The
City of Woodbury, one of the oldest "small cities"
in the United States, had its beginning in 1683 when Henry Wood,
a Quaker from Bury, England, settled here. See the Bury,
England Website & History.
By 1715 Woodbury had become a Quaker religious center and was
a thriving hamlet at the onset of the American Revolution.
Given our close proximity to Philadelphia,
Woodbury had a significant place in the history of our nation’s
birth. |
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The
Red Bank Battlefield, where Fort Mercer is located and where
in 1777 six hundred determined American’s defeated a
Hessian force of six thousand, lies just two miles west of
Woodbury.
The famous British General Lord Cornwallis,
who would later surrender to George Washington at Yorktown,
had his headquarters in Woodbury during his advance to capture
the City of Philadelphia in 1777.
By the mid-nineteenth century Woodbury
had grown considerably and was incorporated as a City in 1854.
The City of Woodbury enjoyed its greatest economic and population
growth between 1880 and 1900. This was accomplished in large
part as a result of the Green family and their patent medicine
industry.
Woodbury has been the County Seat of
Gloucester County for over two centuries. The County continues
to this day to develop its operational base throughout the
City of Woodbury. This fact, along with the growth of Underwood
Memorial Hospital, has made Woodbury the legal and medical
hub of the immediate vicinity.
Recently, Woodbury has also begun to
experience a commercial rebirth owing greatly to the efforts
of Woodbury Main Street Inc. As we have entered the new millennium,
the city of Woodbury is poised to play its appropriate part
in enhancing history yet to be recorded. |
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February
1, 2004
Submitted by: Bruce
G. Carson, Former Woodbury City Councilman HAPPY
BIRTHDAY, WOODBURY!! It was on March 10, 1854, one hundred
and fifty years ago, the Senate and General Assembly of the
State of New Jersey passed an act incorporating Woodbury as
a separate and sovereign municipality and borough. Previous
to that date Woodbury was part of Deptford Township, much
like Verga and Thorofare are part of West Deptford today.
Woodbury's first election was held on
the third Wednesday of March when the voters of Woodbury,
which numbered in the hundreds, elected a Mayor and a 6 member
council. On April 5, 1854, Woodbury held its first council
meeting in the Court House where the first major order of
business was to "grade the Main Street from between the
bridge across Woodbury Creek and the junction of the Mullica
Hill and Swedesborough Roads". Isn't it something that
today's Woodbury Main Street District is represented by these
same boundaries!
In the history of Woodbury two other
dates are also significant. These dates are 1683 and 1871.
1683 is the year local historians have given as the year Woodbury
was founded by the Wood family from Bury, England. It was
in 1682, the same year Philadelphia was founded, the Wood
family sailed on the "Lyon", the sixth of 23 ships
which brought the Quakers to the Delaware Valley. It was seventeen
years after becoming a borough, in the year 1871, Woodbury
changed its corporate charter from a borough to a city.
Strangely, the only year appearing on
Woodbury's official seal is the year 1871. I think it would
be nice to give Woodbury a birthday present this year by recognizing
the two other significant dates in its history, 1683 and 1854,
and revise its official seal to show all three yearly dates.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, WOODBURY!!
Click here for the minutes of the
first council
meeting held on April 7, 1854
Submitted by: Bruce
G. Carson, Former Woodbury City Councilman
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