A SELF-GUIDED
TOUR
of
63 of
Medford's Historic Sites
THE
MEDFORD
HISTORIC
ADVISORY BOARD
The blue and
white historic sites markers are,
in most instances,
placed on private property.
The public is
asked to respect the rights of the
owners and to
regard the signs as information
and not as
invitations to trespass.
2004
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Locations of 63
Historic Sites Markers . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 3
Introduction . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Historic Sites
Texts, No. 1 to No. 37 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 - 31
Map showing 35
sites within Medford Village . . . . . . . . . . 32
Fold-up map
showing 28 sites outside the Village . . . . . . 33
Historic Sites
Texts, No. 38 to No. 63 . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 - 51
Glossary of Terms
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52 58
(NOTE: Underlined terms in the 63 texts
are defined in
the Glossary.)
Index . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59 - 65
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1. Braddock's
Mill . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Sawmill Road
2. Taunton
Furnace and Forge . Breakneck & Hopewell Roads
3. Hoot Owl Farm
. . . . . . . . . . . . . .70 Christopher's Mill Road
4. Oliphant's
Mills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Himmelein Road
5. Cross Keys
Tavern . . . . . North of Stokes and Jackson Road
6. Powder
Explosion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Branin Road
7. Braddock's
Landing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Mill Street
8. Friends
Meeting House . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Union Street
9. The Nail House
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 Jennings Road
10. The Benjamin Wilkins
House . . . . . . . . . 40 Jennings Road
11. The Thomas
Wilkins House . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 271 Route 541
12. Dr. Still's
Office . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 206 Church Road
13. Kirby's Mill
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Church Road
14. The John
Haines House . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 Fostertown Road
15. Sandtown . .
. . . Corner of Eayrestown and Sandtown Roads
16. Peacock
Cemetery . . . . . .Chairville Road, north of Route 70
17. Star Glass
Works . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . South Main Street
18. Christopher's
Mill . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106 Tuckerton Road
19. Aetna Furnace
. . . . . . . . . . . . . Stokes Road, Medford Lakes
20. The Nehemiah
Haines House . . . . . . . . . . . 272 Church Road
21. The Dr.
George Haines House . . . . . . . . . . 33 N. Main Street
22. The Jonathan
Haines House . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51 Union Street
23. The
Haines/Cochley/Singer House . . Jones Rd. & Union St.
24. The
Stratton/Braddock House . . . . . . . . . . 70 S. Main Street
25. The
Riley/Garwood House . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51 S. Main Street
26. The William
Dyer House . . . . . . . . . . . 63-65 S. Main Street
27. Stratton
Burying Ground . . Stokes Rd., N. of HimmeleinRd.
28. The Toll House
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205 Route 541
29. Main Street
Friends Meeting House . . . S. Main & South St.
30. The Sawyer's
House . . . . . Fostertown Road at Church Road
31. Cross Roads .
. . . . . . . . Corner of Church Road & Route 541
2
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32. The Albert
Kirby House . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89 N. Main Street
33. The Maurice
Haines House . . . . . . . . . . . 85 N. Main Street
34. The Everett
Haines House . . . . . . . . . . . . 83 N. Main Street
35. Ely Hall . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 N. Main Street
36. A Sears
Roebuck House . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 Branch Street
37. The Indian
Chief Tavern . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 N. Main Street
38. St. Peter's
Episcopal Church. .Union Street & Allen Avenue
39. Nine South
Main Street . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 S. Main Street
40. The Owen
Stratton House . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60 S. Main Street
41. The Dr. R. S.
Braddock House . . . . . . . . .100 S. Main Street
42. The P. M.
& M. Railroad. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69 N. Main Street
43. The Joseph
Allen House. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58 N. Main Street
44. The Weeks-Bowker
House . . . . . . . . . . . . 56 N. Main Street
45. The Dr.
Josiah Reeve House . . . . . . . . . . . 50 N. Main Street
46. Milton
Allen's School . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 Branch Street
47. The Stacy Prickett House . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Branch Street
48. The Oldest
House on Branch St . . . . . . . . . 47 Branch Street
49. The Methodist
Church Cemetery . . . . . . . . . . Branch Street
50. Glassworkers'
Homes . . . . . South Main and Trimble Street
51. The Oliphant
Homestead . . . . . . . . . . 108 Himmelein Road
52. Decades Ago
in Lake Pine . . . Falls Road and Taunton Blvd
53. The Village
of Chairville .Chairville Road north of Route 70
54. Two One-Room
Schools .Corner of Church/Eayrestown Rds
55. Brace Road
School . . . . . . Corner of Church and Ark Roads
56. Cranberry
Hall . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88 Charles Street
57. Filbert
Street School . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Filbert Street
58. First House
on Filbert St . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Filbert Street
59. First House
on Bank St . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Bank Street
60. The Mary
Smith House . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67 Union Street
61. The
Glassworks Store . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123 S. Main Street
62. Cross Keys
School . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Mill Street
63. The John
Peacock House . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Branin Road
3
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INTRODUCTION
A major purpose
of the preparation and distribution
of this booklet
to Medford's residents is to acquaint
today's young
people and tomorrow's decision makers with
the unique and
historic nature of the town in which we
live. It is our hope
that the information about the historic
persons, sites
and buildings presented here will be one
step toward an
increased appreciation of Medford's past
and the need for
future preservation of the rich historical
heritage within
our community.
PRESERVATION IS
PROGRESS, TOO.
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Sawmill Road
In the late
1700's John Prickett
owned several thousand
acres of prime
timberland in this area. To provide power to
operate his
sawmill, Prickett
dammed Kettle Run.
William Braddock
in the 1860's established here an
up-and-down
sawmill, capable of cutting larger timbers.
Charcoal used at
the old Philadelphia Mint was made from
oaks cut down in
the Braddock's Mill area.
Charcoal is
chunks of carbon made from wood by burning
off the water,
gases, tars and resins. The collier constructed
a charcoal pit
above ground using four-foot long slabs of
wood. To make the
8-to-10 foot tall mound nearly airtight,
he covered it
with sod and filled in the cracks with sand.
The collier then
lit a fire that burned slowly inside the
pit for a week to
ten days. When the pit collapsed and cooled,
he raked the
charcoal out and put it in bags. While tending
the charcoal pit,
the collier slept nearby in a crude shelter
made of boards or
of branches covered with leaves.
Charcoal was the
fuel used in the iron furnaces and
forges at Aetna
and Taunton.
5
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Breakneck and
Taunton Roads
Taunton furnace
and forge were part of the iron empire
of Charles Read.
The furnace went into blast in 1767.
Taunton produced
pig iron bars and hollowware. Cannon
balls were cast here
during the American Revolution. The
Medford
Historical Society has a cannon ball made at
Taunton on
display in the museum at Kirby's Mill.
An iron furnace
used bog iron ore, or limonite, that forms
naturally along
the edges of streams and in swamps in the
Pine Barrens. The
ore was dug out, floated on boats to the
furnace, crushed
into small pieces and dried. The raw
materials ore,
charcoal and lime in the form of crushed
oyster or clam
shells were dumped into the top of the
chimney of the
furnace. A fire of 3000 degrees melted the
heavy iron, which
sank to the bottom of the chimney and
flowed out into
shallow trenches under the casting shed. The
two rows of
cooled metal were known as "pig iron bars."
Each bar was as thick
and as long as a man's arm and
weighed about 60
pounds. Some of the molten iron was
ladled into molds
to form pots, pans, stoves, firebacks,
water pipes and
dozens of other cast iron objects.
6
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The ironworks at
Taunton was purchased in 1830 by Cox,
Longworth and
Company. It operated for a few more years
before it went
out of blast permanently.
Joseph Hinchman
inherited the Taunton property in 1847.
He converted more
than 2000 acres into a huge cranberry
growing area.
70 Christopher's
Mill Road
Image
photo circa 1940
The original Hoot
Owl property was built in 1772.
It is now known
as "Sandy Run." This 2-_ story, 3 bay
brick farmhouse
is a fine example of construction during
the Colonial Era.
Ongoing restoration by several recent
owners has
preserved this fine landmark.
The property was
a notorious hangout for a gang of
bootleggers
during Prohibition in the 1920's.
Himmelein Road
John Goslin
established a sawmill at this site circa 1720.
A gristmill was
added before David Oliphant purchased the
mill complex and
3750 acres of timberland in 1763.
An economic depression
in 1768 caused the Oliphant's
Mill property to
go up for public sale. It was acquired by
7
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Samuel Coles of
old Gloucester County, which in those
days included
Cherry Hill and bordered on the original old
Evesham Township.
Coles willed it to his granddaughters,
Ann, Rachel and
Martha Newbold, who hired David Oliphant
and his son,
Jonathan, to stay on as the millers. In 1821, grandson Shinn Oliphant took title and once again a member of the
family owned the "home mill." In all, five generations of Oliphants were
associated with the mill as owners or as manager/operators for over ninety
years. The gristmill, sawmill and icehouse at Oliphant's Mill
served long and
useful lives before they closed in 1906.
