Camden Streets - Milton Street

Streets
of
Camden, NJ

Milton
Street

MILTON STREET was in Camden's Poet's Row neighborhood. The three blocks of houses that came to be known as Poet's Row first appear in the Camden City Directory of 1890-1891. Named for famous figures of English literature, the streets ran east and west from North 2nd Street, north of Erie Street. The first street north of Erie was Byron Street, followed by Burns Street and Milton Streets. Only a few homes are noted in the 1890-1891 directory on Milton Street, at either end of the block, and only the 200 block is listed. This would indicate that Byron was built first, from the ends in, then Burns, and lastly Milton Street. A 300 block of Byron was built later, and also a 500 block of Byron.

North Camden in the 1890s offered many employment opportunities. Camden's industries were booming, and entrepreneurs came to Camden to set up shop. The new houses were snapped up mostly by tradesmen and skilled workers, with more than a few taking advantage of the short walks to the Vine Street and Shackamaxon ferries to commute back and forth to Philadelphia. The builder also made provisions for corner stores so the residents could shop conveniently. The sidewalks, like many of that era, were brick, and the streets were paved with cobblestone.

The Poet's Row neighborhood remained a vibrant place for decades, until, of course, after World War II, when the jobs began to leave North Camden. Perhaps it was poetic, with no pun intended, that the disaster that destroyed Poet's Row occurred when a recently closed factory building caught fire; the fire spreading to the homes, and in one hellish night destroying Milton Street, Burns Street, and the north side of Byron Street, where only two homes at the east end of the block, 241 and 243 Byron Street, were saved. Milton Street was no more. When dawn broke on August 24, 1972 Milton Street was gone.

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

Phil Cohen
Saturday, August 02, 2008

Camden NJ - 1914
Milton Street is the northernmost street in North Camden on this map

200 Block of Milton Street
	200 Milton Street 1924 Charles Danley 1924 Ezekiel Gallagher 1947 Clarence W. Henry
	201 Milton Street 1924 Samuel Norwitz grocery 1929-1933 Joseph Arnopol grocery 1947 George Luncheonette George W. Burkett
	202 Milton Street 1924-1947 Louis Bittner
	203 Milton Street 1924 William Campbell 1929 Vacant 1947 Thomas M. Andrews
	204 Milton Street 1924-1947 Charles E. Hearn 1947
	204 Milton Street Seaman First Class Robert E. Hearn
	205 Milton Street 1924 William Garish 1929 Vacant 1947 George Gobel
	206 Milton Street 1924 Thomas Cummings 1929 George Stemner 1947John J. Sulliivan
	207 Milton Street 1924 William S. Hearn 1924 Clifford Zane 1929 Joseph Collins 1947-1969 Claude Williams
	208 Milton Street 1924-1929 Joseph F. McNeff 1947 Maurice F. Moharter 1969 N.M. Stephens
	209 Milton Street 1924 Jonas C, Reighn 1929 Mahlon C. Allebach 1947 Mrs. Abbie Higgins
	210 Milton Street 1924-1929 James J. Maloney 1947 Raymond Stankavage
	211 Milton Street 1897-1898 Daniel D. McConnell 1897-1898 Dan McConnell 1897-1898 Henry F. "Harry " McConnell 1924 William Jenkins 1928 Mrs. Alice Miller 1947 Mrs. Gertrude E. Taylor 1969 Mrs. M. Cooker 1969 Mrs. M.E. DeLorenzo
	212 Milton Street 1924 George Zweigart 1929 William B. Marshall 1947 Richard E. Phillips 1969 D. Barnes Left: Ruth V. Marshall and her father, William B. Marshall. Ruth Marshall married Richard E. Phillips. They later moved to 715 York Street.
	213 Milton Street 1924 Charles W, Biehler 1929 Grover C. Stackhouse 1947 Harry J. Condell 1969 G.R. Condell
	214 Milton Street 1924 Mrs. Mary Simpkins 1929 George Ritchie
	214 Milton Street 1947 Thomas Winstanley firefighter
	215 Milton Street 1924-1947 Peter Zastampilo
	216 Milton Street 1924-1929 Joseph Varga 1947 William stankiewicz
	217 Milton Street 1924 Isidore Strauss 1929-1947 Norman N. Risley
	218 Milton Street 1924 Mrs. Martha D. Esben 1929 George W. Reeves 1947 William Stancavage
	219 Milton Street 1890s-1900s Frank McDonald Sr. 1924 Frank Lange 1929 Ralph G. Jones 1947 Neal D. Henry
	220 Milton Street 1924 John F. Taylor 1929 Mrs. Emma F. Taylor 1930s-1940s Wilbert & Estella Epley 1947 Francis V. Flanagan 1947 John V. Walukas
	220 Milton Street Private Wilbert Epley
	221 Milton Street 1924-1929 William J. Smith 1947 Mrs. Elizabeth Merryfield Smith
	221 Milton Street William Henry Merryfield
	222 Milton Street 1924 John Shablack 1929 Julian Smith 1947 George S. Cowgill 1969 R.T. Williams
	223 Milton Street 1924 Isaac Nienu 1929 Robert M. Owen 1947 Charles I. McNally
	224 Milton Street 1924 Mrs. Anna Morak 1929 Joseph J. Prosser 1947 Mrs. Ella Polt
	225 Milton Street 1924 Osman L. Roberts 1929 Mayhew G. Reeves 1947 Carroll Sevick
	226 Milton Street 1910s-1920s Walter & Anna Reighn 1924-1947 Benjamin W. Reeves
	227 Milton Street 1924 Oscar E. Gross 1929 John F. Cook 1947 John T. Davis
	228 Milton Street 1918-1920s John Winstanley & Family Thomas Winstanley 1924-1929 Joseph S. Beatty 1947 Mrs. Lillian Laibley 1969 M.W. McCargo
	229 Milton Street 1924-1929 John T. Davis 1947 Thomas L. Richards
	230 Milton Street 1924 Harry Garwood 1929 Isaac Niemi 1947 A. Galanti
	231 Milton Street 1924-1929 Joseph Nece 1947 Mrs. Stella Nece
	232 Milton Street 1924 Joseph L. Kline 1929 not mentioned 1947 Thomas J. Duffin
	233 Milton Street 1924 Thomas A. Campbell 1929 George Polt 1947 Richard J. Studinger
	234 Milton Street 1924 Erich Laisi 1929 Thomas A. Cummings 1947 Mrs. Henrietts Vanderheggen
	235 Milton Street 1924 Cornelius Cheeseman 1929 George W. Wood 1947 Joseph T. Davis 1969 B. Pollard
	236 Milton Street 1924 Richard M. Toal 1929 vacant 1947 Leo S. Lake
	237 Milton Street 1924-1947 Walter Stephens 1959 S.D. Swift
	238 Milton Street 1924-1929 Horace G. Brown 1947 Thomas F. Contravo
	239 Milton Street 1924 Adolph Veit 1929 Mrs. Bessie Sharp 1947 Romeo Galanti
	240 Milton Street 1924 George Lohmiller 1929 vacant 1947 Mrs. Rebecca E. Countryman
	241 Milton Street 1924 Maria F. Wood 1929 Joseph H. Deroche 1947 Mrs. Mildred Camilli
	242 Milton Street 1924 Vacant 1929 John C. Whittaker 1947 PAul A. Marquardt
	243 Milton Street 1924 S.M. Mackintosh 1929 Arthur Lochard 1947 Joseph Roccaleri
	244 Milton Street 1924-1947 Samuel Cohen grocery
	245 Milton Street 1924 Hilyard Rodman 1929 Morris Richards 1947 Morris T. Richards Jr.

