Historical Society of Riverton, NJ

We are so pleased when a reader contributes images or information that further develops a story. We just received this email from HSR member Mary M. Flanagan:

I saw an article in the Gaslight News recently asking for information on the former service station at 515 Main St. after it passed to John “Jack” Reynolds. I contacted Allen Reynolds who is a son of Jack’s to see if he could contribute any information. Below is what Allen sent to me.

• Prior to 1947 – Charles T. Woolston was the original owner. My father was employee.
• Sept 1947 – Woolston and my father went into partnership (Woolston and Reynolds Service Station).
• Sept 1959 – Woolston opted out of partnership. My father bought Woolston out (Reynolds Service Center).
• However, Woolston continued to own the building, leasing it to my father.
• Jan 1980 – My father dies. I keep business. With my father’s death, building lease expires. I have to purchase it to keep business operating.
• 1986 – Business closed. Building sold to Robert S. Moccia Enterprises, Inc.

That was wonderful of Mary to track down this photo and information. I had to look carefully at that photo in case our old Ford Torino was in there as I often dropped off our car there for service on my way to Riverton School.

Regular visitors may recall Mary’s contribution of scans of remarkable family photos and postcards that I have previously used to illustrate website and newsletter articles. She gave us images of some people, things, and places that literally have no other representation in our records, so in that regard they are priceless. Here are three articles:

• • • Best Wishes from the Society
    • Happy New Year…almost
    • Jos. F. Yearly’s photos recall the J.T. Evans Coal & Lumber business

Daniel Campbell, AIA, is a widely recognized multi-state licensed architect whose specialty is the restoration and preservation of historic architecture. He is also a past HSR president and former Gaslight News editor.

During his eighteen years in Riverton, Mr. Campbell restored and rehabilitated his residence at 16 Carriage House Lane while designing four new residences.

Dan was part of the Riverton Steamboat Landing Foundation Project Team that completed the restoration of the Riverton Yacht Club. The project won a 2001 NJ State Historic Preservation Project Award.

In 1999, after several years of careful and exhaustive research by Society members and the Borough led by Daniel Campbell, Keith Betten, and Betty Hahle, the National Register of Historic Places designated Riverton Historic District.

Mr. Campbell’s 40-slide PowerPoint incorporates many detailed drawings and photos of projects he has executed over his career in PA, NJ (including Riverton), DE, MD, & SC.

A phone call today confirmed that masks are not required for this event, but anyone may wear one if they wish.

With the return of Daylight Savings Time and warmer temps, our thoughts wander to visits to the Jersey Shore.

But which one? LBI, Avalon, Ocean City, and Wildwood are all favorites, but Riverton folks have been going to Stone Harbor since its early days.

Postcard collector and local history buff Harlan B. Radford Jr. elaborates below on a classic landmark of that resort – the Water Works.

by Harlan B. Radford Jr.

The Risley Brothers, developers of Stone Harbor, recognized that if their enterprise was to succeed, it needed an ample supply of clean and safe water. The city water supply soon replaced private wells such as the one that served the Harbor Inn over near 80th Street with gasoline engine-powered water pumps.

In the winter of 1908-1909, the Risley Brothers completed an artesian waterworks system at 96th Street and Second Avenue with a well that tunneled to a depth of 856 feet and accessed a geological water-bearing formation known as the Kirkwood Aquifer. The 10-foot diameter vertical standpipe on that first pumping station stood 100 feet high and held 60,000 gallons of water.

The following selection of vintage images and information will highlight key moments in Stone Harbor’s waterworks history.

Note the circular stairs ascending to the top of the standpipe in these two postcards that depict the newly completed waterworks, but from two different vantage points.

Harry S. Parks, the engineer, took the photo on the left of this two-part image which shows the interior of the Stone Harbor water pump house that went into service in 1909 or 1910.

On the right, a scan of a section of the 1917 Sanborn Insurance Map of Stone Harbor details the specifications of the water facilities.

Sanborn Map Company / 11 Broadway / New York / 1917 / Copyright 1917, by the Sanborn Map Co. Population: 400- in Summer 4,000 / Prevailing Winds: S.W. / WATER FACILITIES: Water Works owned by Boro. of Stone Harbor. Gravity system 2-8″ Artesian wells. Airlift into a 50,000 gal. reservoir. Thence pumped into a 58,000 gal. stand pipe by 2-sweigard gasoline driven pumps. capcy 600gals. per min. ea. Thence by gravity flow thru about 20 miles of 4″ to 8″ mains. average pressure 40 lbs. per sq. in. Fire pressure 100 lbs. Average daily consumption 50,000 gals. in winter: 200,000 gals. in summer. 20 hydrants.

