CAMDEN, NEW JERSEY

EAST CAMDEN

This page is a work in progress about the neighborhood that has been my home on and off (mostly on!) since 1976. Originally a part of Stockton Township, the area that is now known as East Camden was merged into Camden proper in 1899 along with the neighborhood now known as Cramer Hill. It included the villages of Wrightsville, Stockton, and Rosedale, which lay along Federal Street. The area was served by the Pavonia Railroad Station, located along the railroad line at 27th Street. The East Camden and Cramer Hill area is border by the Cooper and Delaware Rivers, and Pennsauken Township. 

Stockton Township had a large park that lay a block south of Federal Street and Marlton Avenue. This park, originally known as Stockton Park, had a long and varied history, and over the years has served as a rifle range, a park, the site of a private zoo, Depression-era family vegetable gardens, and, since 1954, the site of the McGuire Gardens public housing project.  

Real estate developers such as J. Howard Kirkbride and Alfred Cramer brought large tracts of land, including parts of the Thomas H. Dudley estate, and laid out affordable building lots, which gave the area its residential character. Much of this activity occurred in the 1890s and early 1900s. Schools built in these times included the Dudley, Garfield, and Cramer Elementary schools. The Cramer school, built in 1913, also served as a junior high school at different times. 

Leon Todd developed the neighborhood between Westfield and Rosedale Avenues, along the railroad tracks that bordered the Dudley estate, below North 33rd Street in the mid 1920s. Both Todd and J. Howard Kirkbride built homes in both Stockton/East Camden and Pennsauken Townships, and if it wasn't for municipal street signs one would not know where East Camden end and the Pennsauken neighborhoods begin, especially in the area near 36th Street and Camden Avenue. The Octavious Catto School was built in late 1920s for Negro children, as Camden's Elementary schools were then segregated. The segregation of the elementary schools defied even the logic of those times, as the upper grades had always been integrated.  

A similar development to the Westfield and Rosedale Avenues project was built between Federal Street and Crescent Boulevard (then State Highway 25, later US Route 130) along Terrace Avenue around the same time. The growth in East Camden caused the city to build Woodrow Wilson High School on Federal Street across from Dudley Grange in the early 1930s. The Federal government stepped in during the Depression, building the Westfield Acres homes at Westfield and Rosedale Avenues, with the first families moving in in 1938, and the Henry H. Davis Elementary School  was built as a companion to this site. 

More development occurred when Baird Boulevard was linked to Federal Street, and another period of building activity occurred immediately before and after World War II, ending in the 1950s. Another public housing project, the Peter J. McGuire Gardens, was built in the early 1950s, on the site of the old Stockton Park. The new Francis X. McGraw Elementary School, named for Congressional Medal of Honor awardee Francis X. McGraw, was also built during this period, at Dudley and Fremont Streets.

Industrial development occurred along the railroad tracks. One of the largest facilities was a warehouse at North 36th and Pleasant Street that was used for many years by the Campbell Soup Company.

During the 1960s and 1970s, as the economic fortunes of Camden declined, so did new construction. A new junior high school was built adjacent to the McGraw School on Dudley, this school was simply known as East Camden Middle School. Two high rise apartment buildings, Westfield Towers and John F. Kennedy Towers, were built adjacent to the two public housing sites during this time. 

East Camden has seen its ups and downs. For years it was one of Camden's more prosperous and stable areas, until being ravaged by drugs, poverty, and political corruption in the the 1980s and 1990s. The neighborhood is currently undergoing a rebirth, in great part through the efforts of the Housing Authority of the City of Camden and the St. Joseph's Carpenters Society,  and an influx of Asian and Mexican immigrants who have opened up many small businesses in the area.  

This page will include articles and pictures about the past and present of East Camden. 

As with most everything else on this web-site, it's a work in progress, and I welcome your participation-
                       Phil Cohen
                       Camden NJ

Do You Recognize Anyone Here????? Henry H. Davis School 1952 Miss Ada Haley's 5th Grade Class

July 2006- A reunion is being planned for later in the year. If you recognize anyone or are in this picture yourself, PLEASE e-mail Bob Bartosz at civilwarbnp@verizon.net

   LEFT: This 1914 map of East Camden shows the neighborhood in the days before the Ben Franklin Bridge and Admiral Wilson Boulevard were built. Of notes are the streets that extend from Federal Street all the way down to the Cooper River. This area was eliminated to make way for the Admiral Wilson Boulevard. 

Of interest is Stockton Park, now the approximate site of the Kennedy Tower and Peter J. McGuire public housing projects. Also of interest is that several streets off of 27th & Federal Street still carried names from the Stockton Township days.

Needless to say, everything on the right side of the river, the north side of the Cooper River, is East Camden. This picture is roughly 15-20 years prior to the building of the Delaware River (Ben Franklin Bridge) and the building of the Admiral Wilson Boulevard. This picture of the Cooper River was taken from a spot along the river roughly behind the site of the present-day Camden High School.

