1949 - George Engel
1950s - Erie Cafe
1950s - Frontier Playhouse
2003 - Gone
This photo, taken around 1949, captures a bar at 952 N. Front Street that was commonly referred to as "Engel's" or sometimes known as "The Blood Pit." During the 1950s and 1960s, the bar gained a notorious reputation for its rough atmosphere. Apart from James "Gabby" Knox, seen on the far right, the identities of the other individuals in the photo are unknown.
Front Street runs north and south through Camden, west of Second Street and parallel to the Delaware River. Its span begins at Erie Street in North Camden and continues southward as far as Atlantic Avenue. The two halves are commonly distinguished as North Front Street and South Front Street.
Originally Front Street ran continuously the length of the city. In the early 1970s, several redevelopment initiatives reshaped the corridor and broke its once-uninterrupted run. Along its blocks stood saloons and hotels such as Engel's at 952 North Front Street and the South Ferry Hotel at Kaighn Avenue, livery and boarding stables, churches including St. James Chapel at 915 North Front Street, and waterfront industry from the Victor Talking Machine Company at Cooper Street to the Campbell Soup plant near Market Street.
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Unit Block of North Front Street
The unit block of North Front Street in North Camden, near the foot of Market Street. It held livery and boarding stables at 39–41, Thomas McKenna's saloon at 33, and — at 22 — Mickle Hall, built in 1788. City directory records from the 1880s through 1929 are below.
39–41 North Front Street — Livery and Boarding Stables
John F. Brant Livery and Boarding Stable — Camden Daily Telegram, March 12, 1890.View transcription
LIVERY STABLES.
FRANCIS McGOVERN, BOARDING AND Livery Stable, No. 319 Lawrence street, Camden. Carriages and coupes to hire for funerals, weddings, etc. Careful drivers furnished. Telephone 110.
PALACE BOARDING STABLES, Broadway and Washington street. A strictly first-class stable with every convenience. JOHN Y. RADCLIFF, Prop. Telephone 304.
J. H. WHITE, 211, 213, 215, Arch street. Livery, Boarding and Sale Stables. Particular attention given to boarding. Horses constantly on hand and for sale.
JOSEPH FRANKLIN, Livery and Exchange Stables, 56, 58, 60 N. Second street. Telephone 45.
JNO. BRANT, LIVERY & BOARDING Stable, 39 and 41 N. Front St. All styles of carriages for weddings, funerals, park driving will be furnished at lowest prices, day or night.
J. B. Franklin carriage and livery — Camden Daily Telegram, October 14, 1895.Joshua B. Franklin Livery and Boarding Stables — 1906 Camden City Directory.
29–33 North Front Street
Camden Iron & Metal Company (Abraham Wax, Morris Wax) — 1913 Camden City Directory.
22 North Front Street — Mickle Hall
Mickle Hall at 22 North Front Street, built in 1788.
The 100 block of North Front Street in North Camden, a block of carriage works, horse-blanket and asbestos manufacturers, and — at its south end from the 1900s into the 1990s — the Campbell Soup plant. City directory records from 1891 through the 1990s are below.
Intersection of North Front Street & Market Street
Camden Fire Department Ladder Company 1 fighting a fire at the then-vacant Campbell Soup plant, looking south from Market Street, 1992.
117–121 North Front Street
117–121 North Front Street as the New Jersey Asbestos Company, 1900–1906.
108 North Front Street — Eldridge R. Johnson
108 North Front Street, associated with Eldridge R. Johnson, founder of the Victor Talking Machine Company.
The 200 block of North Front Street in North Camden. The Victor Talking Machine Company rose at the northwest corner of Front and Cooper Streets here. City directory records from 1890 through 1929 are below.
Intersection of North Front Street & Cooper Street
Victor Talking Machine Company, northwest corner of Front and Cooper Streets, April 24, 1904.The corner of Front and Cooper Streets at Christmas, 1938.