A photo from that period shows the pump house and standpipe and reveals five workers, three of whom stand at the base of the standpipe, another worker ascends the circular stairs about halfway up, and a fifth workman is at the very top level of the standpipe. At least 10 to 12 large houses loom in the distant background in this early north-facing view.

 

This rare antique ocean-facing photo below features the new water works and shows a Pennsylvania Railroad train parked along Second Avenue.

It is possibly a work train that appears to be carrying some freight or construction materials, has a lifting crane for loading and unloading, and has at least one attached passenger or personnel car.

Also, the pump house roof now boldly displays four words in large white letters – “STONE HARBOR WATER Company.” Festive patriotic bunting frames the pump house and traces the entire spiral staircase, and a huge American flag is flapping in a strong breeze at the top of the standpipe in this spectacular photo taken around 1910.

This early c1920s view captures the Stone Harbor water works and Diller’s Store on 95th Street, looking north along the expansive Second Avenue. Several cottages and residential homes in the distance line First Avenue.

 

By 1924, increased demand for a safe and dependable water supply for the fast-growing community required the construction of another pumping station and newly installed pumps at the same 96th Street location and a new, second well drilled to a depth of 890 feet.

Postmarked in 1925, just one year after the completion of the new pumping station, this black and white postcard is one of the earliest known views of the water works with the standpipe behind the new pumping station. This second pumping station is Stone Harbor’s oldest public building.

 

The Water Works’ distinctive Mediterranean style architecture and its classic tile roof made the pumping station a well-recognized, even iconic, Stone Harbor landmark. A large American flag adorns the front-door entrance to this building in this vivid color postcard.

Sometime during the 1940s, the original standpipe or water tower proved insufficient, and a replacement tower with a capacity of 150,000 gallons was approved and built.

This new second water tower had a very different silhouette and consisted of a large holding tank perched atop a four-legged structure with a large water pipe running from the ground up. A third well drilled at 92nd Street and Second Avenue in 1949 to a depth of 878 feet added additional capacity.

Until the original tower on the right was dismantled and removed, the new, larger 1940s water tower and its 1909 predecessor stood side by side for several months.

The following three postcards, provided in a chronological sequence, depict views of the 1940s replacement tower taken over some 10-15 years.

Captured in either 1946 or 1947 from an upper floor of the Shelter Haven Hotel, the real photo postcard view at left shows some undeveloped parcels of land evident along the 96th Street business district. The linen postcard was mailed in 1955, and the chrome postcard was sent in 1961. During this time, a fourth freshwater well was dug in 1955 to a depth of 965 feet at 101st Street and Second Avenue.

Sometime in the early 1960s, the borough changed the paint color of the water tower from a darker blue-gray hue to a less dramatic light green color, as these two more modern chrome postcards show.

Grassy islands with lush flowers run along the middle of Second Avenue, with many still recognizable and notable public buildings in the foreground. The water tower is prominent in the background of the photo of the municipal tennis courts.

These last two continental-size modern-era postcards picture the latest and current water tower version that was constructed in 1978. The elevated single-column hydropillar design water tank stands 133 feet high and has a 500,000-gallon capacity.

This water tower structure features a vertical fluted support column substantially different in size and basic appearance from its two predecessors. Presently, four wells supply water for Stone Harbor, which is then aerated and disinfected before being distributed through approximately 150,000 feet of pipe to more than 2,900 customers.

For more than a century, Stone Harbor has kept pace with the ongoing need to provide its residents with dependable, safe drinking water. Besides serving their practical use, the three different water towers have also provided elevated vantage points that have yielded some excellent photographic images of the changing face of the downtown business district over time.

*Stone Harbor: One Hundred Years of the Seashore At Its Best, Copyright Exit Zero Press – First Edition 2014 – Exit Zero Press, 109 Sunset Boulevard, Suite D, Cape May, N.J. 08204

Harlan Radford also contributes to the Stone Harbor Museum website and Facebook page.

After a lengthy Covid-related delay, the Historical Society of Riverton is excited to announce our first annual History Writing Prize!

It seems like a lifetime ago, but you may recall our Historic House Party in November 2019.

Heather Macintosh Huffnagle, House Party Chair, conceived the idea to host the affair to raise funds to support excellence in history writing using the HSR’s archives by providing cash awards to students.

