August W. "Augie" Oswald Jr. was the licensee for the bar at 1000 N. 27th Street in 1939. Born in Pennsylvania, his family came to the Cramer Hill when he was young. By 1920 he had married, and owned a home at 2802 Buren Avenue. At the time of the 1920 census he was working as a caulker in a shipyard, probably the Noecker, Rickenbach and Ake Shipyard which was across the street from his home. Augie Oswald and family were still at 2802 Buren Avenue in 1930, and then working in the coal business. 2802 Buren Street would be the home of Jimmy's Tavern from the 1940s through the 1970s. Augie Oswald Jr. still kept a residence there as late as 1959. He moved to Cape May NJ sometime after 1959, where he passed away in September of 1970.

Shortly after the liquor license was renewed in June of 1939, the bar was sold to the Bowen family. The 1940 Camden City Directory shows that the bar at 1000 River Road was being run by Richard G. Bowen. The 1943 Directory shows a Charles Bowen there, and the 1947 Directory shows the address as housing Dick's Cafe, and Richard and Anna C. Bowen were operating the establishment.

While the bar does not appear in New Jersey Bell telephone directories in 1959 or later, it remained opened after changing hands. In the 1950s and 1960s the bar was known as the Rio Bar, taking its name from the adjacent Rio Theater on River Road. Around 1976 the bar was sold once again, and was known for several years as Connie's Corner.

While the building still stands, and apparently is used as a private residence or as apartments, I do not believe a bar has operated there since the 1980s. 

September 22, 2003

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