Image
Oliphant's
Sawmill, circa 1905
Rafts of lumber
were floated from Oliphant's sawmill on
the South West
Branch of the Rancocas Creek to Lumberton.
There the wood
was tranferred to barges and shipped to
Philadelphia, New
York and other large cities on the East
Coast. Early
frame houses in Medford were built with oak
timbers, pine or
cedar boards and roofed with cedar shingles,
all sawed at
Oliphant's and several other local sawmills.
8
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North of the jug handle
at Stokes and Jackson Roads
Benjamin Thomas
was granted a license in 1775 to
keep one of the
first taverns in our area at this hamlet,
known then as
Cross Keys and by 1859 called Fairview.
A tavern was
important in those early days as a center
for exchanging
news and holding meetings and as a resting
place for weary
travelers and their horses. At Cross Keys
in 1847, Samuel Thackara founded a mill that
crushed
charcoal.
Production of various degrees of fineness averaged
100 bushels per
day. Pulverized charcoal was used in the
making of
gunpowder and whiskey and to polish brass and
copper products.
By the early 1900s most of the timberland
in our area had
been cut. The scarcity of wood for making
charcoal
contributed to the closing of the mill by Thackara's
son shortly
before World War I. Most of the
village of Crosskeys/Fairview has been lost to development in recent years.
Branin Road
justice in the
Court of Quarter Sessions and for seven years
as deputy
Surveyor-General. In 1759 he surveyed the land
in Indian Mills
that became Brotherton Reservation.
A blacksmith by
trade, Peacock had a farm here where
he also operated
his small one-man powder mill, attached
to the fireplace
in his kitchen. The Quartermaster of
Washington's Army
at Valley Forge sent Peacock a bad
batch of black
powder to be reprocessed and dried. Some-
thing went wrong
on that fateful day in January 1777.
was killed, his
house was destroyed and several of his
family members
were injured.
20 Mill Street
This site was the
beginning of navigation on the South
West Branch of
the Rancocas in the 1700's, when the creek
was much deeper
and wider than it is today. At this landing
9
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barges started
their trips to Philadelphia and other large
East Coast cities
loaded with cargoes that included charcoal
and products from
the iron furnaces and the glassworks.
Before there were
roads to transport goods by wagon, it
was very
important that the waterways remained open. In
order to hire men
with teams of oxen to remove fallen logs
and sunken barges
from the creek, the Pioneer Navigation
Act of 1768
ordered that tolls be collected. One shilling
was charged for a
raft of timber, two shillings for a barge
of iron or
charcoal and six pence for a raft of nails.
Union Street
Most of the
settlers of Medford were members of the
Religious Society
of Friends. The honest and considerate
treatment of the
Lenape Indians by the Quakers was
outstanding and
their friendly relationships were a bright chapter in local history. Medford
was known until 1874 as Upper
Evesham. The
first Quaker Meeting in Upper Evesham was established in 1759. The first
Meeting House was built here in 1762.
as it was in 1821
Union Fire
Company was constructed on the site in 1821 by
Barzilla Braddock
and Shinn Oliphant. A 1969 replica built
by the Medford
Historical Society can be seen there now.
10
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NO. 9 THE NAIL
HOUSE
30 Jennings Road
The Nail House
has been in three locations and it
has served as a
store, a smithy, a nail factory and a home. The
building stood
originally at the corner of Main Street and
Friends Avenue.
Before the American Revolution it had a
small blacksmith
shop with two forge fires where molded
bullets for the
Continental Army were later made.
Mark Reeve owned
the property in the early 1800s. He
developed there
the first machinery for the mass production
of headed cut
nails. It was operated by horse power.
Later the Nail
House was moved to Cherry Street.
By the mid-1900s,
the owner of the badly run-down building
was Evelyn Belcher,
a retired school teacher. She gave it to
the late Dr.
Edward Jennings with the agreement that it would
be moved and
restored by him. Circa 1955, he relocated
it to Jennings
Road and enlarged it to its present size.
More about Mark
Reeve: After visiting and admiring
Medford,
Massachusetts, he successfully promoted that name
for our township.
Reeve was also Medford's first real estate
developer. Circa
1810, he purchased ninety-two acres of
farmland, mapped
out streets, divided the land and sold the
first building
lots in historic Medford Village.
11
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40 Jennings Road
In the bricks of
the west wall of this beautifully restored
farmhouse are 1785,
the year it was built, and BW, the
initials of the
builder. The style and general features of
the smaller east
section of the house suggest that it is from
an earlier date,
probably the 1760s. The façade is Flemish
bond decorated
with a pattern of darker glazed brick.
271 Route 541
This 1732 home is
a special example of an early American
brick farmhouse.
The smaller section was a later addition.
The building is
located at the end of the _ mile-long lane beside
the English
Setter Club sign on the west side of Route 541.
The property
remained in the Wilkins family until the
English Setter
Club of America bought it in the early
1900s. Two of the
well-known persons who have attended
and participated
in field trials here were Ty Cobb in 1927
and later Clark
Gable.
12
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206 Church Road
James Still was
born in 1812 in Indian Mills, the son of
runaway slaves. In
his 1877 autobiography, Early Recollec-
tions and the
Life of Dr. James Still,
he wrote of overcoming
many personal
trials and difficulties during his lifetime.
With less than
three months of formal education at Brace
Road School, the
"Black Doctor of the Pines" taught himself
how to make
herbal medicines. In this office Dr. Still gave out
his famous
remedies to patients who came from miles around.
Dr. Still's
office and Victorian home in the 1880s.
13
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Eventually Dr.
Still became a major landowner in the
Crossroads area,
including a nearby hotel that he used as a
hospital for
patients who were too sick to return home. His
large Victorian
residence was next door to the office on a
plot of land that
is now a horse paddock. He died in 1885
and is buried in
the cemetery behind Jacobs Chapel on
Elbo Lane in
Mount Laurel.
Dr. James Still's
office was entered on the New Jersey
Register and
National Register of Historic Places in 1995.
Church Road
In 1773 Isaac
Haines and several others petitioned the New
Jersey Assembly
to allow construction of a dam, a gristmill and a
sawmill on the
South Branch of the Rancocas Creek. The
mill complex was
completed in 1778. It operated for eighty
four years under
Haines family ownership until 1866.
William Kirby
bought the property in 1877 and operated
it with his
younger brother, Charles H. Kirby. A century ago
it was a thriving
industrial center with a wheelwright shop,
14
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blacksmith shop,
two sawmills, shingling mill, carding mill
and cider mill,
all clustered around the big gristmill.
Kirby's Mill was
the last commercial, water-powered mill
in New Jersey. It
was converted to electric power in 1961.
The property was
purchased in 1969 by the Medford
Historical
Society, which has worked for more than thirty
years to
preserve, restore and develop it into an important
museum site.
Kirby's Mill was entered on the New Jersey
and National Registers of Historic
Places in 1971.
14. THE JOHN
HAINES HOUSE
26 Fostertown
Road
This farmhouse is
the oldest home in Medford Township
and it is the
earliest frame dwelling in Burlington County
still on its original
stone foundation. It was built on land
patented to the
builder's father, Richard Haines, by the
Duke of York
(later King James II) on April 21, 1682.
The west side of
the house is the earliest section, built
by John Haines
prior to 1690. His son, Jonathan Haines,
added the east
section in 1720. Another Haines "modernized"
it in 1808 and
still another Haines added a wraparound
section circa
1840.
15
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The property
remained in the Haines family until 1919.
A direct
descendant of John Haines purchased the farm in
1972. Two
different owners have seen a "resident ghost."
The home was
listed on the New Jersey and National
Registers of
Historic Places in June 1976.
Corner of
Eayrestown/Sandtown Roads
The Sandtown area
contains several homes that date to
the 1700's.
Elizabeth Collins, a pioneer Quaker minister with
the Union Street
Friends Meeting, and her husband Job lived
here circa 1775 in
a house that is still occupied nearby.
Because many
generations of the Prickett family lived
in this area, the
hamlet was also known as Prickettown.
Historic members
of the family include: John Prickett, the
first sawyer at
Braddock's Mill; Nathan Prickett, a teacher
at Brace Road
School; another John Prickett, owner of the
chair parts
factory in Chairville; and Stacy Prickett, well-to-do
owner of the
Federal-style brick home at 23 Branch Street
and proprietor of
a general store on South Main Street.
Chairville Road,
north of Route 70
Adonijah Peacock
lies here among many of his
contemporaries
and descendents. His headstone reads:
ADONIJAH PEACOCK
Born Aug. 5,
1724.
Killed 1777 by
explosion
While making
powder
For Gen.
Washington.
Remaining here
are many early brick gravestones.
They were often
made and inscribed by the families of the
deceased and then
fired locally. The cemetery is still owned
by the Peacock
family and burials continue to take place.
16
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South Main Street
One of Medford's
best known industries was the
glassworks that
operated under various names for nearly
90 years. It
began in 1825 as a Farmers Co-op that made
window panes. The
Cochrane Company produced fancy
tableware and
Yarnall & Trimble made blown bottles.
Medford Glass was
followed by Star Glass in 1887.
