Bell & Evans Inc.

Bell & Evans Inc., today known for its massive Fredericksburg, Pennsylvania operation, began as a far smaller enterprise with roots stretching back to the 1890s and firmly planted in Camden’s industrial landscape. By the early 1930s the company had become a familiar presence in East Camden, operating a substantial three‑story warehouse on North 27th Street opposite Pleasant Street—roughly where Paul’s Auto Glass stands today. The business was led at the time by Carlton S. Evans of Pennsauken, with Arthur M. Bell of the Bellmawr family serving first as a buyer and, by 1947, as treasurer. Their warehouse sat in a dense working‑class neighborhood where industry and daily life mixed closely: rowhouses along Howell Street, the old St. Joseph's Church complex at 25th and Howell, and the steady movement of trucks and poultry crates that marked the rhythm of the company’s work.

That rhythm was violently interrupted on May 6, 1934, when a catastrophic fire tore through the warehouse, destroying the building along with more than 10,000 live chickens and thousands of dollars’ worth of dressed product. Flames and smoke forced the evacuation of about thirty nearby homes, and for a time the blaze threatened the vacant St. Joseph’s Church, its parochial school, and the convent that once anchored the block—structures that stood where a baseball field lies today. Despite the scale of the disaster, Bell & Evans rebuilt quickly, relocating to 1610–1644 Carman Street, where it remained a steady industrial presence into the 1960s. By 1970 the company had moved to a new industrial park in Bellmawr, and later to Fredericksburg, where its modern plant now processes roughly 150,000 chickens a day—an enormous operation whose origins trace back to the crowded streets and close‑knit neighborhoods of East Camden.