The City Commission of the City of Camden on December 1, 1927 changed the name of Forest Hill Park to Farnham Park, in appreciation of the late Levi E. Farnham, City Engineer of Camden for thirty years

Camden Courier-Post * March 1949

Stockton Annexed Against Protest Of Democrats.

Fifty years ago, the old town of Stockton was annexed to the City of Camden over the protests of Democratic members of the town council.

But a Republican Legislature approved a bill introduced by former Justice Frank T. Lloyd on March 24, 1899. He was a member of the Assembly at the time. He resided then in the structure now occupied by the Sheltering Arms Home at Eighteenth street and River avenue.

The town of Stockton had been in existence five years when the annexation took place. Merchantville and Pennsauken township were part of the original Stockton Township with the present East Camden area. Merchantville received its charter as a borough 75 years ago this month. In 1892. Pennsauken township withdrew, from the. township to become a separate municipality.

For two years East Camden remained in the township. In 1894 Alfred Cramer, founder of Cramer Hill, launched a movement to create the town of Stockton and the first governing body was elected. Edward Dudley, then a leading lawyer, was elected councilman-at-large, which entitled him to preside as mayor. William S. Abbott, a lifelong resident, became became clerk.

The town was divided into three wards. Fred Voigt and Justice Lloyd also served with Cramer and Dudley in the town council. The town hall was on the triangle, at Twenty-seventh and Federal Streets.

Albert Plum and William C. Reeves were justices of the peace. Samuel M. Jaquillard served on the Board of Freeholders as did W.O. Buck and Joseph Funfer. Charles E. Allen was a member of the Board of Education.

After the annexation Abbott was elected to Camden City Council. Others elected were Dr. William H. Kensinger, now a resident of Florida; Frederick S. von Nieda, Frederick H. Finkeldey, president of the first Playground Commission; Arthur R, Gemberling, now of Woodstown.

Other active citizens were Lemuel D. Horner, undertaker; Dr. H. F. Hadley, Jacob Bendinger, proprietor of the Rosedale Inn, and Walter L. Tushingham, former vice-president and general manager of the Courier-Post Newspapers.

You really do have to click on the image and see this one enlarged to appreciate it. Rows, and rows of tulips on Baird Boulevard? When those who were there said Camden was beautiful, this picture shows they were not kidding! If this only this one had been in color!!!!!

Thanks to Curtis Parrish for furnishing this picture.

Susan Leviton's Memories of East Camden

In the summer of 2009 Susan Leviton, who with her parents Herb and Lillian Leviton and sister Mindy Leviton lived at 2552 Baird Boulevard from 1953 through 1968 sent a series of e-mails about East Camden. 

Yes, Camden was indeed beautiful. We bought our home at 2552 Baird Boulevard from Henry Schriebstein and his wife in 1953. My parents, Herbert and Lillian Leviton, my sister Mindy and I lived at 2552 Baird Boulevard from 1953 to the fall of 1968. 

My memory of our block - and what made it The Boulevard - was the gorgeous green swath down the middle that was lined with a double row of majestic elm trees, all removed in the 60's because of Dutch Elm Disease. The curb side of the street was lined with maples. 

Our next door neighbors (2550) were the Hillmans, who had an apartment above their home and the Nancy Briggs Dance Studio below them and around the corner (Grand Avenue) On the other side (2554) Gert Lorey was joined by her brother-in-law Jules Clayman, his wife Leah, and their son Henry, after Gert's husband passed away. The Tweedy's sold their house (2556) to a man named Mr. Heaton [John H. Heaton -PMC] in the mid 50's. 

Behind our block of Baird Boulevard was "The Lot" as we called it, an empty triangular space that was formed where Baird, Eutaw, and Grand backed up. For several summers in the late 50's, the city ran a day-camp program, built around swings and a corrugated metal-roofed open-sided shelter with a picnic table inside. The first year, our neighbor Lucille Leonard was one of the two counselors, and it was a great thrill to watch her and her co-counselor haul the trunk of art supplies and games out of her basement every morning to drag to The Lot. The space was hardly beautiful, with more dust than vegetation, and when it rained, we had to hold tight to our shoes because it became a sucking swamp of ochre clay mud!

The alley behind our homes and between the houses and the free-standing garages was called Amelia Terrace. What a hoot! It was an alley. It had such a sweet name! Early each spring, an old man (in my memory he was always old) would come walking down the alley with a load of wood on his shoulder hawking, "Clothes Props! Get yer Clothes Props!" It was a sing-song chant that was as much part of spring as the robins. The housewives would check the status of our old wooden props and buy new ones as needed. NOBODY had a clothes dryer! The Clayman's next door still had a wringer washer in the basement! 

