Rio Bar

August W. "Augie" Oswald Jr. was the licensee for the bar at 1000 North 27th Street in 1939. He was born in Pennsylvania and moved with his family to Cramer Hill when he was young. By 1920 he was married and owned a home at 2802 Buren Street; the 1920 census lists him working as a caulker in a shipyard, likely the Noecker, Rickenbach and Ake Shipyard, which stood across the street from his house.

Augie and his family were still living at 2802 Buren Street in 1930, and by then he was working in the coal business. That address later became the site of Jimmy's Tavern from the 1940s through the 1970s. Augie Oswald Jr. kept a residence at 2802 Buren Street as late as 1959, and he moved to Cape May, New Jersey sometime after 1959; he passed away there in September 1970.

Shortly after the liquor license was renewed in June 1939, the bar was sold to the Bowen family. The 1940 Camden City Directory shows Richard G. Bowen running the bar at 1000 River Road, the 1943 Directory lists a Charles Bowen, and the 1947 Directory shows the address as housing Dick's Cafe, operated by Richard and Anna C. Bowen.

By 1954 the bar had changed hands and was called the Rio Bar, taking its name from the nearby Rio Theater on River Road. The 1954 license applicants were Vincent Bembas, Helen Bembas, Charles Kmiec, and Martha Kmiec. On the 1967 liquor license renewal, Martha Kmiec and Vincent Bembeck were listed as the applicants.

Around 1976 the bar was sold again and for several years was known as “Connie's Corner”. The building still stands and now appears to be used as a private residence or as apartments, and there has not been a bar at this location since the 1980s.