Willingboro

By Josh Bernstein

Located between Philadelphia and Trenton, Willingboro has a three-hundred-year history of forward thinking. Founded in 1688 by Thomas Olive, a Quaker who left England seeking religious freedom, Willingboro evolved from an agricultural community longing to rid itself of British rule to a suburb unique in the United States. Using many vintage photographs and historical documents, Willingboro chronicles the rich lives and experiences of its residents, including William Franklin, the last royal governor of New Jersey, and track star Carl Lewis. This volume explores Willingboro's beginnings as a quiet farming community, which was a planned Delaware River crossing site for Washington's army during the Revolutionary War. Close to two centuries later, a Long Island developer replaced the farms with eleven thousand affordable homes that became America's third Levittown. Willingboro is the finest example of post-World War II suburban planning, affirmed in 1960 by the Westinghouse Corporation's decision to use the town as the backdrop for its "picture of everyday American life" advertising campaign. Willingboro gained international attention for its groundbreaking design, campaign visits from John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon, lakefront resort created through the construction of the Philadelphia subway system, and renowned jazz festival.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Arcadia Publishing
• Release date: Sep 18, 2012
• ISBN: 9781439628522

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INTRODUCTION

For millennia, a stretch of the Rancocas Creek near the Delaware River was a haven for the Lenape Indians. Fish filled the creek, waterfowl thrived, and elk, bear, and deer populated the woods. Early in the 17th century, Dutch and Swedish settlers found the area attractive and traded with the Lenape. In 1677, a group of Quaker commissioners from England purchased the land from the Lenape for the less-than-grandiose price of six match coats, guns, hatchets, and kettles. The region that became known as West Jersey was born.

Among those West Jersey Quakers was a man named Thomas Ollive. Along with several others, Ollive quickly purchased land along the Rancocas Creek and Delaware River. By 1682, Ollive had named his portion of land Wellingborough after his English hometown. Six years later, the Colonial governor established the constabulary of Wellingborrow. Wellingborough became 15 square miles located between Philadelphia and the West Jersey capital of Burlington and was one of Burlington County’s 11 original municipalities. The spelling of the town’s name varied over the years: Wellingborough, Wellingborrow, and Willingborough. Farms dominated the landscape. There were three villages: Rancocas, Charleston, and Coopertown. Residents traveled by land and by water, but traveling was not free. Burlington County records show that in 1692 the first toll bridge in West Jersey was constructed across Thomas Ollive’s Mill Dam.

In the mid-18th century, discontent with British rule—especially with taxes—swept through the colonies. Not far from Philadelphia and New York, Willingboro’s farmers were not immune from revolutionary feelings. Although no tea parties occurred here, Willingboro did have a focus for its British hatred.

In 1770, William Franklin, son of Philadelphia statesman Benjamin Franklin and the last royal governor of New Jersey, purchased a Georgian-style country house at what now is the intersection of Beverly-Rancocas Road and John F. Kennedy Way. The 525-acre estate included farmland, English-style gardens, and a forest filled with deer. The simmering rebellion frightened Franklin. Within five years of moving to Willingboro, he fled to a mansion owned by British sympathizers in Perth Amboy, East Jersey. Franklin could not escape, however, and Colonial revolutionaries arrested him in June 1776. Franklin sold the Willingboro estate in 1785. He died in England in 1813. The house burned to the ground in 1839.

No Revolutionary War battles were fought in Willingboro, but its access to the Delaware River and Rancocas Creek made it a convenient corridor for British and Colonial troops marching through the state. Six months after the Colonials deposed Franklin, Gen. George Washington massed his battered army at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania. Gen. George Washington crossed the Delaware River on Christmas day of 1776 and surprised the Hessians camped at Trenton. Many people may be unaware that Washington also planned to send 1,600 men across the river to a wharf in Willingboro known as Dunk’s Ferry. The troops were to march through town and attack the British in Mount Holly. Poor weather prevented a large-scale local crossing, but older residents have not forgotten Washington’s intentions.

After the war, Willingboro settled into a quiet farming existence. In 1834, the Camden and Amboy Railroad installed tracks through the town. Four years later the first post office opened here.

Willingboro grew throughout the early 19th century. In 1844, some 900 people called the town home. However, many of the newcomers settled in a development on the banks of the Delaware called Beverly. By 1858, the city dwellers outnumbered the farmers. The Beverly residents moved the polls into the town and then challenged the credentials of the farmers who came there to vote. Beverly residents also exempted themselves from paying taxes for road maintenance, forcing the farmers to shoulder an increased financial burden. That year, the township committee voted to divide the town. The state legislature made the act final in 1859, setting the boundary at the Burlington-Willingboro Turnpike (Route 130). With a stroke of the pen, Willingboro’s population fell to 643.

Life in Willingboro remained fairly stable for the next 90 years, even as its young men left to fight the Civil War, World War I, and World War II. In 1950, the population of the town stood at 852.