Category: Buildings
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Turner Hall
Turner Hall held a prominent position within the German-American community in Camden and played a multifaceted role in promoting athletic, political, and social activities. Following the unsuccessful 1848 revolution in Germany, a substantial number of German immigrants, including members of the Turners, sought refuge in the United States. Turners swiftly established societies known as Turnverein…
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Wildey Hall
Wildey Hall, at 500-506 Pine Street, was built in 1868, by the Wildey Lodge No. 91, Independent Order of Odd Fellows. It derived its name from Thomas Wildey, who formed the first Independent Order of Odd Fellows lodge in New Jersey in Camden in 1829. The Odd Fellows had been previously been connected to Morgan’s…
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The Parkade Building
5th Street, between Federal and Market Streets, opposite City Hall The Parkade Building was built in the mid-1950s on the site of the Roosevelt Plaza Park. The project was Camden Mayor George E. Brunner’s attempt to keep the Broadway and downtown business district viable by alleviating the parking situation. At the building’s 1955 dedication, Mayor…
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Eagles Hall
413-417 Broadway The Eagles Hall at 413-415-417 Broadway was built by the Fraternal Order of Eagles Aerie No. 65 in 1908. The building, erected by East Camden contractor George Bachmann Sr., was occupied in January of 1909. The Eagles were—and are—a fraternal organization not unlike the Masons, Elks, and Moose. In the era before radio…
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A History of Post Offices in Camden
A Post Office was established in Camden in 1803 and called Cooper’s Ferry Post Office, under which name it continued until 1829 when it was changed to Camden. The office was first located in the hotel at the foot of Cooper street and the first postmasters were Benjamin Cooper, 1803-1806; Charles Cooper, 1806-1810; Richard M.…
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The Walt Whitman House
The Walt Whitman House is a historic building in Camden, New Jersey, United States, and is on the National Register of Historic Places which was the last residence of American poet Walt Whitman, in his declining years before his death. It is located at 328 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, known as Mickle St.…
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The Benjamin Cooper House
Benjamin Cooper Benjamin Cooper was the grandson of William Cooper, the first Englishman to settle in Camden. The house he built in 1734 was one of only two pre-Revolutionary War structures to survive standing and undamaged in 2012. Occupied as late as 2010, the owners of the property left the building unsecured and the City…
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Convention Hall
Locations: Camden has had two buildings known as Convention Hall, which can get a bit confusing, and the issue gets even more confusing when you add the fact that Camden had four different armories in the years between 1880 and 1960, and one of them was also called Convention Hall! It doesn’t help either that…
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Berkley Hall
601 Berkley Street Berkley Hall was built in 1895. It stands at 601 Berkley Street, the northeast corner of 6th and Berkley Streets. Berkley Hall appears in Camden’s City Directories from its construction through the 1920s. Its usage prior to 1912 is unknown to the author. Sometime in 1912 the building was being utilized by…
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Towers Theatre
The Towers Theatre on Broadway and Pine Street predated movies, and featured both film and live entertainment into the 1950s. During the theater’s glory days, in the vaudeville era, it featured its own orchestra, led by Gus Borchard and featuring Ollie Bundick on drums and Sammy Adams on the piano. Camden’s own Don Traveline also…
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Morgan Hall
Morgan’s Hall, also known as Morgan Hall, was built by the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. The cornerstone of Morgan’s Hall, or as it was originally called, Odd Fellows Hall, at the southeast corner of Fourth and Market Streets, was laid on October 5, 1848. The building was dedicated on November 8, 1849. It was…