Star Glassworks
specialized in mouth blown bottles
of many types,
including perfume, medicine and whiskey
bottles. They
were usually made in wooden molds supplied
by the buyer.
Several Star Glass bottles are on display on
the second floor
of the museum at Kirby's Mill.
Star Glass
Factory circa 1900
Foreman John
Mingin was highly respected for his
glass industry
expertise. Under his
management Star Glass
prospered for 35
years.
When the
employees formed a union in 1923, Mingin
was told he could
not rebuild the factory unless he
became a union
member. He refused to join and proceeded
with the project.
The workers went on strike and John
Mingin and his
two partners closed Star Glass for good.
One windy day in
the 1940s the tall brick stack crashed to
the ground with a
thunderous roar.
17
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106 Tuckerton
Road
The Christopher's
Mill tract of several thousand acres
was purchased in
London in 1678 by William Hewlings.
Power to operate
a sawmill was provided by damming
Barton's Run. A
daughter of John Hewlings, a descendent of
Willam, married
John Merriman Christopher in 1821. Since
then the property
has been known as Christopher's Mill.
Nothing remains
today of the old dam, the sawmill
and the sawyer's
house. The present house was built in
1843 to replace
an earlier home that had burned down.
Stokes Road,
Medford Lakes
Aetna furnace was
built by Charles Read in 1766. It
went into blast
about a year earlier than its sister
furnace and forge
at Taunton. The 9000-acre site included
a sawmill, a gristmill
and a smithy. The financial collapse
of Read's iron
empire forced the furnace to close in 1773.
The Aetna land
was sold in 1926 to a developer and later
it became Medford
Lakes.
Charles Read was
born in Philadelphia in 1715. After
finishing his education
in London, he joined the British Navy
and was sent to
the West Indies. At age 22 he married the
daughter of a
wealthy merchant on the island of Antigua.
Read and his
bride settled in Burlington where he began
a distinguished career
in public office. By 1759 he was one of
the most
influential politicians of the Colonial Era. Charles
Read's many
accomplishments are recorded in Ploughs and
Politicks, a 1941 biography by Carl Raymond
Woodward.
After his
ironworks went bankrupt, Read lived from
1770 to 1773 with
his son, Charles, Jr., in the ironmaster's
house on Stokes
Road in Medford Lakes. In the early 1950s
the home was
demolished and replaced by a gas station.
Charles Read
spent the final year of his life as a shop-
keeper in Martinsburg,
NC. He died there in 1774. Sadly,
no members of
Read's family attended the funeral when
he was buried in
North Carolina in an unmarked grave.
18
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272 Church Road
This attractive
brick home was built in 1785 by Nehemiah
Haines, who was
born in 1755 when Medford was still part
of old Evesham
Township. He died in 1805 and is buried
in the Union
Street Friends Burial Ground. The dwelling
remained in the
Haines family until 1866.
William Kirby
bought the Haines mill property in
1877. The home is
known as the "miller's house," because
many owners of
the Haines/Kirby's Mill lived here. It
was included when
Kirby's Mill was entered on the New
Jersey and
National Registers of Historic Places in 1971.
33 North Main
Street
George Haines,
M.D. was the first registered physician
in Medford. He
built this 2 story, five bay colonial-style
home for his
bride in 1826. The original house had two
rooms on each
floor with servants' quarters in the finished
attic. At the
north and south ends of the attic level there
are fan shaped
quarter windows.
19
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A detached summer
kitchen with a storeroom also dated
from 1826. At
least two additions were made in the mid-
1800's. There is
still some original hardware in place and all
the floors are
original random-width New Jersey pine.
An historic
survey in the 1970's uncovered evidence that
the home was used
as a stop on the Underground Railroad.
22. THE
JONATHAN HAINES HOUSE
51 Union Street
This Haines
farmhouse was built in several stages.
The front with a
Flemish Bond brick façade was the original
part, built circa
1760 for Jonathan Haines. His grandson,
also Jonathan,
built the rear addition in 1820 and made
other alterations
such as the dormer windows in the front.
The home remained
in the Haines family until 1917.
At one time this
farm property included the entire north
side of Union
Street. Some lots were sold to outsiders and
other lots were
built upon by the many Haines children.
Through the
1990s, the owners of this home were the late
Mr. and Mrs.
Ephraim Tomlinson II. Many comments in this
booklet are from
notes that "Eph" made and shared with all
who were
interested in genealogy and the history of Medford.
20
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Jones Road near
Union Street
Image
Haines/
Coachley/Singer House circa 1940
This home from
the early 1700s is said to be the oldest
standing wooden
frame dwelling in Medford Village. It faces
south, a feature
often found in early Quaker farmhouses.
The 2 story,
gable roofed house was built in two parts.
The earlier west
portion consists of a three bay, side hall plan.
The four bay
second section to the east extends the lines of
the first
portion. An Italianate veranda was added circa 1850.
The home is on a large
piece of land, including the land
where the Public
Safety Building is located. Before Route 70
was constructed
in the 1930s, the cows from this farm grazed
on Haines land
that is now north of the highway.
The Haines family
sold the property to the Cochley's
who farmed here
during the 1960s. It was owned next by
the Singer family
and then by a local developer.
In the 1990s this
historic home was purchased by
Medford Township.
Plans are on the books to restore it
for use as Senior
Citizen housing.
21
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70 South Main
Street
This 2 story, 5
bay, center hall house is thought to have
been the home of
Mark Stratton who died in 1759, making it
one of the
earliest homes in Medford Village. It has a gabled
slate roof and
the façade features a Flemish bond brick
pattern. Above
the second floor is a single belt course of brick
originally for a
pent roof. Braddock's Insurance was here
before it was sold
and relocated to 22 North Main Street.
This home was
listed in 1982 by the Heritage Studies
Survey as a Key
Building, because of its value to the
historical
character of Medford Village.
51 South Main
Street
The land on which
this home was built was originally
part of about 200
acres purchased in 1707 by Richard
Braddock, who had
recently arrived from England.
The 2 story, five
bay, center hall, gable roofed house
was built in 1785
by shopkeeper, John Riley. It has a
Flemish bond
brick façade and a two-part belt course of
bricks between
the first and second floors.
22
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Mr. Riley died in
1814 and his son James rented the
home to Benjamin
Haines in 1832. Isaac Haines later
purchased the
property for $750. It was sold many times
before Samuel
Garwood became the owner in 1896.
Three generations
of the Garwood family lived here
until J. Stanley
Braddock, Jr., bought the property in 1960.
He is a
descendent of Richard Braddock, who originally
owned the land
two-and-a-half centuries earlier.
It was designated
a Key House in the 1982 Heritage
Studies Survey of
Medford Village.
63-65 South Main
Street
This is a 2
story, six bay, gable roofed home in
Greek Revival
style. It was built in 1841.
During the
mid-1800's, the first floor was a general store
run by William
Dyer and William Braddock. They sold
everything from salt
pork to flints, cheese, mints, tobacco,
garden tools,
clothing, snuff, perfume and liquor. In 1838
coffee cost 13
cents a pound; sugar, 7 cents; and meat, 5 cents
.Men's trousers or a pair of shoes could be
bought for $1.00.
23
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In the 1870s,
William Dyer owned the beverage license for
Glover's Hotel,
which was then the name of Braddock's
Tavern. In 1999,
a great-grandson of William Dyer and
a
great-granddaughter of Rebecca Coles Glover, the owner
of Glover's
Hotel, were both involved with the Medford
Historic Advisory
Board.
Stokes Road,
opposite Himmelein Road
On January 25,
1813, this acre of land was purchased
from Enoch and
Hannah Stratton for $104 by the Township
Committee of old
Evesham. The committee members were
John Jessup, John
Borton, Job Collins, Jr., Joseph Haines
and Joseph Evans.
The deed stated that the land was to
be used "for a
public burying place for the use and benefit
of the
inhabitants of the Township of Evesham and for no
other use or
purpose whatsoever."
At the time of
this purchase there were two Friends Burial
Grounds in
Evesham one on Union Street in Medford and
the other on
Hainesport Road in Mount Laurel, which back
then was still
part of old Evesham Township. Additionally,
there was the
Peacock Cemetery in Chairville. The late
24
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Ephraim Tomlinson
II pointed out in his 1992 study of this
cemetery that, if
the deceased were not a Quaker or a Peacock,
the only place a
person could be buried was in a forgotten
corner of the
family farm. In 1813 this new Stratton Burying
Ground solved
that problem for many local families.
When Medford was
separated in 1847 from old
Evesham Township,
the cemetery became Medford
property. At the
suggestion of the Historic Advisory Board,
the fencing at
the cemetery was installed for Medford's
Sesquicentennial
Celebration in 1997.
205 Route 541
This home was
built by Ephraim Stratton between the
late 1700s and
1830. Crossroads was then the social, political
and business
center of the original Evesham Township.
Therefore, rather
than being a farmhouse, the tollhouse is
a saltbox-style home typical of a small town.
It served for a
time as a homefor the toll collector on the
turnpike between
Medford and Lumberton. The building
was restored in
1969 and is in very good condition.
