The Walt Whitman House is a historical home and museum in Camden, New Jersey. The house was occupied by the famous poet Walt Whitman during the final years of his life, from 1884-1892; it was the only home he ever owned. Whitman is considered one of the greatest American poets of the nineteenth century, and is most notable for his work Leaves of Grass. In the years following his death many efforts were made to preserve the house as a monument to Whitman. The Walt Whitman Association was instrumental in purchasing and preserving the home, as well as gather Whitman’s personal possessions to furnish it. The house has since been restored to match its exact appearance when Walt Whitman lived in it. Today the home is operated as a museum by the New Jersey Division of Parks and Forestry, and is open to the public for guided tours. It has been designated a New Jersey State Historic Site and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
The building at 418 Federal Street once housed offices of the South Jersey Gas, Electric and Traction Company (SJGET). The building opened on September 30, 1901; additions to the building were made in 1903-4 and 1929. The utilities company vacated the structure in the early 1980s. The building's infrastructure was upgraded in the mid-1980s to become the new location for the Camden Free Public Library, when the library's existing building (at Broadway and Line, also a Clio entry) was not suitable for introducing computers to the structure. The SJGET Building was listed in the New Jersey Register in 2004 and the National Register in 2005. The library closed in 2011 and the building is vacant.
Central Trust Company was founded in 1891 and the one-story Central Trust Company building opened a few years later, in 1899. One of the bank's founders was also a founding member of the Campbell Soup company. The bank enjoyed robust growth throughout the first three decades of the twentieth century, which mirrored the growth of Camden, New Jersey. The Philadelphia suburb slowly evolved from a small industrial city into an economic center of southern New Jersey. After the bank merged with another institution in the late 1920s, the bank vacated the historic building in 1931. A skating rink moved into the building in 1940. Equitable Insurance acquired the building in 1947 and operated from the building until 2003.
This recently renovated office duplex dates back to 1920 when attorney A.S. Woodruff had the two adjoining buildings constructed with the purpose of renting space to the growing number of lawyers and other professionals in Camden during the post-war boom. As the suburban Philadelphia town grew, its need for real estate agents, insurance professionals and attorneys grew, but most worked in makeshift offices. The Woodruff buildings, followed by the Wilson Building skyscraper in 1926, demonstrate the growth of Camden. However, that boom would come to an end in the 1930s and the area saw stagnation followed by a period of decline in the last half of the twentieth century. In recent years, the area has seen a renewed investment. The Wilson Building now houses a High School and the Woodruff and Law Buildings have been fully renovated.
The Federal Building and Courthouse at 401 Market Street was designed by James A. Wetmore and was completed in 1932. The building is an example of the Neoclassical style in federal architecture in the Modernist manner. Also known as the U.S. Post Office and Courthouse, the building was listed in the New Jersey Register in 2011 and the National Register in 2012. The building is still an active Post Office and contains some of the federal courts that didn't relocate to the newer seven-story building to the rear, facing Cooper Street. During renovation in the 1990s, the roof over the open-for-business Post Office needed to be removed, but neither snow, nor sleet, nor lack of roof keeps the U.S. Postal Service from its mission!
Camden evolved into an southern New Jersey economic hub during the late nineteenth and early twentieth century; several banks emerged in the Philadelphia suburb. Camden Trust opened in 1873 and functioned as the largest or second largest bank in southern New Jersey for several decades. During the late 1920s, it absorbed the acclaimed Central Trust Bank and began work on the now-historic building. By the end of the Great Depression, Camden Trust stood as only one of three banks to survive and quickly became the largest bank in South Jersey by 1948.
The Newton Friends' Meetinghouse was constructed in 1824 as a place of worship by the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers). The building underwent remodeling in the 1880s by architect Wilson Eyre, Jr. but retains the simple, no-frills esthetic of the Quaker philosophy. The building was moved within the last decade to its current location at 808 Cooper Street. It used to stand further west, at 722 Cooper Street, along with a Quaker School building. Newton Friends' Meetinghouse was listed in the New Jersey and National Registers in 1971. The building still serves as a Quaker church and garden for community services.
Since they began in 1997, the LEAP Academy has been supporting and facilitating the growth of young minds in Camden NJ, where 30% of the population was Latino at the time. As the number of Latinos has grown to 47% in 2010, the LEAP Academy continues its important mission to ready its kids for college and life. In a city like Camden where there has been little economic opportunity and high unemployment which then creates a situation for crime to grow, the LEAP Academy plays a vital role by equipping its kids with all they need to succeed, as shown by 100% of its students graduating, which then creates economic opportunity, lowers unemployment which then prevents the growth of crime.
The Wilson Building was completed in 1926 amidst a nationwide economic boom and local investment in the growing industrial town of Camden which was growing into a bustling Philadelphia suburb. At twelve stories, the Wilson Building stood as the town's first, large office building. John Wilson planned the construction of this building in recognition that Camden could support a high-rise structure to accommodate professionals such as lawyers, investors, insurance agents, and real estate agents. When it opened, the building had high-speed elevators, ornate detailing, and modern office spaces. The Great Depression, World War II, and industrial decline changed the narrative for Camden, resulting in urban blight. Once facing low occupancy rates, a 2014 renovation of the Wilson Building led to new tenants including the High School for the LEAP Academy charter schools.