Kotlikoff's was the only authorized place to get the awful gym suits we were required to wear in junior high and high school. While most of the girls had the store provide machine embroidery of their names, my mother insisted on sewing my name by hand. There was only one other girl whose mom did the same for her. Small comfort.

The walk up to Kotlikoff's on Federal Street was also a regular pilgrimage for a Mothers' Day gift. Sweet memories of good clothing and extremely patient assistance.

Ruttenberg's, I believe that was the name. It was a large hardware store in East Camden on a lot around 27th and Federal [Ruttenberg Hardware at 2636 Federal -PMC]. It burned to the ground one evening around 1959. Shelves of paint and other flammables made the fire quite spectacular and terrifying. After the debris was removed, the lot remained empty for years, but there were areas where you could still walk on green and white linoleum tiles that remained.

We were just a twig on the much larger Jaspan family tree. Camdenite Mamie Lieberman and her husband (Lou?) were Jaspan cousins on my father's side. Mamie started the first 'cancellation shoe store' in the country, I think, in their home, during WWII. The business grew to support all of their children's families and eventually occupied a store on Route 70 across from what became Loehmann's. Mamie's house was near the bridge, and when we were kids we would occasionally go there for shoes. The ENTIRE house was full of shoes - they were even stacked in the bathroom! 

Anyway, my father's family came from Lithuania early in the century, settled in Camden and welcomed many new immigrants for whom my dad's oldest sister Gussie would cook since my grandmother died when Dad was three, leaving 5 girls and a little boy. My grandfather, Morris, dealt in cattle, I was told. 

Herb Leviton, my dad, began working at about age 14 and for many years managed a luncheonette across from RCA Victor. It was owned by one of his pals, Bobby Brest. Dad had a gift for music, although he never had the advantage of learning to play an instrument. He delighted in meeting the recording stars who would stop in between sessions at RCA. He sometimes rummaged among the rejects tossed out 'the back door' when a recording session went badly. Sadly, his most precious relics were stolen, but I remember seeing and hearing RCA records that were cut on one side and stamped with a pattern on the flip side, never to be marketed. There was one of Bing Crosby forgetting the words and adlibbing almost an entire side. And another with Crosby's voice cracking towards the end, an expletive, and then no more. Amazing. 

Empire Glass Works was my father's business once he returned from service during the war. He had a shop at 1112 Mount Ephraim Avenue, between Kaighn Avenue and Sycamore Street where he installed auto glass and made custom glass tabletops. It was a rented space. In the 1970s he moved across the street to 1135 Mount Ephraim Avenue, which he had purchased. 

Cramer School, in the mid-50's was both an elementary and junior high school. There was no auditorium, so when we had a school-wide assembly, the kindergarten and first grade children carried our little wooden chairs into the gym and sat "three bottoms in two chairs".

The principal, Mr. Showalter followed us to Davis Junior High [the Henry H. Davis School - PMC] when Cramer became just an elementary school again. He had a gruff voice, but was really a sweetie, and in the spring he went door-to-door selling light bulbs for the Lion's Club!!

In the mid 60's, Mad Magazine ran a visual parody of the song 'America the Beautiful', and a shot of Admiral Wilson Boulevard looking east, featuring the Admiral Bar and Liquor Store, Oasis Motel, go-go dancing and the sign to Baird Boulevard was the image that illustrated 'the fruited plains.' 

I'd love to see what people remember of Marlton Avenue in East Camden, also. Kiddieland [321 Marlton Avenue- PMC] was a children's clothing store ... I'll think of the family that ran it. Of course, Famous Delicatessen [278 Marlton Avenue- PMC]; who could forget that family?! Sisters Fagie (Lou), gum-chewing Rosie in her fishnet stockings at the cash register, and ____? (the chattering redhead at the bread counter). Son Jerry who sliced the lox and corned beef thin and picked the perfect well-done pickle from the barrel. Moishe Ostroff the butcher [280 Marlton Avenue- PMC], and the pharmacist whose name I can't recall who would bottle 10 cents worth of Coke Syrup for stomach trouble [Marlton Dubg Company at 280 Marlton Avenue- PMC]. We had a family-owned 5 & 10 that became Binkley's, a dressmaker, the J & L luncheonette at the corner [J&L Shoppe at 00-302 Marlton Avenue- PMC], which served as what we'd now call a convenience store ("Run up and get me a half gallon of milk and a pack of Winston's, Susie."), and in the mid-60's Pizza King Tarantini [349 Marlton Avenue- PMC] opened farther up the block, and Camden became the home of the Panzarotti! That block of Marlton Avenue also had a fine bakery across the street from Famous [Marlton Bakery at 329 Marlton Avenue- PMC]. Children were always given a cookie.

To be continued!