25
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.South Main
Street and South Street
The Society of
Friends was split apart in 1827 by a
theological
controversy. Those Quakers who followed the
beliefs of Elias
Hicks built this Meeting House in 1842.
The property
included a burying ground to the north and
to the south a
one-room Quaker schoolhouse at 23 South
Street. The
school closed in 1907 and was converted to
a private home in
1951.
The brick on the
main façade of the Meeting House is
in the Flemish
bond pattern and the rest is built of an
eight course
American design. The windows are six over six
in the front and
twelve over twelve on the rear wall. All the
doors are double
and the main entrances, one for men and
one for women,
have porches with very plain pedimented
Greek Revival
traces.
The Medford
Friends were reunited under one Yearly
Meeting in 1955.
As a result of the split, Haddonfield and
Moorestown also
had two Meeting Houses for many years.
Corner of
Fostertown Road and Church Road
26
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This simply
detailed, 1 story, three bay wide frame
house with a shed
roofed porch across the front was built
in the late
1700s. It may have been a tenant house onthe Jonathan Haines farm. Jonathan was
one of the men who petitioned the
NewJersey
Assembly for permission to build a dam, a gristmill
and a sawmill on the
land bordering the South Branch of
the Rancocas
Creek, "one end abutting on the land of the
said Jonathan
Haines." In 1778, the mill was completed and
started
operations. This building became the home of the
sawmill foreman
and therefore was called the Sawyer's House.
Kirby's Mill was
entered on the New Jersey and National
Registers of
Historic Places in 1971. The Sawyer's House,
being part of the
mill property, was included in the nom-
ination, which
was researched by the late Clyde LeVan.
Corner of Church
Road and Route 541
From the 1690's
to 1847, old Evesham Township was
one of Burlington
County's largest townships. It included:
Upper Evesham
(Medford); Lower Evesham (Mount Laurel);
the southern
portion of Lumberton known as Fostertown;
part of
Hainesport south of the Rancocas Creek; half of
Shamong including
Indian Mills; and Marlton, the only
part of the old
original Evesham Township still known by
that name today.
The seat of
government of this huge township was at
the hamlet of
Crossroads located on the road to Mount Holly
about one mile
north of what is now Medford Village.
At Crossroads
there was a town hall, a store, a hotel and
a cluster of
other buildings, including the tollhouse.
That area
includes land in the shape of two triangles.
One is bordered
by Route 541, Wilkins Station Road and
Church Road. The
other is formed by Route 541, Church
Road and Brace
Boad, a quiet sand road until it was paved
in 1997. The
points of the two triangles touch at the main
Crossroads intersection
like the figure of an hourglass.
27
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32. The ALBERT
KIRBY HOUSE
89 North Main
Street
This home was
built in 1908 by Aaron Darnell on a lot
that he purchased
for $630. Restrictions in the deed stated
that "the said
Aaron Darnell, his heirs and assigns are not
to erect any
building nearer than 60 feet to the center of
N. Main Street
and that there shall in reasonable time be
erected a
dwelling house costing not less than $2500."
Albert and Anna
Kirby lived here from 1925 to 1952.
He was born in
1876, the oldest of nine children of William
Kirby, who had
purchased the Haines-Kirby's Mill property
on Church Road in
1877.Albert Kirby and his eight
siblings were
raised in the"miller's house" across thestreet
from the
water-powered gristmill. He first attended Eastern
School at the
corner of Eayrestown and Church Roads,
next the Filbert
Street School and finally Peddie Institute in Hightstown. Albert learned the
milling trade at Kirby's Mill.
From 1920 to
1945, Albert operated Kirby Brothers feed
store on North
Main Street while his brother Charles W.
ran the historic
gristmill on Church Road. For many years
Albert was Sunday
School superintendent and a trustee at
the Methodist
Church. He headed the Medford Grange
and the Masons
and he was also president of the Medford
Building and
Loan.
33. THE
MAURICE HAINES HOUSE
85 North Main
Street
Joseph H. Haines
paid $976 in 1911 for adjacent lots on
which he had
identical houses built for his twin sons, Maurice
and Everett. They
worked in the family business, J. Haines
and Sons, on
Tidswell Avenue where coal, lumber, trucks,
tractors and farm
supplies were sold. Unable to tell the twins
apart, customers
called both of them "Maurice-Everett."
28
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Maurice and
Jeanette Haines lived in this home from
1911 to 1974. He
was the chief from 1916 to 1924 of Union Fire
Company and the
treasurer from 1928 to 1929. He served on
the Medford
Township Committee and as the mayor. Jeanette
Haines was a
highly regarded Quaker minister and First
Day School
teacher at the Union Street Friends Meeting.
The identical
homes of the Haines brothers
34. THE
EVERETT HAINES HOUSE
83 North Main
Street
Everett Haines
lived in this home from 1911 until his
death in 1965. A
common driveway was shared with his twin,
Maurice, who
lived in the identical house next door.
Active in
community and civic affairs, Everett was
a Boy Scout leader
and an original director in 1905 of
Camp Ockanickon.
He was president of Union Fire Company
in 1917 and
secretary from 1918 to 1921 and he served as a
director of the
Medford Building and Loan.
The Haines
brothers were honored in 1961 when the
Maurice and
Everett Haines School on Stokes Road was
named for them.
29
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35. ELY HALL
40 North Main
Street
This center hall,
five bay, Greek Revival-style brick home was
built in 1844 by Dr. Henry P. Ely. The two-sided mansard
roof
has three
dormers, each with an individual arched roof.
The front
entrance has a three bay, one story porch with
columns and a
similar two bay porch is on the south wall.
The 1982 Heritage
Studies Survey states that this well
maintained and
landscaped house is a landmark presence
in Medford
Village.
Henry Ely
practiced medicine with Dr. Josiah Reeve,
who lived two
properties away at 50 North Main Street.
Henry's wife,
Mary Reeve Ely, was Josiah's aunt. After
Mary Ely was
widowed, Josiah Reeve built for her the
large Victorian
home at 66 North Main.
36. A SEARS
ROEBUCK HOUSE
13 Branch Street
Albert Ballinger
was a lifelong resident of Medford. He
is remembered as a
paperhanger by trade. Albert and his
wife, Belle,
built this Sears Roebuck house in 1911. It is
original, except
that the front porch was enclosed in the
early 1920s.
30
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For $950 Sears
Roebuck provided pre-cut lumber,
flooring, and
woodwork; nails and hardware; plumbing
and heating;
light fixtures, wavy window glass and several
panes of stained
"art glass"; built-in
sideboard, pantry and
medicine case; a
barrel of stain for the cedar siding and
more. All
materials were shipped from the Midwest on two
freight cars on
the railroad line that ran through Mount
Holly to Medford
from 1869 until 1976. Including labor, the
total cost to
build this home in 1911 was just under $2100.
It is the only
Sears Roebuck house in Medford Township.
37. THE INDIAN
CHIEF TAVERN
1 North Main
Street
This three-story,
five-bay, frame hotel with a flat roof
was constructed
by Richard Reeve in 1810. Tavern operator,
Samuel Hartman,
chose the name because it was built on
the site of a
lodge of a Lenape chief.
After two
railroad lines came to Medford in 1869
And 1889, the
hotel served large numbers of patrons
Including hunters
in season, vacationers and traveling
salesmen, known
then as "drummers." Stables and carria
ge sheds behind
the tavern were torn down when cars came
into common use
in the 1920s. During Prohibition the hotel
was closed and
sold.
31
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Image
The Indian Chief
Hotel, circa 1910
In recent times
the property was renamed the Stagecoach
Stop. It was
renovated by Frank Salicondro and now is
used as a
restaurant and shops.
38. ST.
PETER'S EPISCOPAL CHURCH
Corner of Union
Street and Allen Avenue
This 1875 Gothic
Revival-style, one and a half story
church was used
for worship services until 1958.
34
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The building's
exterior is board and batten. The bell
tower on the
north side has a tall steeple with fishscale
slate roof
shingles. The lancet windows on the first level
are made of
stained glass. A rose window decorated with
radiating
rose-like tracery is in the upper west wall.
On the occasion
of his donation of an organ in 1898
,
John Wanamaker,
the well-known Philadelphia clothier,
came to Medford
to speak to the congregation.
The exterior was
not changed when the building served
as chiropratic
offices for the late Doctor A. H. Scheibner from
1959 to 1992. Recent
renovations by his daughter have
transformed the
former church into a charming residence.
They include an
addition in the late 1990s of a handmade,
circular oak
staircase leading up to the second floor.
39. NINE SOUTH
MAIN STREET
9 South Main Street
This three bay
brick home with a two story front porch and
two dormers was
built by Isaac Stokes circa 1813. Part of the
upper level of
the porch has been made into a sunroom.
Careful
restoration was completed in the year 2000, including
expert cleaning
and repointing of the Flemish bond brickwork.
