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Streets Admiral
Wilson |
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Streets Admiral
Wilson |
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ADMIRAL WILSON BOULEVARD, on most roadmaps is simply referred to as US Route 30. Of course no one who has ever lived here would even think of the thoroughfare as anything but Admiral Wilson Boulevard. The stretch of highway, which runs from the foot of the Benjamin Franklin Bridge to the Airport Circle has been at different times one of the most famous and alternately the most infamous roads in South Jersey. The road is named for Admiral Henry Braid Wilson Jr., a Camden native and World War I naval hero. His father was also a noted figure in Camden, the H.B. Wilson school at 7th and Florence Street being named in his honor. The thoroughfare was originally known as Bridge Boulevard, as it connected with Bridge Avenue, one of Camden's older streets, which has disappeared from the map over the years. The change in name was announced on November 11, 1929 during Camden's Armistice Day ceremonies. The change in name was a popular move, and travelers soon commonly called the highway the Admiral Wilson Boulevard. What they didn't know was that name change had not been made official. During Mayor Winfield Price's administration, Camden's City Commission tried to correct the problem by adopting a resolution to make the name change official, but an ordinance was needed before the change could take effect. The ordinance was finally drafted in 1937 and Bridge Boulevard officially became Admiral Wilson Boulevard. The south side of the boulevard runs parallel to the Cooper River between Memorial Avenue and the Airport Circle. When the road was originally conceived, this side of the boulevard was meant to be parkland, providing the motorist a view of the river and on its far bank, Camden High School and city- and county-owned parks. This idea was abandoned very quickly. Anticipating the change in shopping patterns that would come with the affordability of automobiles in the 1920s, the Sears-Roebuck Company insisted on locating on the boulevard instead of in downtown Camden. During the administration of Mayor Victor S. King (1923-1927) a deal was consummated, and Sears came to Camden, building a then ultra-modern building at Admiral Wilson Boulevard and Mount Ephraim Avenue, which opened on July 1, 1927. Up until the late 1930s there was very little development along the Boulevard until one reached Pennsauken. The original plan, filed in 1921, for instance, called for residences on the north side of the Boulevard east of Baird Boulevard. In the mid-1930s Commissioner Frank J. Hartmann Jr. began a pushed that resulted in the rezoning of the Boulevard in Camden. Commercial development started before the end of the decade. Notable among the new businesses were the Merlin Motors car dealership and the White Tower restaurants, both near Baird Boulevard. At the Airport Circle end, in Pennsauken Township, development came much quicker. Mostly rural Pennsauken was happy to see commercial properties along the new route. Within a very few years after World War II the boulevard was home to many businesses besides Sears, including gas stations, car dealerships, bars, motels, and various other commercial enterprises. There was A LOT of traffic on the boulevard which terminated at the Airport Circle. To alleviate traffic jams various improvements were made over the years. The road was widened, bridges was built over the road at Baird Boulevard, Federal Street , and Memorial Avenue, and ramps were built so that traffic could enter and exit the Boulevard smoothly. Even with all the construction, the Admiral Wilson Boulevard was famous for traffic jams. By the 1970s the Admiral Wilson Boulevard became known for a few things thought even less well of than traffic jams. The bars and motels had come after 1960. Despite all the absolute silliness and propaganda promoted in the press, there never were any more than three bars on the boulevard, likewise there never were more than three motels, and NEVER were there more than two adult bookstores at one time. In fact, from the early 1980s on, there was only one adult establishment, and that was in Pennsauken. However, no thanks at all to the Philadelphia newspapers and with less help from the Courier-Post, the Boulevard and by inference Camden was portrayed as having "countless by-the-hour motels, strip joints, and seedy bars". Still, in fact, the motels, no longer fueled by regular commercial activity in the city, became magnets for prostitutes who solicited on the boulevard. By the mid 1970s, all three bars featured scantily clad dancers, and a former car dealership, just over the city line in Pennsauken, served no alcohol, but featured nude female dancers. Oddly enough, although this establishment attracted much of the negative press that focused on the Boulevard, there was far less illegal activity there than at the bars and especially the motels. In anticipation of the 2000 Republican Convention held in Philadelphia, then New Jersey Governor Christine Todd Whitman spent a great amount of taxpayer dollars in acquiring all the commercial properties on the south side of the boulevard east of the Cooper River to the Airport Circle. Every building was razed, grass and trees were planted, and a park, which no one can park at or really use, was created. Camden, which was already short on tax generating commercial properties, lost a few more- but the lame-duck Governor did get a cabinet-level job in Washington after the election. The traffic jams have not been alleviated, as the south side of the boulevard floods during heavy rains and occasionally at high tide. The Cooper River had been dredged and the channel deepened around 1930. Over the years the river has silted back up, causing the flooding. No plans have been made public concerning a solution to this problem, which will only get worse as time goes by. The north side of the boulevard still has many of the commercial buildings built prior to 1960. There were many large car dealerships prior to 1980, which are no longer there, but the buildings are still being utilized. |
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Do you have an Admiral Wilson Boulevard memory or picture? Let me know by e-mail so it can be included here. |
| Looking West from the Baird Avenue Bridge | |
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Postcard The photograph was taken long before the Boulevard was built, and there is not much activity in East Camden to be seen in this picture either. |
| Admiral
Wilson Boulevard From the Airport Circle to the Ben Franklin Bridge |
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Photo published 1931 In this picture the only business on the south side of the Boulevard was Sears. A few businesses had located on the north side, near Baird Boulevard, and streets running parallel to the Boulevard and Marlton Avenue had been laid out. |
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1950s-1990s As South Jersey grew, ramps were added to expedite the flow of traffic. This configuration was in place until the 1990s. |
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| Eastbound on the Admiral Wilson Boulevard | |||
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Before
the Boulevard itself
is the Benjamin Franklin Bridge Approach US 30 East, at exit 1 in Camden. Strangely, exit 1 has no signage what-so-ever. In the distance, The Federal Street Railroad Bridge July 1, 2001 |
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1300
Admiral Wilson Blvd.
