Haddonfield, New Jersey facts for kids

Not the fictional Illinois town from the Halloween film series.

Quick facts for kids Haddonfield, New Jersey
Borough
Borough of Haddonfield
Downtown Haddonfield
Haddonfield highlighted in Camden County. Inset: Location of Camden County highlighted in the State of New Jersey.
Census Bureau map of Haddonfield, New Jersey
Haddonfield, New Jersey Location in Camden County, New Jersey Show map of Camden County, New Jersey Haddonfield, New Jersey Location in New Jersey Show map of New Jersey Haddonfield, New Jersey Location in the United States Show map of the United States
Country	United States
State	New Jersey
County	Camden
Incorporated	April 6, 1875
Named for	Elizabeth Haddon
Government
• Type	Walsh Act
• Body	Board of Commissioners
Area
• Total	2.84 sq mi (7.36 km2)
• Land	2.80 sq mi (7.24 km2)
• Water	0.05 sq mi (0.12 km2)  1.58%
Area rank	350th of 565 in state 13th of 37 in county
Elevation	75 ft (23 m)
Population  (2010 Census)
• Total	11,593
• Estimate  (2019)	11,317
• Rank	210th of 566 in state 10th of 37 in county
• Density	4,104.9/sq mi (1,584.9/km2)
• Density rank	148th of 566 in state 18th of 37 in county
Time zone	UTC−05:00 (Eastern (EST))
• Summer (DST)	UTC−04:00 (Eastern (EDT))
ZIP Code	08033
Area code(s)	856
FIPS code	3400728770
GNIS feature ID	0885238

Haddonfield is a borough located in Camden County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the borough had a total population of 11,593, reflecting a decline of 66 (-0.6%) from the 11,659 counted in the 2000 Census, which had in turn increased by 31 (+0.3%) from the 11,628 counted in the 1990 Census. The most recent 2020 census states that the population of Haddonfield is 12,550.

Haddonfield was incorporated by an act of the New Jersey Legislature on April 6, 1875, within portions of Haddon Township following a referendum on the same day. The borough became an independent municipality in 1894. The borough was named for Elizabeth Haddon, an early settler of the area.

History

The Haddonfield area was occupied by Lenni Lenape Native Americans. The Lenape disappeared from the local area when settlers arrived. Arrowheads and pottery shards have been found by residents by the banks of the Cooper River, hinting that there was a Native American settlement in Haddonfield at one point in time.

Plaques at the Hadrosaurus Foulkii Leidy Site showing National Historic Landmark status (left) and a plaque from Philadelphia's Academy of Natural Sciences. At right, toy dinosaurs have been left by visitors. A deep pit or ravine is straight ahead about 10 yards

On October 23, 1682, Francis Collins, an English Quaker and a bricklayer by trade, became the first settler within the boundaries of what today is Haddonfield. Collins soon built a house, "Mountwell," on a tract of 400 acres. Haddonfield was further developed by Elizabeth Haddon (1680–1762), whose Quaker father, John Haddon, bought a 500 acres (2.0 km²) tract of land in the English colony of West Jersey to escape religious persecution. Elizabeth set sail alone from Southwark, England to the New World in 1701. Shortly after her arrival, she made a marriage proposal to John Estaugh, a Quaker minister, and they were married in 1702. The town was named for John Haddon, though he never came to America.

The Indian King Tavern, built in 1750, played a significant role in the American Revolutionary War. During that war, the New Jersey Legislature met there, avoiding British forces, and in 1777, declared New Jersey to be an independent state. Today the tavern is a state historical site and museum. Nevertheless, since 1873, Haddonfield has been a dry town where alcohol cannot be sold.

Haddonfield is a significant historic paleontology site. In 1838, William Estaugh Hopkins uncovered large bones in a marl pit in which he was digging. Hopkins displayed the bones at his home, Birdwood; and these bones sparked the interest of a visitor, William Foulke. In 1858, Foulke dug from the marl pit the first relatively complete skeleton of a dinosaur found in North America, Hadrosaurus foulkii. The skeleton was assembled in 1868 and is still displayed at Philadelphia Academy of Natural Sciences. A 12-foot (3.7 m) replica of "Haddy" stands in the center of town.

In 1875, Haddonfield became the first community to secede from Haddon Township and become a self-governing borough. Haddonfield is noted for its historic homes, quaint shops, and legions of lawyers. As a legal center for southern New Jersey, the town houses the offices of more than 390 attorneys.

Haddonfield once was home to Symphony in C (formerly the Haddonfield Symphony), which is now based in nearby Collingswood, and performs at the Gordon Theater at Rutgers University-Camden.

