Siloam Cemetery Gates
A Tour of Historic Vineland
This is probably the tour that one should take if they would like to see some of the more interesting places in Vineland.
The
Vineland Public Library was conceived 100 years ago by the Vineland's
Woman's Club. Later, with a generous grant from the Carnegie Foundation, the
initial Vineland Public Library was built. More recently, land was donated by
Dr. & Mrs. Charles Cunningham upon which the present library is located.
Mrs. Ben Leuchter played a major role in making the dream of our present library
come true. The library not only is the repository of a very large selection of
books, and video tapes, but has vigorously entered into the field of computers
as the wave of the future. There are also many displays, exhibits, and programs
during the year. The library has been so successful in all of their programs,
that the director, The library is one of the gems of our community.
City
Hall of Vineland - was dedicated
in November 1971. The total cost of the building was 4.4 million dollars which
included all associated costs. It was constructed during the period that
"Bub" Garton was the mayor of Vineland. He played a major role in
ensuring the completion of the project. Great care was spent in constructing the
building so that it could serve present and future needs. For example, all the
interior partitions are detached and can be moved on a five foot center without
disrupting the lighting or the heating and air conditioning systems. The
building has a large amount of permanent material such as concrete, brick and
aluminum which has reduced the cost of maintenance. Heat generated in the
interior of the building by lights and motors is reused to heat the peripheral
of the building. All critical areas have individual temperature control units.
Because of this the lights can be left on at all times and the heat that is
captured actually creates a savings.
Landis Park - was given to the city by
Charles K. Landis. It contains the Soldier's and Sailors Memorial circle as a
tribute to the men and women that gave the supreme sacrifice to their country. This was made possible by the people of Vineland and the Diamond Social Club.
At the entrance, there is a large monument that was dedicated on
"Decoration Day" 1920.
Adjoining the memorial circle is the
Mother's Garden of Remembrance. This is a tribute to the mothers of this nation
as a fitting recognition of their sacrifices. The Memorial Circle and the
Mother's Garden were designed by W. H. Fenton.
The
New Jersey Memorial Home - was constructed in 1868 by the New Jersey Conference of
Methodist Churches and served as a seminary. The location was across from the
Landis Park and the land was donated by Landis. Taxes were supposed to be paid
but were not, so the property was taken over by the Landis Township tax
collector and given to the Township in 1875. The land changed hands a number of
times, then was given to the College of the Sacred Heart and served as a
Catholic seminary. The school was closed for good in 1894. Then, in 1889 the
state of New Jersey purchased the property and set it up as a home for war
veterans. It was called "The New Jersey Memorial Home For Disabled
Soldiers, Sailors, Marines and their Wives and Widows." Under the state,
the institution was progressively enlarged.
Vineland Electric Utility - was
authorized by the Vineland Borough Council on August 8, 1899 because no private
utility would supply Vineland with electricity. The plant was completed in 1900,
or 100 years ago. It cost 25,000 dollars. Around 1930 the Board of Public
Utility Commissioners of New Jersey allowed the Utility to serve the people in
the Township, which included the area which today constitutes the entire City of
Vineland.
Landis middle School - was opened as Vineland High School in 1928. The designer was a
nationally influential school architect (James Oscal Betelle). Later, with the
construction of the present Vineland High School, it was converted into a Junior
High School which today is called a "Middle School."
Cumberland County College is
an accredited,
co-educational,
two-year, public,
community
college located in Cumberland
County, New
Jersey. Cumberland County College is located on a 100-acre campus, featuring
nine buildings, in Vineland.
In October 1966, Cumberland became the first county college in New Jersey to
open its own campus. Cumberland County College offers more than 90 career
and transfer programs of study, with programs leading to Associate in Arts,
Associate in Fine Arts, Associate in Science and Associate in Applied Science
degrees, in addition to certificate programs. More than 3,000 students attend
each semester during the academic year, as well as over 1,500 continuing
education and contract training students. Eighty percent of Cumberland's
graduates are the first in their families to earn a college degree. More than
50% of CCC students continue their education at four-year colleges. Cumberland
County College is accredited by the Commission on Higher Education of the Middle
States Association of Colleges and Schools.
National
Guard Armory - Located South
Delsea Drive
City
Parks - is located at Landis Ave. and Railroad Blvd. There are four small individual parks. The Civil War monument is located at the North
East Corner park, and was erected by the Lyons Post #10 in 1911. There
is a statue of a soldier and sailor. They felt that the soldier was not an authentic reproduction and they refused to pay until it was
corrected. The South East corner contains the Lucina Park, the South West corner has the torpedo park, and the North West corner has the artillery park.
Vineland
Historical Society - is the oldest private Historical Society in New Jersey
and the second oldest in the State. It was started in 1864 by individuals that
would hold meetings in the various homes and ask for objects to save as part of
the society. In 1900 the present building was completed, and was constructed
exclusively as a Historical Society Building. The picture shows the first house
built in the borough of Vineland in 1862. Landis insisted that all who purchased
land construct a home the first year and clear 2.5 acres a year. He wanted no
land speculation. Also seen is a baggage cart that came from the old train
station in Hammonton. It was totally rebuilt except for the metal parts by Dr.
De Maio, then donated to the Historical Society upon the request of (then) Mayor
Joseph Romano.
