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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
(Philadelphia, Pa.)-Camden-Mount Ephraim-Junction with US 322;
State 42.
State 42, the Black Horse Pike, parallels White Horse Pike, US 30.
The almost level country crossed by State 42 is one of the most productive
fruit, berry, and garden-vegetable regions along the eastern seaboard.
Centuries ago this route was used by Indians and later by the marching
armies of British and American troops. It has borne heavily laden farm
wagons transporting fruit and other produce to markets along Delaware
River, and resounded to the echoes of six- and eight-horse stagecoaches.
Week-end traffic is heavy.
On the DELAWARE RIVER BRIDGE (toll 20 cents for car and passengers)
State 42 crosses the Pennsylvania Line, 0.5 mile east of Philadelphia, Pa.
From the bridge deck, 135 feet above tidewater, is a good view of the
water front and the industrial section of Camden. Directly below the
bridge are rows of red brick houses with white doorsteps and window
sills, homes of some of the oldest families in the community. PETTY'S
ISLAND (L) is the last of three bits of land that once dotted the stream
Occupied today chiefly by the Sun Oil Co., it once brought disaster to the
first steamboat regularly to ply the Delaware-John Fitch's Perseverance,
which ran ashore on the southern tip of the island and sank, 17 years before Fulton steered his Clermont up the Hudson.
Right from the Bridge Plaza, Camden, on Broadway, to Federal St.; L
on Federal St. to Haddon Ave. ; R. on Haddon Ave., leading to the CIVIC
CENTER (L) at Line St.
CAMDEN, 0.9 m. (25 alt., 1,118,700 pop.) (see CAMDEN).
Points of Interest: Friends School, Johnson Park, RCA-Victor Manufacturing
Plant, Campbell Soup Plant, Walt Whitman House, Joseph Cooper House, Charles
S. Boyer Memorial Hall (museum), and others.
Right from the Civic Center at the junction of Line St., following Mt.
Ephraim Ave. or the Black Horse Pike, which becomes State 42.
WOODLYNNE, 3 m. (20 alt., 2,878 pop.), is a dormitory for many
Camden workers. The business center of the community is L. Only a block
long, it is surrounded by tight tows of brick houses with small, fenced
back yards. Woodlynne's BOROUGH HALL stands on the SITE OF MARK
NEWBIE's BANK, said to have been the first bank of issue in America.
Newbie came here from Dublin in 1682 and in that year got a bank charter from the West Jersey Assembly. At a substantial discount he had purchased a quantity of farthings and halfpence struck in Ireland some an
years earlier to commemorate the massacre of Protestants by Irish Catholics
during a religious war. These coins, known as Patrick's Pence, were not
legal tender in Ireland. Newbie was forbidden by the legislature to mint
money, but an exception was made for the use of his Irish pence. The bank
did a thriving business, but less than a year after its opening Newbie
and the coins were recalled for redemption. Coin collectors today value
The highway passes the CAMDEN FORGE Co. PLANT (R), where huge
quantities of shells were made for American guns used in the World War.
The North Branch of Newton Creek, crossed S. of Woodlynne, is almost entirely covered with a blanket of creamy water lily blossoms during
the late summer.
At 4 m. is the junction with Collings Ave., a wide paved street.
Right on Collings Ave. is FAIRVIEW, 0.5 m. (120 alt., 9,067 pop.), one of the
few New Jersey communities with a planned pattern of streets. Diagonal roads lead
from curving thoroughfares to Yorkship Square, the business section. Although part
of the City of Camden, Fairview retains its identity, partly because of its position
between forks of Newton Creek. The village sprang up to house employees of the
New York Shipbuilding Co. during the World War. One- and two-family houses,
built of red brick and white mortar along English and Colonial lines, are set on
wide lawns along broad, well-paved, tree-shaded streets. Most of the inhabitants
work in Camden and Philadelphia.
At 4.3 m., at a traffic circle, is the junction with US 130 (see Tour 19).
At 4.4 m. is the main branch of Newton Creek, here a slow-moving
stream of clear, cedar-colored water. This branch was the route of the sailboat that brought the first Quaker settlers to Camden County from Salem,
N. J., in 11682, to establish the settlement that has since become Woodlynne, Collingswood, and part of South Camden (see Tour 23).
For a few miles southward the countryside is an unbroken strip of truck
gardens with a distant background of pine, spruce, and scrub-oak trees.
Rusted tin signs on roadside stores list the virtues of patent medicines,
promising health for every live thing in the farmer's barn as well as for
the members of his family.
MT. EPHRAIM, 6.1 m. (70 alt., 2,500 pop.), at the intersection of
State 42 and the old King's Highway, was a Colonial settlement. Stagecoach companies operating between Camden, Philadelphia, and the coast
chose Ephraim Albertson's tavern here as a station. Albertson supplied
fresh horses for the stages, and maintained a large stable and carriage shed
in addition to the inn. Modern business structures now stand on the site
of the tavern.
The road climbs and descends low hills covered with dark green fir and
pine trees. The sections cleared for farming grow larger, and the first orchards appear. Here, too, is the northern beginning of the "chicken pot
pie" section. The fame of local housewives and their pies has spread far,
attracting travelers with whetted appetites during the fall and winter
months. Overnight guests in the region are introduced to fried scrapple,
the inevitable breakfast dish of the countryside. Made from odd scraps of
pork at winter "hog killings" and mixed with water-ground corn meal,
scrapple is delicately flavored with a carefully compounded mixture of
spices and herbs. It is sliced when cold and then fried.
