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Well, yes. Fettersville started selling 30' x 200' lots between the three villages (five really) on the waterfront in 1833 for $50. That was considered to be cheap at the time. It was a black community.
MemoryMaker said, "Camden was actually never even a desirable place to begin with way back when it was created.."
That's not correct. The Dutch and Swedish fought, argued trapping rights. The sons of the original land holders started the villages. It was the place to be in the 18th, 19th and early 20th century.
The first ferry between what would eventually become Camden (1828) and Philadelphia started in 1688. It was a very desirable place.
Well, yes. Fettersville started selling 30' x 200' lots between the three villages (five really) on the waterfront in 1833 for $50. That was considered to be cheap at the time. It was a black community.
MemoryMaker said, "Camden was actually never even a desirable place to begin with way back when it was created.."
That's not correct. The Dutch and Swedish fought, argued trapping rights. The sons of the original land holders started the villages. It was the place to be in the 18th, 19th and early 20th century.
The first ferry between what would eventually become Camden (1828) and Philadelphia started in 1688. It was a very desirable place.
Thanks for this! Camden's history is not known well enough for many in this state. Was once referred to as "the biggest little city in the country," or something like that, I believe.
When its population was well over 100,000 and it was the economic engine of South Jersey, it was certainly the place to be. If you were in the soup or radio business, it was the place to be. When the city built battle-cruisers for WWII there, and New York Ship Co. built an entire neighborhood to house its workers, it was certainly a place to be too.
Thanks for this! Camden's history is not known well enough for many in this state. Was once referred to as "the biggest little city in the country," or something like that, I believe.
When its population was well over 100,000 and it was the economic engine of South Jersey, it was certainly the place to be. If you were in the soup or radio business, it was the place to be. When the city built battle-cruisers for WWII there, and New York Ship Co. built an entire neighborhood to house its workers, it was certainly a place to be too.
I know a couple of people who lived there in the '50s and '60s. They loved the place because they'd grown up there. Then, there were movie theaters, department stores, nice restaurants. They're all gone now.
I think things like that are going to help revitalize Camden. That particular area hasn't declined as bad as other parts of Camden, so I think if Camden works to maintain and strengthen those working-class communities, it can improve slowly but surely. For the foreseeable future, there will probably still be a lot of crummy areas, but for now, it seems like they're moving in the right direction, trying to strengthen the better areas.
Also, remember that even if there's many areas of Philly that could be gentrified first, there's a lot of areas like Stockton that have a lot of Hispanic immigrants, and so some may choose to settle in those areas for the sake of proximity to their families, and that growth will help keep certain parts of Camden stable. Also, more developments around Rutgers and the downtown area can also help.
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CamdenRising 9 24 2015
