By April C. Armstrong *14

In this week’s installment in our recurring series, inflation is significant, a housing shortage prompts an unusual request, and more.

August 4, 1832—Thomas M. Taylor writes to the Philadelphia Inquirer to warn readers not to visit Princeton:

There are now four decided cases of cholera existing in the heart of this town. The authorities of this town, against the wishes of a large portion of the inhabitants, have converted the town house into a hospital for the sick, as there are many cases hourly occurring on the line of the canal. When it becomes known to them, we shall, without doubt, be flooded with them. My object is to give notice to those strangers who may wish to come here, that they may be governed accordingly. A large portion of the students in college have left, and others on the eve of going, in consequence of the alarm which exists here.

August 5, 1864—The local price of a quart of milk has gone up from 6 cents to ten cents.

August 6, 1925—Excavations for the University Chapel have uncovered a penny from 1824.

August 9, 1946—Facing record-breaking enrollment, Princeton University appeals to local homeowners to help with housing an estimated 150 to 200 undergraduates for whom there are no accommodations available on campus despite “doubling up” in all dormitories, i.e. turning all singles into double-occupancy rooms and turning existing doubles into triples or quads.

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Did you read the previous installment in this series?

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