Voorhees Township Historical Sites

Having grown up in Voorhees Township, I was always facinated that there was a layer of history beneath this relatively modern suburb of Philadelphia. This was a history I discovered quite young, whether it was checking out the one room school house from the window of the bus in Kindergarten (the old kindergarten at Kresson II is a relic itself now, as it was been the administration building for over twenty years now), exploring the remaines of the Haddon Cabana Club when I was quite young (closed down due to its proximity to landfill laced with toxic chemicals from the Lucas Paint Works), or climbing through "the sand pit" filled with broken down cars and abandoned washing machines that stood between my house and the high school. While I've already written a lengthy article on Ole's Ranch, there is far more history to Voorhees than just that.

Coming soon (when I get a picture editing program): Kresson Lake, Stafford Farm

This 142 acre farm on the corner of Evesham and White Horse Road has been owned by the Stafford family for over 225 years, or rather was owned by the Stafford family until the State of New Jersey, Camden County, Voorhees Township, and the Trust for Public Land bought it in January 2004 for a whoping 20.6 million dollars!

The farm was orginally settled by the son of John Stafford, a body guard to George Washington during the Revolutionary War, who had settled ajoining Short Hills Farm in Cherry Hill, NJ in 1773. A working farm for generations, up until the 1940s, the farm continued to grow peaches, tomatoes, corn, and apples. Around this time, the farm, which had always had horses (including a few race horses), decided to become a full time horse farm. Since that time, cart-racing horses have been seen, six a days a week, running the oval. The farm also grows hay for the horses.

Sources:

Graham, Kristen A. "Preservation of farm in Voorhees is complete." Philadelphia Inquirer 13 January 2004: Online.

Borbe, Geri Egizi. Voorhees: History of Voorhees. Online.

Cedar Lake once served as a cranberry bog. It was later turned into a rather large recreational facility. It shut down in the 1970s due to insurance rates becoming too high.

Abandoned car off of Dutchtown Road

Kresson I, currently being restored as a township museum, a two room schoolhouse built in 1924. I suspect that this has been "being restored" for so long that it became a storage facility for the school district.

Mt Zion Church
Originally built in 1800 and a reported stop on the Underground Railroad, this African Methodist Church was built in 1924 and restored after an arson in the mid-80s

Mt. Zion graveyard, burial place to at least twenty African-American Civil War veterans.

This is Lion's Lake, a former cranberry bog and recreational lake. This lake is now a township park used for fishing and plays host the annual township picnic

The Barney home, one of the oldest homes in the town.

For those that are interested in the history of Voorhees Township, I recommend the Township's official history: http://voorheesnj.com/content/history/.

Last updated June 23, 2009

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