Heavy
traffic in both directions Photo published in 1931 |
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1300
Admiral Wilson Blvd.
Heavy
traffic in both directions Photo published in 1931 |
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1300
Admiral Wilson Blvd.
1960s |
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1300
Admiral Wilson Blvd.
February 10, 1972 |
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1300
Admiral Wilson Blvd.
1974 |
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1300
Admiral Wilson Blvd.
The former Sears Building on July 23, 2008. Due to neglect by its owner, the building was declared a health hazard and not fit for human occupancy in January of 2006. Click on Image to Enarge |
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1300
Admiral Wilson Blvd.
The former Sears Building on July 23, 2008 as seen from Memorial Avenue during the demolition of 1350 Admiral Wilson Boulevard, the former Sears Auto Service Center. Due to neglect by its owner, the building was declared a health hazard and not fit for human occupancy in January of 2006. Click on Image to Enarge |
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1350 Admiral Wilson Blvd. The former Sears Auto Service building Is in the foreground during its demolition. Old Sears Building (1300 Admiral Wilson Boulevard is in background. Photo taken July 23, 2008 Click on Image to Enarge |
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1350
Admiral Wilson Blvd.
Sears Auto Service Razed July 2008 - Photo July 23, 2008 Click on Image to Enlarge |
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The Camden Connection Overpass Eastbound on the Admiral Wilson
Boulevard, July 1, 2001 |
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1420
Admiral Wilson Blvd.
June 21, 1950 to the 1970s
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1420 Admiral Wilson Blvd. 1980-2001 July 1, 2001 |
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| 1420 Admiral Wilson Blvd. 1980-2001 |
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Artist's
conception of the then nameless boulevard |
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As
Seen From East of Cooper River Bridge 1930 |
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This bridge spanning the Cooper River was built during the construction of the Boulevard in the mid-1920s Photograph
published |
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1836 Admiral Wilson Blvd. 1955 Al's Mobil Service Station |
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1840 Admiral Wilson Blvd.
1977 |
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1950 Admiral Wilson Blvd. 4 Winds Motel |
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| 4 Winds Liquor Store | |||
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2000 Admiral Wilson Blvd.
1933
Camden
Athletic Club |
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2000 Admiral Wilson Blvd. 1960s-1999 Click on Image to Enlarge The gas station was replaced by additional rooms by the 1960s. The basement of the main building was converted into a bar known as the Harem Lounge, featuring go-go dancers from 1970s until it closed. |
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2000 Admiral Wilson Blvd. In July of 2004, the South Jersey Tourism Corp. announced that the Delaware River Port Authority had received a $500,000 grant to help SJTC turn the former home of the Oasis Motel into a 3,000-square-foot welcome center. There, visitors will be able to receive information about attractions scattered throughout South Jersey. As of 2011 no building has materialized. |
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2020 Admiral Wilson Blvd. 1974 |
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Intersection of Admiral Wilson Boulevard & Baird Boulevard August 19, 1948 The overpass and cloverleaf are under construction in this photograph. Visible, clockwise from upper left. Marbetts, rear of homes on Randolph street, Merlin Motors, White Tower, and the YMCA (later known as the Oasis Motel). |
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| Below - Admiral Wilson Boulevard looking East from the Baird Boulevard Overpass circa 1958 | |||
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2100 Admiral Wilson Blvd. 1940s - 1960s Merlin Motors Lincoln-Mercury is visible on far side of the Boulevard. |
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2250 Admiral Wilson Blvd. Another bar that featured go-go dancers, the Admiral remained open until taken for Governor Whitman's exhibition. |
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2272 Admiral Wilson Blvd. 1974 |
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2272 Admiral Wilson Blvd. 1974 |
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2300 Admiral Wilson Blvd. 1967 Camden
Courier-Post
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2350
Admiral Wilson Blvd.
