Volney G. Bennett Lumber Company

The Volney G. Bennett Lumber Company yard, which began as the Central Lumberyard in 1876, stands as the last surviving example of Camden's vast nineteenth- and early-twentieth-century lumber industry, which was the principal Delaware Valley center for lumber processing during that period. Volney G. Bennett Lumber Company moved onto the historic lot in 1904 and emerged as New Jersey's largest wholesale and retail lumber operation by the early twentieth century. The company and its physical resources - its lumberyard, sales office, stables, and other outbuildings - developed over time to respond to changing transportation technologies, supply sources, sales market, real estate demands, and corporate image; its brick stable survives as one of only two surviving horse stables associated with the era of industrial, pre-automobile transportation in Camden.

The timber industry blossomed quickly as settlers from Europe arrived as they took advantage of the abundant forests and rivers used for milling and navigation (shipping). The rafting of felled timber along the Delaware River to Philadelphia began in 1764 and quickly proved successful. However, the substantial water traffic and timber transportation clogged the Philadelphia ports and made them hazardous. So, merchants looked to the New Jersey side of the Delaware River, which spawned a burgeoning timber industry -- mills, lumber yards, and sales offices -- in the modern-day Philidelphia suburbs of New Jersey, including Camden. 

By the 1840s, the lumber industry accounted for much of Camden's growth and spurred a population expansion. Consequently, an increased population meant a tremendous need for lumber for both heating and residential construction. Thus, by the 1850s, lumber processing served as Camden's largest industry, and by the end of the decade, Volney G. Bennett, a 23-year-old lumberman, moved from Pennsylvania to Camden. 

Volney's brother, Harvey, moved to Camden in 1850 and worked in a sawmill. Volney joined the McKeen & Bingham Lumber Company, where he worked his way from a laborer in 1859 to a clerk in 1865. He remained with the firm until 1876 when he negotiated with William and Franklin Holbert of Pike County, Pennsylvania (his former home) to lease Central Lumberyard, which Franklin and Holbert had established in 1872. Central Lumberyard served as Bennett's first sales office.

Bennett wasted no time expanding the business, purchasing his first property within a year used for lumber, sales, storage, and stables. By 1887, Bennett's properties comprised an entire city block. After ample deforestation occurred upstream of the Delaware River, rafting ceased (by law), so Bennett adjusted his business strategy and did so successfully. In 1899, Volney G. Bennett and his sons Alfred and Volney incorporated as Volney G. Bennett Lumber Company (and sold Central Lumberyard). The new company received lumber by ship and railroads pre-cut, dried, and dressed so that he could continue to sell lumber to a growing population where it remained in exceptional demand. 

The historic lumberyard opened in 1904, occupying two city blocks, storing 1,000,000 boards of lumber, and boasting of a business volume six times what it was in 1899; the company enjoyed a net profit of more than $20,000 in 1905 (roughly $585,000 in 2020 dollars). Volney retired in 1905, but the sons continued to grow the business. In 1911, it transitioned from horses to auto trucks and turned into more of a corporate-minded operation complete with inviting sales offices, slogans, and marketing strategies. In 1924, the firm built a single-story ornamental concrete "cinder block" sales office adjacent to its former 1904 brick stable; some claim it's the first "Cinder Block" office building in the world, although sources differ on that fact. 

The company survived the Great Depression and World War II, but its position in the city and along the waterfront proved to be a disadvantage as the twentieth century progressed. Camden declined and suffered from blight as many industries left and crime grew rampant. 

Schopp, Paul W. "Former Lumber Yard Site in Camden, New Jersey Now An Historic Place." dvrbs.com. Accessed January 19, 2021. http://www.dvrbs.com/camden/CamdenNJ-VolneyBennetLumber.htm. 

Schopp, Paul W. and Edward E. Fox III. "Nomination Form: Volney G. Bennett Lumber Company." National Register of Historic Places. nps.gov. August 5, 1993. https://npgallery.nps.gov/GetAsset/a2ea3bb4-73e6-4857-b425-06021a355bdc. 

"The Historic Volney Bennett Lumber Yard and Stable Building."HistoricCamdenCounty.com. July 16, 2001. http://historiccamdencounty.com/ccnews14.shtml. 

"Volney Bennett Sr. & Sons." dvrbs.com. Accessed January 19, 2021. http://www.dvrbs.com/people/camdenpeople-volneybennett.htm.