The White House

Antonio Mecca rose from humble beginnings to become one of Camden’s best-known citizens in the first half of the 20th century. Born in Italy in 1873, he came to America in 1888. Antonio Mecca arrived in Camden in 1890 after picking berries in nearby Hammonton for a year, and began his business career. Antonio Mecca began in business by selling fruit from a pushcart in Camden, and by 1902 owned a liquor store. In 1906 he opened a funeral business at South 4th Street and Division Streets. He was an organizer of the Camden Italian American Building Association, and was involved in real estate and fire insurance. He arranged steamship tickets to and from Europe, was a notary public, and ran a substation of the Camden Post Office from the building he had erected in 1908, which due both to its appearance and its importance to the Italian-American community came to be known as “The White House.”

The White House, at 819 South 4th Street, is a two story building designed in the style of a Mediterranean Villa. It was and still is situated in close proximity to two Roman Catholic churches, Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Church, 832 South 4th Street, and the church of St. Peter and St. Paul at Spruce and St. John Streets, just east of Broadway.

From The White House, Antonio Mecca became a navigator for those many immigrants who spoke no English. The post office sub-station he ran was to assist residents in sending money to family back in Italy. Besides his duties as a notary public, when needed, he interpreted for fellow Italians in Camden courts, helped neighbors get citizenship papers and waived fees for funerals if families did not have sufficient funds. “Tony Mec” as he was known in the neighborhood, also instituted a pre-paid funeral plan for working class families at fifty cents a week. He also operated a limousine rental service.

Antonio Mecca passed away in 1952. 819 South 4th Street continued to operate as a funeral home under the direction of Richard Troncone and family the late 1960s.

The White House at 819 South 4th Street still stands today. As the neighborhood changed, the building had deteriorated, and by the early 1990s it was totally unusable. Due to the efforts of Sal Scuderi and neighbors David Prado, Jose Reyes, and Robert Rivera, the building was restored. In May of 2001, it was occupied once again, to the delight of some hundred current and past residents who turned out for its dedication.