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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
Junction with US 130-Woodbury-Mullica Hill-Woodstown-Salem;
State 45.
State 45 runs southwest through a row of Camden suburbs into rich
farming and dairying land. The country then changes to the typical pine
and scrub barrens, broken by an occasional farm. Farther south it climbs
low rolling hills on which grow the famous Gloucester County tomatoes.
The land flattens out again as the road approaches the industrial section
of Salem. There are many buildings with historic associations along the
route.
State 45 branches south from US 130 in Westville (see Tour 19).
The highway pursues a straight course between the tracks of the Pennsylvania-Reading Seashore Lines (L) and homes of commuters (R). An
occasional open field breaks the monotony of solid rows of brick dwellings
of Philadelphia pattern.
At 1.8 m. is the junction with a dirt road.
Right on this road to the MANOR HOUSE (private), 0.6 m., 1337 Colonial Ave.,
a two-story Dutch Colonial home built in 1688 by John Ladd Sr., surveyor and
court officer. The original Colonial lines have been almost wiped out by alterations.
Ladd was expelled by the Quakers because he married couples who did not belong
to meeting, and because it was determined that he could not be a good court officer
and a good Quaker.
WOODBURY, 2.8 m. (50 alt., 8,172 pop.), the seat of Gloucester
County, has an up-to-date business section and is the center of a prosperous
farming region.
State 45, here Broad St., follows a section of the King's Highway that
linked Burlington and Cape May. The QUAKER MEETING HOUSE (L)
built 1716, has had several additions. It is a plain, two-and-a-half-story
brick structure covered with ivy and shaded by large trees and a low porgy
across the broad front. Inside are massive, hand-hewn timbers, wooden
benches, and an old wood stove, contrasting with the modern covering of
the wide board floors and the mosquito screens. The meeting house was
used as a hospital during the Revolutionary War.
Opposite the Meeting House is the PAUL HOTEL, built in 1720 from
surplus bricks ordered for the meeting house, and still in service. Confiscated from a Tory owner during the Revolution, the inn became known
after the battle of Red Bank as The American Defeating the Hessian. Additions and changes have obliterated its early lines. At the town center on
Broad St. are the GLOUCESTER COUNTY COURTHOUSE (R), a brownstone, steepled structure built in 1787 and modernized in 1885; the Ionic-
columned HALL OF RECORDS, erected 1926; and the CIVIL WAR MONUMENT.
Opposite the courthouse is (L) the JOHN COOPER HOUSE (private), a
substantial red brick building. Cornwallis took over the house in November, 1777, as his headquarters. The owner, John Cooper, a member of the
Continental Congress, was forced to flee, leaving his well-filled wine cellar
to a foe with a raging thirst. The house has a large fireplace and fine,
paneled woodwork. The door panels are in the "Holy Cross door" tradition of England, so designed to protect the house from evil spirits. Deep
marks on doors and frames were made by British bayonets.
The LAWRENCE HOUSE (L), 58 N. Broad St. (open Mon.-Fri., 9-5;
free), was built in 1765 by the Rev. Andrew Hunter, celebrated clergyman
who took part in the Greenwich Tea Party (see Tour 29B). Of native
brick, the structure follows the typical South Jersey style, combining various features of Tudor and Dutch Colonial architecture. The house later
belonged to John Lawrence, brother of Capt. James Lawrence (see BURLINGTON), who lived here while attending school in Woodbury. The
Gloucester County Historical Society exhibits a well-ordered collection of
Colonial relics and documents.
FRIENDSHIP FIRE HOUSE (R) has in its yard a HAND PUMP FIRE ENGINE bought in 1799, the year the company was formed.
The region south of Woodbury is rich farming land. The farms are as
broad as they were in 1777 when Gen. "Mad Anthony" Wayne successfully foraged here for Washington's army.
At 5.6 m. is the junction with a dirt road.
Right on this road to the MANTUA OAK, 0.4 m., estimated to be more than 600
years old. The tree stands on the banks of old Mantua Creek. The topmost branches
are 87 feet high, and the girth of the trunk is 19 feet 9 inches. The trunk is sound,
but some of the branches have begun to wither.
MANTUA (Indian, frog), 5.8 m. (35 alt., 2,697 pop.), is a quiet old
farm center with closely built houses set behind lawns shaded by stately
trees. There is still a frog chorus on the creek (March-Nov., 7 p.m-4 a.m.;
free).
South of Mantua short, scrubby oak trees, puny pines, and cedars line
the road.
JEFFERSON, 8.6 m. (140 alt.), has a double row of houses, many of
them glistening white, along the highway.
MULLICA HILL, 10.9 m. (80 alt., 600 pop.), rising from the banks
of Raccoon Creek, has a mile-long, tree-lined main street with neat homes,
and business places serving the farm region. It is named for Eric Molica,
or Mullica, who led Swedish colonists across the State to the Mullica River
in Burlington County (see Tour 23A).
