History of Stratford

 
   

The White Horse Inn November 4, 1922 re-opening celebration of the newly paved White Horse Pike.  The tavern was in Business for 219 years.
Stratford , in the beginning, was a tiny village called "White Horse", built up around the White  Horse Tavern.  Located about fourteen miles from the City of Camden, Stratford came into being on June 1, 1695 and was part of Gloucester County, Gloucester Township, covering an area of 3,566 square miles.

Around the White Horse Tavern grew a village of nine homes, a General Store, a Blacksmith Shop and a Wheel Wright Shop.  Of the nine original homes, the General Store, now known as the Quaker Store, is the only one still in existence.

 

The annual Methodist Sunday School picnic.  This was a big in Stratford at the turn of the century.
 
Prior to, and during the Revolutionary War, our patriots, mostly sea-going men, fitted out fast sailing ships with armament to capture English merchant ships.  These small, fast vessels, owned by the Americans, were called "Privateers", but the men were called "Pirates" by the British Navy.  The booty from the captured vessels was sold for high prices in the cities and transported by wagon and cart from the shore points through the forests to Philadelphia and Gloucester.  The White Horse Tavern was an important stop on this route for food, water and repairs to the wagons after a long and hard trip from the sea.
 

Iredell's  Cash Grocery and first Stratford Post Office at 1 Atlantic Avenue. Also at one time home off the Stratford Library.
 

In 1807, the White Horse Pike, which takes its name from the White Horse Tavern, was laid out from the Village of White Horse in front of the Tavern to the Haddonfield Road.  The two roads intersected at Harleigh Cemetery at City Line in Camden.

Business at the Tavern and the tiny village flourished, as stage coach service increased until 1854.  In that year, the Camden and Atlantic Railroad was built, passing within a few blocks to the rear of the Tavern.  With the railroad came the slow demise of the stage coach and increased population of the area.

 

The Old Orchard Inn was the Jacob Lippincott farmhouse, converted by Chas. King, in 1890's, into a summer vacation hotel.
 
In 1888 or 1889, Charles S. King saw the possibility of creating a pleasant and ideal
community out of the farm land owned by Jacob Lippincott.  He, along with Zimmerman, Twitchell, Smith and Rogers, formed the Rural Land Improvement Company.  The development was roughly triangular in shape.  The name they chose for this new community was Stratford--after Stratford-on-Avon in England. Stratford was incorporated as a Borough in 1925
 

1961 - 1980
(picture taken 1965)
302 Union Avenue
 
The Stratford Library  was first organized in March of 1921 by the P.T.A. at the original Princeton School, a building later moved to 320 Harvard Avenue, now a residence.  Miss Amy Hardester, a teacher, volunteered as the first librarian.  However, when the school closed for the summer, Mrs. Hemmingsen of 106 Princeton Avenue offered her home, and the library remained there until 1924. If you would like more infomation about the Stratford Library's History click here....
   

If you would like to know more information on the history of Stratford, New Jersey, contact Jack Cathrall, our town historian. He has published and sold “The History of Stratford, New Jersey “ in 2007 & 2008. There have been three printings. The author has updated the book through 2008. The book covers our town history from 1695 to 2008. The book is available through the local Stratford Library or by calling the author at 856-783-2323 or by e-mailing jasmagic@msn.com

 


2010 Dog & Cat
Licenses are DUE
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Chipping begins on the
3rd and continues for the month of January
Metal pickup is only on the following weeks in January
3rd & 17th
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2010 Holiday trash
and recycling schedule
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A letter from our Police Chief
about Nixle Communication Network
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NJDEP Solutions to
Stormwater Pollution
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Tenants-Foreclosure info for New Jersey
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Military Support
Group of NJ Inc.

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Library Board of Trustees
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Economic Development
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Shade Tree Commission
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Council Agenda Meeting
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Park Commission
8th

Town Council Meeting
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Historic Preservation
11th

Council Meeting
16th

Board of Health Department
22nd

Joint Land Use Board
25th

Stratford Economic
Development Committee


Stratford Business &
Civic Association
         
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Borough of Stratford 307 Union Avenue, Stratford, NJ 08084
Phone (856) 783-0600 Fax (856) 783-7949
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