27th & Federal Street

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Pennsylvania Rail Road 
1908
As seen from River Road

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A photo of what appears to be a local Camden baseball tavern tournament team. Early 1920's. My grandfather, Charles David Letts Sr. is lying on the ground with the open bottle. The rest of the males in the Letts family have always tried to follow his example. The picture looks like a cross between the Bowery Boys and the Katzenjammer Kids. - Edward Letts, January 2011

OLGA'S DINER

24th & Federal Street

1956

Click on Image to Enlarge

27th & Federal Street, in 1956.
To the right, the Boulevard Grille, still open in 2003 as Freddie's Bar

James A. Garfield School - 2825 Cramer Street

Alfred Cramer School

These pages show the many varieties of beautiful "Air-Lite" and "Air-Wa" homes on the outskirts of Camden. These pictures tell there own story of attractiveness, coziness, and unique fittings. This locality is especially attractive having ideal living conditions, good transportation by bus, trolley, and auto.

CAMDEN FIRST- 1925

Left: "This is the house at 3187 Rosedale Ave, approximately late 1940's. It's the house I grew up in." - Fred Kalt

February 1, 2004

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February 22, 2004

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     This aerial view of East Camden was part of a July 1926 ad by the Suburban Home Realty Company, located at 325 Market Street in Camden, run by Edward S. Miller
     The newly-constructed Bridge Boulevard (later renamed Admiral Wilson Boulevard) and Marlton Pike run parallel, and Baird Boulevard crosses the tract. While streets had been laid out, the depression and war would slow some homebuilding in this area.     

Dudley Grange Park is located at Federal and Dudley Streets in East Camden. The park is on the remainder of the Thomas H. Dudley estate. The Dudley house was the home of the East Camden branch of the Camden Free Public Library up until the late 1970s. Neglect on the part of city government resulted in the destruction of this historic building by fire in August of 1980.

Responsibility for the care and upkeep of Dudley Grange Park fell to Camden County in the 1990s.

DUDLEY GRANGE SCENE OF BIBLE CONFERENCE

An open air Bible Conference will be held in Dudley Grange, Federal and Dudley streets, today, begin­ning at 2:30 p. m., under the auspices of the Calvary Methodist Protestant church, Twenty-third and High Streets.

The theme will be "The Indwelling Presence of Christ." Three topics will be considered: "The Reality of, the Reason For, and How to Realize His Indwelling."

The conference will be conducted by Rev. Newton C. Conant, pastor of the church, who invites everyone to attend and to bring a box lunch or supper. Edwin H. Castor, Bible teacher of Philadelphia, and others will assist Rev. Conant.

Camden Courier-Post

September 12, 1935

The picnic shelter
at
Dudley Grange Park
was built in 1996.

Camden Courier-Post - September 13, 1934

Camden Courier-Post - August 22, 1936

Camden's first public housing project was built along Westfield Avenue. Construction began in 1936, and the first families moved into their new homes in 1938. The Acres as it came to be known was a landmark until its demolition in 1999. It was rebuilt and renamed Baldwin's Run, with the first families arriving in the spring of 2003.

Camden Courier-Post - June 19, 1939
2400 Block of Baird Boulevard

KOTLIKOFF'S

Camden Courier-Post * June 14, 1933

Three social functions this month will conclude activities of the East Camden Woman's Club for the fiscal year. On Monday next, the members will be guest's for the day at Mrs. Edward Combs' summer camp along the Rancocas, Wednesday, June 28, they will make a trip to Ocean City, where they will spend the day at the cottage of Miss Dorothy Morris. Tomorrow they will hold a luncheon at Fuhrman Inn, Philadelphia.

A meeting of the Garden Section of the club will be held at the club­house, 33 North Thirtieth Street, on Wednesday afternoon, June 21. Mrs. William Ash is chairman of the group.

The Drama Department sponsored the program presented at the meeting of the club held Monday evening, in the clubhouse. Mrs. Howard Eby, chairman of the department, arranged the program, which she titled "A Scenic Reading." It consisted of portraits of famous women in life and fiction.

Miss Lydia Brady illustrated the "Song of the Shirt." Mrs. James Pearce portrayed "Barbara Fritchie;" Mrs. Theodore Warren, "Maude Muller;" Mrs. Louis Hammell, "Barefoot Boy;" Mrs. James Pearce and Mrs. Russell Kennedy, "John Anderson, My Jo John;" Mrs. Warren Barth, "Milk Maid." 

Camden Courier-Post * May 19, 1942

383 South 27th Street
June 2002

Jill Petris Lamparella writes about East Camden

I was born in 1951 and brought home to 139 North 32nd Street.  My parents were William Joseph and Elizabeth Mae (Reeves) Petris.  These were all very happy years for me and my sister Sheree Joy Petris (married name Romesburg) who was born in 1954.  These were happy years because all of our family lived in Camden.  My Dad's family was from South Camden and my Mother's family was from East Camden.  

