Camden, NJ Images

Revised July 2013: Read Harlan Radford, Jr.’s commentary on about fifty recently added Camden images scanned from his expansive postcard and philatelic collection. Camden Comments

Revised March 2015: A collector’s recently acquired 1939 postcard (above) further illuminates a little known chapter in the history of the postal service – the daily autogiro airmail shuttle service linking New Jersey’s Central Airport and the roof of the General Post Office in Philadelphia. It became known as the “world’s shortest air mail route!”

You could win a bar bet on that one. Thank-you again to a big contributor of scans to rivertonhistory.com, Harlan Radford, Jr.

short-history-of-camden-central-airport-snapshotIf you missed it in an earlier post, read more details in Harlan’s A Short History of Camden’s Central Airport in Postcards and First-Day Covers, 1929-1940.

Revised Sept. 2015: If you read the above article and have sharp eyes, see this next postcard in the Philadelphia section – a 1936 copyrighted postcard of Philadelphia’s Main Post Office at 30th and Market Streets.  “Look! Up in the Sky! It’s a Bird…It’s a Plane... It’s ….well, you’ll know, but few others will.

Rev. Feb. 4, 2016: Added today five choice vintage Camden, NJ RPPCs. See the post, Collector shares his eBay postcard auction prizes, with detailed descriptions for these five plus descriptions for three more previously posted images.

Rev. April 2016: Added today a complete Souvenir Folder of Camden, NJ

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short-history-of-camden-central-airport-pt-ii-snapshotAdded September 2016: Avid philatelist Harlan Radford writes another chapter in this sequel to his earlier post. Part II: A Short History of Camden’s Central Airport in Postcards and First Day Covers, 1929 – 1940

 

 

 

Camden Central Airport Rules and Regulations

Added January 2019: Even an eBay auction miss can yield information about the defunct Camden Central Airport as evidenced by this screen capture.

Should some charitable reader send us a scan of the back cover, we would appreciate it.

Hurleys – Everything for the home and family, Broadway at Pine, Camden NJ, c1952

Added 11/27/2019: “HURLEY’S – EVERYTHING FOR THE HOME AND FAMILY ON EASY TERMS” – CAMDEN, N.J. – POSTMARKED CAMDEN MAY 1, 1952

Caption of reverse/address/message side of this pc: “In 1890, Wm. Leonard Hurley founded the first Hurley Store in Camden, N.J. He established our never-changing policy of selling high-grade merchandise, giving friendly credit and maintaining dependable service that satisfied every customer. Our organization has grown to eight stores in seven cities.”

Talk about excellent communication between the store and the customer, this card carried the following type-written message to the recipient residing in Clementon, N.J. which reads as follows: “We haven’t forgotten your order…but some of our shipments have been very slow. However, we do not believe you will have to wait much longer. Meanwhile, thank you for your patience and be assured that as soon as your order arrives, it will be sent to you. Sincerely, HURLEY’S”

Added 2/17/2021: John Block, a sharp-eyed visitor from Florida, comments on the two Camden Carnival postcards.

Sir/Madam, Fine site, well done. Found it looking for info on Camden proper. Specifically a ferry to Philly located on the Delaware at Liberty St., known to all as the “Ferry Ave Ferry.” It was not the Kaighn’s Ave/Point ferry. Used it many times crossing to Philly and the Abbott’s Ice Cream plant then on Lombard St. A minor update to the Camden Carnival Street post Card.  That’s Broadway and Line St. You can confirm it by the Dentist sign on the wall of the next building and the edge of the Library building and comparison with another Library post card in the collection. I once lived on Broadway at Pine, playing on those steps/Library window ledges often. A then street urchin, methinks my youth would have been better served inside with the books! Good luck. Stay healthy. Semper Fi, John H Block, Venice, FL Ps. Lest I forget. Once worked in small RCA Service Co bldg on the RR street. Early 60’s. BMEWS Project. Great little town- Riverton.

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John McCormick

Teacher at Riverton School 1974-2019, author, amateur historian, Historical Society of Riverton Board Member 2007-2023, newsletter editor 2007-2023, website editor 2011-2023

7 thoughts on “Camden, NJ Images”

  1. Do you have any postcards showing Liney Ditch which was located at the foot of Jasper St. It is the site of today’s sewer Authority in Camden.

    1. Thank you for your interest. I asked my friend your question and he replied,”I have never seen nor do I have any post cards (past or present) of Camden showing or related to today’s sewer authority in Camden.” Doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist, but it isn’t likely, since he has been collecting Camden postcards for many years. Please keep us in mind if you get something we could post in the collection.

    2. Did you ever receive an answer on liney ditch? I have been looking for information on this area for a few years, and it’s hard to come by. If you have any to share, please e-mail me with the heading … Info liney ditch. sisnc@hotmail.com

      1. Hi, Ethel
        I don’t know if you already know all this, but I hope it helps. This first part comes from a posting to ancestry.com by my friend and professional historian, Paul W. Schopp:

        Liney Ditch takes its name from Line Ditch, a.k.a. Little Newton Creek, a.k.a. Kaighn’s Run, a stream located in South Camden. This stream originated out near 10th Street at one time. It flowed under Broadway between Jackson and Lansdowne Street and appears on 19th and early 20th century maps and atlas plates. Once Eavenson & Levering constructed their wool scouring mill at the intersection of 4th, Jackson and Ferry avenues, the stream to the east disappeared. The wool scouring mill used the stream for its effluent. Even today, there are still bridges in place on Ferry Avenue and the railroad that span the watercourse. In the late 18th and into the 19th century, a Little Newton Creek Meadow Co. existed for creating banked meadowlands along the stream. Line Ditch takes its name from serving as the dividing line between Kaighn and Mickle lands.
        Now, regarding Liney Ditch. This community of shanties sprang up on dredge spoils deposited along the Delaware River shore from Jackson Street south to about Jasper Street. The shanty town begins to appear during the late 1890s and grew to rather large proportions, relatively speaking, by the 1930s. The community featured tarpaper shacks, a chapel, a store and post office, a common fountain to supply water and dirt streets and paths. The shanty town disappeared when Camden City began constructing a major new sewage treatment plant on the dredge spoils in the late 1940s. Today, this treatment plant is the home to the CCMUA (Camden County Municipal Utility Authority). The name Liney Ditch seems to be an enduring part of the history and lore of Camden.

        Click on this link and find a virtual tour about the neighborhood today. Be sure to click the “next” arrow at the bottom of your screen to move along the tour. https://www.historypin.org/attach/tours/take/id/4250/title/Waterfront%20South%20History%20in%20a%20Camden,%20NJ%20Neighborhood//#1 The 2nd and 3rd slides may be of particular interest.

        This online edition of the 1909 Historical Sketch of Camden, NJ mentions the Line Ditch on pages 18 and 36:
        https://archive.org/stream/historicalsketch02coop#page/18/mode/2up/search/ditch
        Regards,
        John McCormick

        1. John,
          This is about as thorough a read as one will ever find on Liney Ditch. Grew up at So 2nd and Kaighn. The “River” was our playground. From the northern bank we looked across to the tarpaper shacks and put together homes. Many, if not all had “Victory Gardens out front/side. Spent many days playing on our side never venturing across. We used our side too to learn how to drive down the long stretches of road adjacent to the river. I believe these stetches were for train sidings in disrepair in my days 1945ish.
          Thanks for the trip down memory lane.

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