Introduction
Broadway and Federal Street is the intersection of the main north-south and east-west roads in Camden. If there is a “heart of the city,” this corner would probably be it. Here you will find some views of the intersection over the last 150-plus years.
The First Camden County Courthouse
Built in 1853 and demolished in 1904 to make way for the second courthouse, its location on Broadway between Federal and Market Street ensured the importance of the intersection.
Henry Fredericks — Broadway and Federal Street
Philadelphia Inquirer —
Named: Henry Fredericks, Broadway and Federal Street, and Camden Lodge 293 Benevolent Protective Order of Elks..
The Munger & Long Building
The Carman Mansion stood on the southwest corner of Broadway and Federal Street. It was demolished in July of 1902 to make way for the new store building of George A. Munger, to be used as a department store by Munger and Elmer Ellsworth Long. Munger & Long opened their big department store on April 12, 1904. The building was acquired by Stecker & Company in 1926, and by the J.C. Penney Company in the 1930s.
The Second Camden County Courthouse
Above left: the new Courthouse prior to its dedication. Above right: the new Courthouse after completion in 1906. County business was conducted at Camden’s City Hall during the period of construction.
Note that in these times, Broadway ended at Market Street. The Church of the Immaculate Conception is visible on the far right.
Center: a view of Federal and Arch Street from the roof of the Catholic Lyceum at Broadway and Federal Street, published in 1915.
Above left: the new Courthouse in the early 1900s. Above right: the new Courthouse early 1920s.
Looking East on Federal Street toward Broadway
Photographed from the 500 block around 1909. The Camden County Courthouse, Camden Catholic High School and St. Mary’s Parochial School are visible on the far side of Federal Street. The tall building at far left with the “M” visible is the Munger & Long building, built in 1903.
Federal Street and Munger & Long Postcards
Top left: “Federal Street, Looking East From Court House” — around 1900. Top right: Munger & Long Department Store, Broadway & Federal Street — about 1915.
Bottom left: Catholic Lyceum, Broadway & Federal Street, as seen from the Munger & Long Store. Bottom right: Munger & Long Department Store, Broadway & Federal Street, as seen from the Catholic Lyceum.
Elks and YMCA Buildings
Top left: Elks Buildings, Federal Street east of Broadway — around 1900. Top right: YMCA & Elks Buildings, Federal Street east of Broadway — about 1910.
Center: YMCA & Elks Buildings, Federal Street east of Broadway — about 1910.
Broadway looking north from Mickle Street — about 1930. Broadway looking south from Federal Street — about 1930.
City Begins Covering Federal Street Trolley Tracks
Camden Courier-Post —
Photo shows workmen at the start of the resurfacing of Federal Street from Haddon Avenue to Front Street. The men are seen leveling the asphalt with rakes at Broadway and Federal Street. The work is expected to be completed in a week. It includes covering the trolley tracks on Federal Street, the same as was done on Broadway recently. The project is part of the city-WPA program for repairing Camden streets. During this work vehicles are being detoured over Market and Mickle Street.
2 to 14 Broadway, 1937
By the time this photo was taken in the fall of 1937, the trolley tracks evident in the earlier picture above had been removed.
Broadway and Federal Street
Camden Courier-Post —
Broadway and Federal Street, Camden, January 28, 1943. The Munger & Long building, then occupied by the J.C. Penney store, is visible on the right.
Looking West on Federal Street, 1950s
Looking west on Federal Street from the southwest corner of Broadway & Federal Street, 1950s.
Broadway & Federal Street, Mid-1950s
In the early 1950s the old courthouse was demolished, to make way for Lit Brothers Department Store. Camden Catholic High School was destroyed by fire in 1961. The Munger & Long Building, which had been occupied by J.C. Penney’s since the 1930s, would also be razed, in the 1960s; replaced by the Commerce Building. The stores and businesses, including the Broadway Theater, were leveled to make room for the Walter Rand Transportation Center in the 1980s.
Merchants Laud Crackdown On Street Peddlers
Camden Courier-Post —
Nuisance Eliminated, They Say, Praising Action by Police
Camden City’s police crackdown on the illegal operations of pretzel vendors and other type peddlers in the mid-city business area was hailed today by the merchants.
All merchants contacted agreed the problem has been eliminated and expressed hope the regulation would continue to be enforced, particularly through the Christmas shopping period.
The police action was praised, by each merchant. Many had complained previously against the vendors standing in store doorways or in front of display windows selling their wares such as pretzels, sewing bags, produce, etc.
Photos Tell Story
On October 18, The Courier-Post published several photographs of teen-age children hawking pretzels on the Camden Lits sidewalks and at the doorways during the heavy downpour of rain the previous Saturday night.
The problem was brought to the attention of Police Chief Gus Koerner, who ordered police to enforce the city ordinance on peddlers which requires they keep moving at all times.
Among the merchants commenting the problem has been eliminated, and praising the police for their cooperation were: G.L. McLean, manager, F.W. Woolworth store; Jack D. Neilson, assistant manager, J.C. Penney store; S.G. Hall, manager W.T. Grant store; Albert Rose, manager of Crawford Clothes; Furman Shaw, of F.L. Shaw, jewelers; Miss Leah Lipman, manager of the Deb Shop; Charles Reilly, assistant manager of Horn & Hardart Restaurant; a spokesman for Robert F. Hurley, of Bond Wine & Liquor store; Paul Rapp, manager of L. and M. Hausner cigar store.
Several weeks ago 19 merchants in the Broadway and Federal Street area signed a Camden County Chamber of Commerce petition urging city officials to take action on the peddler nuisance and shortly afterwards a Chamber delegation met personally with Director of Public Safety Aaron to present a direct appeal for relief.
Broadway & Federal Street, 1962
In these photos, dated 1962, two workmen are repairing traffic lights at Broadway and Federal Street. In the left-hand picture, the Parkade Building and the Food Fair grocery is visible. On the right, Chicken Delight, Shellenberger’s Candy Store, and HFC Loans on Broadway, in the building that was razed to make way for the Walter Rand Transportation Center and associated stores in the late 1980s.
Lit Brothers Department Store, 1960s
The Lit Brothers Department Store, built in the 1950s, closed in 1975. The building has been utilized by Camden County for office space since then.
The Commerce Building — April 2003
The Commerce Building, at the southwest corner of Broadway and Federal Street, sits on the land formerly occupied by the Munger & Long building, the home of the J.C. Penney store in Camden for many years. By the mid 1990s the building had very few tenants. Structurally sound, it is one of the very few pre-1980s buildings left standing on the ground between Mickle and Federal Street west of 10th Street.