The event raised $4,000, but the disruption to school routines and the cancellation of our meetings caused a two-year delay in implementing the new writing program.

Entry due date: May 15, 2022

Summary:

The Historical Society of Riverton (HSR) will award a cash prize of $500 for a 1000 word essay that answers a question about Riverton’s history. The winning entry will be featured on the HSR’s website: http://www.rivertonhistory.com. Noteworthy essays that do not win the primary prize may also be published on the HSR’s website. Essays will follow MLA guidelines for published works (see General Guidelines for Submissions below).

The Question:

“During the middle years of the nineteenth century, the United States experienced many dynamic changes, including the extensive growth of industry and cities, advances in modes of transportation, and political and social conflicts surrounding the issue of slavery. Riverton was founded in 1851. Please research and describe how any of these changes may have influenced where, why, and by whom the town was founded.”

Our website (http://www.rivertonhistory.com) includes many photographs, maps, and articles on Riverton’s history that may help inform and illustrate your essay.

Who may submit an entry?

 Any high school student living in Riverton may apply.

How are essays submitted?

Students may submit their essays and questions about the prize to HSR’s Membership Chair Heather Huffnagle at heather.mary.macintosh@gmail.com

Review Committee

HSR Board Members and professionals among its membership with education and/or experience in historical research, education, and writing comprise the Review Committee.

Timeline:

Entries will be accepted until May 15. Awardees will be contacted on May 31.

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General Guidelines for Submissions

MLA Paper Format General Guidelines 

• • Use standard 8.5 x 11 white paper.
  • Number your pages.
  • 1-inch margins (all sides)
  • Readable font
  • Double-spaced
  • Indent new paragraphs.
  • Only one space between sentences

MLA cover page includes a few things like: 

• • Title of your paper
  • Your name
  • Your email
  • Your school’s name

What should an MLA paper look like?

An MLA paper has a standard look for every page, including 1-inch margins, a readable font, a running header including your last name and page number, and author-page in-text citations. At the end of your paper, you will include works cited with a list of all the sources used in the paper.

HSR President (and former Riverton Mayor) Bill Brown has delivered a letter to the Riverton Planning Board which details the many “questions about perceived serious procedural irregularities” HSR has received regarding hearings on the Groves Mansion at 411 Lippincott Avenue. Read the letter HERE.

For more information about the fascinating history of the Groves Mansion, see its Statement of Historical Significance by Borough Historian Roger Prichard HERE.

The next Planning Board hearing will be critical to its fate. It will be Tuesday, March 22, 2022, at 7:00, via Zoom at this link: https://zoom.us/j/99667220214?pwd=egmyc1ncm0tmtwruajb6b29dak9zut09

(If it asks for a Passcode, use 813512)

RIV101: History of Riverton 101
prerequisites: NONE
LECTURE HOURS/CREDITS: 1½/0

Borough Historian Roger Prichard presented a slideshow that might  well have been titled “History of Riverton 101” at the Porch Club on February 16 to an audience of about eighty appreciative HSR members and Porch Club members.

The central premise of the illuminating presentation is that the founders were almost all wealthy Quaker merchants from the Philadelphia area who were deeply committed to the abolition of slavery.

Roger’s extensive use of old photos, maps, newspaper clippings, and documents, many of which had not been seen by an audience before, delivered a very factual, vivid, and engaging picture of the birth of Riverton.

We hope to reprise this program for the general public sometime in the fall.

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Membership Report from Heather MacIntosh Huffnagle

The Historical Society of Riverton welcomes new members Stephanie Brown of Riverton, Robert Lundstedt Jr of Mount Laurel, NJ, and Nicole Rafter of Riverton!

Thanks to those members who have already renewed. If you haven’t already, please send your dues via mail or by PayPal on our website (scroll down left side to find the PayPal button).

In addition to renewing their memberships, many members have made additional donations. As of March 16, 2022, we have collected $2,560 in extra contributions! Many thanks to those members: C. William and Joan Biddle, Pat Brunker, Steve Cawley, William and Jo Ann Corbi, Ed and Joann Costigan, Hank and Jill Croft, Joseph and Michele Daniel, Donald and Pamela Dietz, Joe and Eileen DellaPenna, Dennis and Janet DeVries, Jeffrey DiFrancesco and Stephanie Zarus, Eileen Gilbert, Paul Grena, James Griffin, Henry Parrish Hackett, William and Nancy Hall, George and Mary Honeyford, Helen Hughes, Lynn Johnson, Michael and Mary Kate Kearney, Alan and Helene Lilholt, Robert Lundstedt, William and Mary Markiewicz, William and Patricia McDermott, Eleanor Paladino, John and Barbara Palko, Mary Pat Peters, Paul Schopp, Michael Spinelli, Dorothy Talavera, and Richard H. Winans Jr.

