Historic Exhibits

Over the past decade, as an outgrowth of work in the cultural resource management and historic preservation field, Hunter Research has developed a vibrant specialty in designing historic interpretive signage and historical exhibits for both indoor and outdoor settings. Many of the studies carried out by Hunter Research generate historical information that merits dissemination to the general public through means more accessible than a technical report. In some cases, artifacts recovered during archaeological investigations are worthy of display; in others, historical and archaeological materials can be incorporated into interpretive signage, building restorations and landscaping plans. Hunter Research frequently prepares artifacts, historic images and copies of archival materials for display in museums, government agencies, corporate spaces and various institutional and conference settings. We have also curated a number of museum-style exhibits for both public and privately managed historic sites. Our signage and exhibit work is best displayed throughout downtown Trenton, in Central Park, the Mercer County park system, several municipal parks in Jersey City and the City of Trenton, and along the corridors of the Delaware and Raritan and Morris Canals.

Sample Projects Include:

Seneca Village, Central Park
Borough of Manhattan, New York City

In 2018-19, working with graphic designer Douglas Scott and the staff of the Central Park Conservancy, Hunter Research assisted in and coordinated the development of historic interpretive signage for Seneca Village, a predominantly African-American settlement that was removed in the late 1850s to make way for the creation of Central Park.   Continue

Wicoff House
Plainsboro Township, Middlesex County, New Jersey

In May 2019, Hunter Research assisted the Township of Plainsboro in celebrating the Township’s centennial with a new 100th anniversary exhibit. Exhibit planning was initiated several years earlier when the Township embarked on a project to rehabilitate the National Register-listed Wicoff House, the historic home of one of the Township’s founders.   Continue
 

Trenton Area Parks and Historic Sites
Multiple Locations in Mercer County, New Jersey

Over the past 20 years, Hunter Research has been instrumental in establishing countless historic interpretive signs and exhibits at historic sites and in parks all across central New Jersey..   Continue
 
Louis Kahn Bath House
Ewing Township, Mercer County, New Jersey

Beginning in 2007, Mercer County and Ewing Township restored the Kahn Bath House, a landmark structure designed by architect Louis I. Kahn in 1955. As a final phase of the project in 2013-14, Hunter Research was commissioned to research, design and fabricate two interpretive signs to inform visitors about the Bath House’s world-renowned architect and the building’s history.   Continue

A Gentleman’s Pursuit: The Commodore’s Greenhouse (Exhibit)
Morven Museum and Gardens, Princeton, Mercer County, New Jersey

From mid-February through the fall of 2018, Morven Museum and Gardens in Princeton presented an innovative exhibit on Commodore Robert F. Stockton’s state-of-the-art greenhouse that existed on the Morven property from the mid-1850s until the 1880s. Co-curated by Morven and Hunter Research staff, the basis of the exhibit was driven by archaeological discoveries and wide-ranging historical research. Continue

Sartori to Sacred Heart: Early Catholic Trenton (Exhibit and Booklet)
Trenton City Museum, City of Trenton, Mercer County, New Jersey

Sacred Heart Church retained Hunter Research to design and curate an exhibit at the Trenton City Museum on Sartori and early Catholic Trenton. Archaeological objects, many of them retrieved from a privy pit abandoned by the Sartori family in the late 1820s, were a prominent feature of the exhibit along with historical details about Sartori’s remarkable life.  Continue