Camden Courier-Post

August 13, 1942

Click on Image to Enlarge

Milton Street

August 15, 1942

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Photo courtesy of Marianne Papaycik McMaster

Fire Started in the former John R. Evans Co. leather factory, a block long factory building at North 2nd and Erie Streets in North Camden on a hot summer night, August 23, 1972. Inadequate water pressure, combined with a stiff breeze from the south indicated that there was trouble ahead. The first responding Fire Company, Engine Company 6, sounded the Second Alarm upon arrival.

This photograph, taken from the 3rd Street end of Milton Street, shows the houses on the 2nd Street end already ablaze.

Pandemonium in Poets Row as residents attempt to hurriedly evacuate homes of furnishings as the conflagration took off. High winds and flying embers, combined with the intense radiant heat created fire storm conditions. The Fire Companies arriving on the scene in response to the Greater Alarms entered the Poets Row streets to find everything burning- buildings, trees, fences, parked cars, and telephone poles. Live electrical wires were down and arcing everywhere.

The 200 Block of Burns Street, as seen form North 3rd Street. The photos of Engine Company 3 doing everything it could with its deck pipe and hand-held hose to cutoff the rapidly spreading fire. In the early stages of the fire Engine Companies often found themselves alone on an entire block, desperately trying to make a stand while awaiting reinforcements. Several units, driven back by the intense fire, would disconnect from the fire hydrants, fall back to the next hydrant further down the street, only to be driven back once again as the fire continued to spread. Engine Company 3 operated by itself for nearly one half-hour until assisted by a subsequent mutual aid fire company.

Ruins of original fire building and surrounding neighborhood at Poets Row, North Camden, in the aftermath of the worst conflagration in the history of the Camden Fire Department.

Looking East on the 200 block of Burns Street on the day after the fire.

Engine Company 3 stands in stark contrast with the devastation surrounding an area of four square city blocks. Ten alarms with aid from fire departments outside of Camden and over two hundred firefighters worked for eight hours before bringing the fire under control. Forty-two homes and the original John R. Evans factory building, where the fire started, completely collapsed, and an additional thirty houses were severely damaged. Hundreds of Poets Row residents lost everything. Although there were scores of injuries to both firefighters and civilians, miraculously all were minor in nature.

POET'S ROW - The 200 Block of Byron Street - July 5, 2004
	Looking East from North 2nd & Byron Street Click on Image to Enlarge
	214, 212, 210 Byron Street Click on Image to Enlarge
	Remaining homes on the South Side 200 Block of Byron Street Click on Image to Enlarge
	Looking West from North 3rd & Byron Street Click on Image to Enlarge