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Writing Prize for High School Students

Pre-COVID November 2019 seems like a lifetime ago.

Huffnagle hosted a brilliant House Party at the historic Coales’ home with the goal to establish cash awards to encourage students to author local history articles using primary source material.

The event raised over $4,000, but we are only now able to discuss how to frame the program. At an HSR Board meeting on March 15, the group talked about the writing prize and targeted April 1 as the day to announce details regarding our inaugural award. Stay tuned!

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Riverton Arcadia book is coming July 4

Arcadia Book Project Manager Faith Endicott reports that our illustrated 128-page paperback Arcadia Images of America book about Riverton is on the way to the presses. It will contain several images not previously seen by the public. We expect to receive our 300 pre-ordered books in time to sell on July 4.

The price is $23.99. We are preparing to accept payment in cash, Venmo, and PayPal. We plan to set up in front of the library. More details to follow.

 

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The Gaslight News #182 published in January 2020 an announcement of Dan Campbell’s March 26 presentation.

Meanwhile, a scientist in China confirmed that a mysterious new pneumonia-like illness identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019, could be transmitted from human to human. The US saw its first case of the disease, later named COVID-19. By February, cases of COVID-19 multiplied around the world, and by March, the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a pandemic.

The presentation never happened, and we haven’t held a General Membership Meeting since.

After a 25-month delay caused by COVID restrictions, we are pleased to announce that Dan has graciously agreed to give his talk on April 21, 2022, at Riverton Free Library.

Daniel Campbell, AIA, is a widely recognized multi-state licensed architect whose specialty is the restoration and preservation of historic architecture. He is also a past HSR president and former Gaslight News editor.

During his eighteen years in Riverton, Mr. Campbell restored and rehabilitated his residence at 16 Carriage House Lane while designing four new residences.

Dan was part of the Riverton Steamboat Landing Foundation Project Team that completed the restoration of the Riverton Yacht Club. The project won a 2001 NJ State Historic Preservation Project Award.

In 1999, after several years of careful and exhaustive research by Society members and the Borough led by Daniel Campbell, Keith Betten, and Betty Hahle, the National Register of Historic Places designated Riverton Historic District.

Mr. Campbell’s 40-slide PowerPoint incorporates many detailed drawings and photos of projects he has executed over his career in PA, NJ (including Riverton), DE, MD, & SC.

We really need to clean up this place more often.

Funny what turns up when you just turn over a couch cushion. Well, not really – we don’t actually have a couch. Or a clubhouse, for that matter.

But metaphorically speaking, the housecleaning in our storage area these past few months has turned up more than just loose change.

For more than a year, our HSR Archives Committee has taken advantage of our COVID-induced meeting inactivity to organize, catalog, and archivally store items in our collection. In taking stock, they have found some happy surprises. (See more in GN #186 May 2021, GN #187 Aug 2021, GN #188 Oct 2021, GN #189 Dec 2021)

Four recent cases in point:

#1. New glass plate negative
Archivist Keith Betten turned up an orphaned glass plate negative that he figured was of Bank and Main and gave it to Board Member and Borough Historian Roger Prichard to see if he could get a scan of it.

Roger reports that indeed it is – and quite a wonderful little time machine. He explains:

Scanning glass plates isn’t entirely successful unless you have the advanced equipment that the Conservation Center does, which we used for the collection of 19 plates last year. (See Issue #186, May 2021)

But I was able to get a usable scan from my flatbed, and here it is. (It is a passable web-resolution scan; the Conservation Center will do better.)

The date is unknown and could be in quite a range, though generally turn-of-the-century. It can’t be any earlier than 1882 when the Fitler family bought the house and rebuilt it, as you see here.

Not sure what’s the latest it could be… the town had dirt streets well into the 20th century, and I don’t know how late the last oil-burning street lamp was removed (see at extreme right).

In his book, Tale of Three Towns, Lloyd Griscom wrote, “In 1880 some fifty oil street lamps were installed on the few streets constituting Riverton at that time. Lemuel H. Davis organized this project, which was supported by popular subscription. Ann Holvick was named as a lamplighter at $7.50 annually per lamp. These lamps survived until 1908 when the Borough replaced them with picturesque gas lights.”

