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The Berlin Train Station is the oldest existing station in New Jersey. It is
listed on the New Jersey (# 3017, Dec. 30, 1996) and National Register of
Historic Places (#97000063, Feb. 14, 1997).

The Camden and Atlantic Railroad Company laid a single rail line in 1853
that ran parallel to the main road between Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and
Atlantic City, New Jersey. The Long-A-Coming Station, as it was originally
called, was built in 1856 of Italianate architecture. A hotel and tavern were
within walking distance of the station to make it an ideal place for a stop. 

On February 5, 1867, the station was renamed "Magnolia". This
caused much confusion because the town of Magnolia was nearby. So, three months
later, on May 7, the town name and the station name were changed to Berlin.
There are no records of why that name was chosen.

The first Station Agent was Joseph L. Thackara. Other residents who served
as agents were Howard C. Sharp, Mr. Brace, Henry N. Gillon, David R. Lee,
Herbert R. Snyder, and John W. Green. The station was used for both passengers
and freight. 

After some heavy rail traffic in the early years, the depression and
increase of automobiles caused train travel to decline. By the 1960s the
railroad that had grown to a double track was reduced back to a single line and
stations were closed and removed. The Berlin Station was closed in 1969. It
stood empty until 1994 when the members of Long-A-Coming Historical Society
restored it. The restoration took 2 years to complete. The railroad allowed the
station to remain on its original spot and leases it to the town for $1 per
year with a 99-year lease.&nbsp; It is the meeting place for the Long-A-Coming
Historical Society and serves as a museum.

Long-A-Coming Depot/Berlin Railroad Station, 2018

Long-A-Coming Depot/Berlin Railroad Station, circa early 1900s.

Long-A-Coming Depot/Berlin Railroad Station, circa mid 1900s.

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Built in 1856, the Long-A-Coming Depot/Berlin Railroad Station is the oldest existing railroad station in New Jersey.  

Long-A-Coming Depot/Berlin Railroad Station

This Clio heritage trail was created by the Camden County History Alliance and shares the history of numerous Camden County landmarks. The tour begins at the Battleship New Jersey Museum and moves on to the Walt Whitman House and several museums and historical societies before concluding at the oldest remaining railroad station in the County and a colonial-era tavern house. 

The USS New Jersey (BB-62) was constructed in
the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard and launched on December 7, 1942, the one-year
anniversary of the bombing of Pearl Harbor. The 887-foot long, 45,000-ton ship
was part of the Iowa-class of
battleships commissioned during World War II, which also included the Iowa, the Missouri, and the Wisconsin;
they were the last battleships commissioned for the United States Navy. The New Jersey soon saw action in the
Pacific Theater&nbsp;in 1944, fighting against the Imperial Japanese Navy in the
Marshall Islands, Marianas Islands, the Philippines, and Okinawa. After the
war the New Jersey was decommissioned and placed in the Atlantic Reserve Fleet
in 1948.

In 1950 the New Jersey was recommissioned in 1950 to
serve in the Korean War. During this time it mostly provided artillery support
for ground forces. The ship was decommissioned again in 1957, and then
recommissioned once more in 1968 for the Vietnam War. It was the only
battleship to fight in Vietnam, and was the only active battleship in the world
at the time. The ship provided was in service only briefly before being
decommissioned again in 1969. In 1982 the New
Jersey was recommissioned a final time to support U.S. forces in the
Lebanese Civil War. At this time the ship was given upgrades, including
Tomahawk and Harpoon missile launchers. On February 8, 1984, the New Jersey launched the largest shore
bombardment since the Korean War on a command post east of Beirut. In 1991 the
ship was decommissioned for the final time. In 1999 it was struck from the Navy
rosters and towed to Philadelphia. Over the course of her career the New Jersey
was awarded 19 battle or campaign stars; nine for World War II; four for the
Korean War; two for the Vietnam War; three for the engagements in Lebanon; and
a Navy Unit Commendation for service in Vietnam.

In 1999 a stipulation
included in the Strom Thurmond National Defense Act required that the Navy
transfer ownership of the USS New Jersey
to a non-profit entity in the State of New Jersey for the purpose of becoming a
museum. As renovations were conducted on the ship in Philadelphia, two
different groups petitioned for ownership, the USS New Jersey Battleship
Commission of Bayonne, and the Home Port Alliance of Camden. In 2000 the Navy
announced that it would give the New
Jersey to the Home Port of Alliance; on October 15 the ship arrived at the
Camden Waterfront. 

