Introduction
Rex Place ran east from opposite 317 North 5th Street for one block, ending its run at 309 North 6th Street, between Penn and Linden Street. The north side of Rex Place had rear access to homes in the 500 block of Linden Street. The south side, beginning at North 5th Street, had the rear of the First Presbyterian Church, and 16 row homes. 510, 512, 514, and 516 Rex Place were three story buildings, the rest were two-story homes. Thirty homes were taken in 1951 to expand the Ben Franklin Bridge Plaza. People were still living on Rex Place into the 1980s. Further creeping encroachment from the Rutgers Camden campus spelled the doom of this small street. The city gave over rights to the street in the summer of 1999. A parking lot sits on what was Rex Place.
Rex Place
Map Published in 1946
Rex Place, map published in 1946.
500 Block of Rex Place — Occupants
City directory records, 1895–1947.
510 Rex Place
| Year ↕ | Name ↕ |
|---|---|
| 1947 | Vacant |
512 Rex Place
| Year ↕ | Name ↕ |
|---|---|
| 1947 | Mrs. Elizabeth Thomas |
514 Rex Place
| Year ↕ | Name ↕ |
|---|---|
| 1947 | James W. Reid |
516 Rex Place
| Year ↕ | Name ↕ |
|---|---|
| 1947 | Charles Schock |
518 Rex Place
| Year ↕ | Name ↕ |
|---|---|
| 1947 | Nicholas R. Panarella |
520 Rex Place
| Year ↕ | Name ↕ |
|---|---|
| 1947 | George E. Waddell |
522 Rex Place
| Year ↕ | Name ↕ |
|---|---|
| 1947 | Mrs. Anna Blank |
524 Rex Place
| Year ↕ | Name ↕ |
|---|---|
| 1947 | Floyd E. Bass |
526 Rex Place
| Year ↕ | Name ↕ |
|---|---|
| 1947 | David Spence |
528 Rex Place
| Year ↕ | Name ↕ |
|---|---|
| 1947 | Mrs. Rose C. Leeds |
530 Rex Place
| Year ↕ | Name ↕ |
|---|---|
| 1947 | No listing in directory |
532 Rex Place
| Year ↕ | Name ↕ |
|---|---|
| 1947 | Charles H. Bates |
534 Rex Place
| Year ↕ | Name ↕ |
|---|---|
| 1895 | Agnes Monaghan |
| 1947 | Robert G. Stamper |
536 Rex Place
| Year ↕ | Name ↕ |
|---|---|
| 1947 | Mrs. Jennie Taylor |
538 Rex Place
| Year ↕ | Name ↕ |
|---|---|
| 1947 | Harry S. Anwake |
540 Rex Place
| Year ↕ | Name ↕ |
|---|---|
| 1935–1940 | Gus & Sylvia Gold |
| 1947 | Edward E. Casey Jr. |
| 1935–1940 | Gus Gold & Family |
Related: A Weeping Prisoner — 534 Rex Place, 1895.
Related: Protest Meeting On Span Tunnel Set for Dec. 19 — Rex Place homeowners petition against demolition, 1949.
A Weeping Prisoner
Philadelphia Inquirer —
A Self-Confessed Thief Was Aided by a Little Child.
Weeping bitterly and hiding her face with her tear-soaked handkerchief, Agnes Monaghan, the young woman who was arrested at John Wanamaker’s store last Wednesday for shoplifting, was arraigned at the Central Police Court yesterday afternoon. Since her arrest she has made a confession which resulted in recovering stolen goods worth about $100. The girl’s home is at Equinox, Pa., but for the past month she has been stopping with a married sister at No. 534 Rex street, Camden.
Lamp Causes Bomb Scare
Philadelphia Evening Public Ledger —
Camden Residents Scantily Attired Flee Into Rain
A bomb scare early today brought the residents of Rex Place, Camden, from their beds into the rain and kept them there until Patrolmen Johnson and Anderson arrived and saved them from pneumonia.
The population of Rex street sought refuge about a block from the hissing, flaring menace and shudderingly awaited the big explosion. Still the “bomb” smoldered and smoked.
Amid the shudders of the assemblage Patrolmen Johnson and Anderson walked right up to the cause of all the disturbance. A squawk went up from the crowd as Patrolman Anderson lifted his large boot and stepped upon the fuse.
“All right,” said Policeman Anderson wearily. “You can go to bed now. It’s a lamp wick.”
It was. The wick had been run out several inches from a broken lamp and the bowl of the lamp had the appearance of a home-made bomb.
There was a cheer for the two policemen. Then everybody crawled into bed again.
Bomb Scare Causes Excitement
Philadelphia Inquirer —
No little excitement prevailed in Rex place when a report spread that a fuse burning in the street was attached to a bomb and that an explosion was imminent. Word was sent to the police and the crew of the First District patrol was hurried to the scene. The police found that the fuse was from a percussion cap of the kind used by railroad men.
Protest Meeting On Span Tunnel Set for Dec. 19
Camden Courier-Post —
Edward Howe, president of the North Camden Civic Association announced today that a protest meeting against the proposal of the Delaware River Joint Commission to construct an underpass on North Sixth street, would be held Dec. 19 at 531 Penn street.
Howe said he had invited Governor Driscoll, State Senator Wallace, Mayor Brunner, Richardson Dilworth, of Philadelphia, and county freeholders to attend the meeting.
Howe said Bryan McKernan, counsel for the association, would present an appeal by the owners of 41 North Camden properties which will be torn down if the plan is carried out. He said the appeal would be made to New Jersey state courts if the commission goes along with their plan to construct the underpass.
Howe also revealed that owners of homes on Rex place which would have to be torn down, have sent a petition to Governor Driscoll asking him to intercede in blocking the commission’s plans.