My Dad was terrific at carpentry and for several years in their spare time, he rebuilt the entire inside of 139.  We had indirect lighting in dining room which shone pink from the outside and they made a faux pink marble fireplace in the living room.  Strange, but I guess they were into pink.  My Grandparents, George and Ruth Reeves lived at 3173 Merriel Avenue and I could see their house from my back bedroom window.  My best friend Janice Olnhausen lived next door at 3171 Merriel Avenue with her parents Emil and Betty Olnhausen.  My Great Grandparents, William and Eva Roles (parents of Ruth Roles Reeves) built Roles Court Apartments on North 34th Street and Rosedale Avenue, they lived there and ran the apartments until both passed away.  The apartments then passed to George and Ruth Reeves who later sold the property.  Most of our family the Petris's, Reeves, Roles, and Kellys were brought up and lived and had happy times at Roles Court Apartments.  My parents lived there from 1947 (the year of their marriage) to 1950 until they purchased 139 North 32nd Street.

Our playground were those streets, the back alleys and of course Dudley Grange Park, where they had a ball game going every night during the summer and then there were the swings and slides.  My Grandfather George "Rick" Reeves along with his friends George Kissinger, Inky Workings and Harry Hoffman all played baseball there.  My Dad Bill Petris also played at one time or other. 

My Mother Betty Mae lived in Westfield Acres from 1938 to 1941 or 1942 on a third floor apartment with her sister Ruthie and baby brother George "Richard" Reeves until they moved to 3173 Merriel Avenue. 

I went to Henry H. Davis Elementary School from kindergarten (Mrs. McCarroll), 1st grade (Mrs. Braun) 2nd grade (Mrs. Brown), third grade (Mrs. Elliott), fourth grade (Miss Williams), fifth grade (Miss Quinn) and 6th grade (Miss Costello).  Mr. Showalter became the principal at some point.  I think he had come from Cramer School. 

Everyone was friendly, we took the bus everywhere but mostly to 27th Street to go to the M&H to get ice cream, Kotlikoff's to get clothes and the 5 & 10 to look at Barbies.  My Mother and my Aunt Carol Kelly would push coaches with their children into "town" as they called it on nice days. 

My sister and I would walk to Grace Baptist Church on Sundays, where most of my Mother's family attended (the Reeves side).  William Reeves owned the house on Cramer Street across from the church and sided up against the bank parking lot.  Later the house was lived in by my Aunt Ida and Uncle Sam.  Ida was George Reeves' sister.  William Reeves, my great grandfather was the fire chief at the firehouse. 

During the Fourth of July celebrations, every year, Dudley Grange Park would set off a wonderful fireworks display.  I don't remember if it was big in relation to displays now.  It was huge, and beautiful and implanted in my memories so much so that I have to rush out and see fireworks somewhere on the 4th.  Unfortunately, someone was killed in the 1950's as I believe one of the fireworks went into the crowd.  After that, the fireworks stopped at Dudley Grange to my recollection. 

Harry's Grocery store was on the corner of North 32nd Street and Westfield Avenue.  On the other corner was Sy's Cleaners.  The Esso station was on the other side of the street facing North 32nd.  Frank's soda fountain and candy shop was on North 34th and Westfield on the way to school.  There was another candy store across from Davis on the corner.  The playground at Davis was the scene of many Halloween parades when we had to march around the school for our parents to see back in the 1950's.  The playground was wonderful, life was fun and easy. 

I had wonderful holidays and many happy memories of 139, 3173 and Roles Court Apartments and the neighborhood in general.  The library was great.  I would go once every two weeks and take out as many books as I could read.  There was roller skating, bike riding, the kid who sold water ice and snowballs in his wagon, the milk truck, the ice truck, the clothes prop man and people who were homeless that would knock on your door to ask for a bowl of soup.  You did not say no and always gave them something to eat and you never locked your doors back then.  You didn't have to be afraid of anyone.  It was a close neighborhood and everyone knew who you were from street to street and neighbors looked out for one another. 

My parents sold 139 North 32nd Street around 1962 to move to Cherry Hill after 6th grade.  My Grandparents lived at 3173 from about 1941 to approximately 1974 when they past on and my Uncle Richard Reeves inherited the house and then sold it to move near Gibbstown, NJ.  My Aunt Ruth Reeves Feairheller moved out of 3171 when she got married in 1957 and at some point moved to a street that paralleled Route 130 near Pennsauken and the Penn Fruit.  She may have also lived on Carman Street at one time. 

There is so much more and I could go on all day but I won't.  It was a lovely, uncomplicated, innocent and wonderfully happy time for all of the family.  Now family is scattered all around the U.S.  The "olden" days were great fun.

Jill Petris Lamparella
March 2008

An East Camden Memory

I lived in East Camden from December of '43 to July of '46. It was only a short time but these two plus years were the happiest of my life. I was 15 then and after living on a small street in South Philadelphia then moving to a house with a lawn, driveway and a garage was heaven. 