35
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40. THE OWEN
STRATTON HOUSE
60 South Main
Street
Owen Stratton, a
Quaker, was born on his family's
farm south of
Medford Village in 1769. He purchased this
2-_ story, gable
roofed, frame home circa 1835 in order to
be closer to the
Friends Meeting House on Union Street. The
home has five
bays with a center door on the first floor
and three bays on
the second level.
41. THE DR. R.
S. BRADDOCK HOUSE
100 South Main
Street
This large
farmhouse was built circa 1840. Dr. Braddock
became the owner
in 1875. He practiced medicine here
for the next 25
years.
The 1880 census
lists four persons in his household:
Richard Braddock,
26, Physician; Emma F., 23, Wife,
Keeping House;
Chas. H. Bishop, 18, Laborer; and Sarah
Stockton, 16,
Servant. After Emma's death at age 27 in
1884, he married
Eva S. Braddock.
In 1883 the
doctor was the president of Union Telegraph
Company. He
served in 1897 as the president of Union
Fire Company and
as the chief from 1899 to 1901.
36
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James and Mary
Harriett of Brooklyn, NY, purchased
the property in
1908 for $2150. The home was divided into
a duplex after
World War I. A Harriett descendent sold it
in the year 2000.
Restorations include conversion back to
a single
dwelling. In the near future the front porch will
be rebuilt as it
appears in a photograph from the 1890s.
42. THE P. M.
& M. RAILROAD
69 North Main
Street
Since its
construction in 1881 this building has had
four different
uses. Originally it was the passenger station for
the Philadelphia,
Marlton and Medford Railroad, a 12-mile
spur off the West
Jersey Seashore Line.
For many decades
before there were buses and cars,
salesmen and
hunters came to town on this train. In addition
to carrying
passengers and mail on the one round-trip
daily, the P. M.
& M. Railroad took local farm and dairy
products to markets
in Camden and Philadelphia.
The spur from
Haddonfield to Medford was discontinued
in 1931. Route 70
was constructed in the mid 1930s on the
bed of the
abandoned P. M. & M. tracks.
37
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Image
The P.M.&M. Station
circa 1910
For the next
thirty years, the structure was a freight station
for Penn
Central's 7-mile long Mount Holly-Medford line.
It was purchased
by Medford township in 1960 and, after
renovation,
served as Police Headquarters until the Public
Safety Building
on Union Street opened in 1993. In recent
years it has been
used for doctors' offices.
43. THE JOSEPH
ALLEN HOUSE
58 North Main
Street
This late
Victorian house was built by Joseph Allen in
1896 on a lot
purchased from Mark Reeve, Medford's first
realtor. It was
the first home in Medford to have indoor
plumbing and a
bathroom. Other conveniences were a
sewing room and a
dumbwaiter from the dining room to
the bedroom
above.
An interesting
restriction in the deed reads: "Joseph C.
Allen has the
privilege of using the alley in the rear leading
from Cedar
Street, upon the condition that said J. Allen
is to close the
gate coming to and from said lot."
When the building
was renovated for a funeral home in
1957, care was taken
to maintain its historical integrity.
All furnishings
on the first floor are Victorian antiques,
including Mr.
Allen's desk which was made in Philadelphia
in 1896, the same
year the house was built.
38
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44. THE
WEEKS-BOWKER HOUSE
56 North Main
Street
Joseph Bowker
built his 2-_ story Queen Anne-style home
in 1876 on a lot
for which he paid $300. The exterior is
clapboard at the
first level with fishscale shaped shingles
above. A two
story bay window is located on the left side
of the front and
a three-story tower is on the north wall.
In the early
1900's Bertha Weeks, principal of a school
in Collingswood,
lived here with her sister, Sadie Bowker.
After having been
widowed, Mrs. Bowker usually had several
railroad workers
and school teachers boarding with her.
Eleanor Rush was
a boarder here in 1916 during her
first year of
teaching at the one-room Brace Road
School. Each day
Miss Rush walked 1_ miles to the school
at the corner of
Church and Ark Roads. That year on
Valentine's Day
it snowed so hard that the schoolhouse door
was blocked by
drifts. At the end of the day Miss Rush
had to jump out
through a window.
45. THE DR.
JOSIAH REEVE HOUSE
50 North Main
Street
39
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This 2 story
Victorian house was built by Dr. Josiah
Reeve in 1876. He
practiced medicine with his uncle,
Dr. Henry P. Ely,
who lived two doors south in Ely Hall, the
large brick house
at the corner of Main and Cedar Streets.
W. Roland Dunn of
Palmyra was the first dentist in
Medford. He came
to town on Monday and Wednesday of
each week. From
the 1930s to the mid 1950s, Doctor Dunn
rented an office
and a waiting room in this home at 50 North
Main Street. The
lady of the house, Mrs. Helen Kirby, took
phone calls and
scheduled appointments for his patients.
46. MILTON
ALLEN'S SCHOOL
19 Branch Street
Built circa 1860,
this 2 story, five bay, central hall
Victorian home
was originally a single residence. Later it
was divided into
a two-family dwelling.
Milton H. Allen
and his former teacher, Joseph Jones,
used the house in
the early 1870s as a private boarding school.
Taken over in
1874 by the trustees of the newly formed
school district,
it served briefly as Medford's first fully free
public school.
Enrollment soon outgrew the building and the
students were
moved to the Grange Hall on Bank Street
until the Filbert
Street School opened in September 1876.
40
Prickett's
Express operated from the living room of this
home between 1925
and 1950. When passenger service on the
Mount Holly to
Medford train was discontinued in 1926,
Granville and Bill
Prickett bought two buses to transport
Medford's
teenagers to Mount Holly High School.
47. THE STACY
PRICKETT HOUSE
22 Branch Street
In 1830, this 2-_
story, three bay, Federal-style
brick
home was
constructed for Stacy Prickett. He was a well-to-do
merchant who
owned a general store on South Main Street.
The Twing was
added to the back of the house in 1850.
The granite
foundations are two-foot thick and most of
the framing is
four-inch square timbers made of oak.
The iron hitching
posts are from the 1890s and the walkways
are thought to be
the only original slate sidewalks still
existing in
Medford.
Miss Elizabeth Cowperthwait
owned this home during
the first half of
the 1900s. For over thirty years she was
the eighth grade
teacher-principal of the Filbert Street School
and Milton H.
Allen School, until her retirement in 1939.
She was a stern
disciplinarian and was known for being very
particular about
proper grammar and correct spelling.
41
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47 Branch Street
Dating from circa
1815, this small home of saltbox
design was the
first house on Branch Street. It was built
by Henry
Stackhouse for his son, Harry.
Other homes on Branch
Street constructed by members
of the Stackhouse
family are #41, a duplex at #43-#45 and
#68, a dwelling
built circa 1870 by Benjamin Stackhouse
for his son,
Henry.
49. THE
METHODIST CHURCH CEMETERY
Branch Street
Although written
records for this graveyard were
not kept in the
early days, interments are thought to have
started in the
1820s. The oldest legible marker, that of
Achsail Conner,
is dated 1836. Several ministers of the
adjacent
Methodist Episcopal Church are buried here, the
earliest being Reverend
James Moore who died in 1842.
Many plots in
this cemetery belong to historic Medford
families. Among
them are plots of the Allen, Bowker,
Braddock, Foster,
Kirby, Kirkbride, Oliphant, Peacock,
Prickett and
Stackhouse families.
42
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50.
GLASSWORKERS' HOMES
Corner of South
Main and Trimble Streets
Four of the Ten
Houses on Trimble Street
The 22 workers'
houses on Trimble and Mill Streets
included 2-_
story duplexes, 2 story singles and 1-_ story
cottages. Corner
fireplaces provided heat and water was
carried from two
outdoor hand pumps. Candles were used
for light, rather
than kerosene lamps that attracted bugs
from nearby
swamps - now Medford Park. Records from the
late 1800s show
that monthly rent was $1.50 for a house on
Mill Street and
$5.00 to $6.00 for a house on Trimble.
51. THE
OLIPHANT HOMESTEAD
108 Himmelein
Road
The original
Oliphant farmhouse was built near Oliphant's
sawmill between
1810 and 1815. During the Revolutionary
War, Captain
Jonathan Oliphant's cavalry pastured their
horses here on
the mill property.
The Oliphant
Tract of over 3600 acres was reduced to
250 acres in 1902
and became known as Sunny Jim farm.
43
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52. DECADES
AGO IN LAKE PINE
Corner of Falls
Road and Taunton Boulevard
In the 1920's
Lake Pine was called "Spirit Vale" from
the mist that
rose off the surface of the water early in the
morning.
A deed conveyed the
land to a development company in
1924. The
cranberry bogs were dredged to make a mile-long
lake. A bathhouse
was provided for swimmers and boaters.
Building lots
were sold and the construction of log cabins
for summer
residents began. Medford Township improved
Taunton Road from
a sandy surface to gravel in 1926.
Many cabins were
winterized during the 1950s and
Lake Pine became
a year-round community.
