 |  | |
 |
|  |
 |  | |
| | |
|
| |
| | |
|
|
Originally published in 1939
Some of this information may no longer be current and in that case is presented for historical interest only.
Edited by GET NJ, COPYRIGHT 2003
LAWNSIDE, 50.5 miles (90 alt., 1,379 pop.), is the only Negro-owned
and Negro-governed borough in New Jersey, and one of the few such
towns in the United States. It was founded during the antislavery agitation of a century ago. Purchased for the Negroes in 1840, the tract was
sold on long-term payments and appropriately named Free Haven. The
place grew between 1850 and 1860, when neighboring Quakers were
operating the New Jersey division of the Underground Railway. After the
Emancipation Proclamation more Negroes arrived from Snow Hill, Md.,
and the community became known as Snow Hill. When the Philadelphia
and Reading R.R. built a station, the town was renamed Lawnside.
Since incorporation in 1926, Lawnside has had Negro officials exclusively, from mayor to dog catcher. Its 155 white residents have left the
town management entirely in the hands of their 1,224 Negro neighbors.
Stores are mostly owned and operated by Negroes, but two chain groceries
employ Negro clerks under white managers.
Although these conditions have existed nearly 100 years, intermarriage
between the races is rare, and there is a surprisingly small number of mulattoes. Some of the dwellings are attractive in appearance, but modern
comforts are lacking in most of them. Kerosene lamps and stoves are commonly used. There is a volunteer fire department and a police department
with seven members who receive no salary and buy their own uniforms.
Heavily in debt, the borough holds tax title liens on 75 per cent of all
properties. Foreclosures have not been executed because the municipal government cannot afford the expense. At one time 75 per cent of the town's
population was aided by the ERA. Many home are shacks, unfit for habitation. Most of the men were laborers and the women domestic servants
when the depression arrived, and almost the entire community found itself
without work. Under the WPA the men have been employed in road
building and the women in sewing.
The people are still able to support three beauty-culture parlors, licensed
by the State, and there are many used cars in service. The town attracts
Negro picnic parties from nearby states to its recreation center, LAWNSIDE
PARK. Negro students and research workers have been drawn to Lawnside
from all parts of the Nation. Tourists stop for chicken dinners at the local
inn.
The highway enters a district of suburban homes northwest of Lawnside.
|
|
|
Return To |
|
|
