 |  | |
 |
|  |
 |  | |
| | |
|
| |
| | |
|
|
Originally published in 1939
Some of this information may no longer be current and in that case is presented for historical interest only.
Edited by GET NJ, COPYRIGHT 2003
Construction of the Delaware River Bridge cut into the heart of what was then the fine residential section and pushed many of the more prosperous citizens to new homesites in the suburbs. But although Camden is hacking in private show places, it is alive to the need for public parks. Noteworthy are Farnham Park on Cooper River, with extensive athletic facilities (Camden is so interested in sandlot baseball that the city officially sponsors a league); Dudley Park, in the eastern section of the city; and Pyne Poynt Park, now being developed on the shore of the Delaware River.
The civic stature of Camden may also be measured by the success of a model housing project and by a long campaign for a municipal power
plant. As early as 1906 the voters approved a plan for building a plant,
but action was postponed because of a shortage of money and a rate cut by the private utility. The proposition was again endorsed in 1933 by a vote of better than 2 to 1, and in 1935 by a vote of 5 to 1, but each time the citizens were blocked by legal actions instituted by Public Service Corporation.
Akin to the depression-born squatter communities is Line Ditch, lying at the west end of jasper Street. It comprises about 150 one-story dwellings built of driftwood from the nearby rivers, scrap metal and other junkyard gleanings. No two homes are alike, except in their miniature reproduction of the Camden box design. The 500 inhabitants, including women and children, are served by a general store and a little church known as Line Ditch Chapel. There is no gas, electricity, or garbage collection, and the entire community gets water from a single tap. A Philadelphia real estate company owns the land and collects $2 a month rent from each family. The name Line Ditch, an old one, goes back to the time when Little Newton Creek, the city line, was known as the Ditch.
Camden is always aware of Philadelphia, and there is a custom-strictly confined to Camden-of referring to the "twin cities of the Delaware. Some years ago Philadelphians used to say vaguely, "Camden is over there in back of the Victor and Campbell's soup factories," and traveling Camdenites often said that they were from Philadelphia to forestall explanations. But an increasingly larger portion of the United States now knows that Camden is a city opposite Philadelphia. In particular, Philadelphians are aware of its location because the Camden airport serves as the terminal for Philadelphia traffic.
Despite the inducement offered by the only leather-upholstered subway cars in general use in the United States, so few Camden residents have ridden across the bridge to seek recreation after dark in Philadelphia that night train service has been canceled. Week-end parties in particular are longer and more enjoyable on the New Jersey side of the river, for Philadelphia taverns close at midnight on Saturday. The remark of Will Rogers at the dedication of the Delaware River Bridge, "Now we have a bridge we can get out of Camden when we want to," has proved something less than prophetic.
|
|
|
Return To |
|
|