The Battleship New
Jersey Museum opened to the public in 2001. It is operated by the non-profit
group Battleship New Jersey Museum and Memorial Inc., formerly known as the
Homeport Alliance. Hundreds of volunteers are required to operate the museum
and keep the ship in satisfactory condition. Interactive tours are available
for visitors, and the museum also offers rental spaces for events, and
youth-oriented overnight programs. Recently the Museum has undertaken a number
of different projects, such as the conversion of its heating system to increase
efficiency; the opening of additional portions of the ship to the public; the
reactivation of the ship’s whistle; and the opening of a café. In 2017 the
Museum acquired an original Quad 40s anti-aircraft gun from the New Jersey and fully restored it to
working condition.

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. 

Battleship New Jersey Museum

Walt Whitman was born
in 1819 and grew up in New York. He became an avid fan of literature early in
his life and worked variously as a printer, a teacher, and a newspaper editor.
In 1855 Whitman self-published his first collection of poems, Leaves of Grass, which received a
favorable review from popular writer Ralph Waldo Emerson. Over the next several
decades he published a slew of poetry, and expanded his original book Leaves of Grass multiple times. Despite
his success and reputation, Whitman made little money from royalties and often
faced financial hardships; he would sometime rely on donations from friends and
admirers. In the 1870s he moved to Camden, New Jersey in what was meant to be a
temporary stay while he helped tend to his dying mother. A stroke in 1873
impacted his health and he spent the next several years living in Camden with
his brother George. Around 1884 George moved to Burlington, New Jersey. Whitman
decided not to follow him, and instead purchased a home of his own on Mickle
Street (today Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard) for $1,750. It was the first
and only house that Whitman ever owned. 

The two-story, Greek
revival style, wood-frame house was built in 1848. Featuring six rooms and a
backyard, it was a typical example of a middle-class Victorian era home.
Whitman lived here for the final eight years of his life. Faced with declining
health, he hired a local widow, Mary O. Davis, to move in to the house and care
for him. Although Whitman’s most productive writing years were behind him, he
did manage to complete and publish the final edition of Leaves of Grass in
1892. He died that same year from tuberculosis on March 26, 1892.

Almost immediately after
Whitman’s death, friends and fans of his work saw the need to memorialize the
poet. In 1894 the Walt Whitman Fellowship (today the Walt Whitman Association)
was created to promote his works and to hold an annual celebration on his
birthday, May 31. In 1921 the City of Camden purchased the home from Whitman’s
heirs, and the Walt Whitman Association oversaw its restoration. They worked to
acquire many of his possessions and items original to the house to furnish it
with. The Walt Whitman House was opened to the public as a museum in 1923. In
1947 Camden transferred ownership of the house to the State of New Jersey,
which designated it a state historic site. In 1966 the house was listed on the
National Register of Historic Places. During the 1980s and 1990s the New Jersey
Division of Parks and Forestry conducted research and performed extensive
renovations on the house, repairing or replacing aging infrastructure and
restoring the house to its exact appearance during the time Whitman lived
there. The projects were funded by money from various state agencies and
historical organizations such as the New Jersey Historic Preservation Bond
Program, the New Jersey Historic Trust, the Division of Parks and Forestry, the
Preservation Alliance of Philadelphia, and the Victorian Society of America. Final
restorations were completed in 1998.

Today the Walt Whitman
remains open to the public as a museum and is maintained and operated jointly
by the New Jersey Division of Parks and Forestry and the Walt Whitman
Association. It is dedicated to preserving the memory of Whitman and promoting the
art of poetry. Items in the museum include some of Whitman’s original
furniture, his deathbed, and his earliest-known photograph (from 1848). In
addition to guided tours, the museum also hosts field trips and an annual
poetry contest. The Walt Whitman Association has held a birthday celebration in
the backyard every year since 1892.