Newcomb
Hospital - was considered a necessary addition to Vineland around 1920. There were
5 small hospital in Vineland at that time, and they were so busy that they had
to put two patients in one bed. In 1921 they had a lightening drive to raise the
75,000 dollars to start the hospital. At the final event, when they had reached
their goal, Everett
Newcomb, an eccentric lawyer of Vineland announced that he would donate that
amount and more and add it to the fund. Eventually, he gave the money, plus a
large amount of land, plus landscaping of the area to help start the hospital.
It was therefore named in his honor. His ashes are in the parking lot under a
memorial stone, next to a beach tree planted in honor of Dr. Hatch, the first
medical director of the hospital.
Veteran's Memorial School - located at the corner of Main and Chestnut Ave. is named in honor of the veterans of Vineland. There is a memorial garden which has recently been dedicated by the Veterans of the Korean War and honors the veterans of World War I, and II, the Korean War, and the Viet Nam war.
Siloam
Cemetery - was started with 14.39 acres given to the city by Charles K. Landis in
1864. It is non-sectarian. Mr.
Landis was one of the original trustees.
The
chapel was built in 1918. It is sealed and used mainly for storage at present.
It was built for 18,050 dollars. It stands in the center of the oldest part of
the cemetery.
There are a number of famous
Vinelander's buried in the cemetery as follows:
Victor Durand:
(Block 24, Lot 10) He came
to Millville in 1882. He was a glass worker in Baccarat France that made famous
glass. His son, Victor Durand Jr. came to America in 1884 at the age of 14. He
started to work in glass, and eventually owned his own glass factory. He started
the Artistic Glass division in 1924. This soon began to produce artistic glass
that became world famous. He died 4/25/1931 at age 60 in an auto accident, from
a cut from glass in his car that was not safety glass.
Charles Cunningham:
He was born in
Hammonton. His uncles were doctors, as was his father. Charlie married the
daughter of Victor Durand. He was one of the originators of the Cumberland
County College, he donated money to the Newcomb Hospital, and the new wing was named after him. He donated the land that the Vineland Public Library is built
on, which is the land of the Durand Homestead.
Mary Treat: (Block 37, Lot 3) She was born
in New York State. She moved to Mays Landing, then moved to Vineland in 1868
when she heard of the exciting things that were happening in Vineland. She
studied plants, insects, and birds, and became so knowledge in them that she was
able to offer the famous Charles Darwin advice that he used in some of his
publications. She was a great advocate of teaching children about the wonders
that could be seen under the microscope. She died 4/11/1923 at age 92 from
pneumonia.
Thomas B. Welch:
(Block 40, Lot 1) When
young, he studied in a Seminary to become a minister. But, he had trouble with
his voice so he gave up the ministry and decided to become a doctor. After two
years of working as a doctor, he could not handle that so he became a dentist.
He practiced in Minnesota then moved back to New York again and in 1865 he moved
to Vineland. He was going to go to Florida, but his sister convinced him to stay
in Vineland because it was such a great town. Vineland was a "dry"
town and there was a law against selling alcohol. Many of the churches used wine in their religious ceremonies so he came up with
the idea of preserving grape juice without fermenting it. Then he had to
convince the churches to use it. After a time it became a common practice and he
became such a success that he could give up the practice of dentistry. By 1895
he supplied grape juice all over the country for religious and social purposes.
He also had a supply house in Philadelphia for dental equipment.
Charles Landis: (Block 1, Isolated grave 9) He was born in Philadelphia in 1833. He became a lawyer at age 17. He, and another partner developed Hammonton. He was successful and so decided to create an Ideal Community in the wilderness of South Jersey and call it Vineland. He started to lay out the town in August 8, 1861. He had many advanced and far reaching ideas and worked very hard and spent most of the money he earned to attract settlers to Vineland and to improve their life style. He also founded Landisville which was to become the capital of a new county called Landis County. This was blocked. He purchased Sea Isle, and created Sea Isle City, where the main street there is also called Landis Ave. He died in 1900 at the age of 67.
Vineland
Produce Auction - Agriculture is still Vineland's largest industry. The fruits
and vegetables grown here are shipped across the country and all over the world.
The Vineland Produce Auction is located on North Main Road. It is the largest of
its kind on the East Coast. In 1931 it had 78 farm members. Today there are over
300. The Auction, or "The Block", as it is often called by locals,
attracts dozens of brokers from all over the United States and Canada. In 1997
the brokers bid on 77 different types of fruits and vegetables
The
Training School At Vineland - was started by Reverend S. Olin Garrison from
Millville. In 1887 he started the training of feeble minded children in
Millville, but soon there was need for a larger facility. This was provided in
Vineland by the Board of Trade and a philanthropist by the name of B. D. Maxham.
Over the years the institute became world famous for it's work on mental testing
and the study of human behavior. The professionals at the Training School in Vineland promulgated their ideals
all over America and ultimately they became accepted in most of the world.
Because of this, the institute was truly world famous.
Vineland
High School - was opened in 1963. A new building located on the same campus was
opened in 1976. The grades 9 and 10 are in one building and the grades 11 and 12
are in the other. It is one school on the same campus with two buildings and two
principals. There are approximately 3,500 students in the high school.
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