Preserving Black Landmarks in South Jersey

The Black History landmarks of Gloucester County The Richardson Avenue School, located at Richardson Avenue and 2nd Street in Swedesboro, was built in 1931 and served as a "separate but equal" school.

It housed three teachers and 140 students in a small two-story building with no fire escapes, three bathrooms, poor heating, and overcrowded classrooms.

"It broke every single one as far as occupancy and fire and safety codes," said Hall. "They did not care; they let those kids in the building and were sanctioned by the city, state, and county government."

The school closed in the fall of 1942, and classes were moved to the Auburn Avenue school, just 2 miles away. The Auburn Avenue schoolhouse, the last segregated school built in New Jersey, served the community until 1942. That building was demolished on December 26, 1995, but The Richardson Avenue schoolhouse remained and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1998. The inside of the building is no longer open to the public.

"We used to hold summer school for students in the old schoolhouse," said Hall. "We hope that we can open it up as a summer school for the local students and hold tours inside again, as we did in the past."

The school is about 12 miles away from another historic site. The Mt. Zion A.M.E. Church once helped enslaved people escape from the South and cross into New Jersey during the early to mid-1800s as a stop on the Underground Railroad. Located at 172 Garwin Rd in Woolwich Township, Mt. Zion, A.M.E. was part of a network of passages and safe houses where runaway slaves could find shelter, protection, and supplies. The church also served as a base from which abolitionists relayed messages to those escaping slavery. Harriet Tubman operated the route for ten years, and the line went from South Jersey to New York. The church was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2001.