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 Walt Whitman House

St Joseph’s Parish began in 1891 when a group of Polish immigrants won the battle to organize and establish a Polish Roman Catholic church and parish in South Camden. On October 24, 1892, St Joseph’s Church was officially incorporated and a one-story structure was rented on Broadway near Kaighn Avenue for use as a temporary church.A tract of land was purchased at 10th and Liberty Streets and by 1895 a combination church-school building was completed. Philadelphia architect George I. Lovatt subsequently designed a Baroque-style church which was constructed in 1913 at 10th and Mechanic Streets (the present site). In May 1914, the new church was consecrated.The exterior of the church is comprised of metallic gray New Hampshire granite. A Romanesque entrance follows the traditional styling popular in the 16th and 17th centuries. The interior of the church has a 63-foot-high arched ceiling nave, separating two arcades that are supported by pillars. The apse is crowned by a lofty half-rounded cupola above the center altar. Two other altars stand in niches to either side of the main altar. Facing the three altars is the choir gallery or organ loft from where a panoramic view of the interior resembles a cross.The church could seat 1,000 people and cost $100,000 to build. In later years, stained-glass windows were donated as memorials and the interior was painted. Most of the windows are in the Munich or German style of glass that was favored by Catholic churches when the church was built. The original pipe organ was rebuilt by the Mudler and Hunter firm of Philadelphia in 1972. The instrument consists of 15 “ranks” or sets of pipes totaling over 900 pipes ranging in size from about 1 inch to 8 feet in length. The sound of the organ is greatly amplified and enhanced by the superb acoustics of the church.There are approximately 90 first class relics on the altar rail (A first class relic is the saint’s physical remain, usually a bone fragment, lock of hair, piece of skin or drop of blood). These relics were given to St Joseph’s parish by the family of Fr Anthony Cecich after he died in 1992. Fr Cecich was a Croatian priest who immigrated to the US after World War II and served in the Camden Diocese. He collected the relics over various trips in the 1950s and 1960s. The altar rail cases containing the relics were commissioned by Fr Pawel Kryszkiewicz, former pastor. They were made in Poland and were installed here in 2016. A first-class relic (a drop of blood) of St John Paul II was received from Cardinal Dziwisz of Kraków in 2012 and is located on the side altar dedicated to the Blessed Mother.The three bells in the tower, dedicated December 2, 1917, have been restored. The quarter-ton bell is named Mary; the half-ton bell is named John; the one-ton bell is Adalbert. In 2017, St Joseph’s was designated the Polish Apostolate of the Diocese of Camden and merged with the parish of The Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception. At St Joseph’s Church, a weekly bilingual (Polish-English) Mass is held each Sunday at 10:00 AM and Polish cultural events take place throughout the year.

This baroque-style century-old church was designed by renowned architect George I Lovatt, containing magnificent stained glass windows, Polish-inspired elements and nearly 100 relics, including one of St John Paul II. Because of its unique architecture and strong Polish ethnic community for over a century St Joseph’s Church is on the New Jersey and National Registers of Historic Places.

Saint Joseph's History Society of South Camden

Public tours of Pomona Hall are available by advance reservation.&nbsp;

Pomona Hall was the 'Big House' of an 18th-century plantation worked by African slaves and indentured European servants. The mansion was built in 1726 and presently is the home of the Camden County Historical Society. The society has restored the building to match its appearance during the American Revolution and operates a small regional history museum and archive in the building. 

Pomona Hall-Camden County Historical Society

In 1684, the
Kay family settled the original land that would later become the Barclay
Homestead.&nbsp; A fourth generation Quaker,
named Joseph Thorn, purchased 168 acres from Samuel Kay in 1816 and
immediately began work on a typical Federal style farmhouse the same year.&nbsp; The 16-room house features a symmetrical façade
and simple brickwork, signatures of the Federal style, and was completed in
1818.&nbsp; By that time, Joseph and Esther
Thorn had seven children.

Unfortunately,
Thorn ran into financial difficulties in the 1820s and was forced to sell the
farm to Joseph Cooper in 1826.&nbsp; Cooper
was a city councilman for the town of Camden and president of the Cooper’s
Point Ferry.&nbsp; He built another home in
Camden in 1855 and it is thought that he and his family used Barclay as a
summer retreat.&nbsp; During this time, Cooper
added a front and side porch to the farmhouse.&nbsp;
However, it suffered through deterioration due to lack of maintenance.&nbsp; Cooper died in 1871.

The
farmstead then passed to his daughter, Ellen Champion Cooper, who married
Charles Barclay in 1882.&nbsp; The couple only
had one child, a son named Walter Cooper Barclay.&nbsp; Ellen died shortly after giving birth to Walter
at the young age of 30.&nbsp; The farmstead
was then run as a gentleman’s farm by Charles Barclay who was a prominent
Philadelphia lawyer and rarely visited the land.&nbsp; Walter Barclay then attained the farm in 1905
and soon thereafter married Mary Emma Lemunyon.&nbsp;
Walter passed in 1936 and the farm was inherited by his only child,
Helen.