My two older sisters didn't care much for it because they had social ties in Philadelphia but I quickly made new friends in the neighborhood. The address was 2312 Howell Street across the street from the Pavonia railroad yard. I can still remember my mother hanging out laundry only to have to take it down and re-wash it when the switch engine across the street would blow it's stack sending a cloud of black smoke and ash over the whole neighborhood.

I had a cocker spaniel named Cookie, together we would take long walks, sometimes over the 27th street bridge to Cramer Hill all the way to the river front overlooking Petty's Island. I made friends in Cramer Hill also. Many times we would walk to Forest Hill and I would go for a swim and Cookie would watch my clothes on the bank of the river. We would then walk over to Central Airport to watch the Navy N3N's take off and land. At that time the Navy was using Central Airport as an annex to Musten Field which was part of the Philadelphia Navy Yard.

I attended many of the local teen dances, St Joe's on 29th and Westfield Avenue held one of them. Another was on 26th and Federal Street over the top of the five and dime store, still another was at St. Anthony on 29th and River Road in Cramer Hill. 

There used to be a feed store on 23rd and Federal Streets. On Saturday mornings I would accompany a friend on his rounds delivering straw, hay, and chicken feed to the many little farmettes in Cramer Hill, some of which had pigs, goats, chickens, and even a cow.

My favorite hang out was Shellow's, an ice cream parlor between 23rd and 24th on Federal Street.

When I turned sixteen my father told me that I would have to get a job and I would not be going back to school in the fall. I got a job as an aircraft engine mechanic apprentice at the Naval Air Material Center in Philadelphia at 41 cents an hour. I loved the work, I was dazzled by all the different types of aircraft that flew in and out of the base. My love affair with Camden came to an end when my father announced that we were moving back to Philadelphia. I was devastated and heartbroken. I didn't talk to my father for weeks. Not long after moving back to Philadelphia I joined the Army and was sent to Korea! 

I will always remember East Camden fondly. 

Angelo Forte, September 26, 2004

- Ron Blizard
August 2009

"Tony the Barber" was Anthony Farsaci, who passed away in June of 1977. Mr. Farsaci owned and operated his Blue Ridge Barber Shop at 2938 Westfield Avenue as early as 1943, after moving from 2406 Federal Street, where he had done business from the late 1920s through at least 1940. 

PMC

- Ron Blizard
August 2009

Camden Courier-Post
 October 8, 1947

412 Morse Street

Click in Images to Enlarge

ERLTON ITALIAN BAKERY

PANZAROTTIS!

30th & Saunders Street

12th Ward Athletic Association

Schools in East Camden

PUBLIC IS INVITED TO JOBLESS GARDENS

An invitation to inspect the "Taylor Gardens," which are being tilled by the unemployed at Morse and Mickle streets, was extended yesterday to the public by Christian Staas, chairman of that section of the garden movement.

There are 74 gardens in the tract, Staas said, and while many were damaged by the hurricane ten days ago, they have been put into shape and make a fine display. "We want the public to see the work the boys have done at Taylor and Mickle Streets, as we are proud of the gardens," said Staas. 

NOTE- It appears that Mr. Staas was misquoted as to the location of the gardens, as Taylor Avenue never existed in East Camden, and Morse and Mickle never intersected there either. The location appears to have been at Morse and Carman Streets.

Camden Courier-Post
July 26, 1941

Ralph Vasso - Mrs. J.S. Gilmore
East Camden - Mrs. William Ackerman
Camden County Real Estate Board
R.M. Hollingshead Corporation
R.T.C. Shipbuilding Corporation
V.R. Berry & Company - Seth Borg
Harry Louie - Mrs. Rose Ross

Industrial Union
Marine & Shipbuilding Workers
Local No. 1
Camden Elks Lodge No. 293

Camden Courier-Post
July 26, 1941

East End Republican League
North 27th Street
Mrs. Mildred Sacco
Mrs. Edith Burger
Mrs. Helen Wells

 May 14, 1952

The one block row opposite Dudley Grange Park on Dudley Street between Federal Street and Westfield Avenue, these homes, completed and first occupied in 1952, were among the last built in Camden's "classic" era. 

Cooper Street in East Camden - the "other" Cooper Street

Christmas 1961

Courtesy of Tom Probst

Click on Image to Enlarge

St. Wilfrid's Church
(Episcopal)

Westfield Avenue and
Dudley Street

December 21, 2002

Click on Image
to Enlarge

Looking West towards Cramer Hill on the North 36th Street Bridge
1980

Photograph Courtesy of Floyd L. Miller Jr.

The Campbell Soup Warehouse in East Camden
If Mrs. Miller and the kids had looked to their left, this is what they would have seen!
Photos by John Ciafrani - January 17, 2005

A Block Party on Pfeiffer Street - July 10, 2004

Karen Jackson, of the 400 Block of Pfeiffer street, organized the Summer Safe Drug Awareness Party block party to be held for neighborhood children on July 10, 2004. 

