Camden Streets - Main Street

Streets
of
Camden, NJ

Main Street

MAIN STREET is a diagonal street that runs southeast from the intersection of State Street and Point Street in North Camden. It first appears in the Camden City Directory in 1878, at that time beginning at the entrance of the Vine Street Ferry. Main Street is a VERY wide street, its width necessitated by the railroad tracks that ran from the waterfront, originally belonging to the Camden & Amboy Railroad. Prior to the construction of the Ben Franklin Bridge, these railroad tracks ran up Main Street, intersecting and crossing the railroad tracks that lead to the Pavonia Yard, and traveling on to the rail line to points south in New Jersey. These tracks now carries the PATCO High Speed Line. Main Street in the 1880s ran all the way to 11th Street. From the 1920s through the 1960s Main Street reached Penn Street between 7th and 8th Streets in these days.

After the construction of the bridge and the establishment of the Bridge Plaza, Main Street terminated in the 600 block. The rail line continued to 7th Street, where a large coal yard operated for many years by the R. McAllister Company was located. By 1952 the tracks had been covered over at 7th and Linden Street. On 7th Street between Penn and Linden stood the triangular Bridge Plaza Parking Garage, which had housed the Edstan Ford automobile Dealership in the 1930s. The rear of this building faced Main Street south of Linden. Photographs indicate however, that due to railroad tracks that still existed as late the 1950s, that Main Street was closed to automobile traffic here. No buildings had addresses on Main Street east of 6th Street by 1947.

By the late 1970s the railroad tracks were long gone, as were the port facility and most of the industries in North Camden that they supported. Only a few houses, mostly in the 100 and 200 blocks remain.

Notable Main Street residents over the years included journalist Daniel P. "Dan" McConnell, and his father, also named Dan, Daniel D. McConnell, who was a noted boxer in South Jersey in the 1890s and early 1900s. The Oberman family ran a bar at 505 Main Street from the 1900s through the 1940s, a bar operated here as early as 1887 through the mid-1960s. One of the Oberman sons, Frank A. Oberman, had a long and distinguished career as a member of the Camden Fire Department, having reached the rank of Captain by the late 1940s. A hardware store operated at 132 Main Street for well over 50 years. 323 Main housed a stable as early as the 1880s, and when the automobile came to Camden, the building became a garage.

For many years at 201 Vine Street, the intersection of Vine, Second and Main Streets stood Daly's Tavern, founded by John F. Daly and run by his family into the 1970s. The North Camden Theater, which is still standing, was next door at 203-205 Vine. The Mancine family ran a bar from the 1930s until it burned down in the 1970s on the southwest corner of North 3rd and Main streets. The family still has a liquor store on the same block, at North 3rd and Elm Streets.

Do you have a Main Street memory or picture. Let me know by e-mail so it can be included here.

Phil Cohen

1952
Main Street and Point Street

The Camden Casket Company, formerly the Weidenhammer Bottling Works, is visible in upper right hand corner of this picture

Looking Northwest
on the
100 Block
Main Street
1970

Kelly's Bar
69 State Street
at rear

Photo Courtesy Of
Floyd Miller

100 Block of Main Street
	115 Main Street
4 BITTEN BY DOGS, ONE FORMER PUGILIST Four persons, including a former Camden boxer, were among victims of dog bites recorded over the weekend. George Delker, 54, of 29 South Forty-second Street, the former boxer was attacked at Pennsville while romping on the beach with a pet spaniel. Delker was treated by a physician for lacerations of the left foot. At Cooper Hospital three persons received treatment. They are Jonas Cooper, 24, of 1163 Lawrence Street; bit on left arm; Lawrence Repetto, 2, of 117 Main Street, bit on leg, and a physician John Garrity, 17, of 205 Byron Street, bit on leg.	117 Main Street
	123 Main Street
	125 Main Street 1901-1913 Daniel D. McConnell Boxer
	125 Main Street Daniel P. "Dan" McConnell Click on Image to Enlarge
	125 & 127 Main Street 1935 to 1947 Harry Wieland Click on Image to Enlarge
	125 Main Street 1950s Joey & Lolly Knox Luncheonette Click on Image to Enlarge
	125 Main Street 1959 Mabel Knox Toner Click on Image to Enlarge
	125 & 127 Main Street June 6, 2004 Click on Image to Enlarge
	129 Main Street 1900s Thomas Homan
	131 Main Street
	132 Main Street 1959 as seen from in front of 125 Main Street Mabel Knox Toner and Nipper in picture to the left: Herman's Soda Fountain at 623 North 2nd to the right: 128 Vine Street 1930s-1940s Victor J. Paxson Hardware 1956 Crossley Hardware Company 1960s-2004 Richards Hardware Company

1940s- Looking Southeast on Main Street
at the intersection of North 2nd Street, Vine Street, and Main

Where a playground now stands at the "point" created by the intersection of Vine & Main Streets, James F. Walton traded as "Walton the Plumber" prior to his death in 1927. He was eventually succeeded by Taggart & Green, plumbers. At 208 Vine, the next building, with doors and signs on both sides, was the Chin Bock Suey Chinese laundry. The photo dates from the early 1940s, when Taggart & Green's office served as Civil Defense station for Air Raid Wardens in the area. Main Street is at right.

