History of Winslow
Township
The Township of Winslow was created by an act of the
Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey on March 8, 1845. The first town
meeting was held at the inn of Josiah Albertson in Blue Anchor on the second Wednesday of
March in the same year. The new township, created from a part of Gloucester Township, contains
57.4 square miles. The inn was named, naturally, the Blue Anchor Inn and was located on Route
73 in the center of the duel highway in the vicinity of St. Lucy's Church.
Blue
Anchor Inn
Winslow Township encompasses a large area - approximately 58 square
miles. Consequently, the history or background of the township is really comprised of the
history of many smaller villages.
Blue Anchor
One of the oldest settlements in Winslow Township occurred in Blue Anchor at a point where an
old Indian trail crossed through the swamp. In 1726, the first cedar tract was cleared in the
township. Soon after, the first proprietary business in the area was established - a tavern
made out of cedar logs.
Timber was plentiful in the region and John Inskip erected a sawmill on the Great Egg Harbor
River. It was at this point on the Great Egg Harbor River that a public ford was erected
around 1762. The Indians would stop and camp here overnight as they traveled between Indian
villages of Shamong and Tuckahoe.
Early Businesses and Trades
Established businesses in the 1700's were The Blue Anchor Tavern and a sawmill on the Egg
Harbor River.
In 1833, it was documented that Winslow had a glass factory owned by William Coffin and Andrew
Hay (Winslow Village was named after William Cofffin's youngest son). By 1865, the factory
employed 400 people. In 1892, it was destroyed by fire.
Tansboro was the location of a tannery owned by C. Tice and J. Venibe.
Another glass factory was located in Wilton. J.L. Mason leased the facility in 1856 and
manufactured fruit jars. When operating to capacity, the facility employed 100 people.
In 1880, Waterford and Winslow were considered wilderness regions. Its population was about
4000 residents, who lived mostly on remote farms.
Winslow Township Timeline
- 1677 Blue Anchor Tract Purchased from Indians
- 1690 Blue Anchor was named
- 1726 First Tract Land cleared
- 1737 Philadelphia distiller mentions Blue Anchor Tavern which stands on an
old Indian trail.
- 1740 John Hider landlord of Cedar Log Cabin Tavern, Blue Anchor.
- 1752 Ancora was created
- 1762 Public Ford was created across Egg Harbor River
- 1800 Tansboro settlement founded and tannery built by C. Tice(early
1800's).
- 1814 Cross Keys/ Long a Coming road was laid out
- 1829 Land acquired for glassworks by William Coffin, Sr.
- 1831 Construction of glassworks begun.
- 1840 Methodist Church built. Glassworks include 2 window glass factories,
hollow ware factory. Also in town company store with post office and 100 tenements.
- 1845 Winslow Township was created
- 1853 Boundaries modified
- 1854 Camden & Atlantic RR built through Winslow.
- 1856 Tannery closed.
- 1874 Sicklerville Post Office was established
- 1892 Glassworks burned.
- 1900 Hospital established at Ancora. Brickyard established.
- 1906 First School built
Population Timeline In Winslow
- 1845 Population 1540
- 1940 Population 4866
- 1960 Population 9142
- 1970 Population 11,202
- 1980 Population 20,034
- 1990 Population 30,087
- 2000 Population 38,000 approx.
Special thanks to [email protected]
(DC) for supplying this information (the site here) |
