Federal Street

Federal Street was originally called Joseph Cooper's Lane, and ran from the river to the old Haddonfield Road. In 1803 Joshua Cooper, who was an ardent Federalist, called it Federal Street. His father, Daniel Cooper, had, in 1764, built a large three-story brick house and established a ferry about the same time to Philadelphia. This lane was to provide the farmers in the area a way to get to the ferry.

When a new road was authorized between Mount Holly and Cooper's Creek (known today as the Cooper River), the act stated that it should end at the Delaware River. On Oct 21, 1794 the route was laid out between Cooper's Creek and Joshua Cooper's Ferry.

Federal Street developed into one of the primary east-west streets in Camden. The intersection of Federal Street and Broadway is considered by most to be, in modern times, the "center of center city Camden." At this intersection in past times stood Camden Catholic High School, the Camden County Courthouse, and the Munger & Long Department Store building, later the home of a J.C. Penney Department Store branch. Federal Street between the Delaware River and the Cooper featured many shops, homes, and small businesses prior to being subjected to various urban renewal projects in the latter half of the 20th century.

Once built, Federal Street northeast of the Cooper River ran through Stockton Township (present-day East Camden), Merchantville, and Moorestown on its way to Mount Holly. In the 1800s a stage coach line was established, that ran from Cooper's ferry to the Halfway Inn, which stood at 36th and Federal Streets, near the toll gate. The stage ran until the advent of horse cars, around 1890. George W. Loper was the last surviving stage driver, passing away in 1942. Stockton Township, which, in its last years consisted of all of present-day Camden northeast of the Cooper, was finally annexed to Camden in 1899. Shortly thereafter, the City of Camden built a library, police station, and fire house at the intersection of Federal Street and Westfield Avenue. These buildings are still standing in 2003, and the fire house has been in continuous use as such since its erection. Also still in existence, although the exterior has been extensively altered, is the toll house at 36th and Federal Street.

In the first part of the 20th Century, as Camden experienced its boom years, Federal Street between the Cooper River and 20th Street became the home of several large commercial enterprises, including the Warren Webster & Company plant, which manufactured heating systems, and the DuBell Lumber Company. There also were several new car dealerships, and a busy retail district between Marlton Pike and 27th Street.

Federal Street passes in front of where stood the estate of Thomas H. Dudley. Known in modern times as Dudley Grange, and the site of a Camden County owned and operated park, the Dudley mansion served as the East Camden branch of Camden's public library system through the 1970s. Camden's third public high school, Woodrow Wilson High School, also lies on Federal Street, opposite Dudley Grange.

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Robert Hartmann, 16 North 23rd Street

Robert Hartmann

Robert Hartmann (1876–1967), son of cigar manufacturer Frank J. Hartmann Sr., grew up in Camden's labor movement and was elected the first president of the Camden County Central Labor Union when it was formed in 1908. The 1920 Census found him and his family at 16 North 23rd Street in East Camden.

John T. Rodan, 1931

John T. Rodan

Tuckahoe-born Camden politician who served as Twelfth Ward freeholder for 14 years and as president of the East Camden Building and Loan Association from 1925 to 1946. His last home was 61 South 27th Street.

Leonard F. Garbrecht

Leonard F. Garbrecht (1910–2000) was a Camden fire captain who served from 1941 until retiring on disability in 1960. He was the last remaining captain of that era and a charter member of Camden City Firefighters Local 788.

David Tattersdill

David Tattersdill

David Tattersdill was born in Leeds, Yorkshire, England in 1873 and opened his first music store at 1002 North 27th Street in Cramer Hill in 1903, building a business on Broadway that his sons continued operating into the 1970s.

John H. Vickers

John H. Vickers (1863–1939) served with the Camden Fire Department from 1904, rising to Captain of Engine Company 9 in 1924, and lived with his family at 202 North 27th Street from 1920.