53. THE
VILLAGE OF CHAIRVILLE
Chairville Road,
north of Route 70 Skeet Rd. south of Rt. 70
In the 1790s Jonathan
Peacock's sawmill was in operation
here. By the
1840s a two-story turning mill with steam
powered lathes
was making legs, rungs and spindles from
maple trees cut
in the area. The chair parts were carted to
Philadelphia to
be assembled. Near the factory were owner
John Prickett's
farm, the worker's houses and two general
stores. The chair
parts factory burned down in 1874. No
traces remain of
the sawmill, which closed circa 1890.
Chairville School
operated here until 1900. It was the first
of the Township's
four rural one-room schools to close. The
school district
provided a horse-drawn wagon to transport
children from
Chairville to the Filbert Street School.
Methodist
services were held in a chapel built in 1897
at the corner of
Route 70 and Chairville Road. Circa 1905
the Chairville
Sunday School Class donated a stained glass
window with a
Lamb of God motif to the Methodist Church on
Branch Street.
That window remains today on the second
level of the
façade of the church. In the 1920s the chapel
was sold and
converted to a summer home. It has been
occupied in
recent years by several small businesses.
44
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54. TWO
ONE-ROOM SCHOOLS
Southwest corner
of Church and Eayrestown Roads
Eastern School
was established in the 1800s by the
Upper Evesham
Friends Meeting located on Union Street.
The teacher in
1846 was Joseph Jones and Milton H. Allen
was his prize
student.
When Professor
Jones resigned in 1854, Milton Allen
became the teacher
at 16, the same age as some of his
oldest students.
In addition to teaching, Milton had to tend
the fire in the
cast iron stove, provide the firewood and
arrange for water
to be carried from a nearby farm.
In 1901, Eastern
School was sold for $85 and removed
to an another
location. The original one-room Kirby's Mill
School was then
built on the very same site.
Kirby's Mill
School was operated by the Medford Public
School District.
Each year the District paid $10.00 ground
rent to the Union
Street Friends Meeting.
Kirby's Mill
School was closed in 1918 and moved to a
farm farther east
on Church Road for use as tenant house.
It burned down
late one night in the winter of 1948.
55. BRACE ROAD
SCHOOL
Corner of Church
and Ark Roads
The earliest of
Medford's rural one-room schools was
Brace Road
School. Nathan Prickett was the teacher when
James Still,
later known as the "Black Doctor of the Pines,"
attended here for
three months during the winter of 1832.
Helen Johnson was
a student at Brace Road School in
the early 1900s.
She wrote that it was "a drab, curtainless
room with
whitewashed walls, no maps, one or two reference
books, a closet
for storage of such texts as were available
and another
closet for storage of lunch boxes. The entrance
room provided
hooks for coats and caps and the bench for
the drinking
system - a bucket of water and a dipper."
The exterior of
the building was painted gray. Two
little outhouses,
one for boys and the other for girls, were
located
inconspicuously in the back.
45
------------------------------------------------------------------------
The teacher in
1906 was Anna Allen. She was 17 years old
and her salary
was $35.00 per month. "Miss Anna" taught
reading by the
Ward Reading System and she drilled the
students in
grammar, penmanship and sums. Learning to
spell was
enhanced with spelling bees. The teacher sold
soap to earn
maps.
Brace Road School
closed in 1918. It was
Demolished in the
1980s, after having been a tenant farmer's
house for many
years.
56. CRANBERRY
HALL
88 Charles Street
Jerome Jennings'
cranberry packing house, originally a
two-story
building, was built circa 1870. Empty barrels
were stored
upstairs before the second level was removed.
Jennings' family
tradition is that Charles Street was named
by Jerome
Jennings for one of his sons.
Renovations to
the building were made by the township
in the late
1960s. Ten oak pews used for seating were
donated by a
fire-damaged church in Pointville near Fort
Dix. Medford's
Municipal Court and Township Council
Meetings were
held here until 1993.
46
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cranberry Hall is
currently the home of the Medford
Department of
Recreation. It is also used for public meetings
and occasionally for
small weddings.
57. FILBERT
STREET SCHOOL
West side of
Filbert Street, between Church and Mulberry Streets
The Filbert
Street School opened in 1874. Multi-talented
Milton H. Allen
is believed to have designed the building.
He was the
school's first principal, head teacher, umpire
for their ball
games and the janitor. Enrollment in the
1880s averaged
175 students in grades one to six.
Image
Filbert Street School
in 1910
The large
classroom on the second floor was divided in
1889 to make
space for a two-year high school program.
A four-room
addition was built in 1907 and the curriculum
was expanded to
three years. When Medford High School
was discontinued
in 1917, the students rode on the train
to attend Mount
Holly High School.
The Filbert
Street School closed in December 1927.
Principal Bess
Cowperthwait organized the move to the new
building on the
first school day in January. Each student
carried his books
in a sack as the teachers and children
walked three
blocks to the new Milton H. Allen School.
47
------------------------------------------------------------------------
58. FIRST
HOUSE ON FILBERT
17 Filbert Street
The original
portion of this 2-_ story, two bay clapboard
home was built in
1842 by Mahlon Reeve. It was purchased
in 1874, by the
Mickle family. A bay window, the first of
several
additions, was added onto the south side in 1875. The
front porch with
Italianate detailing was probably added at
that same time.
The interior features a 1909 oak staircase.
Everett Mickle
bought the home from his grandmother
in 1955. His love
of Medford history resulted in preservation
of a large
collection of old photos, negatives and postcards.
Copies are
displayed in many public building in the area.
59. FIRST HOUSE ON BANK ST
22 Bank Street
This is a side
hall, three bay home of Georgian Vernacular
style with a
semicircular fanlight above the front door. Built
in 1827 by Jacob
and Mary Prickett, it is considered to be a
well preserved
example of an early village type residence.
The home is reported
to have a resident ghost.
For years the
bricks were painted white. Recently restored,
the Flemish bond
façade can once again be appreciated.
48
------------------------------------------------------------------------
60. THE MARY
SMITH HOUSE
67 Union Street
This 2-_ story
home was built circa 1847 for a woman
named Mary Smith.
Consisting originally of three rooms,
one above the
other, it was known as "The Doll House."
Old English
woodwork trim in the living room, wide
pine floors and corner
fireplaces in the living room and
the bedroom above
are original.
In 1961, the 1-_
story addition was built onto the west
side of the house
by the late owner, Jay Grooms. It
blends well with
the style of the original architecture.
61. THE
GLASSWORKS STORE
123 South Main
Street
Unlike many other
1800s glassworks, Star Glass did not
print its own
paper money known as scrip. Instead, the
workers had to
buy books of credit worth $1.00, $5.00
and $10.00. They
could be used only to buy food and
household goods
at the company store. This system virtually
controlled the
workers' lives, often causing labor unrest
and the threat of
a strike.
49
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Imate
Starr Glass Company
Store circa 1890
When Star Glass
shut down in 1923, the company store
became Elmer
Carigan's market. Next it was Edward Wills'
grocery store,
until his retirement in 1999. After extensive
renovations, it
reopened in 2003 as an antiques shop.
62. CROSS KEYS
SCHOOL
Mill Street
Farmer and
charcoal producer, Samuel Thackara,
hired his
brother-in-law, Lester Gager, in 1857 to build the
one-room Cross
Keys School. Lumber for the 26-foot deep
by 22-foot wide
building cost $9.00. For more than a
century Cross
Keys School was located at the corner of
Dixontown and
Stokes Roads.
Several
generations of Gager children knew the Cross
Keys School as
the "Knowledge Box." In 1912 the salary
of Sallie Davis,
their favorite teacher, was $35 per month.
When the school
was closed in 1927, the students went to
the new Milton H.
Allen School.
Before McDonald's
bought the property in 1976, the
structure had
been used as a home, a store and a produce
stand. When the
public showed strong interest in saving
it, the Township
had the little school moved to Mill Street.
By then the
windows were boarded up and it had no roof.
50
------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Medford
Historical Advisory Board assumed the
task of restoring
the building. Fundraisers were held to
pay for materials
and labor was donated by volunteers.
They worked
nearly every Saturday for the next three
years and
restoration was completed in 1985.
Cross Keys School
is the only one of Medford's four
rural one-room schools
to have survived. It serves today
as a museum where
members of the Medford Historical
Society and other
volunteers present programs about the
history of the
school and about the history of Medford
for groups of
school children, scouts and adults.
63. THE JOHN
PEACOCK HOUSE
21 Branin Road
This 2-_ story,
three bay, center hall farmhouse was built
for John Peacock
in the 1790s. John was the son of Adonijah,
who died nearby
in a black powder explosion in 1777.
For more than two
centuries this
homestead has
been
in continuous use
for agricultural purposes. Several
generations of
the Adams family have owned the property
for more than a
century. Currently Flora Lea farm is a busy
year-round
equestrian center.
51
------------------------------------------------------------------------
abut v. Border on.
adjacent adj. Next to.
alteration n. A change or modification.
Antigua n. A small island in the West Indies.
antique n. A work of art or handcraft more than 100
years old.
assemble v. Put the parts together.
assign n. A person appointed to act for another.
barge n. A large, flat-bottomed boat without power
that is used to
transport
freight. In earlier times, a barge was towed by mules.
bay n. A window or a door.
belt course n.
