The Year 1842 – Camden, NJ


SPAN OF A CENTURY, 1828-1928

100 YEARS IN THE HISTORY OF CAMDEN AS A CITY

Compiled from notes and data collected by Charles S. Boyer, President Camden County Historical Society. Published by Centennial Anniversary Committee of Camden, New Jersey. Additional Photos and Notes by Phillip Cohen in 2003.

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The first night boat between Camden and Philadelphia was put on July 4, 1842, by the Camden and Philadelphia Ferry Company, the last boat leaving Camden at 9:00 PM and Philadelphia at 9:30 PM.

On April 1, 1842 the Railroad Hotel at the foot of Bridge Avenue, kept by James Elwell and often called Elwell’s Hotel was burned down. This hotel was erected by the Camden & Philadelphia Steamboat Ferry Company early in 1838. The hotel was rebuilt as a four-story brick building and again occupied by James Elwell. It was torn down in 1874 to make room for the tracks of the Camden & Amboy Railroad.

John and James G. Capewell established a flint glass works on the square bounded by Kaighn Avenue, Second, Sycamore, and Locust Streets in 1842, under the name of The Excelsior Flint Glass Works. This plant was in active operation until the financial panic of 1857, after which it struggled along until it finally closing its doors in 1859. Several attempts were made by other parties to operate the plant, but after a few years the works were dismantled and the buildings were allowed to go to ruin. In 1874 Howell & Griffith purchased the property and began the erection of dwellings on the site.


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