Former HSR President, newsletter editor, and Borough Historian Betty Hahle wrote that the first gas street lamp was installed on Lippincott Avenue, near Broad, in 1908, as a test, or exhibition piece. Shortly after that, inspired by the success of the new lighting system, Riverton installed 51 lights and Palmyra, 60.

Here’s a crop of just the street lamp (a Dietz #3 Tubular Street Lamp model later renamed the Pioneer).

Who was the photographer? That’s a mystery to me. The whole feel of it is different than the collection in the box, but it’s about the same era. It’s also about the same era as the 5×7 album prints we got from eBay that I suspect were taken by W.R. Ellison (next door at 403 Bank).

Photographer David Lothrop (who lived in Iris and Rich Gaughan’s house) was also very active at this time and did take photos of Bank Avenue houses. We got several among the great things that Miller Biddle gave us back in the Fall and I have yet to scan), but those were much more formal, not artistic/atmospheric like these.

There’s more detail on the plate than my scanner can pick up because of haloing on the thick glass plate so we should plan on paying the Conservation Center to scan it one of these days.

Thought you’d all enjoy this little excursion! -Rog

Yes, Roger, thank you for a step back in time. It must be cool for a homeowner to see a photo of their house from 100+ years ago. If you have a 50plus-year-old picture of your home that we could add to our collection, please send it to rivertonhistory@gmail.com.

Meanwhile, your Gaslight News Editor looked back to other times we wrote about the gas street lamps. Here’s a summary:

In his book, Tale of Three Towns, Lloyd Griscom wrote, “In 1880 some fifty oil street lamps were installed on the few streets constituting Riverton at that time. Lemuel H. Davis organized this project, which was supported by popular subscription. Ann Holvick was named as a lamplighter at $7.50 annually per lamp. These lamps survived until 1908 when the Borough replaced them with picturesque gas lights.”

Former HSR President, newsletter editor, and Borough Historian Betty Hahle wrote that the first gas street lamp was installed on Lippincott Avenue, near Broad, in 1908, as a test, or exhibition piece. Shortly thereafter, inspired by the success of the new lighting system, Riverton installed 51 lights and Palmyra, 60. (Also see March 30, 2011 post Welsbach Gaslamps Are Century-Old Fixtures Here)

#2 An Early Map Finds Its Way Home, Archivist Keith Betten explains:

At the very end of January this year a curious document found its way to the “desk” in the HSR’s Archival Area. A note which accompanied it indicated that it had somehow been included with the used books and media items regularly offered for sale on Sunday afternoons in the basement of the Riverton Free Library.

When a patron offered to purchase the item, which appeared to be an old, hand-drawn map, the sales volunteer on duty, Janice Pappenberg, indicated that she didn’t know how that particular document had wound up on the bookshelves there but was pretty sure that “we don’t sell old maps”. She set it aside, and that is how it eventually found its way to the “Archives Desk.”

Great save, Janice!

When it was carefully unfolded, from right to left (south to north), the hand-drawn images at first held the possibility of an important link to Riverton’s early history; featuring a side-wheeler plying the Delaware River close to the shore, and a steam locomotive, with billowing smoke approaching a railway station, but when fully unfurled, it revealed that it depicted the confluence of the Rancocas “River or Creek” and the Delaware River.

It, in fact, depicted properties “adjoining the town of Progress” (now Riverside, NJ) based on a survey of the area made by Benjamin H. Lippincott, on October 6th, 1853. Because the document did not conform with “Riverton only” accessions policy developed by the Archives Committee, and approved by the HSR board, it was presented, to and was gratefully received by Riverside Historical Society president, Alice Smith, at their archives and museum on February 10th. That society intends to have it restored and prominently displayed.

Ed. note: We hope to get a better image than this cellphone snapshot.)

#3 A “new” photo of RFL (Appeared previously in GN #186, May 2021)
Former RPS Librarian Mrs. Pat Solin actually relished the job of delving into the Library’s catacombs to inventory items. So it was with a certain glee that she sent us a hi-resolution scan of an undated and uncaptioned photo that she found. (See the original at left; photo-edited at right)

While a group email among Board Members awaited a consensus about its origin and date this Editor was motivated to post it along with a number of other vintage and modern views of our favorite library. (See them all here.)

