History of Boro of Bellmawr
Courier Post
Bellmawr has always been a family-oriented community, as the history of its name demonstrates.
The borough was officially incorporated in 1926 and named for the Bell family, prominent horse breeders and landowners in the area. Before that, the area had been known as Heddings after Hedding United Methodist Church, which was founded in 1840.
Before that, the area that now encompasses Bellmawr was called Huggville after the Hugg family, who owned 100 acres at the junction of Little Timber and Big Timber creeks for three generations. John Hugg, an Irish Quaker immigrant, purchased the land in 1683.
From its early days as Bellmawr, the borough has faced many normal family problems including financial troubles and unruly teenagers.
Shortly after incorporating, Bellmawr borrowed $55,000 in 1929 to finance paving, sidewalk construction, new water mains, sewers and grading. But the Great Depression hit the borough as hard as it hit everywhere else, and Bellmawr was left unable to pay its bills.
In 1933, Bellmawr had to settle on repayment of the debt. It paid Hudson City Savings Bank of Jersey City $18,600 to close a debt of $33,600.
This came about five months after Andrew W. Mellon, a former secretary of the U.S. Treasury, paid the borough about 50 cents on the dollar for a considerable amount of back taxes he owed on land he owned in Bellmawr.
But Bellmawr shortly regained its footing and continued to grow through the 1940s, \’50s and \’60s.
The 1970s, however, brought unrest from both ends of the age spectrum.
Senior citizens wearing \”Senior power\” buttons on the lapels of their leisure suits fought for an eight-story apartment complex for senior citizens. They lost the battle in June 1979.
Two months later, teens took to the streets for several days of violence sparked by a bottle-throwing incident. Within days, sporadic incidents of violence culminated with about 100 youths — many with chains, pipes, clubs and knives — gathered for a brawl near Bell Oaks School. Police scattered the youths and made 23 arrests.
Today, Bellmawr offers recreational areas for its youth — including a skateboard park at the recreation center.
At a mere 80 years old, Bellmawr remains one of the younger communities in South Jersey.
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