Fire started in the former John R. Evans Co. leather factory, a block long factory building at North 2nd and Erie Streets in north camden on a hot summer night, August 23, 1972. Inadequate water pressure, combined with a stiff breeze from the south indicated that there was trouble ahead. The first responding Fire Company, Engine Company 6, sounded the Second Alarm upon arrival. This photo is looking East on Byron Street.
Byron Street was part of North Camden's Poet's Row neighborhood. The three blocks of houses that came to be known as Poet's Row first appear in the Camden City Directory of 1890–1891. Named for famous figures of English literature, the streets ran east and west from North 2nd Street, north of Erie Street. The first street north of Erie was Byron Street, followed by Milton Street and Burns Street. Only a few homes were initially recorded on Burns Street, indicating that Byron was built first, then Burns, and lastly Milton Street. A 300 block of Byron was built later, and also a 500 block of Byron.
North Camden in the 1890s offered many employment opportunities. Camden's industries were booming, and entrepreneurs came to Camden to set up shop. The new houses were snapped up mostly by tradesmen and skilled workers, with more than a few taking advantage of the short walks to the Vine Street and Shackamaxon ferries to commute back and forth to Philadelphia. The builder also made provisions for corner stores so the residents could shop conveniently. The sidewalks, like many of that era, were brick, and the streets were paved with cobblestone.
The Poet's Row neighborhood remained a vibrant place for decades, until after World War II, when the jobs began to leave North Camden. A fire that started in a recently closed factory building spread to the homes on the night of August 23, 1972, destroying Milton Street, Burns Street, and the north side of the 200 block of Byron Street. Only two homes at the east end of the block, 241 and 243 Byron Street, were saved.
Charles L. “Charley” Humes, 203 Byron Street, 1930.
Peter John McGuire — 204 Byron Street
Peter John McGuire, 204 Byron Street, 1906.
210, 212 & 214 Byron Street — 2006
210, 212, and 214 Byron Street, 2006. These homes on the south side survived the 1972 Poet’s Row fire.
Private First Class Herman F. Kerk — 220 Byron Street
Private First Class Herman F. Kerk, 220 Byron Street.
200 Block of Byron Street — 2004
South side, 200 block of Byron Street, July 5, 2004. The north side was destroyed in the 1972 Poet’s Row fire.South side of the 200 block, Byron Street, July 5, 2004.
Intersection of North 3rd Street & Byron Street
North 3rd Street and Byron Street intersection.Looking west on Byron Street from North 3rd Street, July 5, 2004.Northeast corner, North 3rd Street and Byron Street, July 9, 2012.
300 block of Byron Street, photographed July 9, 2012.310 Byron Street, July 9, 2012.311 Byron Street, July 9, 2012.312 and 314 Byron Street, July 9, 2012.313 Byron Street, July 9, 2012.315 and 317 Byron Street, July 9, 2012.316 and 318 Byron Street, July 9, 2012.319 and 321 Byron Street, July 9, 2012.319 and 321 Byron Street, July 9, 2012.322 Byron Street, July 9, 2012.323 and 325 Byron Street, July 9, 2012.324 and 326 Byron Street, July 9, 2012.327 Byron Street, July 9, 2012.327 and 329 Byron Street, July 9, 2012.329 Byron Street, July 9, 2012.331 and 333 Byron Street, July 9, 2012.332 and 334 Byron Street, July 9, 2012.333 Byron Street, July 9, 2012.334 Byron Street, July 9, 2012.336 Byron Street, July 9, 2012.340 Byron Street, July 9, 2012.340 and 342 Byron Street, July 9, 2012.344 Byron Street, July 9, 2012.
Northeast Corner of Byron Street & North 5th Street
Quaker Shipyard & Machine Company, NE corner of Byron and North 5th Streets, 1945.Quaker Shipyard & Machine Company, 1947.View transcription
Quaker Shipyard & Machine Co.
Builders of All Classes of
Steel Vessels
General Repair Work -- Marine Railway
N. Fifth and Byron Streets Camden, N. J. Phone Camden 4-8975
B&H Trucking Company
B & H Trucking Company, Harold L. Snyder, R. Ballinger. NE corner of Byron and North 5th Streets, 1936.View transcription
B AND H TRUCKING COMPANY
LOCAL
LONG DISTANCE
LIGHT OR HEAVY LOADS
NOTHING TOO BIG
NOTHING TOO SMALL
NO ROAD TOO LONG
Harold L. Snyder CAMDEN 112
R. Ballinger ---
BYRON at 5TH ST., CAMDEN, N. J.
Johnny Bernard — 532 Byron Street
Johnny Bernard, 532 Byron Street, March 1940.532 Byron Street, March 1940.
Intersection of North 6th Street & Byron Street
Henry H. Benedict Company, NE corner of North 6th Street and Byron Street, 1955.
William Philip Spencer (1890–1946) served in the Camden Fire Department from 1925 until his death in 1946, promoted to Captain on April 2, 1940. A World War I veteran who served in France, he was a charter member of the Box 315 Association and won a three-cornered fight for vice president of the Camden Police and Firemen's Association in 1933.
Burns Street was in Camden's Poet's Row neighborhood, named for Robert Burns. Three blocks of row homes built in the 1890s, all destroyed in the catastrophic Poet's Row fire of August 1972.
Erie Street in North Camden runs from Beach Avenue to 9th Street, crossing Delaware Avenue, Point, Front, Segal, and the numbered streets 2nd through 9th.
On the night of August 23, 1972, a fire that started in the former John R. Evans Co. leather factory at North 2nd and Erie Streets destroyed Milton Street, Burns Street, and the north side of the 200 block of Byron Street — the complete obliteration of Camden's Poet's Row neighborhood.
2nd Street extends north-south between Front Street and 3rd Street, running parallel to the Delaware River until Mechanic Street. In the early 1970s, several buildings were cleared on the east side of North 2nd Street below Mickle Street to make way for the Royal Court townhomes and Mickle Tower senior citizens apartment building.
Fifth Street was one of Camden's original streets, running south to north, with a few major interruptions, from Newton Avenue to just west of Pyne Point in North Camden.
Ralph Burrough, 18, drowned in the Delaware River while swimming to a yacht; his body was recovered by J.R. McDonald of 528 Byron Street and Christopher Moll of 610 York Street.