#4 Riverton Laundry 1944 Calendar Keith Betten explains:

Pat Solin has completed a masterful organization of the extensive files of the Historical Society of Riverton, ranging over the course of more than fifty years since its founding, and I continue to organize our “Images of Riverton” collection, which includes vintage and contemporary photographs, slides, video and digital formats of people, places, and events.

In early February, I happened upon a relic from a Riverton business, probably issued in the 1940s. During that time, the Riverton Laundry, a fairly extensive operation located in East Riverton, seems to have produced what has to be termed “rather risqué” calendars for selected customers and maybe for the boys overseas.

The calendar page is gone, but the image, in vivid color, was saved. Typical of the (pardon the expression) “girlie calendars” popular at the time, it will become a part of the HSR’s “Private Riverton Businesses” archival collection.

Ed. note: Keith says “…probably issued in the 1940s” because coincidentally, HSR member Jerry Mooney brought to our attention a 1943 pinup calendar of his that also advertises the Riverton Laundry.

 

 

 

 

 

Here are some Riverton Laundry ads from The New Era.

Thanks to our ability to search through 50+ years of our newsletters, I found this acknowledgment on page 4 of GN #125 Jan 2007.

“Trish and Geno Mori recently donated a calendar from the Riverton Laundry. The date is unknown as the calendar part has been removed, but the top portion of the calendar has a lovely nude female figure on it.”

Mystery solved!

Should you find any Riverton-related items during your spring cleaning, please consider donating them to the Society. I am weary of hearing someone say, “Oh, I had one of those. Threw it out.” Some of our best finds have been rescued from the trash.

 

Changes at the Point
1851-Present
Patricia Smith Solin and John McCormick

The Point at Main and Howard Sts. in Riverton has been a town feature since its founding in 1851. Using information in our archives, maps, and new research, we compile several changes the location has seen over the years and invite our readers to add more material to amplify the story.

Before Riverton was a new town, the Lippincott, Toy, Thomas, and Morgan families owned most of the farmland in the area. Riverton’s Quaker founders, members of the urban mercantile aristocracy, sought to establish a picturesque refuge in a rural setting removed from the pressures of city life.

The founders wanted it to be more than just a summer haven for their families; they envisioned a community with other families and services to enhance their proposed village. The founders purchased 120 acres from Joseph Lippincott, and they engaged Philadelphia architect Samuel Sloan to develop the town plan and design Riverton’s first buildings.

A map, likely published in early 1851, with the cumbersome title of Plan of the New Town of Riverton, NJ, beautifully situated on Cinnaminson shore on the River Delaware, Eight miles above Philada. shows the early street and plot plans in what was once all farmland.

American architect Henry Russell Hitchcock declared that Riverton was “the first wholly planned subdivision in America.” The town would not simply be a row of grand villas along a waterfront, but the founders also planned to include spaces for churches, schools, and businesses.

A similar but much larger map on display at the Porch Club, likely published later in 1851, clearly shows a practical building with the auspicious central location at the point of Main and Howard Streets – Riverton’s first general store.

First Store
The Riverton Improvement Company (RICo) thoughtfully recognized that with most of the early founders living in Philadelphia, they needed a local community agent to help manage inquiries as well as provide “licenses and limited supplies.” (“Robert’s Brick Store,” July 4th Program, BBH, 1998).

RICo built the store directly across the street from the Camden & Amboy Railroad station, already located on Broad Street, and designated two men as contacts for the new community: George W. Shinn and Chalkley Gillingham.

George Wolfe Shinn (abt. 1835 – after 1920)
The Riverton Improvement Company hired sixteen-year-old George W. Shinn, a local farmer, to manage the store when it opened in 1851. As agents, he and Chalkley Gillingham (1807-1881), who lived near Moorestown on a large farm that he managed, provided information about the town. Gillingham was one of the founding investors of the village but chose not to live in Riverton.

A carpenter, Shinn may have helped build the store, and from the map caption, we may infer that he lived in a room on the premises. Shinn was an employee of the RICo, not the owner of the property or the business. Shinn also acted as a rental agent for homes in town, such as Rodman Wharton’s home on Main Street.

Chalkley Gillingham (1807-1881)
Chalkley Gillingham was a Quaker minister whose ancestors came to this country with William Penn. He moved from Frankford, PA to manage the Benjamin Warrington farm in Moorestown. Chalkley married, as they say, the farmer’s daughter; he and Keziah Warrington met here in NJ at her father’s farm. Quaker Meeting Records show that he wed her in 1833 when he was about 26.