Harry L. Leonard

Harry L. Leonard was a Camden-born funeral director and World War I veteran who opened his own funeral parlor at 120 South 27th Street in 1927, later moving to 2850 Federal Street, and ran for Camden County Coroner in 1936.

Walter P. Hubbs Sr.

Walter Page Hubbs Sr. (1871–after 1953) was a Camden, NJ police officer appointed in 1902 and dismissed in 1905 when Republicans returned to power. He later worked as a car repairer at the Pavonia railroad yards, living at 201 North 27th Street.

Staff Sergeant Frank J. Blair, 987 North 23rd Street

Frank J. Blair

Staff Sergeant Frank J. Blair (1921–1944) of 987 North 23rd Street in Cramer Hill was a June 1940 graduate of Woodrow Wilson High School who served as a B-24 crewman with the 374th Bomber Squadron, 308th Bomber Group, based at Kunming, China. He was killed in action on July 13, 1944, and is listed on the Tablets of the Missing at the Honolulu Memorial.

World War I Draft Card, William May

William 'Indian Bill' May

William M. May (1888–1935), known as "Indian Bill," lived in East Camden for more than two decades. He first came to public attention in December 1910 after a suicide attempt following Elsie Staley's rejection of his marriage proposal, and remained a recurring figure in Camden newspaper reports for the next 25 years.

Arthur C. Batten in Camden Fire Department uniform

Arthur C. Batten

Arthur Cuellen Batten (1904–1972), known to his fellow firefighters as Artie, joined the Camden Fire Department on March 4, 1927 and served until his retirement on February 28, 1969, rising to captain of Rescue Company 1 and acting battalion chief. He lived for many years at 1132 North 22nd Street in Cramer Hill and invented the un-patented ring cutter used by the rescue company to remove finger jewelry.

Firefighters from Engine Company 9 after a fire, December 1928

John C. Voll Jr.

John C. Voll Jr. (1900-1979) was born in Camden and served the Camden Fire Department for 40 years, entering the department on January 15, 1925 and retiring on December 1, 1965. He lived his later years at 2737 Garfield Avenue in the Cramer Hill section of Camden.

William Harring Jr., Robert Troutman and Charles Lawyer

Charles H. Lawyer

Charles H. Lawyer (1924–1994) served with the Camden Fire Department from 1948 to 1974. Appointed on March 2, 1948 to Engine Company 9 in East Camden, he was promoted to Captain on April 1, 1956 and spent most of his career with Engine Company 6 at Front and Linden Streets. He grew up on North 35th Street in Cramer Hill and later lived at 1032 North 22nd Street.

William E. Hinch II fire department record card, page 1

William E. Hinch II

William E. Hinch II (1941–1976) was a Camden firefighter. Born in Camden and living at 1113 North 18th Street in Cramer Hill, he was appointed to the Camden Fire Department in 1969 and served with Engine Company 7 on Kaighn Avenue and later Engine Company 9 in East Camden. He died on April 26, 1976 of injuries sustained in an automobile accident.

William E. Jaeckel fire department personnel record

William E. Jaeckel

William E. "Pud" Jaeckel (1888–1961) joined the Camden Fire Department in 1920 and served over thirty years with Engine Company 9 at North 27th and Federal Streets in East Camden, retiring on pension in January 1951.

Camden Fire Department personnel record for Russell J. Anderson (front)

Russell J. Anderson

Russell J. Anderson (1897–1958) served with the Camden Fire Department for over 27 years, from December 1930 until his death in June 1958, assigned to Ladder Company 1 and later the Electrical Bureau.

Portrait of Anthony Douglas Moffa, Battalion Chief

Anthony Douglas Moffa

Camden Fire Department Battalion Chief who served the City of Camden for 38 years, rising from firefighter to battalion chief; a 1957 graduate of Woodrow Wilson High School.

