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- A Tour of Historic
Vineland
This tour is presented
by Dr. Frank DeMaio. This is an actual tour that is given by
the Friends of Historic Vineland that we are developing into
an interactive session for cybersurfers. Please click on any
thumbnail image for a larger version of that image.
 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,
Ms. Jeanne Robbana,
was named the Director Of The Year by the Library Association
of New Jersey for the year 2000. The library is one of the gems
of our community.
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 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 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.
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 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.
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 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.
The old building was destroyed and replaced
by the current six million dollar building in 1990. It has 300
licensed beds and is one of the largest nursing homes in the
country. Patients are veterans or spouses of veterans.
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 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.
By 1998 the plant served approximately
18,000 customers, and had a value of more than 82 million dollars.
It is the largest municipal electric utility in the state of
New Jersey.
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 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."
The first high school was open in 1874
and President Grant, the Secretary of the Navy, the state senator
and the governor all attending the ceremony. It was called "high
school" because it was a school of higher education.
As the population grew, A new high school
had to be built and was called the Reber School. Then, the current
Landis Middle School was built as Vineland's High School. This
was converted to a "Middle School" after the current
High School was built in 1963.
In March of 1995 the National Parks
Service listed the Landis Middle school in the National Register
of Historic Places.
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 Cumberland
County College is a 2 year public institution of learning.
The President is Kenneth L. Ender Ph.D. It was the first community
college in New Jersey and was opened in October 1966. The campus
is 100 acres in size. About 4,000 students attend classes at
the college. There are fall, spring and summer sessions. Half
of the students
receive financial aid of some type. 50% of the students continue
education at a 4 year college. Their success rate in the other
colleges is quite high. It is much cheaper to get the first two
years of education at Cumberland at a cost of 2,000 dollars a
year versus 5 to 25 thousand dollars a year at a four year college.
Graduates from Community Colleges in America earn 55% more than
High School graduates.
In 1995 the 38, 000 square foot Fine
and Performing Arts Center was opened. There are periodic cultural
events in the Center. The center was named after Frank Guaracini
who donated 1,000,000 dollars for the center.
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 Armory
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 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.
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 The 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.
The society has many objects of early
Vineland, and many objects of Charles K. Landis, the founder
of Vineland. It has an extensive collection of old photographs
of Vineland. It also publishes a booklet each year that contains
stories of historical interest of Vineland.
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 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.
In it's heyday, the hospital had 235
beds almost always filled. At present, it is a part of the South
Jersey Hospital System and keeps an average census of 80 beds.
It is slated to be closed in 4 years
when a new central hospital is to be opened.
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 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.
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 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 entrance to the cemetery was built
in 1900 and the iron fence was added in 1902.
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.
Both the cemetery and the chapel are
on the National Register of Historic Places.
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 is 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 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 I 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.
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 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.
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 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 he 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.
The Binet scale was developed at this
institute, the Kallikak Study was conducted here and the Vineland
Social Maturity Scale led to the concept of adaptive behavior.
At present, the students live in homes
in the community and come to the center during the day for education
and programs.
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 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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