As one of Riverton’s ten founders, the plan earmarked the lot at 100 Main Street for Chalkley Gillingham. He chose not to move to the new village but remained a stockholder for several years.

The US Census records them in Moorestown in 1840 and 1850. However, they moved in December 1852 to Virginia to seek hardwood forestry opportunities and run a slave-free farm during the Civil War. He established Quaker Meeting Houses and schools for white and black children. On January 22, 1881, he died and was interred at Woodlawn, VA.

Business District
Just eight years after its founding, a detail from the 1859 New Map of Burlington County by Parry, Sykes, and Earl shows houses scattered throughout the town from the railroad to the river and several buildings including the store managed by G.W. Shinn.  

By 1870, James Brown (1839-1894) managed the store. The 1880 US Census shows him as immigrating from England with his wife, Alice, whose occupation was grocery storekeeper.

In 1872 the RICo’s incorporation ended, and “the Biddle brothers” purchased all unsold Riverton properties, including the store.

Around 1878 William M. Thomas (1846-1920) and Howard H. Thomas (1850-1907) purchased the business and property. They were the sons of William S. (1808-1888) and Rebecca Thomas (1810-1881), owners of the farmland that extended from Thomas Avenue to Elm and from the river bank to the south line of the original County Club property.

In 1882 the Thomas brothers later sold the general store to Joseph M. Roberts. The manager, Henry Roberts (1845-1916) (no relation), a bookkeeper, worked in the store.

Joseph Middleton Roberts (October 15, 1855 – June 28, 1932)
Born in Chester, NJ, Roberts married Anna Margaret Shaw (1857-1942) on December 25, 1878, in a Quaker Sealing and had four children: Anna Shaw Roberts (1881-1968); Gertrude Shaw Roberts (1885-1976); Eugene Walton Roberts (1888-1964)-dentist; and Joseph Middleton Roberts, Jr. (1894-1984)-farmer.

After purchasing the general store, Joseph M. Roberts purchased a plot of land from Edward Lippincott’s undeveloped farmland parallel to Main Street. There, he built a house in 1885 at 407 Lippincott Avenue, next door to the Groves Mansion. He and his family lived there for 62 years before his heirs sold it in 1946.

A side note: HSR Board Member Mrs. Nancy Hall recalled for the Gaslight News (#139, March 2010, p. 5) a family story about Robert’s Store and her Great-Grandfather Ezra Lippincott’s Irish cook named Kate McGlinden.

Ezra Lippincott and his son J. Lawrence Lippincott developed much of the enlarged town of Riverton at the turn of the 20th century. Ezra built the house that is today the central building of the Baptist Home, now Riverview Estates.

It seems that Kate purchased for the household from Robert’s Store a box of Strike-Anywhere matches—and they wouldn’t!

She returned them to the store owner, who promptly took one of the wooden sticks from the box and, to prove the performance of his merchandise, he struck it on the rear of his pants.

Kate the Cook responded, “Sure’n I should be carryin’ Joe Roberts’ arse around all day.”

Kate returned to her kitchen with a new box of matches.

Fire, 1890
Segway to a spectacular fire for which the village was not prepared. It destroyed the store and led to the formation of the Riverton Fire Company.

From Lloyd Griscom’s Tales of Three Towns (p.48):
“On January 11, 1890, a disastrous fire broke out in the stable adjoining the old Shinn store operated by Joseph M. Roberts in the center of town, destroying the store, William Wolfschmidt’s barbershop, and the home of Rebecca Faunce. A bucket brigade concentrated on saving Louis Corner’s home nearby, the fire in other buildings being out of control.”

The inferno destroyed the 1851 store and other buildings because the fire hose was too short of reaching it from the hydrants.

The loss of property was estimated at $12,000, or $368,000 in today’s dollars.

Within the next two months, the volunteers purchased a small hose shed at 5th & Main Sts., adopted a constitution and bylaws, elected officers, and became incorporated as The Riverton Fire Company of Riverton, NJ.

Meanwhile, the undaunted 26-year-old merchant continued to sell goods from a temporary structure on the site while builder Edward Pancoast promptly replaced the old store by the fall of the same year with a large, multi-story brick building.

Barber Wolfschmidt also replaced his structure with one of brick. It remains there today as a residence.

Roberts named his new modern beauty, The Brick Store, as he also had another brick store in Palmyra.