Charles E. Watkin fire department personnel card, front

Charles E. Watkin

Charles E. Watkin Jr. (1879-1954) was a Camden Fire Department captain who served over 34 years, from his appointment on January 1, 1915 until his retirement on May 1, 1949.

Portrait of Edward C. Hahn, Camden Police Officer

Edward C. Hahn

Edward C. Hahn served in the Camden Police Department from 1922, rising to the rank of Lieutenant. He died of a heart attack while on duty on April 2, 1944.

Hook and Ladder Company 3, Hose and Chemical Company 1, and Engine Company 9 group photo, 1924

Engine Company 9

Engine Company 9 was organized as Hose Company 1 on March 1, 1900 at the new firehouse at North 27th and Federal Street in East Camden, reorganized as Hose and Chemical Company 1 in 1914 and as Engine Company 9 in 1922, and has remained continuously at 27th and Federal Street, sharing quarters with Ladder Company 3.

Howard Gick, 1931

Howard L. Gick

Howard Lambert Gick (1895–1968) joined the Camden Fire Department in 1923, served until his retirement as District Chief in 1956, and later worked as Fire Inspector at Garden State Racetrack.

Private First Class Anthony J. Flemming

Anthony J. Flemming

Private Anthony J. Flemming (1913–1944) of Camden, NJ, served in Company E, 47th Infantry Regiment, 9th Infantry Division, and was killed in action on November 25, 1944, during the assault on the Siegfried Line in Germany. He was awarded the Purple Heart.

2 to 14 Broadway, 1937

Broadway & Federal Street, Through the Years

Historical photos and news clippings of the intersection of Broadway and Federal Street in Camden — the heart of the city — from the 1850s through 2003, covering the courthouse, the Munger & Long Building, Lit Brothers, the Elks and YMCA, and surrounding landmarks.

South 11th Street looking east toward the Armory-Public Works building, 1950s

11th Street

Eleventh Street ran north from Market Street through to Pearl Street. Over time, North 11th Street was erased block by block, until only a short segment between Penn and Linden Streets survives. South 11th Street is a connecting road with no residential addresses.

John Anthony Smith

John Anthony Smith

John Anthony Smith worked part-time at Mister Meat, a butcher shop at Federal Street and Route 130 , for many years. Known locally as a kind man with a serious drinking problem, he had no permanent address.

Edward A. Preisendanz

Edward Adam Preisendanz was the son of Rudolph and Annie Preisendanz and was born in Camden, New Jersey, on November 14, 1883.

View of Camden Waterfront in 1850

Old Ferries - Annals of Camden NJ

Annals of Camden No 3 - Old Ferries - Camden NJ Download In this age of inventions, improvements and ever-changing modes of transportation, the ferry boat is still an important factor in carrying the traveller across that "goodly and noble" river which forms the boundary between the two Quaker Colonies of New Jersey and Pennsylvania.

Looking east on the 200 block of Burns Street the day after the Poet's Row fire

Burns Street

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.

Cooper B. Hatch

Cooper B. Hatch

Cooper Browning Hatch was a prominent citizen of Camden in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He was born to Joseph and Mary Hatch in a farmhouse that now houses the Camden County Historical Society.

Frederick Morse - WW2 Draft Card

Frederick Morse

Frederick William Sheppard Morse was born in New Jersey on February 18, 1880, to Captain William and Annie Morse.

Abraham Lincoln James - 1932-11-23

Abraham Lincoln James

Abraham Lincoln James, commonly known as A. L. James or A. Lincoln James, was a career officer with the Camden Police Department, serving for 40 years.

Linden Street

Runs east from the Delaware River to North.

Benjamin D. Coley

Benjamin D. Coley

Benjamin Coley was born in England on February 1, 1826, and immigrated to America as a child.

Hook-and-Ladder-Company-1-1914

Charles M. Gladney

Charles Miller Gladney was born in New Jersey on September 2, 1877, to George and Mary Gladney. In 1878, the family lived at 728 Mount Vernon Street , but by 1880, George, Mary, and their older son David had moved to 432 Liberty Street in Camden.

