Looking South on Broadway from the Elevated Railroad Tracks at Mickle Street, Camden, NJ

Broadway in Camden….. a legendary street, once the “Mall of South Jersey.” Running southwest of 6th Streets past Ferry Avenue and then all the way to Gloucester City, and eventually on to Woodbury, Broadway was extended north from its beginning at Market Street through to the Delaware River (Ben Franklin) Bridge toll plaza in the 1920s.

When Camden began its period of industrial growth and expansion after the Civil War, the intersections of Broadway and Federal Street, Broadway and Kaighn Avenue, and Broadway and Ferry Avenue became anchor locations in the civic and commercial life of Camden and the surrounding areas. Homes and businesses soon filled in the “empty spaces” between these intersections. During the 1890s and the first two decades of the 20th Century, Camden-based contractor John J. Welsh was known in the city as “the man who built Broadway,” as his firm was involved with a great many projects along the thoroughfare.

Brothers George M. Holl and Lewis F. Holl also completed many projects during these years. James H. Reeve, who had worked for Welsh as a foreman, remodeled many of the homes, including those on the Holl Block, between Stevens and Mickle Street, for business purposes. Reeve and his sons also built three theatres on Broadway, the Lyric, the Towers, and the Princess.

In 1938 a proposal was floated to widen Broadway as a state highway project. This went nowhere.

When Camden began its economic decline in the 1950s, Broadway suffered right along with it. Broadway became in many ways the symbol of Camden’s economic fall. Although there have been some new buildings erected in recent years, most significantly the Walter Rand Transportation Center between Broadway and Mickle Streets, far too much of Broadway in June of 2004 consists of vacant lots and boarded up buildings.


Related Photos


Related Articles

  • Roy R. Stewart

    Roy R. Stewart

    Roy Stewart was Camden Mayor, envisioning the high speed line (now PATCO) across the Delaware Memorial Bridge, the Housing Authority, and Westfield Acres.

    Read More…

  • Old Cooper Street

    Old Cooper Street

    Reprinted from the series of stories of Camden’s earlier days, under the title Sixty Years in Camden County – Gosh! by Will Paul, appearing in The Community news, of Merchantville, NJ.

    Read More…

  • Walkathon at Central Airport

    Walkathons and Dance Marathons became popular during the Depression years. Promoter W.E. Tebbets set up many of these events all over the country, bringing his own bands and entertainers along to the event. After a successful walkathon at Atlantic City in 1932, Tebbets arranged for a similar contest to be held in the Camden area…

    Read More…

  • Broadway Trust

    Broadway Trust

    The Broadway Trust Company was led by John J. Burleigh, one of the leading businessmen in South Jersey from the 1870s through World War I.

    Read More…

  • Leon E. Todd, Sr.

    Leon E. Todd, Sr.

    Leon Edgar Todd Sr. was born in Camden NJ on November 22, 1893. He operated his real estate agency for many years in Camden at 2623 Westfield Avenue, a building designed by the Camden architectural firm of Lackey & Hettel. Besides handling real estate transactions between buyers and sellers, Leon Todd developed several neighborhoods. One…

    Read More…

  • Zuni Athletic Association

    The Zuni Athletic Association sponsored semi-pro sports teams as early as the spring of 1930 and into the early 60s. It appears to have founded in that year. Founding members included Peter Barbalace, Pasquale “Pat” Barbalace, Emil Aceto, John LaPlaca, and Jack O’Neil.

    Read More…


Comments

Join the discussion!

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.