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 Street. Despite the similarity in names and proximity, Coates Avenue and Coates Alley were entirely separate and did not connect.
A comparable case of naming confusion existed in the late 19th and early 20th centuries with Welsh Street — sometimes referred to as Welch Street — which ran from Division Street north to Pine Street and was occasionally misidentified as Coates Street in records.
Adding further complexity was Coates Court, a narrow alley that extended north from 313 Division Street for about half a block before ending. It once had three residences, at least one of which remained occupied as late as 1931. By 1940, these homes no longer appeared in city directories, though Coates Court itself was still occasionally mentioned.
Coates Alley was likely named after prominent Camden businessman John Coates, who rose from a bricklaying trade to become a successful real estate investor and one of the city’s wealthiest individuals by the time of his death in 1903. Daubman Alley, its original name, appears to have honored Jacob C. Daubman, a former Camden County Sheriff (1874–1878) and active figure in local real estate and civic life.
No residences appear to have been listed using “Daubman Alley” as an address in city directories. However, a 1906 Sanborn Map shows structures at 510½ and 510⅓ Cherry Street, which had been associated with the W.H. Wilkins & Company — a lumber and millwork business that operated at 513–517 Cherry Street and also used property at 506–510 Cherry Street across the way.
By 1904, Daubman Alley was already serving as a delivery route to the rear of 933–935 Broadway, the location of the N. Fuhrman Company furniture store, which remained there until at least 1945. The company eventually built a storage warehouse on the west side of Coates Avenue. Later, the Red, White & Blue Thrift Store took over the Fuhrman building and continued to use Coates Alley into the early 1980s.
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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…
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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…
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