219 North Front Street — Charles Bowers
Charles Bowers of 219 North Front Street — Philadelphia Inquirer, March 13, 1912 (referencing Clinton Street, Daniel Leach, Charles Worthington, David Bakley, Engine Company 6, and Cooper Hospital).
229 North Front Street
229 North Front Street
year↕
name↕
1910
No information available
227 North Front Street
227 North Front Street
year↕
name↕
1890
Mrs. Catherine Shannon & Family (widow of Thomas Shannon; James F. Shannon, saloon at 5-7 Market Street; John E. Shannon, Annie V. Shannon, Mary E. Shannon)
The 300 block of North Front Street in North Camden. City directory records from 1890 through 1941 are below, with a 1925 streetscape and newspaper accounts of its residents.
Intersection of North Front Street & Penn Street
Looking south on Front Street from Penn Street, circa 1925.
315 North Front Street
"Hospital Cases," July 26, 1941, listing Florence Fidler, 7, of 315 North Front Street.
The 400 block of North Front Street in North Camden. City directory records from 1884 through 1968 are below, with newspaper items touching several of its residents.
426 North Front Street — Almer Barr's Cigar Store
"Camden political banner raisings and parades," Philadelphia Inquirer, October 6, 1884 — a Republican banner raising at Constable Almer Barr's cigar store, Front and Birch Streets.
412 North Front Street — Joseph Logue & Isaac Berrios
Joseph Logue of 412 North Front Street, 1893–1894. Camden Daily Courier, January 6, 1905.View transcription
[No text on the scan.]
"Camden — Birth Notices," Camden Courier-Post, November 9, 1967, noting the birth of a son to Isaac Berrios of 412 Front Street.View transcription
Camden — Birth Notices. CAMDEN — Louis to Mr. and Mrs. Louis Aldi of 1024 Lois Avenue... Clarice Lynn to Mr. and Mrs. John Little of 141 N. 34th Street.
The 500 block of North Front Street in North Camden. City directory records from the 1870s through 1940 are below, along with photographs and a descendant's memory of the Breininger family at 519.
530 North Front Street
"Hospital Cases," Camden Courier-Post, February 3, 1956, listing Daniel Cook of 530 Front Street among the injured.View transcription
Hospital Cases
COOPER: Clement DiGaetano, 39, of 216 Mt. Vernon st., cut left side of head. Anna Kropski, 68, 1737 S. 6th st., cut head. Rita Procacci, 40, of 1125 S. 3rd st., burns of right hand. George Finney, 41, of 214 Taylor ave., cut right side of chest. Willie Chestnut, 19, of 1210 S. 8th st., cut scalp. Betty Cohen, 15, of 428 State st., injured right hand. David Taylor, 47, of 743 Walnut st., injured left foot.
WEST JERSEY: Marie Stone, 15, of 316 Kaighns ave., swallowed a coin. Charlott Schmitz, 16, of 520 Vine st., possible fractured shoulder. Suzanne Schulman, 5, of Maple ave., Haddon Heights, cut forehead. Daniel Cook, 27, of 530 Front st., bruise of hand.
526 North Front Street — Samuel E. Johnson
Samuel E. Johnson, a Camden policeman, of 526 North Front Street (resident 1907–1931).
519 North Front Street — The Breininger Family
My Great-grandmother Sophia Pfeiffer Goehringer Breininger was a busy woman, she had 13 children, six of whom were alive in 1910. They all lived in Camden, NJ. From the early 1900s into the 1910s they lived at 519 North Front Street, where my Grandmother Frances Breininger Wilson was born at home. By 1912 they moved to 120 Elm Street. After Sophia died son George lived there. Son Frederick Goehringer lived at 126 North 26th Street. Frederick was coal dealer and husker, he or Harry had a horse for husking, and rented or had barn on corner of Front Street. Anna Goehringer Travis Mannes and her husband Al lived at 109 North 26th Street.
—Jean Kuhn, April 21, 2012
517 North Front Street — John W. Bockius Saloon
John W. Bockius's saloon at 517 North Front Street, 1906.
