,"date":"2013-01-31T07:31:57","date_gmt":"2013-01-31T12:31:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/?p=11539"},"modified":"2021-02-01T16:46:19","modified_gmt":"2021-02-01T21:46:19","slug":"washington-park-upon-a-frozen-delaware-river","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/2013\/01\/31\/washington-park-upon-a-frozen-delaware-river\/","title":{"rendered":"Washington Park upon a Frozen Delaware River"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Frozen-Wasteland-det\"<\/a>Last week I assumed I had a picture of men plowing snow<\/a>. As it turned out, my assumption was false, and it turned out to be a team of ice cutters. With this week’s photo, I was reasonably sure that the two men and the dog were standing upon the Delaware river which had frozen over, but I wasn’t sure of the location. I decided to take the preemptive measure of forwarding the photo to Jerseyman<\/strong><\/a> who has helped out enormously in the past identifying places and things in these old glass negatives.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Sure enough, Jerseyman<\/strong><\/a> got right back to me with this fascinating piece of information:<\/p>\n

\n

This image shows John Capewell and presumably his son out on the Delaware River ice with Washington Park on the Delaware stretched out along the shoreline behind them. The Shoot the Chute ride is the one on the extreme left with the incline extending down from it. \"chute-shoot\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Directly behind the two men is a head-on end view of the Ferris Wheel, the largest in New Jersey at that time. To the left of the Ferris Wheel is what appears to be the carousel pavilion and other buildings associated with the park. \"ferriswheel\"<\/a><\/p>\n

I would guess this photo dates to before 1909, when the park suffered a disastrous fire, based on the rides viewable in the image. If I had to hazard a guess, I would suggest the year 1907, but only if that fits with the age of the son.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Thanks, Jerseyman!<\/a><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

My guess is that John B. Capewell is the fellow in the derby, but I doubt if the other guy is one of Capewell’s boys. I sent Jerseyman a small JPEG and there’s not a lot of detail to grab a hold of. If it was 1907 to 1909, John Jr. and Henry would have been infants to toddlers. In this tighter shot, the shorter figure looks like an adult.<\/p>\n

Here is the full frame of this glass negative:<\/p>\n

\"Frozen-Wasteland\"<\/a>Washington Park-on-the-Delaware<\/strong> was in Westville, NJ along the Delaware River. It was built by Billy Thompson<\/strong> who was known as The Duke of Gloucester.<\/em> He was a fascinating character whose life and career sound like it would be great material for a prequel series to Boardwalk Empire<\/a>. Thompson emigrated from Ireland and wound up in Gloucester City in 1870 where he would make his fortune. He was a shrewd businessman, an entrepreneur and eventually a politician serving on the Gloucester City Council, the New Jersey legislature, and was a member of the County Board of Freeholders. He opened the 900 acre amusement park\u00a0called the Washington Park-on-the-Delaware in 1895. and it was billed as The Greatest Pleasure Resort in The World. <\/em>It had the world’s tallest Ferris wheel, an all girl orchestra, a baseball diamond, restaurants and all sorts of amusements. It packed them in until a fire destroyed it in 1909. There were plans to rebuild, but it never happened.<\/p>\n

Westville’s website has a historic section with some fascinating information on Washington Park-on-the-Delaware.<\/strong> It seems like something may have happened to the text or the website because there are some strange repetitions and disjointed sentences, but stick with it.<\/em> The Park sounds like an incredible place, and although I went to grade school in Westville, I’ve never heard anything about Washington Park until the incredible Jerseyman identified the place in the background of Capewell’s frozen landscape. Read about Washington Park-on-the-Delaware HERE.<\/a><\/p>\n

\"DSCN1455-det\"<\/a><\/p>\n

About The Capewell Glass Negative Collection<\/a><\/strong><\/h2>\n

The Capewell Glass Negative<\/strong> Collection<\/strong><\/a> is a series of about 200 5-inch by 7-inch glass negatives shot early in the 20th Century by John Batt Capewell<\/strong> (1878-1951) of Westville, New Jersey.<\/strong> John passed the negatives down to his son Henry who left them in his wife\u2019s possession upon his passing. Henry\u2019s widow didn\u2019t know what to do with them and didn\u2019t particularly want them so she offered them to my Dad who couldn\u2019t turn down anything. Ultimately I wound up with them and thought I would one day have photographic prints struck from them. That didn\u2019t happen, but I came up with the digital workaround of placing the negatives on a lightbox and rephotographing them with a digital camera. The \u201cprocessing\u201d<\/em> was then done on a computer with image editing software. Many of these pictures have not been seen in a century, and I\u2019m proud to be presenting them today.<\/p>\n

At first, I did not know who the people were in the photographs. I have a box of ephemera that accompanied the negatives and snagged a few clues from that as far as the Capewell name. I did some research on the internet and had a few false starts and wrong turns, but the readers of these posts have provided a remarkable amount of research and detail. I\u2019m amazed at what people have turned up sifting through public records and such!<\/p>\n

This story continues to evolve. Every Thursday, I will post a Capewell picture or two. If you recognize a person or place in one of the shots or just want to drop a line, feel free to comment!<\/p>\n

