Category: Businesses
-
The Alpha Club
The ALPHA CLUB was a social club that consisted mostly of young men from South Camden in the years prior to World War I. The club appears to have organized in 1906, and was active as late as 1917. The Alphas had a headquarters for a time at 708 Broadway. The Alphas sponsored baseball, basketball,…
-
Vasco’s Cafe
713 S. 3rd Street, Camden, NJ From the late 1900s through 1920 the saloon at 713 South 3rd Street was the home and place of business of Antonio DiPaolo, who would in 1919 found the First Italian Bank in Camden. Joseph Harris operated the establishment in 1931, according the the City Directory of that year.…
-
Donkey’s Place
1223 Haddon Avenue Donkey’s Place, at 1223 Haddon Avenue, does not appear as a bar in the 1918-1919 Camden City Directory. The building appears to have operated as a speakeasy during the Prohibition years, 1919 through 1933. A private club called the Parkside Athletic Association had space in the building, and an elaborate system of…
-
Camden Times
The Camden Times was founded in 1894 as The Stockton Times by George Lang. In 1897 Charles W. Miller of 1046 North 18th Street became the editor and publisher. Unfortunately, Charles Miller was killed in a railroad accident in 1901. His daughter, Lillian, ran the paper for six months, during which time she set the…
-
Baker’s Bar and Grill
45 York Street Northeast Corner of York and Point Street The building at 45 York Street, at the corner of Point & York Streets, had already been built by 1887. Frederick Eitz, a blacksmith for the Camden & Amboy Railroad, resided there, and is listed in the 1887-1888 and 1888-1889 Camden City Directories. The 1890-1891…
-
Central Airport and Airport Circle
If you have heard “but where’s the airport?” while traveling to or from Philadelphia…; or more recently, “Where’s the circle?” There once was an airport there… the main airport serving the Delaware Valley, as a matter of fact! There was a circle as well, though it’s not as obvious when looking at it today. The…
-
Leo’s Quality Jewelers
401 Broadway One of the many Jewish business owners who were a part of Camden NJ in its glory days was Leo Spector. Leo’s was remembered long after Leo Spector closed his business on Broadway, for the distinctive sign that graced the building for decades afterwards. Leo’s also sold radios and appliances. Leo Spector had…
-
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.…
-
Cooper Hospital
Cooper’s roots can be traced to the mid-1870s, when Richard M. Cooper, MD, and members of his extended family donated money and land bounded by Mickle Street (now Martin Luther King Boulevard), Benson Street, 6th Street, and 7th Street for a new hospital. Guided by their Quaker roots, the prominent Camden family sought to provide…
-
Greenetz and Greenetz
Michael Greenetz was already managing a jewelry store at the time of the 1920 Census, living with his brother, Joseph, at 1468 Haddon Avenue. In 1921 the brothers were partnered with Abraham Pelicoff in a jewelry store which by 1928 was at 833 Broadway. By 1930 Pelicoff had relocated to Atlantic City, where he operated…
-
Borstein Electric Company
The Borstein Electric Company was operated in Camden, NJ by Isadore and Meyer Borstein. The Borstein brothers were the sons of Joseph and Celia Borstein. The Borsteins had come to America from Russia in 1889, living in Kentucky for several years in the 1890s and in Louisiana early in the century, before coming to Camden…
-
Boudov Coal and Ice Company, Incorporated
In the days before electric refrigerators and heat fueled by fuel oil or natural gas, the coal and ice dealers fulfilled the needs of Camden’s residences and business. One of those companies was Boudov Coal and Ice Company. Israel Boudov was another of the Jewish merchants who went into business along Kaighn Avenue in Camden,…
-
Bert’s Cafe
1226 Broadway From the 1950s through the early 1970s the bar at 1226 Broadway was known as Bert’s Cafe. It had formerly been known as Buradine’s, and the proprietor at that time was Michael Burgo. By 1959 the bar had changed hands, Bert Bottura being the proprietor, and, appropriately enough was called Bert’s Cafe. F.…
-
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…
-
The Oasis Motel
2000 Admiral Wilson Boulevard, Camden, NJ After the erection of the Hotel Walt Whitman and the opening of the Admiral Wilson Boulevard, many of the same individuals involved in the hotel project became interested in establishing an athletic club on the new thoroughfare. This group was originally known as the City Athletic Club, and among…