Hopewell Academy (est. 1756), a Latin grammar school, founded by Isaac Eaton, pastor at Hopewell Baptist, was the earliest Baptist academy in America. The building is now a private home, but a historical plaque stands near the street. The academy’s alumni included James Manning, founder of Brown University. Other alumni included the “Baptist Whitefield,” Hezekiah Smith, who was a classmate with Manning at Princeton and founding pastor of First Baptist at Haverhill, Massachusetts.
