Courier-Post from Camden, New Jersey • Page 140

A Pennsaaken WEB EXTRA For more about Haddon Township, visit courierpostonline.com haddontwp QUOTABLE "People stay because everything that they grew up with, they want their kids to have." Mayor William J. Park, April 2006 Haddon Twp. a larger Part of Hopkins House on South Park Drive Haddon Township was established on Feb. 23, 1865, after detaching itself from a now-vanished community called Newton Township. Newton once stretched from the Delaware River to what is now Haddonfield and from the Cooper River to the southern branch of Newton Creek.

Newton was a community of farms with Haddonfield, which had established itself as the area's largest village and trade center by the Revolutionary War, serving as its downtown. As the area grew and became more populous, Newton started breaking down into smaller municipalities. In 1828, the city of Camden was carved from a portion of i i -'X HISTORY HIGHLIGHTS 1701: John Haddon sends his daughter Elizabeth from England to occupy the 500 acres he had purchased along the Cooper Creek three years earlier. 1828: The city of Camden is carved from a portion of Newton Township. 1836: The Camden and Philadelphia Race Course, the area's first horse racetrack, is built in an area known today as the Bettlewood section of Haddon Township.

1 865: The remainder of Newton Township splits in two, with the western portion remaining as Newton and the eastern side becoming Haddon Township. 1871: Newton is absorbed into Haddon Township. 1875: Haddonfield detaches itself from Haddon Township. 1888: Collingswood, a portion of Haddon Township, is incorporated. 1905: Oaklyn detaches itself from Haddon Township.

pndjj.iowuiinMinwiisiw RITZ THEATRE 1927: The Ritz Theatre and Westmont Theater are built. 2004: A 25-acre forest, containing some trees as old as 300 years, is renamed Saddler's Woods, after Joshua Saddler, a runaway slave from Maryland. It has had a number of names, including the MacArthur Tract, after an adjacent road; the Van Sciver Tract, after a wealthy man who lived nearby; and the Jar-vis Tract, after a farmer. Source: 'Courier-Post' archives f' ChmyHiH Collingswbod LV. Haddon' Oaklyn i Courier-Post DID YOU KNOW? Did you know film director Steven Spielberg lived in Haddon Township as a youngster? Spielberg lived in the township from 1950 to 1953 and he is believed to have seen one of his first movies at the Westmont Theater.

The filmmaker was 4 years old when his parents moved from Cincinnati to Haddon Township so his father could take a job with RCA. Three years later, the family moved again, first to Phoenix, where they lived for 1 1 years, then to Los Angeles. 3 LANDMARKS IN HADDONTWP. 1. The Ritz Theatre first opened its doors in 1927, one of many movie palaces to open in Camden County in the 1920s.

Since 1986, the theater has presented a full season of six plays, as well as children's theater and special productions. 2. Saddler's Woods is a 25-acre urban forest that combines an old-growth forest with young woodlands and wetlands. Formerly known as the MacArthur Tract, it was renamed in 2004 after Joshua Saddler, a former slave who settled here after escaping from a Maryland plantation in the 1830s. He later won his freedom and purchased a small farm.

3. Crystal Lake Pool has been a gathering place for Haddon Township residents since 1903, when it still had a sand bottom. In 1988, the pool was rebuilt to have a concrete liner and it has been a regional summer destination. a decade r' Events "'rS whole Haddonfield became its own borough in 1875, Collingswood was incorporated in 1888 and Oaklyn in 1905. Two farms remained part of Haddon Township, despite being geographically detached from the main portion of the township, known as Westmont.

These two farms are the areas known today as West Collingswood Heights and West Collingswood Extension. West Collingswood Extension has roughly 250 houses and West Collingswood Heights has about 450. Today the township occupies 2.8 square miles and is home to roughly 14,500 people. Lavinia DcCastro -Airport Transfers ivieeiiiiyiUiiveiiuuu oiiuuics MeetinnCnnuRnt Courier-Post file houses the Camden County Cultural and Heritage Commission. Newton Township.

The remainder split in 1865 the western portion remained as Newton and the eastern side became Haddon Township. The township occupied 5,286 acres and included land to the south and east of what is now Collings Road. Haddon Township took its name from John Haddon, an Englishman, and his daughter Elizabeth. A devout Quaker, Elizabeth was barely 21 when her father sent her in 1701 to occupy 500 acres he owned along Cooper Creek. Newton finally dissolved in 1871, when it was absorbed into Haddon Township, but smaller communities continued to break away.

ifet v-" Bob Harris and helping the Tri-County arrive in style" for over I in i ii -I II WeddingsPromsAnniversaries Nights on the Town snnnnmn FymiKinn 3 CorporatePrivate Sporting Casino Trips Custom Tours for Groups 105 W. Cuthbcrt Township IToll 1'rcc: 888-801-5 66 www.tuiiilylimoiisine.com 56TAB COURIER-POST, Thursday, October 19, 2006.