One of the "fun" things about growing up in East Camden" was being able to watch the trains that run through it. During construction of "The River Line", the light rail line that runs from Camden to Trenton, New Jersey Transit dumped tons of dirt along the tracks between 27th and 36th Streets, effectively blocking the view. Worse yet, the dirt was contaminated with PCBs and other toxic substances.

Led by the Eastside Civic Association, news articles, resident protests, and the intervention of state legislators led top the removal of the contaminated dirt. 

By
RICHARD PEARSALL

The contaminated dirt that NJ Transit piled into huge mounds next to a residential neighborhood here is gone, to the delight of residents who demanded its removal.

"After all the years of not winning anything," said Robin Perkins, a member of the Eastside Civic Association, "we won this one."

But questions remain about why a small portion of the dirt was incinerated at a special disposal facility rather than deposited in landfills. More than 4,000 tons of the dirt was taken to a facility in South Philadelphia for incineration. The cost of that incineration was $55 per ton, figures provided by NJ Transit show, far in excess of the amounts the agency paid a variety of landfills to take the bulk of the dirt. Those fees ranged as low as $2 per ton.

Janet Hines, a spokeswoman for NJ Transit, described the dirt that went to the incinerator as "no different than what went into the landfills. It had the same content at slightly different levels."

The dirt that NJ Transit piled in East Camden - some 160,000 tons of it - was excavated during construction of the River LINE from Camden to Trenton. NJ Transit maintained the dirt, which it described as "clean fill," posed no environmental threat. Built between 2000 and 2004 at a cost of roughly $1 billion, the line began operations in March of this year.

The dirt was dumped in East Camden as an economical way to dispose of it, NJ Transit records indicate, although the agency later described the berms as "visual barriers." 

To date, the removal has cost NJ Transit about $10 million. 

Taken from a right of way used for railroading for more than 150 years, the dirt contained residues of various hazardous substances that left it unfit for residential areas and permissible in commercial areas only if capped with cleaner dirt. Among the problem substances were lead, arsenic and other heavy metals; PCBs or polychlorinated biphenyls; and various volatile organic compounds, such as benzopyrene.

NJ Transit deposited the dirt in the Pavonia Rail Yard in East Camden in mounds that stood three stories tall in some spots, stretched for blocks and rested within yards of homes and businesses. After months of newspaper articles, resident protests and finally, the intervention of state legislators, NJ Transit relented and agreed, in June 2003, to remove the berms. The process took nearly a year, but won praise from residents.

"You kept your promise," Connie Williams, the president of the Eastside Civic Association, told Joyce Gallagher, the NJ Transit executive who worked with the residents, at a meeting in May. By then the dirt was gone. A fence was up; grass and roses were to come.

"It's out of here," Perkins said at the time. "That was our main issue."

The route to removal was circuitous, with starts and stops that NJ Transit did its best to hide from public view, citing "ongoing negotiations."

Forgoing public bidding, NJ Transit shipped the first 69,000 tons of the dirt to Interstate Materials, a transfer facility on Staten Island, at a cost of $923,000 for disposal and an additional $2.4 million to truck it up the New Jersey Turnpike. The next batch was supposed to go to a quarry in Falls Township, Pa., another deal arranged without bids but that fell through when the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection withdrew its permit. By then, the dirt had gained a bit of notoriety, prompting a number of locations, including Winslow Township, Elk Township and a disposal facility in Delaware, to turn it down. NJ Transit eventually found places for the rest of the dirt in the Salem County Landfill, two more landfills in Pennsylvania - Morgantown and Pottstown - and the Clean Earth Facility, the disposal plant in South Philadelphia. NJ Transit cited an "exigency" clause in its bylaws in explaining why it did not put more of the work out for bid. Contracts above $25,000 are supposed to be advertised and bid.

Camden Courier-Post - June 28, 1950

The
34th & 34th East Side Gang!

Not to be confused with the notorious North Cramer Hill Gang (those guys pulled stickups!), this fine group of life-long friends grew up in East Camden in the 1940s & '50s, in the 500 & 600 blocks of North 34th & North 35th Streets. As they say, you can take the boy out of Camden, but you can't take the Camden out of the boy. This photo was taken in 1991. 
      From left to right: Don Thorne, Bill Chalmers,  George Parks, Don Joyce, Bob Bartosz, Bill Emenecker, & Ray Kerby.

Click in Images to Enlarge

This May 15th 1956 photo by Bob Bartosz shows work being done of Federal Street from 33rd street to east to Route 130.

Click on Image to Enlarge

This mid-50s photo from Leehman Wexlin was probably taken by his father Charles, who owned the M & H Sweet Shop at 2406 Federal Street in the 1950s. This looks like the same steam shovel as in the photo above.

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This mid-50s photo of 2413 Federal Street came from Leehman Wexlin and  was probably taken by his father Charles, who owned the M & H Sweet Shop at 2406 Federal Street in the 1950s. 