July 4, 1960-July 1991
Click on Image to Enlarge See the 1960 Oldsmobile & the 1956 Buick! |
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My name is Nicole Nance and I am a member of GateKeepers Ministries International/GateKeepers Fellowship Church. I’m reaching out to the two of you in hopes to have a meeting or a sit down chat to discuss key historical events concerning Camden, specifically Admiral Wilson Boulevard. Below is a very brief synopsis. In 1990, our ministry/church received a variance to be the first church on Admiral Wilson Boulevard. Five years later in 1995, we were given the Wilson Motel and the French Quarters Lounge (approx. 4 acres of land) for the purchase price of $1.00. We were given a proclamation from former Congressman Robert Andrews declaring November 5th, GateKeepers Fellowship Church Day. See attachment. We had huge press covering our new location on Admiral Wilson Blvd in 1990 and then even more press when we took over the Wilson Motel and French Quarter. We are now located on Admiral Wilson Boulevard, on the opposite side of the former Wilson Motel and our former church. Our current address GateKeepers Ministries 3600 Earl Avenue Pennsauken, NJ 08110. Nicole Nance, BBA |
2350
Admiral Wilson Blvd.
1996-1998
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2360 Admiral Wilson Blvd. 1964 |
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2518 Admiral Wilson Blvd. 1974 |
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2800 block Admiral Wilson Blvd. Rice & Holman Used & Truck 2800 block 1960 |
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3000 Admiral Wilson Blvd. 1940s |
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3000 Admiral Wilson Blvd. 1940s Camden Courier-Post |
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3000 1955-1959 1957 Ad |
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3000 1955-1959 Camden Courier-Post
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| 3000 Admiral Wilson Blvd. 1960s |
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3000 Admiral Wilson Blvd. 1979-2000 |
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3030 Admiral Wilson Blvd. 1940s-1950s |
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3030 Admiral Wilson Blvd. 1940s-1950s |
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| 3030 Admiral Wilson Blvd. 1974 |
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3100 Admiral Wilson Blvd. 1930s-1950s |
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| 3100 Admiral Wilson Blvd. Jiffy Enterprises Inc. |
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Admiral Wilson Boulevard at the Airport Circle Neil Deighan's |
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| Looking
West on Admiral Wilson Boulevard from a point just west of the Airport Circle - 1930s |
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| Westbound on the Admiral Wilson Boulevard | |
| Waldorf Avenue | |
| Dave Cole Pontiac
1959 - early 1970s This building has been occupied by Enterprise Rent-as Car since the 1980s |
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| Dave Cole Pontiac
about 1960 Click on Image to Enlarge Camden International Truck, on the Airport Circle can be seen in the distance when enlarged. |
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| Lee Avenue | |
| 2901 Admiral Wilson Blvd Pennsauken NJ 1950s - present day 1955 New Jersey Bell Click on Image to Enlarge |
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| Rosemont Avenue | |
| Hoover's
Atlantic Gas Station John B. Hoover 1940s |
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| Hoover's
Atlantic Gas Station John B. Hoover 1940s |
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| Hoover's
Atlantic Gas Station John B. Hoover 1940s Camden Courier-Post |
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1970s-1999 Used Car Lot |
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| Shell Gas Station | |
| 2315 Admiral Wilson Blvd. Blanton Dunn |
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| 2315 Admiral Wilson Blvd. Early 1950s-Early 1970s |
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| 2315 Admiral Wilson Blvd. Early 1950s-Early 1970s
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| 2315 Admiral Wilson Blvd. 1974-1977 In the early 1980s the showroom and offices were knocked down, and after a brief period as a grocery, the building has served as a liquor store |
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| 2305 Admiral Wilson Blvd. 1956 - late 1970s |
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| Thorndyke Street | |
| Mobil Gas Station -2005 Lukoil Gast Station 2006- |
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| Somerset Street | |
| MERLIN
MOTORS 1940 Note that the large service department built has not been built yet |
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| MERLIN
MOTORS 1950s |
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| MERLIN
MOTORS 1960s |
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| Intersection of Admiral Wilson Boulevard & Baird Boulevard | |
| 2035 Admiral Wilson Blvd. 1930s-1940s |
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| 2007 Admiral Wilson Blvd. 1965-1974
SP Liquors Camden
Courier-Post Edward Aristone |
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| 1951 Admiral Wilson Blvd. Admiral Gulf Service |
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1800