Click on Image to Enlarge

200 Block of Main Street
	201 Main Street 1913 Camden City Directory Advertisement James F. Walton
	201 Main Street 1940s Camden City Directory Advertisement
	208 Main Street
	210 Main Street Sergeant John J. Smith Jr.
	212 Main Street
	214 Main Street
	216 Main Street
	218 Main Street
	220 Main Street
	222 Main Street
	224 Main Street
	226 Main Street
	228 Main Street 1959-1970s Frank W. Vlerebome Family Frank & Helen Vlerebome
	230 Main Street
	232 Main Street
	234 Main Street

Looking Southwest from the corner of 3rd & Vine in the aftermath of the Cyclone of April 1912
From Left: 607 and 609 North 3rd Street; 234, 232, 230, 228, 226 Main Street

Pictures from the Cyclone of 1912
Tornados struck Camden in 1885 and 1912.
The term "cyclone" was commonly used top refer to tornados in those times.

1925 - Looking Northwest on Main Street
at the intersection of North 2nd Street, Vine Street, and Main

300 Block of Main Street
	301 Main Street 1930s Samuel D. Payne Printer
	323 Main Street 1887-1888 Benjamin F. Sweeten Contractor 1884-1891 E. Roberts & Brother Livery Stable later North Camden Livery Stables Edward Roberts
	323 Main Street 1923-1924 Hoddell Garage William F. Hoddell
	323 Main Street 1930s-1960s Main Garage
	325 Main Street

1952
Main Street
Between
Point Street and 5th Street

The railroad yard that serviced Main Street, and the grounds of the old Vine Street Ferry Terminal, which had stopped running in 1926m are visible in this picture. The North Camden Theater at North 2nd and Vine Streets, and Mancine's Tavern at 3rd and Main Street, can be easily seen.

1875 - 520 North 4thStreet
at the southeast corner of North 4th Street and Main
The home and business of Charles L. & Richard Reeves

400 Block of Main Street
	418 Main Street 1890-1891 Carl E. Trebing Sr.
	420 Main Street
	422 Main Street
	424 Main Street
	430 Main Street Private George E. Trebing

1952 - Main Street Between 4th & 6th Streets
	1952 Automobile traffic on Main Street ended in the 500 block. The railroad remained in use into the 1950s, servicing the R.M. McAllister coal yard in the 600 Block. Visible at the corner of 4th and Main is the building depicted above in the photo from 1875.

500 Block of Main Street
	505 Main Street A Saloon run by the following parties 1883-1891 Joseph Zanner 1906-1943 The William Oberman Sr. Family William & Tekla Obermann William Obermann Jr. 1947 Main Cafe Walter E. Gross 1956 Main Street Cafe 1959-1964 Ann's Tavern Gone by 1966
	507 Main Street 1947 B&H Trucking Company
	517 Main Street 1947 Dominick Oleveto garage 1947 Pietro Appiccifuoco
	519 Main Street 1947 No Return
	521 Main Street 1920s Trego & Winters Roofing Camden Courier-Post Ad March 12, 1930
	521 Main Street 1947 Trego Roofing 1947 William M. Lewis Real Estate 1947 Mrs. Grace Beutler
	538 Main Street 1947 Mrs. Emma M. Crafchok
	540 Main Street 1947 Louis Cranfrano
	542-544 Main Street 1933 D.W. Harris 1947 Camden Battery Service

600 Block of Main Street
	1952 R.M. McAllister Coal Yard By 1947 there was no motor vehicle traffic on this stretch of Main Street, and no addresses.

700 Block of Main Street
	1952 Bridge Plaza Parking Garage By 1947 there was no motor vehicle traffic on this stretch of Main Street, and no addresses. The railroad tracks had been covered over on Linden and Penn Streets, but still were in place, unused, along Main Street.


The Vine Street Ferry Terminal	The Vine Street Ferry Terminal
Click on Images to Enlarge
Operated for many years by the Pennsylvania Railroad, the Cooper's Point, or Vine Street Ferry operated between Camden and Philadelphia. The Ferry was able to remain profitable even with competition from three other ferries in Camden, but the opening of the Delaware River Bridge brought a quick end to the service. The last run of the ferry was made on October 31, 1926, only a few months after the opening of the then new bridge. Charles S. Wolverton was the superintendent of the ferry for many years, retiring when it closed, His son, Charles A. Wolverton, represented Camden in the United States House of Representatives for 32 years