Click on Image to Enlarge

These mid-50s parade photos came from Leehman Wexlin and  were probably taken by his father Charles, who owned the M & H Sweet Shop at 2406 Federal Street in the 1950s.  

Geraldine Cohen Seinberg' Memories of East Camden

My parents married November, 1938 and lived above a store on Kaighn Avenue until 
they moved to 249 Morse Street about April, 1941. I don’t know if they were the first owners; I was about 6 months old at the time. My Dad, Harry Cohen, taught 7th grade English at Cramer until 1956. He then bought a shoe store on Columbia Avenue (Philly) from his Father and operated it until the riots of 1964 destroyed it. He then returned to teaching History at Woodrow Wilson High School. My Mom, Bessie, worked for the OPS (Office of Price Stabilization) in the early 40’s. 

Although we never moved, the school boundaries often changed so that I started out at Cramer, then went of Dudley elementary; returned to Cramer for junior high (yes, I had my Dad for 7th Grade English – he was the only 7th grade English teacher at the school); went to Hatch Junior High for 9th grade and finished my public school education 10-12) at Camden High.

I remember Morse Street as a friendly, tree-lined, kid-filled neighborhood, with the aroma of either chicken soup or spaghetti “gravy” coming from the kitchens. We lived in the 4th house from the corner of Baird Boulevard on the odd numbered side - 249. Another house had since been build on the end, so our house is no longer the 4th from the alley way. Don’t recall names of the families in the first two houses, but the Marritz’s lived in the 3rd. house next door (they had 3 sons, Donald and Robert and I think the youngest was Eric); then us, the Hirshorn’s (Murray and another son), and then the Lombardo’s (one son, Michael and one daughter, Joanne). Skip a couple houses till the Stone family (several 
children but I only recall the daughter one year younger than me, Carol). Carol, Joanne and I used to "pal around" together as young kids. Then the Gerstein's (a son, Jerry, and a daughter, Barbara), the Perlin’s (I think one son, named David) and the last house before the apartments were the Wexler’s – I believe Mr. Wexler owned the M&H shop on Federal Street. The Wexler's later moved to the original end house.

After reading the list of Morse Street, I do recall the name Zinni. The only family I remember from across the street were the Unger’s. I recall they would go to Brown’s Mills for the summer and we would visit them – I still picture all the fallen cedar on the ground and the brown cedar water we swam in. 

The Lukoff’s lived on the corner of Baird Boulevard and Morse Street – on the Baird Boulevard side. I think he was a doctor or dentist. They had 2 daughters; the oldest, Marcy, was a classmate of mine at Camden High. Also in Baird Boulevard were the Zwick’s – son Phillip and daughter Roz. The house next to the Zwick’s had decorative bars on the windows. I seem to recall being told mafia lived there and that he was the block captain during the war so our neighborhood was “safe”. Behind us, on Boyd Street, the end house with a “yard” and a weeping willow were the Small’s, with daughter Phyllis, one year younger then me, and sons Hy and Robert. Phyllis and I each had the back bedroom so after we were called in for the evening, we use to go to our rooms, open the window and talk across the back alley.

The Greenwald’s, with daughter Carol, lived on the next block of Baird Boulevard. 
Further down, towards Randolph Street and Admiral Wilson Boulevard lived the Back’s with two brothers, Joseph and Ira. On Randolph Street (I think the 4th house) lived the Greenberg's with daughter Elaine, my classmate and high school "buddy", The Bowman's, with daughter Rochelle, also a classmate, lived on Randolph.

Things I remember….walking to White Tower and Marbetts on Admiral Wilson 
Boulevard for ice cream on hot summer nights; going up Marlton Pike to J&J Fish to bring home fried fish and French fries; Famous Deli (and all it’s characters) on Marlton Pike; walking to schools – first Cramer, then Dudley, back to Cramer, then Camden High (I think I took a bus to Hatch); my dentist, Dr. Zonies, on the corner of Boyd and Baird Boulevard; going to the movies at the Arlo Theater, taking either the “54” on Marlton Pike or the “7” on Federal Street to go to Philly; riding the train over the Ben Franklin Bridge - which use to cost 25 cents each way.

Somewhere I have a photo of us kids playing in the snow on Morse Street. If and 
when I ever find it I will send it. 

My parents (and me as an infant) moved in Spring, 1941. My Mom died August, 1963. I moved into Northgate Apartments January, 1967. My younger brother moved out while still in college (we both graduated from Drexel), so that must have been sometime between 1963 and1965 My Dad remarried late 1968...that’s when he sold Morse Street. My Dad passed in 1991 and my brother (D. Leonard Cohen) in 2017.

Geraldine Cohen Seinberg
CHS 1958

I had my first job at Kotlikoff's, at 25th and Federal.  They hired me as a part time stock boy, after school.  But not until I got my "working papers" (do kids today need working papers?).

Harry McCurdy
March 2007

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