A layer of brick that
slightly projects at the top of
the first floor
of a building.
board and batten n.
A vertical siding made of
boards fastened
by narrow wooden
strips.
boarding v. Paying for a room and meals.
bootlegger n. A person who makes or transports alcoholic
liquor
for sale
illegally.
carding mill n.
A workshop with machines
that untangle fibers,
such as wool,
before spinning.
cast v. To pour liquid metal into a mold to make
specific shapes.
cavalry n. Soldiers trained to fight on horseback.
census n. A listing of the population made every ten
years.
charcoal pit n.
A mound composed of wood
which when burned
produces
charcoal.
circa prep. Around or in approximately.
clapboard n. A long narrow board with one edge thicker
than the
other, overlapped
to cover the outer walls of a frame house.
clothier n. A maker or sellor of clothing.
collier n. A woodsman who constructed a charcoal pit,
started the
fire inside,
adjusted the amount of air and raked the charcoal out.
commercial adj.
Making products in large quantities for a profit.
contemporaries n.
Persons of a similar age
living at the same
time.
52
------------------------------------------------------------------------
complex n. A group of related buildings.
controversy n.
A difference of opinion.
curriculum n. All the subjects taught in a school.
deceased n. A dead person.
demolish v. Tear down completely.
depression n. A time of unemployment, decreasing
business and
falling prices.
dormer n. A window projecting from a sloping roof.
drab adj. Faded in appearance.
dredge v. Clean out, deepen or widen, such as a
stream.
dumbwaiter n. A small elevator that carries food from
one floor
to another.
duplex n. A house divided into two living units.
enhance v. Increase.
expertise n. Specialized knowledge or skill.
express n. A rapid system for the delivery of goods.
façade n. The front of a building.
fanlight n. A small window shaped like an open fan,
placed above
a large window or
over a door.
fateful adj. Causing death or destuction.
field trials n,
Competitions for hunting
dogs to judge their ability
to point and
retrieve gamebirds.
fireback n. A thick cast iron plate put in the back of
a fireplace
or behind a stove
to protect the wall from catching on fire.
fire v. Bake until hardened in a special oven
known as a kiln.
First Day n. Sunday: a name used by the Society of
Friends.
Flemish bond n.
A pattern of bricks used
in the 1700 and 1800s that consists of alternating stretchers(bricks laid
longways)and headers(bricks.laid with their short sides out).
53.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
flint n. A hard mineral that sparks when struck by
metal, used in
oldtime guns to
make the gunpowder ignite.
foreman n. A person in charge of a group of workers.
forge n. A shop where pig iron is heated and
hammered into
wrought iron.
foundry n. A factory where melted metal is poured
into molds.
gable roof n. Two slopes of a roof ending with a
triangular section
of wall.
genealogy n. The study of family histories.
Georgian n. A colonial style of architecture
(1700-1780) disting-
guished by
paneled front doors with decorative crowns supported
by flattened
pillars and single windows with nine or twelve panes
per sash.
glazed adj. Covered with a smooth, shiny surface.
Gothic Revival adj.
A style of architecture
(1840-1880) distin-
guished by steep
gabled roofs and pointed-arch windows.
Grange n. An association of farmers founded in the
United States
in 1867.
granite n. A common rock used for constructing
buildings.
gravel n. A mixture of pebbles and coarse sand.
Greek Revival adj.
A style of architecture
(1825 1850) distin-
guished by
low-pitched roofs, front porches with columns and
elaborate details
around the doors and above the windows.
grist n. Any grain taken by a farmer to a mill to
be ground.
gristmill n. A mill for grinding grains such as corn,
wheat and rye.
hamlet n. A small town or village.
hardware n. Metal goods such as hinges and locks.
herbal adj. Containing sweet or spicy smelling plants.
hexagonal adj.
Having six sides.
hollowware n. Tubular or bowl-shaped articles for the
table such
as bowls,
pitchers or knife handles
homestead n. A farmhouse with adjoining buildings and
land.
54
------------------------------------------------------------------------
icehouse n. A place where ice is made, stored or sold.
inconspicuous adj.
Not easily noticed or
seen.
inscribe v. To print letters, words or numbers on a
surface
intact adj. Having all the parts.
integrity n. Staying with a strict standard.
interment n. Burial.
ironworks n. A place where iron and iron products are
made.
Italianate adj.
A style of architecture
(1840-1885) distinguished
by low-pitched
roofs, overhanging eaves supported by brackets,
tall, narrow windows,
and elaborate details around the doors and
above the
windows.
justice n. A judge.
keep v. To manage, tend or have charge of.
kerosene n. A thin oil product used as fuel in lamps
and stoves.
ladle v. To lifted out and pour with a deep-bowled
spoon, or ladle.
lancet n. A narrow pointed window with an arch
shaped like
a spearhead.
landmark n. A building with historical importance.
lathe n. A machine on which a piece of wood is spun
and shaped
by a fixed
cutting tool.
legible adj. Able to be read.
limonite n. A yellowish-brown to black natural iron
oxide used as
iron ore.
mansard roof n.
A roof with two slopes on
all four sides, the
lower slope being
nearly vertical and the upper nearly horizontal.
Masons n. An international and charitable organization
with
secret rites and
signs.
Meeting House n.
A building for Quaker
religious services.
merchant n. A storekeeper.
miller n. A person who works in, operates or owns a
grain mill.
molten adj. Melted.
motif n. A decorative design.
55
------------------------------------------------------------------------
National Register
of Historic Places n. An
official list of the
historic
districts, sites, buildings and objects that are significant
in American
history, architecture, archaeology, engineering and
culture. It is
overseen by the Department of the Interior.
navigation n. Travel or commercial shipping by water.
notorious adj.
Known widely, usually
with a bad reputation.
outhouse n. An outdoor toilet housed in a small
structure.
paddock n. A fenced area near a stable.
Palladian adj.
A three-part window
arrangement with an arch
above and two
shorter narrow windows, one on each side.
parlor n. A room in a home where visitors are
entertained.
patented v. Legally granted by a deed.
pedimented adj.
Having a decoration over
a door or window.
pence n. Plural of penny.
pent roof n. A narrow slanted roof across the front of
a building.
point v. To fill and finish the joints of brickwork
with mortar or
cement.
petition v. Request formally in a written document.
produce n. Fruits and vegetables grown on a farm.
Prohibition n.
The period (1920-1933)
when a law prohibited the
manufacturing and
selling of alcoholic beverages.
pulverized adj.
Crushed to a powder or
dust.
Queen Anne n. A late Victorian style of architecture
(1880-1910)
distinguished by
steeply pitched roofs, a one-story front porch
extending around
one or both sides, use of patterned wood
shingles and a
tower usually located on a corner of the building.
random width adj.
Made of boards of various
widths.
realtor n. A person who sells land and buildings.
renovate v. Restore to a previous condition, as by
remodeling.
replica n. A copy or a reproduction.
56
------------------------------------------------------------------------
reservation n.
Land set apart by the
government for the use of
Native American
people.
resin n. A yellow or brown solid material produced
from plants.
rose window n.
A circular window,
usually of stained glass.
run n. A small, fast-flowing stream.
rung n. A crosspiece between the legs of a chair.
rural n. Located in the country, often surrounded
by farmland.
saltbox n. A frame house (circa 1700-1750) usually
with two
stories in front,
one story in back and a long steep roof in the rear.
salt pork n. Pork preserved by soaking in salt.
sawyer n. A person employed to saw wood.
scarcity n. Lack of sufficient quantity.
scrip n. A small piece of paper money issued for
temporary use.
semicircular adj.
In the shape of half a
circle.
sesquicentennial adj.
Occurring every 150
years.
shed roof n. A wide slanted roof usually above a door.
shilling n. An English coin used in the American
colonies until
the early 1800's.
shingling mill n.
A mill where shingles are
made from wood.
sibling n. A brothers or a sister.
sideboard n. A piece of dining room furniture having
drawers
and shelves for
linens and tableware.
slate n. A gray rock that splits into thin, smooth
pieces.
smithy n. A blacksmith shop.
snuff n. Finely ground tobacco.
sod n. Grass-covered soil held together by matted
roots.
soot n. Black particles of carbon produced by
burning wood.
spindle n. Vertical piece of wood on the back of a
chair.
spur n. A short railroad line that feeds into a
longer one.
strike n. A stoppage of work by employees demanding
higher
pay and better
working conditions.
57
------------------------------------------------------------------------
surveyor n. A trained person who measures angles and
distances
to determine boundaries,
size and elevations of land.
tableware n. Dishes and glasses used in setting a table
for a meal.
tar n. A sticky, black mixture of carbons made by
burning wood
tenant n. One who pays rent and farms land owned by
another.
theological n.
Concerning the nature of
God and religious truth.
thrive v. To flourish or to make steady progress.
timberland n. Forested land considered of commercial
value.
title n. A legal document proving ownership.
tollhouse n. The toll collector's home adjoining a tollgate.
tracery n. The lacy, branching design in a Gothic
window.
trade n. An occupation requiring skill.
trustee n. A person elected or appointed to a board
to manage the
monies and direct
the activities of an organization.
