John
H.
Carroll

JOHN H. CARROLL was born in Rhode Island in 1861 to Bernard Carroll and his wife, the former Rose Diamond. He opened a saloon in Camden at 922 South 3rd Street in 1885. In 1890 he built a hotel at that location, the corner of South 3rd and Cherry Street, which he operated well into the 1930s. He booked many famous entertainers of the day to appear at his establishment, including the great Ethel Waters. John H. Carroll also operated an excavating business, and took part in the construction of Yorkship Village. He also had a stable where he kept horses and rented wagons next door at 914 South 3rd Street, the corner of South 3rd Street and Joint Alley. Another enterprise he engaged in was construction, his firm did all the excavating and grading when Yorkship Village was erected in 1918 and 1919.

John Carroll passed away sometime on April 20, 1932 and was buried at Calvary Cemetery in what was then Delaware Township (present-day Cherry Hill) NJ. William Asheville was operating the tavern at 922 South 3rd in 1936, according to the New Jersey Bell Telephone Directory. By 1947 John Carroll's hotel had become a private residence.

JOHN H. CARROLL— Sound principles and fair dealing offer no short cut to success or worldly goods, but they never fail in the end. Something of this sort crops out all through the career of John H. Carroll, horse dealer, teamster, and hotel owner, of Camden, New Jersey.

Mr. Carroll was born in Valley Falls, Rhode Island, September 28, 1861, and attended the public schools of the town. His father, Bernard Carroll, was born in England; his mother, Rose Diamond Carroll, was from Scotland, and was brought to America by her parents as a child. She died in 1909. Bernard Carroll, likewise, came to the United States in extreme youth and married here. He engaged in the liquor business at Valley Falls, Rhode Island; he served for three years and nine months in the Union Army as a private in the Civil War; and in 1857 won the 100-yard dash amateur championship of the United States. He was active in Republican politics at Valley Falls, where he died in 1914.

John H. Carroll left home at an early age and traveled with Barnum's circus for five years, after which he took up the barber's trade in Camden. He returned to Rhode Island to enter business with his father, and remained with him in Valley Falls for two years. He returned to Camden in 1885, and opened a retail liquor store. In 1890 he erected the building at Third and Cherry streets in Camden, known as Carroll's Hotel. In 1904 he established the John H. Carroll Hauling, Grading, Excavation and General Contracting business, and has carried on the business in Camden since that time. Some of his larger excavation and grading jobs have been in connection with various United States Government concerns; The Tidewater Company, at Fairview, New Jersey; Yorkship Village, and the new Reading Railroad Terminal at Camden, New Jersey; also Victor Talking Machine Company; and Public Service Company, Camden, New Jersey. He is a Republican and has been committeeman from the Fifth Ward for many years. He belongs to the Fifth Ward Republican Club; is a Catholic and attends the Church of Our Lady of Mount Carmel.

Mr. Carroll is known all through New Jersey and Eastern Pennsylvania for his philanthropic activities. He has no connection with any organized charitable work; but engages in philanthropy as an individual. Often he has provided room and board free for indefinite periods for unfortunate men and boys, and helps them get a new start in life. He likewise lends them money and takes no security except their good faith and honesty which he trusts for repayment. This has been his habit since he opened Carroll's Hotel. Such is his reputation for kindness to the unfortunate that if a worthy person has fallen into bad luck and has no place to sleep, the neighbors will send him to John Carroll by force of habit, and the appeal seldom fails. Mr. Carroll is quick to detect shams and imposters, and he spurns the shiftless tramp. He expects those he helps to work at anything he finds for them until they get something more to their taste to do.

Construction Photographs of Yorkship Village, 1918-1919,
where John H. Carroll's company did the excavation and grading.

June 26, 1900

Philadelphia Inquirer - March 5, 1906

Camden Post-Telegram
 July 11, 1913

Samuel Lodge
Engine Company 3
Daniel Smith
James E. Navin
John H. Carroll
Robert Whitley

May 16, 1922

Fifth Ward Republican Club
Louis Bantivoglio

May 24, 1922

Fifth Ward Republican Club
Louis Bantivoglio

February 20, 1928

Fifth Ward Republican Club
Kaighn Avenue

Bernard Bertman
Leonard Brehm
John Carroll
George Cotter
Charles H. Elfreth
Kirby Garwood
Rox Gimello
Theodore Kausel
William Kensler
George W. Nichols
Winfield S. Price
Leo B. Rea
Clay W. Reesman
David S. Rhone
Harley C. Shinn

Talk about coincidence. I was at a barbeque today. All the older and I mean older people were from South Camden. They issued me a green card for being from Pyne Point. When I say older, I mean a good 20-30 years older than myself. 

Some how 3rd & Cherry came up. One older lady had lived there for years and she asked if I remembered Johnny Carroll's club there. She said he used to book famous acts in there. Ethel Waters was one name I remember. She also mentioned that he was in Republican politics. She has to be well into 80's and she made a big fuss about the place and famous entertainers there. Lo & behold I look at website updates and John Carroll was there!

John Ciafrani
September 5, 2004

I walked down Joint Alley as a youth thousands of times. It was about one block from our barber shop. It was a small alley street running from 3rd to 4th Street between Cherry and Spruce. It has a very interesting history and was the residence of a popular Camden figure- Johnny Carroll- who rented horses and wagons to Camden City before Camden had its own fleet. He also had a beautiful tavern, for its time, and some beautiful girls, as I am told by my brothers.

Where the red building is used to be a candy store owned by Mr. Abbott. Most children would stop there on their way to school in the morning and after lunch for one- penny candy. The gray building across the alley on the right is where Mr. Carroll had his saloon & stables.

Enrico Doganiero
September 1, 2006