506 North Front Street — Frank H. Bott
World War I draft registration card for Frank H. Bott, a Camden firefighter, of 506 North Front Street, 1917.
544 North Front Street
544 North Front Street
year↕
name↕
1947
No information available
542 North Front Street
542 North Front Street
year↕
name↕
1932
John Rossi
532 North Front Street
532 North Front Street
year↕
name↕
1869–1872
Frederick Himmelein Sr. & Family (Helena Himmelein, John, Lizzie, Frederick Jr.)
530 North Front Street
530 North Front Street
year↕
name↕
1929
John T. Johnson & Family (John T. & Mildred Johnson)
1956
Daniel Cook
528 North Front Street
528 North Front Street
year↕
name↕
1895–1897
James Egbert & Family (Lizzie Scroggy Egbert, Rhoda Egbert; Mrs. Sarah Scroggy)
Franz 'Frank' Breininger & Family (Sophie Goehringer Breininger, Anna, Mary, Harry, George Goehringer; Frances Breininger)
517 North Front Street
517 North Front Street
year↕
name↕
1906
John W. Bockius (saloon)
514 North Front Street
514 North Front Street
year↕
name↕
1892
Mrs. Augusta Kohlinberg (Patrick McNally, Jesse Pratt)
1899–1900
Charles Bush & Family (Annie Bush)
508 North Front Street
508 North Front Street
year↕
name↕
1897
John Galvin
506 North Front Street
506 North Front Street
year↕
name↕
1917–1918
Frank H. Bott & Family (Camden Fire Department)
503 North Front Street
503 North Front Street
year↕
name↕
—
No information available
501 North Front Street
501 North Front Street
year↕
name↕
1870s–1880s
No information available
600 Block of North Front Street
The 600 block of North Front Street in North Camden, anchored by the long-running saloons at 643 (Smith's, later Dowling's) and 601 (later the Cooper Tavern). City directory records from 1897 through 1971 are below.
643 North Front Street — John S. Smith's Saloon
John S. Smith's saloon, 643 North Front Street — 1897 directory advertisement.
603 North Front Street
"Camden at a Glance," Philadelphia Inquirer, 1915, noting the marriage of Joseph McCloskey of Front and Elm Streets.
601 North Front Street — Cooper Tavern
601 North Front Street, a saloon from as early as 1896 and the Cooper Tavern by 1955. Camden Courier-Post, November 25, 1955.
Dowling's (saloon; Joseph P. Wilson & G.W. Michel)
641 North Front Street
641 North Front Street
year↕
name↕
1947
No information available
636 North Front Street
636 North Front Street
year↕
name↕
1904
Anthony Angelo & Family (Anthony & Edith Angelo; Joseph T. Angelo)
1940–1972
Ralph Farace & Family (Giovanina Farace, Ralph, Rose, David, Michael)
633 North Front Street
633 North Front Street
year↕
name↕
1931
Mrs. Rose Cinerelli, Teresa Cinerelli, Mary Cinerelli
631 North Front Street
631 North Front Street
year↕
name↕
1931
Mrs. Anna Franceschino
630 North Front Street
630 North Front Street
year↕
name↕
1899
L. Carter
623 North Front Street
623 North Front Street
year↕
name↕
1947
Clarence Yapp & Family (Clarence & Mary Yapp)
619 North Front Street
619 North Front Street
year↕
name↕
1947
No information available
618 North Front Street
618 North Front Street
year↕
name↕
1947
No information available
615 North Front Street
615 North Front Street
year↕
name↕
1909
Peter Wolverton
613 North Front Street
613 North Front Street
year↕
name↕
1917
Phillipo Del Guerra (Margaret Del Guerra, Lino Battaloni, Philip Schmitz)
609 North Front Street
609 North Front Street
year↕
name↕
1912
George Bretinstein
603 North Front Street
603 North Front Street
year↕
name↕
1917
Joseph McClosky
1951
Mrs. Alice Martz (Raymond J. Kuntz, Robert Blake)
601 North Front Street
601 North Front Street
year↕
name↕
1896
Eliza Jones (saloon)
1904
Thomas Tracy (saloon)
1918–1926
Charles E. Snyder (saloon)
1927–1947
Clara C. Snyder (saloon)
1954–1955
Cooper Tavern (Raymond & Mary Welsh)
1955–1956
Cooper Tavern (Pat Caridi, Walter Canzanese, Donald Palese)
1959
Sally's Cafe
1964–1966
Sam's Cafe
1967
Casa Santiago (Francisco Santiago)
700 Block of North Front Street
The 700 block of North Front Street in North Camden. The 1947 city directory recorded the following.