Most of the
land was then sold to a housing developer in 1954.&nbsp; However, Helen retained 32 acres, to include the
farmhouse and out buildings.&nbsp; When Helen
sold the land and buildings, stipulating that they be used as a public park and
recreation center, to Cherry Hill Township in 1974, it had fallen into a state
of disrepair.&nbsp; Restoration efforts, led
by Bonnie Cocchiaraley, architect John Dickey and the Friends of Barclay
Homestead, began in 1976.&nbsp; 

Since that
time, the house has been restored to its 19th century status.&nbsp; It now offers public tours, living history
educational programs, outdoor concerts, its annual Holiday House, and other special
events during the year.&nbsp; It also features
one of the largest community gardens in the area with 150 plots available for
rental.&nbsp; Also on the property are a museum
shop, barn, springhouse, corn crib, picnic areas, and kitchen herb garden.&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

The Barclay Farmhouse, which sits on a 32-acre plot, is a living history museum that was built in 1816 by Quaker Joseph Thorn.  A large portion of the once operating farm was sold to developers in the 1950s.  However, a small section was retained by Helen Barclay and then sold to Cherry Hill Township in 1974.  The township still owns and operates the farmstead to this day.  The simple, Federal style farmhouse now sits among community garden plots, interpretive trails, and an apple orchard.  Inside, the farmhouse features period furnishings, clothing and textiles and the farmstead hosts numerous special events throughout the year.  The farmstead was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1978.

Barclay Farmstead Museum

Indian King Tavern Museum’s more than 270 year-old historic building is New Jersey’s first state-owned historic site (1903). It’s where New Jersey completed the transition from colony to State passing laws revising election procedures, creating township governments, and setting up state courts. At the Indian King, the assembly passed measures imposing martial law, strengthening the militia, regulating a war economy, and providing emergency support to the Continental Army after its defeat at Brandywine. 

Indian King Tavern Museum

The area
around the present Gabreil Daveis Tavern House was first settled by Gabreil’s
grandfather, William Daveis, in 1710.&nbsp; It
eventually expanded to a 178-acre plantation that stretched to Runnemede and
where slaves grew and harvested apples, sweet potatoes and other crops.&nbsp; The land then passed to William Daveis Jr and
then to Gabreil Daveis and his wife Sarah.&nbsp;
Gabreil and Sarah initially lived in a log cabin on their land and he
went on to serve the township as tax collector, clerk and constable.

In 1756,
Gabreil built a three-story, vernacular Georgian style brick and field stone
tavern along the Irish Road that connected Gloucester Township to Great Egg
Harbor, just south of present day Atlantic City.&nbsp; Daveis understood that Big Timber Creek was a
tidal river and people working and traveling along it needed a place to stay
during low tide.&nbsp; Hence, the idea for a
tavern was born.&nbsp; His tavern featured numerous
items common to the Georgian style, to include brick in Flemish bond, wood
paneled shutters, wood shingles, brick chimneys and a gable roof with a date
stone at one end.&nbsp; These items have been
restored and are featured to this day.

The tavern,
aside from serving libations, also hosted township elections and meetings from
1757-1770.&nbsp; After Gabreil passed in 1767,
his widow, Sarah, ran the tavern for a year, but then did not renew its license
in 1768 and it reverted to a private home.&nbsp;
During the Revolutionary War, the home was designated as a field
hospital by George Washington and the wounded were cared for in the home’s
attic.&nbsp; For this reason, it is sometimes referred
to as the Hillman Hospital House.&nbsp; Over
the years, the former tavern was occupied by patriot leaders Benjamin Pittfield
and Major George Payne and Civil War veteran, Captain Edward Warrick.

The home was
eventually acquired by Joseph Jaggard, who was related to the Warricks through
marriage.&nbsp; Jaggard then permitted the house
to fall into a state of disrepair over the years before selling it to William
Schuck in 1923.&nbsp; Schuck allowed Jaggard
to live in his former residence for another 30 years.&nbsp; Schuck, the last private owner of the home,
died in 1976 and left the home and what remained of the land to Gloucester
Township with the stipulation that it be used as a public historic
structure.&nbsp; 

The former
tavern and home has since been restored and tours are conducted through its rooms
two Sundays per month from April through November.&nbsp; The home features period furniture and antiques
as well as the artwork of its last owner, William Schuck, who is buried on the
property.&nbsp; The tavern also hosts special events
throughout the year, such as Colonial and Revolutionary War Weekends with
period actors.&nbsp; Please call for specific
tour and special event times and dates.&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

The Gabreil Daveis Tavern House was built in 1756 and served as an integral Gloucester Township community focal point for over a decade.  It also served as a field hospital during the Revolutionary War and has been inhabited by both Revolutionary and Civil War veterans since.  The Georgian style home now serves the community as a historic house museum, giving people a glimpse into the life of how a middle-class colonial family lived along the banks of Big Timber Creek.  The Gabreil Daveis Tavern House has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1977.  

Built in Camden County

Long-A-Coming Depot/Berlin Railroad Station

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Backstory and Context

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