Haddon Twp Water Departm

Haddon Twp Water Departm Municipal Water Report Info

Newton Township's first European settlers arrived in the Newton Creek area in 1681. The community survived the Revolutionary War and Camden's incorporation as a city, but historians suggest the township may have split in two due to legislative changes enacted in the mid-1840s. New statutes altered the old practice of holding general elections over two days in different locations, forcing many townships to divide into smaller units.

On February 23, 1865, just months before the Civil War ended, the eastern portion of Newton Township separated and the Township of Haddon was established. The township's name comes from John Haddon, whose daughter Elizabeth Haddon Estaugh came from England during the 1700s and settled on her father's extensive landholdings, which included present-day Haddon Township.

Haddon Township's first Town Hall was constructed in 1853 on the Haddonfield and Camden Turnpike (now Haddon Avenue) at the current location of the Haddonfield Firehouse. By 1875, Haddon Township comprised 81 farms with over 2,500 residents (including 1,400 in Haddonfield village, then under township jurisdiction) and 33 manufacturing establishments. The newly formed township covered 5,286 acres, including land south and east of what is now Collings Road.

Continued growth during the 19th century was largely attributed to the Camden and Atlantic Railroad's development in the 1850s, providing easy access to Camden and, via ferry, to Philadelphia, and southward as far as Absecon Inlet. Besides Haddonfield village, a cluster of homes and shops along Haddonfield Turnpike between present-day Maple Avenue and Cuthbert Boulevard became known as Rowandtown, named for village blacksmith John Rowand.

By 1825, Rowandtown residents had built a one-room schoolhouse, replaced in 1872 by the two-story Rowandtown School. Rowandtown also served as a station stop on the Camden and Atlantic Railroad. A tollgate for the Haddonfield and Camden Turnpike operated in Rowandtown for many years during the mid-to-late 19th century, near the present intersection of Crystal Lake and Haddon Avenue.