732 North Front Street
732 North Front Street
year↕
name↕
1947
Vacant
800 Block of North Front Street
The 800 block of North Front Street in North Camden. City directory records from the 1910s through 1947 are below.
822 North Front Street — John P. Gryckiewicz
John P. Gryckiewicz of 822 North Front Street. Camden Courier-Post, December 22, 1940.View transcription
TUG BLAST AVERTED BY ROOKIE FIREMAN
The heroic efforts of one of Camden's newly appointed firemen prevented the explosion of a 50-gallon drum of gasoline stored on the tug Pacific, which caught fire yesterday in the docks of the American Dredging Company.
Fire broke out in the hold of the boat from sparks of an acetylene torch used by workmen rebuilding the 65-foot boat, owned by the Graham Oil Transportation Company of Philadelphia.
John Gryckiewicz, 22, of 810 North Front street, who was appointed to the fire department on Nov. 16 and completed his training Dec. 7, jumped on the boat and pulled a flaming rope from around the gasoline-filled drum. Gryckiewicz is stationed at Engine Company No. 2, Fifth and Arch streets.
Four workmen were on the boat when the fire broke out. Fire Chief John H. Lennox estimated the damage at approximately $450.
Clayton Thomas Lofland & Family (Clara C. Hinderer Lofland, Elva, Miriam Ruth; William Elmer Lofland)
804 North Front Street
804 North Front Street
year↕
name↕
1947
No information available
900 Block of North Front Street
The 900 block of North Front Street lay in North Camden near York Street and the Delaware River. The city directory records below span the 1890s through 2019, alongside photographs and newspaper accounts of the block's saloons, churches, and families.
Intersection of North Front Street & York Street
Looking northwest to the intersection of North Front Street and York Street, circa 1930s.
952 North Front Street
Eugene Widmann Sr., saloonkeeper at 952 North Front Street, 1909–1947. Camden Post-Telegram, October 1, 1909.Engel's bar ("The Blood Pit") at 952 North Front Street, circa 1949. James 'Gabby' Knox at far right.
944 North Front Street — Penn Jersey Welding Co.
Penn Jersey Welding Co., Inc. (Joseph J. Fitzpatrick) — 1955 New Jersey Bell Yellow Pages.Penn Jersey Welding Co., Inc. — additional 1955 Yellow Pages advertisement.Penn Jersey Welding Co., Inc. matchbook, circa 1955.
915 North Front Street
915 North Front Street as La Hermosa Iglesia Pentecostal, 1999–2019.
909 North Front Street
Michael J. Hallahan Jr. of 909 North Front Street (resident 1909–1965).Private William F. Farrell, World War I, nephew of Michael J. Hallahan Jr. of 909 North Front Street.Thomas W. Bowers and family at 909 North Front Street, 1940s–1947.
907 North Front Street — William J. 'Shooey' Bonner
William J. 'Shooey' Bonner of 907 North Front Street, 1924–1931.
The 1100 block of South Front Street in Camden, near Kaighn Avenue and the river. It held Kroecker's Cafe at 1122, the American Art Glass Company at 1134, and the Wilson coal and ice works at 1135. City directory records from 1884 through 1964 are below.
Intersection of South Front Street & Chestnut Street
The 1200 block of South Front Street in Camden, at the foot of Kaighn Avenue. Its corner was long the site of the South Ferry Hotel. City directory records from 1883 through 1947 are below.
