Woodbury

By Robert W. Sands Jr., Barbara L. Turner and Gloucester County Historical Society

Woodbury possesses a rich heritage that reads like the story of America. Established in 1683 by Quakers seeking religious freedom, the community was occupied for three days by British troops under Gen. Charles Cornwallis during the Revolutionary War. In 1787, Woodbury became the county seat of Gloucester County, and it remains so to this day. It was home to Capt. James Lawrence, who coined the phrase "Don't give up the ship" during the War of 1812. Woodbury features views of the lavish homes built by prominent residents, scenes of the 1904 train wreck, and never-before-published images of the Broad Street business district in the mid-1900s.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Arcadia Publishing
• Release date: Sep 18, 2012
• ISBN: 9781439633977

Robert W. Sands Jr.

Author Robert W. Sands Jr. has been fascinated with the town�s history since his early years growing up in Glassboro. He is the museum coordinator and a life member of the Gloucester County Historical Society. He is also a life member of the Heritage Glass Museum in Glassboro, and he assisted in the restoration of the highly decorated USS New Jersey. In Glassboro, his latest book, he pays tribute to the heritage of the town that developed around the early �glassworks in the woods.�

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INTRODUCTION

In the year 1683, within the rural realms of Lancashire, England, fellow believers of Friends, also known as Quakers, rejected the king’s order to worship under the doctrinal teachings of the Church of England. It was at this time that fellow Quaker William Penn gathered the brethren and traveled to the New World to establish a Quaker city, which he named Philadelphia, in Greek meaning the city of brotherly love. Among those who came to America and established themselves as free believers were Henry Wood and his family. Sailing into the Delaware River, the Woods ventured into New Jersey and traveled into the Pesczackasing Creek, now known as Woodbury Creek. Along its bank they established a new settlement. By combining the Wood name with their parish home of Bury, the new hamlet was so christened.

When the old King’s Highway was established in 1696, the road linked Woodbury with the communities of Burlington and Salem. This thoroughfare, along with light shipping along the Woodbury Creek, allowed the community to develop a strong commercial district. Soon consumers and merchants were attracted from all areas of southern New Jersey. As the town grew, it established itself as a borough in 1854 within Deptford Township and became an independent city in 1871. The economics of the city continued to thrive. By doing so, the rural farmland that once encircled the city made way for new housing developments. In the years following the Civil War, Woodbury began to be recognized for its lavish homes, constructed by Woodbury’s prominent citizens. Among those was Woodbury’s first millionaire and Civil War veteran Col. George G. Green. His enterprise of patent medicines became well known not only locally but also nationally.

Woodbury has hosted visits by four U.S. presidents: William Taft, Theodore Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson, and Richard Nixon. It is a community that has produced a Civil War Confederate general, a United States senator, and devoted men and women of the armed forces from the training facilities of historic Camp Stockton to our heroes of the New Jersey National Guard. For well over three centuries, Woodbury has continued to attract people of many different nationalities, cultures, and beliefs. It is a city that has been able to balance its historic heritage along with modernization.

Woodbury preserves the images of this humble Quaker settlement that has grown into a leading community with over 10,000 residents. This book chronicles photographic images of the city from the 19th century to the late 1960s. Over the last century, the Gloucester County Historical Society has collected and preserved images of many of the county’s communities. This book shares with you many of the photographs of Woodbury that are located in the society’s archives as well as from private collections. We hope that these pages will bring back memories to those who remember old Woodbury and great insight for future generations.

The Gloucester County Historical Society Museum building on North Broad Street was built in 1765. Over time, it was the home of three prominent Woodbury men: Rev. Andrew Hunter, Greenwich tea burner and teacher; Capt. James Lawrence, who coined the phrase Don’t Give up the Ship, and Judge John Jessup, seen here around 1900 on the left side. In 1924, the historical society purchased the home from the Jessups.

The Gloucester County Historical Society Library on Hunter Street was constructed in 1973; an addition was built in 1983. The original library was located in the museum in two rooms known as the Watkins-Stewart Library. The library contains over 5,000 vertical files, church and cemetery records, 3,000 microfilm reels, census records, and vital statistic indexes. For 38 years, the library was under the direction of Edith Hoelle, who retired in 2001.

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BUSINESSES

Before 1690, Woodbury Creek was the viable thoroughfare that transported goods in and out of the community. Between 1696 and 1698, after the center of the community’s life shifted from the streams and waterways, the Great Road or King’s Road through Woodbury was chartered. In later years, it was known as Main or Woodbury Street and finally was changed to Broad Street around 1854. It was about this time that the business district began to develop. Trolley service was established in 1894 and became an essential mode of travel. Horse-and-buggy travel, as seen in this c. 1905 picture, was still common. In the early 1900s, the Woodbury Creek was the dividing line between North and South Broad Streets. In 1927, the numbering system was changed, making Cooper and Delaware Streets the north/south dividing line. The homes on the left side of the picture are still standing today as well as the building on the right.

G. G. Green built this structure in 1887, and for over a century, the corner of Broad and Cooper Streets was known as drugstore corner. Merritt’s occupied this site for over 30 years. From 1910 to 1947, William Sutton Sr. owned the store until it became Ralen’s with pharmacist Leonard Epstein. Lester Guggenheim’s Fashion Shop operated next door from 1939 to 1980. Everett Fisler’s Foto Bar Lab was located on the second floor.

Clarence Fernandez, Elsie Wolfrom, and an unidentified woman flank the newly built soda fountain in 1936 in Sutton’s, where one could purchase hand-dipped ice-cream cones or weighed pint containers. Lawyers and students gathered after a court date or at the day’s end. Due to a fire in 1974, the structure was razed in 1982. It was the site of the former Lenape Center and is now Brown and Connery Law Office.

This southeast side of Broad Street at Cooper Street housed Engle’s Barber Shop, Duffield’s Oyster Salon, Schrenk’s Bakery, and Hargrove’s Paint and Hardware (Wakemen’s Hardware) in 1915. The