Last: Snow Plough (Ice Cutters)<\/em><\/a><\/strong> | Next:<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Last week I assumed I had a picture of men plowing snow. As it turned out, my assumption was false, and it turned out to be a team of ice cutters. With this week’s photo, I was reasonably sure that … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1104],"tags":[2284,1573,2283,2279,1095,2103,1106,122,118,66,3676,2282,336,2280,2281,121],"class_list":["post-11539","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-the-capewell-glass-negative-collection","tag-amusement-park","tag-antique-photograph","tag-billy-thompson","tag-delaware-river-frozen-over","tag-glass-negative","tag-gloucester-county","tag-john-b-capewell","tag-new-jersey","tag-photography","tag-photoshop","tag-the-capewell-glass-negative-collection","tag-the-duke-of-gloucester","tag-vintage","tag-washington-park","tag-washington-park-on-the-delaware","tag-westville"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1ed1x-307","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":11702,"url":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/2013\/02\/07\/sleigh-ride\/","url_meta":{"origin":11539,"position":0},"title":"Sleigh Ride","author":"Joe_Williams","date":"February 7, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Here's a snowy self portrait of John B. Capewell along with an unidentified companion seated in a sleigh. Capewell is seated on the right. It looks like the photographer set up his camera, hopped back in the sleigh and is releasing the shutter with a length of string as he\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "The Capewell Glass Negative Collection"","block_context":{"text":"The Capewell Glass Negative Collection","link":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/category\/the-capewell-glass-negative-collection\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/sleigh-ride-detail.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/sleigh-ride-detail.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/sleigh-ride-detail.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/sleigh-ride-detail.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":7668,"url":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/2012\/05\/03\/delaware-river\/","url_meta":{"origin":11539,"position":1},"title":"On the Delaware River","author":"Joe_Williams","date":"May 3, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"We're back on the water again this week but this time we have a larger boat and a larger body of water. Being that the photographer John B. Capewell lived in Westville, New Jersey, I think it's safe to assume that he shot this 5\" x 7\" glass negative on\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "The Capewell Glass Negative Collection"","block_context":{"text":"The Capewell Glass Negative Collection","link":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/category\/the-capewell-glass-negative-collection\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/05\/DSCN1448.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/05\/DSCN1448.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/05\/DSCN1448.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":11493,"url":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/2013\/01\/24\/snow-plough\/","url_meta":{"origin":11539,"position":2},"title":"Snow Plough","author":"Joe_Williams","date":"January 24, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Here's a photograph John B. Capewell made of a cold and snowy Winter's day about 100 or years ago or so. Back then a plough served two purposes. It mainly ploughed farm fields which were plentiful in New Jersey at the time, but here it looks like its being used\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "The Capewell Glass Negative Collection"","block_context":{"text":"The Capewell Glass Negative Collection","link":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/category\/the-capewell-glass-negative-collection\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/Snow-Plough.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/Snow-Plough.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/Snow-Plough.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/Snow-Plough.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":7876,"url":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/2012\/05\/17\/lady-water\/","url_meta":{"origin":11539,"position":3},"title":"Lady by the Water","author":"Joe_Williams","date":"May 17, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"We're back by the water with another glass negative shot by John B. Capewell of Westville, New Jesrey about 100 or so years ago. My guess is that this photograph was taken on the same day and in the same place as the shot of the wading children in last\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "The Capewell Glass Negative Collection"","block_context":{"text":"The Capewell Glass Negative Collection","link":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/category\/the-capewell-glass-negative-collection\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/05\/Lady-by-the-fence-detail.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/05\/Lady-by-the-fence-detail.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/05\/Lady-by-the-fence-detail.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":7497,"url":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/2012\/04\/19\/waters-edge\/","url_meta":{"origin":11539,"position":4},"title":"At The Water’s Edge","author":"Joe_Williams","date":"April 19, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"John B. Capewell of Westville, NJ is back with some lads, but not with the same lads that have been in the past few posts. Capewell is the second from the left or the third from the left if I include the dog. You'll notice the slight blur to the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "The Capewell Glass Negative Collection"","block_context":{"text":"The Capewell Glass Negative Collection","link":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/category\/the-capewell-glass-negative-collection\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/DSCN1449-neg.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/DSCN1449-neg.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/DSCN1449-neg.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":16687,"url":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/2014\/06\/19\/saturday-in-the-park\/","url_meta":{"origin":11539,"position":5},"title":"Saturday in the Park","author":"Joe_Williams","date":"June 19, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Some time early in twentieth century America, John B. Capewell shot this plate. I have no idea where it is, and Mr. Capewell left me precious little evidence. It may be Fairmount Park in Philadelphia just across the Delaware River from Westville, New Jersey where the Capewells resided. It may\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "The Capewell Glass Negative Collection"","block_context":{"text":"The Capewell Glass Negative Collection","link":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/category\/the-capewell-glass-negative-collection\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/Saturday-in-the-Park.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/Saturday-in-the-Park.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/Saturday-in-the-Park.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/Saturday-in-the-Park.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11539","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11539"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11539\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11539"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11539"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11539"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}