Intersection of South Front Street & Kaighn Avenue — South Ferry Hotel
Southeast corner of Front Street and Kaighn Avenue — the South Ferry Hotel (aka Joseph Kaighn House), 1800s–1899.1885 Sanborn fire insurance map showing the South Ferry Hotel at Front Street and Kaighn Avenue.
Built prior to the Revolutionary War, during the British occupation of Philadelphia one of their cannon balls pierced the brick wall of the chimney, and rolled out on the hearth of the open fireplace. As a relic connecting Camden's history with the events of the Revolution it was exhibited at the great Sanitary Fair, held in Logan Square in Philadelphia, in 1864, which realized over $1,000,000 in aid of the sick and wounded Union soldiers of the Civil War.
The South Ferry Hotel, located at the southeast corner of Kaighn Avenue and Front Street, has been known to the citizens of Camden as a hotel, and its gardens as a place of resort, for more than a century (1886). Originally it was a farmhouse built by one of the Kaighn family; the exact date when it was converted into a hotel is unknown, but the names of the landlords are familiar to the old residents, and include Adon Wills, Ebenzer Toole, Captain George Bender, Hewlings Haines, Aaron Hillman, William Bryant, John Kinsell, Daniel W. Beckley, Abraham Smith, Sothron Norcross, ex-Sheriff Leeds, Daniel Wells, William Sands, Theodore Krug, and the present proprietor, John Korn.
When first opened as a hotel it was close by the river-bank, and the ferry-boats, when started, had their slip across the street. The hotel is now nearly two squares away from the Kaighn's Point Ferry, the intervening ground having been filled in and built up to within a short distance of the ferry slip. It, however, still retains the name of South Ferry Hotel. A century ago it was a famous place of resort in the summer days for citizens of Philadelphia.
—History of Camden County, New Jersey, George Reeser Prowell, 1886
Around 1900 the South Ferry Hotel was razed to accommodate an expansion of the railroad yard at South Front Street and Kaighn Avenue.
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.
John Paul Gryckiewicz (1918–2006) served 40 years with the Camden Fire Department, rising to captain of Engine Company 6, and was decorated for heroism in multiple rescues. A World War II Navy veteran, he served as a chief machinist mate aboard the Camden-built USS South Dakota.
Edwin Stanley Wirtz (1914–1975), son of Camden policeman Stanley R. Wirtz and grandson of Camden fireman James McDade, was appointed to the Camden Fire Department in October 1943 and served 22 years, retiring in October 1965 as an inspector in the Fire Marshal's office.
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.
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.
Boyer Street, also known as Boyer Court, was a half-block dead-end street running east from Nelson Street in South Camden. Eight brick homes on the north side were built in the early 1890s and demolished after World War II for industrial development.
Clay Street, in Camden's 5th Ward, ran west from the 900 block of South 2nd Street to South Front Street. It was a short residential street tied to the industrial growth of the 1890s, extinguished by the City of Camden in October 1974.
Cox Street ran west from 1119 South 2nd Street for about half a block to a dead end, roughly opposite Sycamore Street; it first appeared in City Directories in 1890 and was renamed Sycamore Street around 1922, then erased after World War II as part of a redevelopment plan.
Atlantic Avenue runs east–west through the heart of Camden, three blocks south of Kaighn Avenue, from Front Street to Haddon Avenue. East of 7th Street it was and remains a mix of homes and commercial properties; the street crosses under I-676 and the elevated rail between 7th and 9th Streets before becoming primarily residential toward Haddon Avenue.
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.
England Place, also known as England's Place, was a short dead-end street running half a block from 408 North Front Street in Camden. Homes first appeared in 1878; the street was demolished by 1980 and the land became a city park.
Edward N. Cohn was born in 1832. On the 1870 U.S. Census, he reported his birthplace as Bohemia, while in the 1880 Census he listed it as Germany. It is likely he was born in a region that is now part of the Czech Republic.