Haddonfield is home to the second oldest volunteer fire company in continuous service in the United States. Haddon Fire Company No. 1 was established as Friendship Fire Company on March 8, 1764, by 26 townsmen. Each member was to furnish two leather buckets while the company supplied six ladders and three fire hooks.

In 1971, Haddonfield became the second municipality in New Jersey (after Cape May) to establish a historic preservation district. In keeping with the historic appearance of the borough, some candidates for commissioner distribute colored ribbons to their supporters instead of yard signs.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, Haddonfield had a total area of 2.871 square miles (7.435 km²), including 2.824 square miles (7.315 km²) of land and 0.047 square miles (0.120 km²) of water (1.62%).

The Cooper River forms the border between Haddonfield and Cherry Hill. Haddonfield shares land borders with Haddon Township, Haddon Heights, Barrington, and Tavistock.

Bodies of water

• Driscoll Pond is located below Hopkins Pond and Hopkins Pond flows into Driscoll. Driscoll Pond is contained by a small wooden dam. Driscoll Pond is part of the Hopkins Pond park.
• Hopkins Pond is contained by a large earthen dam; Hopkins Lane is built atop this earthen dam.
• Evans Pond is part of Wallworth Park and is located directly above Wallworth Lake. A dam separates the two. In the past Evans Pond was deep enough for small boats to sail on.
• Wallworth Lake is below Evans Pond and contained by yet another dam. Wallworth Lake is located in Wallworth Park.

Demographics

2010 census

As of the census of 2010, there were 11,593 people, 4,436 households, and 3,181 families residing in the borough. The population density was 4,104.9 per square mile (1,584.9/km²). There were 4,634 housing units at an average density of 1,640.8 per square mile (633.5/km²)^*. The racial makeup of the borough was 95.23% (11,040) White, 1.11% (129) Black or African American, 0.03% (4) Native American, 1.85% (215) Asian, 0.00% (0) Pacific Islander, 0.43% (50) from other races, and 1.34% (155) from two or more races. [[Hispanic (U.S. Census)|Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2.14% (248) of the population.

There were 4,436 households out of which 36.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 61.7% were married couples living together, 7.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 28.3% were non-families. 24.9% of all households were made up of individuals, and 11.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.61 and the average family size was 3.17.

In the borough, the population was spread out with 27.7% under the age of 18, 5.3% from 18 to 24, 20.4% from 25 to 44, 31.6% from 45 to 64, and 15.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 42.9 years. For every 100 females there were 91.3 males. For every 100 females ages 18 and old there were 88.7 males.

The Census Bureau's 2006-2010 American Community Survey showed that (in 2010 inflation-adjusted dollars) median household income was $112,105 (with a margin of error of +/- $10,416) and the median family income was $129,100 (+/- $16,987). Males had a median income of $92,409 (+/- $10,521) versus $61,272 (+/- $6,669) for females. The per capita income for the borough was $55,955 (+/- $5,275). About 3.8% of families and 4.9% of the population were below the poverty line, including 4.5% of those under age 18 and 7.2% of those age 65 or over.

Parks and recreation

Haddonfield has several parks maintained by the Camden County Parks Department.

• Hopkins Pond covers 33.10 acres (13.40 ha) and contains both Hopkins Pond and Driscoll Pond.
• Pennypacker Park contains the Hadrosaurus Foulkii Leidy Site and is near the Cooper River.
• Wallworth Park contains Evans Pond and Wallworth Pond. Evans Pond is dammed and flows into Wallworth Pond, which is also dammed. Each of these ponds are actually sections of the Cooper River and the early headwaters of the Cooper flow into Evans Pond.

Special events

There are events such as the community sidewalk sale in the summer, and the fall festival in October. The fall festival is an event where community organizations may have booths along Kings Highway and there is scarecrow-making for kids. Haddonfield hosts a weekly farmers' market on Saturdays from May to November. There is also the Haddonfield Crafts & Fine Arts Festival, where a large variety of vendors line the main street. Another event is First Night, a New Year's Eve celebration of the arts, with a variety of performances. There is also a yearly car show that takes place during the second Saturday of September. There are also events such as historic house tours and designer show houses.

Transportation

Haddonfield prides itself on being very walkable; most streets have sidewalks, and due to the small size of the town — 2 miles (3.2 km) or less from any point in Haddonfield to any other as the crow flies — it is possible to walk to any part of the community. The Borough presently has a traffic campaign using the slogan "Haddonfield Drives 25" promoting the borough's speed limit as 25 mph (40 km/h) for all streets and roadways.