Block Admiral Wilson Boulevard Camden Courier-Post |
| 1839 Admiral Wilson Blvd. 1974-2001 |
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| Berglund Ford | |
| Berglund Ford |  |
| Berglund Ford |  |
| Berglund Ford |  |
| Intersection of Admiral Wilson Boulevard and South 17th Street | |
| Public
Service Electric & Gas Co. building |
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| MDTA Training School | |
| Bush Refrigeration | |
| Intersection of Admiral Wilson Boulevard and South 16th Street | |
| Rohrer Chevrolet |  |
| Rohrer Chevrolet |  |
| Rohrer
Chevrolet
1950-1980s |
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| All
Current Electrical Sales
Occupies much of the old Rohrer Chevrolet Parts & Service Departments |
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| 1527 Admiral Wilson Blvd. 1974 |
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| 1527 Admiral Wilson Blvd. 1990s |
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| Cooper River Bridge | |
| Camden Connection
Overpass
Built in 1950 |
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| Rohrer
Chevrolet
1930-1950 |
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3
HURT IN COLLISION ON WILSON BOULEVARD Three
persons were injured in an automobile crash at Admiral
Wilson and Baird
Boulevards yesterday when a machine driven by a Camden man was in
collision with an automobile driven by a Bridgeton man. The
most seriously injured was John Kaus, Jr., 19, of 1738 Tioga
Street. He suffered a severed tendon of
the
right hand. Walter Connell, of 27 Marlton Avenue, driver of one
machine, was cut about the head. Anthony Batani, of Bridgeton, driver of the other car, was cut about the hands. J. R. Boston, of 718 Pearl Street, took all the injured to West Jersey Homeopathic Hospital. |
CAMDEN COURIER-POST June 7, 1933
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| CAMDEN COURIER-POST - AUGUST 1, 1936 | ||
| Hartmann Seeks Way to Improve Realty on Wilson Blvd. | ||
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Camden Courier-Post- June 1, 1933 |
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MAILBAG Danger on the Boulevard To
the Editor: Sir-I
agree with you that the driving conditions on Wilson Boulevard and
Crescent boulevard are getting worse and worse. Out by the Walkathon
the drivers, many from Philly, where they don't know any better, turn
left in the middle of traffic, and spin about to make a complete turn. Of
course, I don't give a doggone what happens to such poor fools. But they
tie up traffic and make trouble for other people. The airport has an
entrance of its own, where you can drive in without making turns in the
middle of the boulevard. It ought to be made to use that entrance or
else the drivers should be made to quit turning left off the boulevard. It
is dangerous and somebody is likely to be killed before long. Then
everybody will howl that it is terrible about these reckless drivers MOTORIST |
Central
Airport, the Airport Circle & East Camden |
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Central
Airport, the Airport Circle & East Camden |
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| Camden Courier-Post - June 6, 1933 | |
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AUTO
MOVIE THEATRE HAS PREMIERE TONIGHT The world's
first automobile movie theatre which has aroused national
interest because of its basic patents and in which motor cars literally
are transformed into private theatre boxes, will have its premiere
performance tonight in the Camden Drive-In Theatre. On the Admiral
Wilson Boulevard, near the Central
Airport, it occupies approximately There
is a slight incline at the front of each aisle which guarantees
uninterrupted vision. The program will be a complete talking picture show and will be changed on Wednesdays and Sundays with three evening performances daily, at 8:30, 10:00 and 11:30 o'clock. |
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Central
Airport & the Airport Circle |
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| click on image to enlarge |
The
Airport Circle |
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| click on image to enlarge |
| CAMDEN COURIER-POST - JUNE 10, 1960 |
| Work
Starts On Boulevard Overpasses
Construction of safety features on Admiral Wilson blvd. was started Thursday by Union Paving Co., of Wynnewood, Pa., holder of a $340,570 contract with the State Highway Department. The program calls for construction of two pedestrian overpasses over the boulevard, and reconstruction of the concrete dividing island. Work crews began ripping up the old three·foot wide concrete divider in preparation for construction of a new center barrier 32 inches high from a point halfway between 12th Street and the Pennsylvania Railroad overpass, to the Airport Circle, a distance of more than a mile. The pedestrian overpasses will be constructed at 16th Street in the city and at Rodman Avenue near Rosemont Avenue in Pennsauken Township. Each will be built with safety railings, stairways and will be six feet wide. After the overpasses and center medial strip are completed, the entire road surface of the boulevard will be covered with a blacktop. The state is paying the cost of the project.
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| 1963 Airport Circle Click on Image to Enlarge - Click Here to Supersize Image |
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