BELLMAWR, 7 m. (50 alt., 2,123 pop.), is a comparatively new residential section on the site of the old Bell Farm, long famous for its fine
draught horses. Originally known as Heddings for a church built here in
1865, the community changed its name when a post office was established.
Right from Bellmawr on Browning Lane Rd. to the BELL FARM, 0.5 m., which
is still producing Percheron horses under the management of a descendant of its
Quaker founder. The animals bred here have won many blue ribbons.
RUNNEMEDE, 7.5 m. (60 alt., 2,436 pop.), is a suburban residential
section that has had a succession of names during a history that dates back
to 1683, when Quaker settlers named their community New Hope. They
operated gristmills and other small industrial plants. The name was
changed to Marlboro in honor of the British military leader over the objection of some residents opposed to England. In 1844 the name Runnemede was adapted from the meadow near London where King John signed
the Magna Carta. Modern homes and stores are sprawled along the road
with open fields between them.
GLENDORA, 8.6 m. (50 alt., 200 pop.), is largely a summer colony
built around a small lake. During the winter an amusement park and the
few cottages are empty.
CHEWS, 9.1 m. (50 alt., 856 pop.), on the South Branch of Newton
Creek, was named for Col. Jeremiah Chew, Revolutionary officer. Around
Chew's tavern the town and its adjoining settlement, Chew's Landing,
grew. Chew owned small boats, which plied the creek until it became unnavigable.
Left from Chews on a paved road to the SITE OF CHEW'S LANDING, 0.3 m.
The wharf is gone and the water in the creek is a mere trickle. On a small hill is
CHEW'S LANDING HOTEL (private), built before the Revolution. It is now a
weather-beaten, two-and-one-half-story frame building, with a peak roof, painted a
dull olive drab. Old shutter hinges and other hardware are of hand-wrought iron. A
later hotel stands almost directly opposite, constructed along similar architectural
lines and painted white. WARWICK HOUSE or Jaggard House (private), on a has
at Chew's Landing overlooking North Branch of Timber Creek, was used as a hospital during the Revolution. It was built in 1756 by James Hillman. The Hessian
crossed the creek on the old Haddonfield Road, close to the house, as they marched
to the Battle of Red Bank. This crossing was known as Signy's Run for an India
chief named Sigintas, who was buried nearby. The house is now used as an artist's
studio.
BLENHEIM, 11.3 m. (8o alt., 71 pop.), consists of two stores and nine
houses, supported chiefly by the operations of a small hosiery mill.
BLACKWOOD, 11.6 m. (75 alt., 1,500 pop.), the old site of Camel
County institutions, stretches along both sides of the highway, presenting
a sprightly picture that belies a history dating back to 1701. The population today is employed chiefly at industrial plants in Camden. The town
was named for Capt. John Blackwood, a settler of 1741. Uriah Norcross
owner of several stage lines in the lower end of the State, lived here, and
operated his transportation lines from an office near the crossroads. The
deserted relics of a real estate boom form a ghost city along the southern
outskirts of the town.
South of Blackwood the road turns L., presenting a view (R) at 12.5
m. of red brick buildings and tall chimneys, surrounded by a thick grove
of dark green pines and spruces. The buildings belong to the CAMDEN
COUNTY INSTITUTIONS, which care for indigent, tubercular, mentally
and other needy persons.
The highway dips into a more heavily wooded section, sweeping through
a region where small tracts have been cleared for orchards and vineyards.
The wooded section on both sides of the road is one of several State forests in this area. Frequent fires occur here, making blankets of smoke. The
frames of tall fire towers rise above the trees.
Farms in this region supplied Washington's troops with grain and other
foods, while the Army fought in and around Philadelphia. Raiding parties directed by British officers invaded the section.
GRENLOCH, 12.6 m. (60 alt., 750 pop.), is a small cluster of cottages
erected along the shores of a spring-fed lake (L) with boating, fishing,
and bathing facilities. Opposite the lake is WEBER's BUFFALO FARM
(adults, 25 cents; children, 10 cents), a 364-acre tract where five American bison
graze. Here also are bears, elk, and other deer, monkeys, Philippine water
buffalo, ostriches, and other birds. There are also collections of stuffed animals, old relics, minerals, and tropical plants.
Between Grenloch and Williamstown the highway is divided by a central parkway.
More vineyards, larger orchards, and wide fields under cultivation are
southward on State 42. The fruit orchards resemble a colorful checkerboard during blossom time. Peaches, pears, apples, and cherries are raised.
Replacing the orchards farther south, the woodland comes close to the
highway. Gnarled pines, stunted and twisted, scrub oaks, and an occasional magnolia tree, mingle in a thick undergrowth.
The southern end of the forest at 18.4 m. and more farms, devoted
largely to the cultivation of grains, line the road.
At 19.2 m. is the junction with US 322 (see Tour 25).
Pennsylvania Line to junction with US 322, 19.2 m.
Pennsylvania-Reading Seashore Lines parallel the route between Camden and Grenloch.
Usual accommodations.
Three- and four-lane concrete roadbed, with boulevarded sections at intervals.
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