The brick QUAKER MEETING HOUSE. (R), built 1808, is typical of the
plain structures of the sect. Hand-split shingles were used on the roof with
wrought nails. During the Civil War, Mullica Hill formed a complete
company of Quakers who saw active service.
At Mullica Hill is the junction with US 322 (see Tour 25) and with
State 46 (see Tour 32).
The highway runs over a series of long rolling hills and through wide
fields of sweet potatoes, asparagus, and tomatoes.
At 13.3 m. is (R) a small, square, white building, the former TOLL-HOUSE for the turnpike. It is now the office of an agricultural agent.
Giant silos, windmills, and barns form an impressive agrarian scene between Mullica Hill and Woodstown. The land gradually flattens as the
road crosses Oldman's Creek at 16 m. This rich land attracted the Quaker
followers of John Fenwick in 1675. Many of their descendants remain,
farming the same acres.
WOODSTOWN, 19.1 m. (50 alt., 1,832 pop.) (see Tour 24), is at
the junction with US 40 (see Tour 24).
State 45 crosses the headwaters of Salem Creek southwest of Woodstown at 19.8 m. Herds of cattle browse in wide fields, near corncribs made
by stretching small-meshed, ratproof wire over a frame of planks, roofed
to keep out the rain.
At 19.9 m. is the junction with a dirt road.
Left on this road to Fenwick Rd., 1.4 m.; L. on Fenwick Rd. is PORTERTOWN,
1.6 m. (70 alt.), a Negro village of dingy frame houses. This is old Bushtown,
scene of "June Meetings" that until about 20 years ago emptied three southern
New Jersey counties of their Negro population for a period of religious revival in
the summer. Here singing bands vied to stir religious fervor; Negro spirituals were
sung and new lines inspired while standing in the spirit with Moses on Pisgah's
height viewing the promised land. Relays of preachers of varying sects followed
one another with appeals to the emotions in "gravy" sermons, as they were termed.
Just outside the camp gamblers gathered, liquor flowed, and there were orgies of
betting. Bootleggers in the bushes and black queens in bustles offered temptation to
saints and penitents alike who wandered away from meetings. The automobile is
chiefly responsible for the passing of the Bushtown "June Meetings."
The highway at 21.9 m. passes the SALEM COUNTY HOME (L), its
huge farm fenced by whitewashed boards in striking contrast with the red
brick buildings.
At a road fork at 22.2 m. is the Fenwick Monument (L), erected in
1929, indicating the GRAVE OF JOHN FENWICK, founder of the Salem
Colony, at a spot not exactly determined.
At 24 m. is (R) the SMITHFIELD HOUSE (private), a fine example of
early Colonial architecture. Two and one-half stories high, the brick house
has small porches, and a hip roof with a railed platform or widow's walk.
Tall trees flank its lawn. It was built in 1685 by John Smith, one of John
Fenwick's executors, who purchased the land from Fenwick's son-in-law,
Samuel Hedge.
Immediately across the road, and set back somewhat from it, is the
HEDGEFIELD HOUSE (private), three stories high, practically square, built
with native brick and white marble trim. It was erected in 1722 by Samuel
Hedge, who had married Anna Fenwick, daughter of the Quaker leader.
Despite modern alterations, the house's original charm remains.
King's Highway rejoins the route at the POINTERS, 26.6 m. The latter
name comes from the junction of three old roads here pointing toward
Salem. Southward, groups of modern homes contrast with the nearby rural
region. Added to the normal smells of the countryside are odors of linoleum in the making, and of vegetables cooking in the Salem canneries.
At 26.8 m. the highway passes through CLAYVILLE, a community of
Negroes, which was formerly called Gallows Hill. The big MANNINGTON
LINOLEUM MILL is L.
At 28 m. is the junction with a private road.
Left on this road to the PLEDGER HOUSE, 0.6 m., a notable example of early
Colonial checkered brickwork, erected in 11727 by John Pledger, Jr. On March 17,
1778, the day before the Battle of Quinton's Bridge (see Tour 29), British soldiers
seized the house and forced members of the Johnson family, then living there, into
the cellar, where they were held captive until after the soldiers left. One prisoner
was seven-year-old Robert Gibbon Johnson, who later became the Salem County
historian. He left a highly valued record of his recollections.
At 28.1 m. State 45, here Market St., leads to the center of Salem.
SALEM, 28.4 m. (116 alt., 8,047 pop.) (see SALEM).
Points of Interest: County Buildings, Alexander Grant House (museum), Old
Law Office, Salem Oak, Bradway House, Friends Meeting House, and others.
At Broadway and Market St. State 45 forms a junction with State 49
(see Tour 29).
Junction with US 130 to Salem, 28.4 m.
Pennsylvania-Reading Seashore Lines parallel the route between junction with
US 130 and Mantua.
Hotel accommodations in larger towns; meals, gasoline stations, and garage service
available.
Two- and four-lane concrete roadbed.
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