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Riverside New Jersey, first called
Progress, was founded by Samuel Bechtold in 1851 as a resort town. People came
here to vacation in our never-ending forests, meadows, streams and ponds. In
the summertime, Philadelphia was hot and smelly (horses and wagons were how
people got around then, and you know what tens of thousands of horses can
leave laying around), so it was a breath of fresh air to vacation in the
country atmosphere of Riverside New Jersey. |
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John Bull
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The first train in America, "The John Bull" traveled through
Riverside New Jersey in 1832, the same year the train bridge to Delanco was built.
Acquired in 1884 as the
Smithsonian's first large engine artifact, this 1831 English-made
locomotive served on one of the United States' first railroads, the Camden
and Amboy. In 1981, the timy patriarch returned to life on the old
Georgetown Branch in Washington, D.C., on the 150th anniversary of its
first run in America. |
The first school in Riverside opened on Taylor Street in 1885. That the Carroll
Street School (now the Spring Garden Apartments) opened in 1894.
The first telephone in Riverside was installed in
1901 by "The New Jersey Sand-Burr", later the Riverside Press, founded in
1887.
The first bridge to accommodate horse and wagon to Delanco was built
in 1891. Later in 1901 it was widen to allow the trolley that ran from
Edgewater Park to Riverton to cross the Rancocas.
The first Bridgeboro Bridge was a covered bridge built in 1838. It
was covered at both ends and open in the middle. What is now known as busy
Route 130 was at that time called the Burlington Pike. A dirt road that was
one of the earliest laid out in America. There was a ferry service provided
from 1747 until the bridge was built. The Burlington Pike, in those days, was
a toll road, and travelers paid to use it. Written on the face of the Bridge's
a-frame: $5.00 fine for travelling over this bridge at a faster gait than a
walk.
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Philadelphia Watch Case Company Building |
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Riverside once housed the world's largest watch case manufacturer, doing
business around the globe from the Philadelphia Watch Case Company Building, in
an era when everyone carried a pocket watch. Its once employed 1,000 people
producing 6,000 watch cases per day.
As the popularity of pocket watches declined, so did the companies business and
in 1972 it closed...
For More Information, Click Here. |
William F. Taubel's Hosiery Mill (now Riverside Industrial Center) was
America's largest manufacturer of seamless hosiery - once the rage of women's
fashion.
Tak-a-Boost (Drink-A-Toast) was invented here. Pharmacist Benjamin R. Faunce first created the drink in 1913 for sale in his Bridgeboro Street
store. He created the drink to make the tonics and certain medicines more
palatable to his customers. The drink contained a caffeine lift inspiring the
name "Boost". The product is shipped to a number of markets outside the
County, but its core sales area remains Burlington County.
The Town Today,
Statistics & Facts
The amount of land area in Riverside is 3.937 sq. kilometers.
The amount of surface water is 0.266 sq kilometers.
The distance from Riverside to Washington DC is 137 miles. The distance to the
New Jersey state capital is 16 miles. (as the crow flies)
Riverside is positioned 40.03 degrees north of the equator and 74.95 degrees
west of the prime meridian.
For More Information about Riverside
Click:
Riverside Township, Burlington County, New
Jersey, Profile
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