This is the final Sunday that the Haddonfield Sun will be running essays published by the Historical Society of Haddonfield.
This is reprint of a weekly column, “Borough Beginnings”, written by local historian Elizabeth Lyons and her brother George Lyons. Reprint and revisions of article based on new information were with the permission of the Historical Society of Haddonfield. For more information, contact the Historical Society at 429–7375.
Tracking Borough Trolley
(no original publishing date available)
It may be a surprise to some people that Haddonfield once had trolley cars. Others may have already been aware of this fact.
In the borough, a trolley resolution was passed on Feb. 7, 1894. This allowed a private company, the West Jersey Traction Company, to operate an electric street railway. This company was to build, repair and operate the railway under the terms of the ordinance.
The route that was selected was from the ferry in Camden, down Haddon Avenue (Ferry Street), onto Kings Highway (then called Main Street but changed by a 1913 ordinance) up to the railroad. At that point, the motorman would get out of the closed trolley car and unhook the overhead pole, and turn it around.
There were duplicate controls at each end of the trolley so the motorman went to the end of the car and started it in the opposite direction. This was in contrast to the famous San Francisco cable cars where hundreds of people would watch them swing the whole car around on a turntable at the end of the line.
The Haddonfield trolley then made its way up Kings Highway to Potter Street where the pole was again turned around, and the trolley returned to Haddon Ave. on its way to Camden.
Many people from Haddonfield would use the trolleys to ride to and from work in Camden. If they worked in Philadelphia, they would take the ferry from Camden to the foot of Market Street. There were no bridges across the river from Camden to Philadelphia.
The speed of the trolley in Haddonfield was 6 miles per hour, but it rattled on much faster down Haddon Ave. toward Camden — as much as 10 miles per hour.
The reasonable fare of 5 cents was doubled to 10 cents after a few years, but was still good transportation for the money.
Sitting on the hard wooden benches listening to the clicking noise of the wheels one could look out the windows and view the passing scenery.
Interesting stores and buildings were on each side of the main street. The Haddon House on the corner of Potter Street and Kings Highway was a haven for travelers.
Gibbs Tavern, which was partially occupied by the Haddonfield National Bank, was on the corner of Mechanic Street and in full view of trolley passengers.
The muddy summer streets and icy winter streets with their metal trolley tracks were difficult for pedestrians to cross. And when horses ceased to be the main form of transportation and automobiles came into being it was the demise of the inexpensive, accessible dependable trolley.
