Author: Camden NJ History

  • Morrison Street

    Morrison Street, located in East Camden, originally extended from North 27th Street to the railroad tracks just past Dudley Street. When the 1906 Sanborn Map was published, there were no houses or businesses in the 2700 and 2800 blocks of Morrison Street. In the 2900 block, there were four wood-framed buildings and an old, vacant…

  • Olive Street

    Olive Street is a short, one-block street located in the Morgan Village neighborhood of Camden. It runs west from South 8th Street to Morgan Boulevard and sits two blocks south of Morgan Street, south of Hunter Street. Olive Street has been listed in city directories dating back to 1878.

  • Louis C. Schlam

    Louis C. Schlam

    Louis Charles Schlam was born in Pennsylvania on January 31, 1887, to Henry Schlam and his wife, Catherine Spicer Schlam. He was the second of at least twelve children. His father worked as a shoemaker. By 1900, according to census records, the family was living at 1840 North 11th Street in Philadelphia. Around 1910, Louis…

  • August J. Hiller

    August J. Hiller

    August Joseph Hiller Sr. was a prominent figure in Camden, New Jersey's German-American community during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He was actively involved in organizations such as the Camden Liedertafel, the Turn Verein, and Ss. Peter & Paul Roman Catholic Church. Born in Philadelphia in 1858, Hiller moved to Camden in the…

  • Sitley and Son

    Sitley and Son

    Sitley & Son was established by Arthur M. Sitley and his son, Frank Budd Sitley. Originally farmers, the Sitleys recognized a business opportunity in Camden and began selling grain, feed, and farm equipment. In 1886, they acquired the business of Elias Kaighn, located at 128 Kaighn Avenue. In 1894, they expanded by constructing a grain…

  • Soroptimist Club

    In the years before television, Camden's social life was shaped significantly by its many active social, service, and fraternal organizations. While many of these groups have since disappeared, one notable example was the Soroptimist Club — later known as the Soroptimist Club of Camden County — which played a prominent role in the city from…

  • Josiah Sage

    Josiah Sage was born in New Jersey in May 1862, according to the 1900 U.S. Census. His older sister, Hannah, married Charles Henry Peters in the late 1860s. By 1880, Sage was single and working as an oil cloth painter. Around 1882, he married Rose, and the couple had a daughter named Kate the following…

  • Clan Manufacturing Company

    The Clan Manufacturing Company, a janitorial supply firm, was founded in Camden in 1921 by brothers John T. Clancy and James Clancy. The business originally operated at 565 Carman Street. By the late 1940s, the company had relocated to 310 Market Street, where it remained well into the 1960s. Eventually, it followed the broader trend…

  • Tiedeken Brother’s Auto Body

    Tiedeken Brother’s Auto Body

    420 Carl Miller Blvd, Camden, NJ By 1876, the Tiedeken family had already put down roots in the Philadelphia area. Just across the Delaware River, in Camden, New Jersey, Theodore A. Tiedeken opened a small wagon-repair and blacksmith shop at 425 Van Hook Street. The shop's second floor served as a home for Theodore, his…

  • Old Ferries – Annals of Camden NJ

    Old Ferries – Annals of Camden NJ

    In this age of inventions, improvements and ever-changing modes of transportation, the ferry boat is still an important factor in carrying the traveller across that “goodly and noble” river which forms the boundary between the two Quaker Colonies of New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Philadelphia, although founded several years after the first settlers had arrived in…

  • Coates Street

    Coates Street was once a two-block street in Camden. It ran parallel to Broadway and South 5th Street, starting at Cherry Street and going north across Spruce Street to Division Street. Today, Coates Street is only one block long, from Spruce Street to Division Street. Many people confuse Coates Street with Coates Alley, which was…

  • Coates Alley

    Coates Alley, originally known as Daubman Alley, was a short one-block street in Camden that ran parallel to Broadway and South 5th Street, stretching from 510 Cherry Street south to 512 Walnut Street. It is often confused with Coates Street, which also runs parallel to those streets but extends north from Cherry Street to Division…

  • Burns Street

    Burns Street was part of Camden's historic “Poet's Row” neighborhood, a small cluster of streets named after famous English literary figures. This charming section, located north of Erie Street and running east-west from North 2nd Street, included Byron Street, Burns Street, and Milton Street. These streets first appeared in the Camden City Directory for 1890-1891,…

  • Morse Street

    Morse Street

    Morse Street in East Camden was named after Henry G. Morse, founder and president of the New York Shipbuilding Corporation. This company played a major role in Camden's industrial development, and its shipyard at Broadway and Morgan Boulevard led to the creation of Yorkship Village in the Fairview section — housing built specifically for shipyard…

  • Bernard Bertman

    Bernard Bertman lived at 941 Broadway as late as 1936 and had his law offices in the Wilson Building at Broadway and Cooper Street. In the mid-1920s, he played an active role in the fundraising campaign that led to the construction of the Walt Whitman Hotel at Broadway and Cooper Street. By 1928, Bertman had…