Woodrow Wilson High School

Woodrow Wilson High School at 3100 Federal Street in East Camden, New Jersey, opened as a junior high in 1930 and became a high school in 1933; now Eastside High.

Aerial photo of Carman Street, 1961

Carman Street

Carman Street ran from Broadway through East Camden to Woodrow Wilson High School at South 31st Street, named for William Carman whose home stood at the corner of Broadway and Federal Street until 1902.

Map showing Henrietta Terrace in East Camden

Henrietta Terrace

Henrietta Terrace is an alley in East Camden, New Jersey, running behind the 2600 block of Baird Boulevard from Federal Street to Mickle Street. No houses or buildings carry a Henrietta Terrace address.

St. Joseph Roman Catholic Church, 25th and Howell Street, East Camden, photographed 1909

Howell Street

Howell Street runs through East Camden from 20th Street to 30th Street, parallel to the Pavonia railroad tracks. Homes were built by the 1880s, and several businesses operated here during Camden's industrial years, including Nick's Auto Parts and the Pavonia Ice & Coal Company. The first Catholic parish in East Camden, St. Joseph Church, stood at 25th and Howell Street.

Kotlikoff Storefront - 1936-10-08

Kotlikoff's

25th & Federal Street, Camden, NJ Louis Jacob Kotlikoff was born in Kiev, Russia, in 1879. After immigrating to America, he married Clara Hager, another Jewish immigrant, around the turn of the 20th century.

Camden Fire Insurance Association - 3rd and Arch Streets

Camden Mutual Insurance Association

Southwest Corner of 5th and Federal Street In September of 2005, workmen employed by the FFC Construction Company of Gloucester City NJ were instructed to erect a fence at the southwest corner of Fifth and Federal as a safety precaution for pedestrians, as the recently installed River Line light rail tracks pass by the intersection.

Allen Palmer - 1941-08-01

Allen Palmer

Allen Palmer was born on April 20, 1891, in the Ellisburg section of Delaware Township (present-day Cherry Hill), New Jersey, to John and Ida Palmer. By 1900, the family had moved to 26 North 21st Street in East Camden.

Erie Street

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.

Sigmund-Schoenagle-1928

Sigmund Schoenagle

Sigmund "Sig" Schoenagle was born in Vienna, Austria, around 1875. As a young man, he immigrated to America and settled in Camden, NJ. In 1894, he established a haberdashery at the southwest corner of 3rd and Federal Streets .

Bart-A-Sheehan-1936-10-17

Bartholomew A. Sheehan

Bartholomew A. Sheehan was born on December 18, 1907, to Jeremiah and Mary (McCarthy) Sheehan.

Hollingshead Fire from Carpenter Street

Carpenter Street

Carpenter Street was a narrow residential street in North Camden, running from North 8th Street to Cooper Street. Most of it was destroyed in the 1940 Hollingshead Factory fire and later razed for Interstate 676; today only the 800 block remains.

New Junction Hotel, 595 Bridge Avenue (aka 39 South 6th Street), photographed 1892

Bridge Avenue

Bridge Avenue was one of Camden's most notable thoroughfares, lying between Federal and Mickle Streets. By 1947 only the block east of South 8th Street remained, and that too has long since vanished.

Boyd Street - Looking West - 2004

Boyd Street

Boyd Street runs through East Camden parallel to Marlton Avenue, from Carman Street to the Pennsauken city limits. Originally named Pfeiffer Street before 1924, it gained notoriety in the late 1980s and 1990s as part of the open-air drug market known as "the Alley."

Birch Street looking west from North 3rd Street, April 18, 2004

Birch Street

Birch Street once ran from Front Street through Ninth Street in North Camden. Over the years, the Delaware River Bridge, the Port Authority, and the Northgate Apartment Buildings took most of the street off the map.

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