Roberts’ new “Flat Iron” store at The Point in Riverton provided fresh and canned fruits and vegetables, “satisfaction guaranteed.”

He offered a wide variety of groceries, meats, and dry goods such as notions, chinaware, hardware, tinware, paint, glass, and other general merchandise. Camden’s Morning Post said of the store, “…you could get anything from a safety pin to a sewing machine at his store.”

The second floor had a large room that served as a meeting place for local organizations and a venue for entertainment and athletic events.

Shopkeepers rented several smaller rooms and a third floor served as storage—an upholsterer, clothing retailer, and clothing cleaner each rented space in the building for a time. The New Era newspaper and the Cinnaminson Bank conducted business there before moving to other quarters.

 

Mt. Zion AME Church began as a missionary society in 1896, meeting in the Roberts Store second floor. The congregation moved to its present location at 3rd & Penn Sts. in 1909.

Shortly after its late-1890 opening, local citizens raised money to install “a fine drinking fountain for man and beast . . . a welcome addition until cars replaced horses.”

The origin of the July 4th Parade traces to 1897 when  Charles W. Davis and Alfred J. Briggs organized the first Children’s Flag Parade. The procession formed at Roberts Store on the Point, each child received a silk flag, and all marched to the riverbank, where singing and oration followed. Aquatic events and then fireworks ended the day.

 

Roberts conducted the store until 1927 when he sold out to the Atlantic and Pacific Tea Company, or the A&P.

He maintained a smaller store out of the same building until his death.

 

Joseph Roberts died from complications of a stroke in 1932 and was buried in Westfield Friends Burial Ground.

The Roberts Store: Just a Memory
Upon Roberts’ death, the family closed his small store and sold the inventory.

When the A&P struggled to meet its expenses, the store moved across the street to 528 Main in November 1935.

Joseph Roberts’ heirs found out that they owed back taxes. Amid the Great Depression, they had to choose from dire alternatives—raze the building or sell it to a developer. Discussions arose between the heirs and the town about converting the space into a park.

Negotiations between the family and the borough to create a park broke down, and the building came down in 1938.

The Woolston family, former carriage makers, purchased the property and constructed a gas and service station at 515 Main Street to complement their automobile agency on Howard St.

Another incarnation was Reynolds’ Service Station. Oddly, because of our access to old Riverton newspapers, it is easier to research the older events than it is the newer ones.

Please contact us if you have any photos or information about that chapter of the property.

Joseph Rainer bought the property in 1994 and for a time used it for his painting business. In 2002 he tore down the structure to three walls and transformed it into the Victorian ornamented structure that stands there today. Various businesses have since rented the building, the most recent being Haven Hair Design Studio.

Marcus Tullius Cicero famously said, “To be ignorant of what occurred before you were born is to remain always a child.” A major purpose of our Society is to create an awareness of our heritage by explaining how individuals and groups throughout our history have shaped the town of today that we cherish.

ADDED 4/20/2022: We are so pleased when a reader contributes images or information that further develops a story. We just received this email from HSR member Mary M. Flanagan:

I saw an article in the Gaslight News recently asking for information on the former service station at 515 Main St. after it passed to John “Jack” Reynolds. I contacted Allen Reynolds who is a son of Jack’s to see if he could contribute any information. Below is what Allen sent to me.

• Prior to 1947 – Charles T. Woolston was the original owner. My father was  employee.
• Sept 1947 – Woolston and my father went into partnership (Woolston and Reynolds Service Station).
• Sept 1959 – Woolston opted out of partnership. My father bought Woolston out (Reynolds Service Center).
• However, Woolston continued to own the building, leasing it to my father.
• Jan 1980 – My father dies. I keep business. With my father’s death, building lease expires. I have to purchase it to keep business operating.
• 1986 – Business closed. Building sold to Robert S. Moccia Enterprises, Inc.

That was wonderful of Mary to track down this photo and information. I had to look carefully at that photo in case our old Ford Torino was in there as I often dropped off our car there for service on my way to Riverton School.

Regular visitors may recall Mary’s contribution of scans of remarkable family photos and postcards that I have previously used to illustrate website and newsletter articles. She gave us images of some people, things, and places that literally have no other representation in our records, so in that regard they are priceless. Here are three:

• • Best Wishes from the Society
  • Happy New Year…almost
  • Jos. F. Yearly’s photos recall the J.T. Evans Coal & Lumber business

If you persevered to the end, how does viewing the article in this blog format compare to viewing the usual newsletter PDF?