Underground
Railroad n. A secret
network in the United States
before 1861 that
helped runaway slaves reach safety in free states
in the North or
in Canada.
union n. A group of workers organized to seek
better wages and
working
conditions.
Upper Evesham n.
The name until 1847 of
Medford Township,
while it was
still a part of old Evesham Township.
veranda n. A porch, usually with a roof and often
partly enclosed.
vernacular n. Relating to the style of architecture
typical of a
certain area.
Victorian adj.
A category of massive
architecture (1860 to 1910)
distinguished by
mansard, gabled and other steeply pitched roofs,
bay windows and
dormers, porches, towers and a wide variety of
elaborate
decorative details commonly known as "gingerbread."
went into blast v.
Began to operate, as an iron
furnace.
went out of blast
v. Stopped operating.
wheelwright n.
A workman who makes and
repairs wheels.
58
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Allen family, 42
Joseph, 38
American
Revolution, 6, 9, 11, 43
architecture,
styles of,
Federal, 41
(illus.)
Georgian
Vernacular, 48 (illus.)
Gothic Revival, 34
(illus.)-35
Greek Revival, 23-24
(illus.), 32 (illus.)
Italianate, 21
(illus.), 48
Queen Anne, 39
saltbox, 25,
42
Victorian, 14,
38, 39 (illus.)-40
Ballinger, Albert
and Belle, 30
"Black Doctor of
the Pines," 14, 45
Bowker family, 42
Joseph and Sadie,
39
Braddock family, 42
Brazilla, 10
J. Stanley, Jr., 23
R. S., Dr., 36-37
Richard, 22-23
William, 5, 23
Braddock's
Landing, 7
Braddock's Mill, 5,
16
Brotherton
Reservation, 9
Camp Ockanickon, 29
Carigan, Elmer, 50
cemeteries,
Main Street
Friends Burying Ground, 26
Methodist Church
Cemetery, 42
Peacock Cemetery,
16, 25
Stratton Burying
Ground, 24-25
Union Street
Friends Burial Ground, 19, 24
59
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Chairville, 15,
44, 51
Christopher's
Mill, 18
Cobb, Ty, 12
Coles, Samuel, 8
Collins,
Elizabeth and Job, 16
Cranberry Hall, 46
(illus.)-47
Cross Keys, 9
Crossroads, 14,
25, 27
Darnell, Aaron, 32
deed
restrictions, 28, 38
Dunn, W. Roland,
dentist 40
Dyer, William, 23-24
(illus.)
Ely, Henry P,
Dr., 30 (illus.), 40
Mary Reeve, 30
English Setter
Club, 12
Evesham Township,
old, 8, 19, 24-25, 27
Fairview, 9
farmhouses, 7, 12 , 13, 15, 20, 21, 36-37, 61
(All are
illustrated.)
Foster family, 42
Fostertown, 27
Gable, Clark, 12
Gager, Lester, 50
Garwood family, 23
ghosts, 16, 48
Glover, Rebecca
Coles, 24
Goslin, John, 7
Grange Hall, 40
Grooms, Jay, 49
62
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Haines family, 21
Benjamin, 23
Everett, 29
George, Dr., 19
Isaac, 14, 23
Jonathan, 15,
20, 27
John, 15
Maurice, 28
Richard, 15
Haines Mill, 14,
19, 28
Harriett, James and
Mary, 37
Hartman, Samuel, 33
Heritage Studies
Survey, 22, 23, 30,
Hewlings family, 18
Hinchman, Joseph,
7
houses of
worship,
Chairville
Chapel, 44
Friends Meeting
Houses,
10 (illus.),
26, 28, 36, 45
Methodist Church,
28, 42, 44
St. Peter's
Episcopal Church, 34 (illus)-35
Indian Mills, 13,
27
industries,
chair parts
factory, 44
charcoaling, 5
(illus.), 9, 10
glassworks, 17
(illus.)
glassworkers'
houses, 43 (illus.)
company store, 49-50
(illus.)
ironworks,
Aetna furnace, 5,
18
bog iron furnace,
6 (illus.)
Taunton furnace
and forge, 6-7
lumbering, 5,
8 (illus.)
61
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Jennings,
Charles, 46
Edward, Dr., 11
Jerome, 46
Kirby family, 42
Albert and Anna, 28
Charles H., 15
Charles W., 28
Helen, 40
William G., 15,
19, 28
Kirby's Mill, 14
(illus.)-15, 19, 28
museum, 6, 17
Kirkbride family,
42
Lake Pine, 44
LeVan, Clyde, 27
Lumberton, 8,
25, 27
Medford
Historical Society, 10, 15, 51
Medford Historic
Advisory Board, 24, 25, 51
Mickle, Everett, 48
miller's house, 19
(illus.), 28
mills,
carding mill, 15
charcoal mill, 9
cider mill, 15
gristmills, 7,
14 (illus.)-15, 18
powder mill, 9
sawmill, 5, 8
(illus.), 15, 18, 44
shingling mill, 15
steam powered
turning mill, 44
Mingin, John, 17
62
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Nail House, 11
(illus.)
National Register
of Historic Places, 14, 15, 16, 19, 27
oldest house,
in Medford
Township, 15 (illus.)
on Bank Street, 48
(illus.)
on Branch Street,
42 (illus.)
on Filbert
Street, 48
Oliphant family, 42
David, 7-8,
Jonathan, 8,
43
Shinn, 8, 10
Oliphant's Mill, 7-8
(illus.)
Peacock family, 9,
16, 42, 51
Adonijah, 9,
16, 51
John, 51
(illus.)
Philadelphia
Mint, 5
Prickett family, 16,
42
Jacob and Mary, 48
John, 5, 44
Nathan, 45
Stacy, 41
Prohibition, 7,
31
Quaker ministers,
16, 28
Railroads, 37
Mount
Holly-Medford Railroad, 31, 41, 47
P. M. & M.
Railroad, 37-38 (illus.)
Read, Charles, 6,
18
Reeve,
Josiah, Dr., 30,
39 (illus.)-40
63
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mahlon, 48
Mark, 11, 38
Richard, 33
Riley, James, 23
John, 22
Route 70, 21,
37
Salicondro,
Frank, 34
Sandtown,
(Prickettown), 16
Sandy Run (Hoot
Owl), 7
Sawyer's House, 26
(illus.)-27
school teachers,
Allen, "Miss
Anna," 46
Allen, Milton H.,
40, 45, 47
Belcher, Evelyn, 11
Cowperthwait,
Elizabeth, 41, 47
Davis, Sallie, 50
Jones, Professor
Joseph, 40, 45
Prickett, Nathan,
45
Rush, Eleanor, 39
Weeks, Bertha, 39
schools,
boarding school, 40
Filbert Street
School, 28, 40, 41, 44, 47 (illus.)
Maurice and
Everett Haines School, 29
Medford High
School, 47
Milton H. Allen
School, 41, 50
one-room Quaker
School, 26
one-room rural
schools,
Brace Road
School, 16, 39, 45-46
Chairville School,
44
Cross Keys
School, 50
Eastern School, 28,
45
Kirby's Mill
School, 45
64
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sears Roebuck
house, 30-31 (illus.)
Shamong, 27
Stackhouse
family, 42
Stagecoach Stop, 34
Star Glass
factory, 17 (illus.)
company story, 49
(illus.)-50
glassworkers'
houses, 43 (illus.)
Still, Dr. James,
13 (illus.)-14, 45
Stokes, Isaac, 35
Stratton family, 22, 24, 25,
36
taverns,
Braddock's
Tavern, 24
Cross Keys
Tavern, 9
Glover's Hotel, 24
Indian Chief
Hotel, 31,34 (illus.)
Thackara, Samuel,
9, 50
Thomas, Benjamin,
9
Toll House, 25
(illus.), 27
Tomlinson,
Ephraim, II, 20, 25
Underground
Railroad, 20
Union Fire
Company, 10 (illus.)
officers of, 28,
29, 36
Union Telegraph
Company, 36
Upper Evesham, 10,
27, 45
Wanamaker, John, 35
waterways,
Barton's Run, 18
Kettle Run, 5
Rancocas Creek, 8,
9, 14, 27
Wilkins houses, 12
(illus) -13 (illus.)
Wills, Edward, 50
65
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The Medford
Historic Advisory Board
gives thanks to
John Crafchun and his staff
for their
installation of the historic markers
at the 63 sites
featured in this booklet.
Members of the
Historic Advisory Board
Betty H.
Trumbower, Chair
Bianca Haines
Lois Ann Kirby
Sandra Ann Moore
Andrea Rolleri
Garry Trumbower
This Tour Guide
was funded by:
A-1 Truck Sales
LLC
Bob Meyer
Communities
Everfit, Inc.
Kirby Brothers,
Inc.
Medford Lodge
#100 I.O.O.F.
Neugent's
Apothecary, Inc
Prudential, Fox
and Roach Realtors
Zallie's ShopRite
of Medford
Township of
Medford
Printing by
the print shop students
at Ossi
Vocational Technical School
in Medford.