Howard Carrow was born on September 30, 1860, in Camden, Kent County, Delaware, to Edward and Margaret Carrow. His ancestors, of Scotch-Irish and English descent, were primarily farmers who had lived in Maryland and Delaware for several generations.
One of Camden's oldest and most storied streets, named after the Cooper family. Covers the full length from the waterfront to the 2000 block, including the Victor Talking Machine Company, Esterbrook Pen Company, Johnson Park, the Hotel Plaza, the Walt Whitman Hotel, the Elks Lodge, and East Camden's other Cooper Street.
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.
EUGENE F. ALSTON was born October 16, 1919 in Camden to Richard Alston and his wife, the former Dolly Robinson. His father had been born in 1891 in Henderson, North Carolina.
WILLIAM E. ALBERT was born in New Jersey around 1870. He was the son of Ernest and Hannah Albert. Ernest Albert had emigrated to America from Wurttemburg in what is now Germany.
Arch Street ran from Delaware Avenue to North 5th Street between Federal and Market Streets in downtown Camden. Formerly known as Plum Street, it was home to Oetzel's Saloon, the Genova Cafe, the Collings Carriage Company, and the Camden Fire Department headquarters at 5th and Arch.
On the eve of his March 1980 retirement dinner, Camden fire captain John P. Gryckiewicz looked back on 40 years with the department — the rescues, the Garden State Race Track fire, 84-hour weeks and $60 paychecks, and a city he still loved.
A rash of overnight fires in Camden during a February 1967 snowstorm destroyed Ray's Tavern at 5th and Mickle Streets and damaged four buildings; police and firemen rescued four elderly residents, and Acting Battalion Chief Arthur Batten's crew answered the second call for aid after fighting two North Camden blazes.
Fire Capt. John Gryckiewicz of Engine Company 6 carried Mrs. Emily Burns, a 40-year-old multiple sclerosis patient, from her burning second-floor apartment at 602 North 2nd Street in February 1965, after two civilian rescue attempts failed.
An arson fire badly damaged the Mount Zion Pentecostal Church at 915 North Front Street and the adjoining 905 North Front Street, Fire Marshal Kenneth Gormley said.
A published notice that Dowling's Inc. — owners Joseph P. Wilson and G. W. Michel — applied for a retail liquor consumption license for 643 North Front Street.
Cooper and West Jersey hospital admissions reported in the Camden Courier-Post of February 3, 1956, including Rita Procacci of 1125 South 3rd Street, treated for burns of the right hand.
Camden Courier-Post - May 21, 1953 High Mass for Dominick J. Persiani , 35, will be sung Saturday at 9 a.m. in the Sacred Heart R. C. Church . Relatives in the funeral home of Joseph A. Falco, 1020 S. 4th st. , where friends may call Friday night.
Camden Courier-Post - July 8, 1950 By Wilbur Morse Jr. Petitions for highway safety measures or improvements usually come from adult individuals or organizations.
Rookie Camden fireman John Gryckiewicz, five weeks on the job, pulled a burning rope from around a 50-gallon gasoline drum aboard the tug Pacific at the American Dredging Company docks in December 1940, preventing an explosion.
Camden Public Safety Commissioner Mary W. Kobus announced in December 1940 that her appointment of 22 patrolmen and 10 firemen had restored the public safety department to 1938 strength, and said she would seek money for more officers because of defense needs; John Gryckiewicz of 810 North Front Street was among the fire appointees.
Commissioner Mary W. Kobus announced the appointment of three Camden policemen and four firemen in November 1940; among the new firefighters was John Gryckiewicz of 810 North Front Street.
Funeral notice for Mrs. Louisa Weber, widow of William Weber and a pioneer member of the Church of the Holy Name, of 922 North Front Street, a North Camden resident for more than 30 years.
A Camden physician was charged with performing an illegal operation on Nora Williamson of 525 North Front Street, in a case investigated by Detective John V. Wilkie.