The building at 525 Cooper Street was listed in the National Register of Historic Places as part of a themed nomination of buildings in Camden related to banking, law, and insurance, dating from 1873 to 1938. It is also within the Cooper Street Historic District. This commercial building was built in the mid-1920s and held multiple law offices into the 1990s. The Mission/Spanish Revival style building was designed by architect Robert Wells. The Charles S. Boyer Building recently housed the organization Volunteers of America of Delaware Valley (VOADV), part of a national non-profit agency; the main local offices of the agency is two doors down, at 531 Cooper Street. VOADV has owned the Boyer building since 1999.
The historic house at 305 Cooper Street was once the home of Dr. Henry Genet Taylor, a local physician. The house was built for Dr. Taylor in 1885 and housed his descendants until 1959. The structure combines elements of early English Renaissance style in limestone, tan tapestry Roman brick, and terra cotta. The building is now part of the Camden campus of Rutgers University as the Writers House, containing the MFA program and some English department classes. The university completed renovations to the building's interior in 2015. The Taylor House was listed in the New Jersey and National Registers of Historic Places in 1971. It also is part of the Cooper Street Historic District, listed in the National Register in 1989.
The Edward Sharp House is at the corner of Cooper and N. Second Street, opposite Johnson Park and adjoining the Camden campus of Rutgers University. The house was built from 1810 to 1812 and is the only remaining late Federal style home in the City of Camden. The local architect was Gideon Vanwinkle Stivers, a master carpenter and bridge-builder. Sharp served in the legislature from Gloucester County (a pre-cursor to Camden County) in the 1810s. Dr. Samuel Harris bought the house at auction in 1825 and established a medical office in a new wing built in back of the home. The Edward Sharp House was listed on the New Jersey Register in 1979 and the National Register in 1980; much of the interior and exterior was still original at that time. The house has been turned into five rental apartments.
The Cooper Library, also known as the Walt Whitman Arts Center, first opened in 1918, with construction on the park and artwork additions continued through 1930. Before the park and library emerged, the land where the library sits served Camden as a transportation hub from 1688 through the late nineteenth century, first for a ferry company, then for the British during the Revolutionary war, followed by a stagecoach center and railway hub. Since it opened, its purpose transitioned to becoming a center for art and culture with mosaics, sculptures and artwork present in the library and on the park grounds. Though vandalism and theft during from the 1970s to the 1990s hurt its place as a cultural hub, a renovation project by its current owner, Rutgers University in Camden, has brought back its prestige.
This historical marker was dedicated on November 28, 2017, and became the first of its kind in the state of New Jersey. The marker recognizes Camden's role in the slave trade and was made possible by the efforts of local historians whose research revealed that this was the site of Cooper Street Ferry where enslaved people were sold at auction. The first known slave auction at this site occurred in 1727 and the marker's title declares "Enslaved Americans Once Sold Here."
The stately building at 123 Market Street was built in 1913 as a bank. Davis & Davis was the Philadelphia-based architectural firm who designed this Classical Revival, one-story granite building with a full basement. The bank was one of six established after New Jersey's banking law of 1812, as the State Bank of Camden. The building was still being used as a bank in the early 1990s. The National State Bank building was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1990 as part of a nomination of multiple bank, legal, and insurance-related buildings in Camden. City Invincible, an architectural/ tech startup firm, undertook extensive restoration of the building and moved into the new space in February 2017.
Originally constructed between 1909 and 1916, this was a Victrola cabinet factory that build wooden cabinets for record players and radio sets. The Victor, known affectionately as the “Nipper Building” and listed on the National Register of Historic Places, was originally built to be the anchor building for the Victor Talking Machine Company, later to become RCA Victor, one of the most successful companies of the early 20th century. It was also the headquarters of the Victor Talking Machine Company, later RCA Victor. It is still known as "The Nipper Building," although its official name became 'The Victor' after it was transformed into retail space and condos. The building became known as "The Nipper Building" because of the images of the radio companies adopted the image of a dog named Nipper listening to the radio. The image was an adaptation of the painting "His Master's Voice."
The Battleship New Jersey Museum was developed to preserve the famous USS New Jersey at its permanent resting place in Camden, New Jersey. The Iowa-class battleship was introduced during World War II and also saw action in the Korean War, the Vietnam War, and the Lebanese Civil War. With a total of 19 battle and campaign stars, it is the most decorated battle ship in the U.S. Navy’s history. The New Jersey was decommissioned for the final time in 1991. In 2000 the ship was moved to Camden and converted into a floating museum. Today the ship remains open to the public and offers interactive tours, meeting spaces, educational programs, and overnight stays. It is on the National Register of Historic Places.
This Tour is a Walking Tour.
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This walking tour begins at the Walt Whitman House and works its way through the downtown area with stops at historic buildings that offer a glimpse into the city's past. New entries will be added soon.