Roads and highways

The southbound New Jersey Turnpike in Haddonfield

As of May 2010^[update], the borough had a total of 46.74 miles (75.22 km) of roadways, of which 37.67 miles (60.62 km) were maintained by the municipality, 8.85 miles (14.24 km) by Camden County, 0.09 miles (0.14 km) by the New Jersey Department of Transportation, and 0.13 miles (0.21 km) by the New Jersey Turnpike Authority.

Route 41 (Kings Highway) passes through the center of the borough and intersects CR 561 (Haddon Avenue) at Haddonfield's main business district. I-295 is adjacent to the southern tip with Exit 31 straddling the border. The New Jersey Turnpike also touches the town boundary, but the closest exit is Interchange 3 in Bellmawr/Runnemede.

Public transportation

Train at Haddonfield station

The PATCO Speedline Haddonfield station links it to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in the west and to the eastern terminus in Lindenwold, New Jersey, where it is possible to transfer to NJ Transit's bus and rail routes connecting Philadelphia to Atlantic City.

NJ Transit provides local bus service; its 451, 455, and 457 routes all stop at the PATCO station.

Popular culture

• In the movie When Harry Met Sally... (directed by Rob Reiner), Billy Crystal's character, Harry, is from Haddonfield.
• Several movies in the Halloween franchise are set in fictional Haddonfield, Illinois, which was inspired by Haddonfield, N.J. Debra Hill, the co-writer of the original film, grew up in Haddonfield, New Jersey.
• A scene in the movie AI takes place in Haddonfield, and captures a shot of a house on Kings Highway. This is the location of the Flesh Fair, a rally of anti-robot activists.
• Photographer Frank Stefanko took two famous album covers for Bruce Springsteen in Haddonfield: Darkness on the Edge of Town (1978) and The River (1980).

Education

Public schools

The Haddonfield Public Schools is a comprehensive public school district serving students in pre-kindergarten through twelfth grade. The district serves students from Haddonfield, along with those from Pine Valley and Tavistock who attend the district's schools as part of sending/receiving relationships. As of the 2018–19 school year, the district, comprised of five schools, had an enrollment of 2,749 students and 215.2 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 12.8:1. Schools in the district (with 2018–19 enrollment data from the National Center for Education Statistics) are Central Elementary School with 419 students in grades K-5, Elizabeth Haddon Elementary School with 367 students in grades K-5, J. Fithian Tatem Elementary School with 422 students in grades PreK-5, Haddonfield Middle School with 659 students in grades 6-8 and Haddonfield Memorial High School with 869 students in grades 9-12.

In 2015, Elizabeth Haddon School was one of 15 schools in New Jersey, and one of nine public schools, recognized as a National Blue Ribbon School in the exemplary high performing category by the United States Department of Education.

During the 2004-05 school year, Haddonfield Memorial High School was awarded the National Blue Ribbon School Award of Excellence by the United States Department of Education, the highest award an American school can receive. The school was the 33rd-ranked public high school in New Jersey out of 328 schools statewide in New Jersey Monthly magazine's September 2012 cover story on the state's "Top Public High Schools", after being ranked 11th in 2010 out of 322 schools listed.

Private schools

Haddonfield Friends School, a Quaker school that dates back to 1786, served 167 students in Pre-K through eighth grade.

Kingsway Learning Center provides special education for students from ages birth to 14 at the Haddonfield campus, which is home to the school's Early Intervention Program and its Elementary Program.

Christ the King Regional School, founded in 1940, serves students in PreK3 through eighth grade and operates under the auspices of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Camden. Additionally, some Haddonfield students attend Resurrection Regional Catholic Schools in Cherry Hill.

Bancroft School, founded in Haddonfield in 1883 and located there until 2017, is special education school and neurobehavioral stabilization program. In July 2005, Bancroft began soliciting requests for proposals to purchase its 20-acre (81,000 m²) property, as a precursor to moving from Haddonfield. Bancroft is now located in neighboring Mount Laurel, but during the late 2010s, redevelopment of the Bancroft property in Haddonfield became a locally contentious issue.

Notable people

People who were born in, residents of, or otherwise closely associated with Haddonfield include:

• John Adler (1959–2011), politician who served as the U.S. representative for New Jersey's 3rd congressional district from 2009 until 2011.
• Graham Alexander (born 1989), singer-songwriter, entertainer, and entrepreneur known for the Broadway shows Rain: A Tribute to the Beatles and Let It Be and as the founder of a new incarnation of the Victor Talking Machine Co.
• Abraham Anderson (1829–1915), businessman who was a co-founder of the Campbell Soup Company.
• George Batten (1891–1972), second baseman who played in a single MLB game, for the New York Highlanders.
• Aimee Belgard (born 1974), lawyer and politician who serves as a judge in New Jersey Superior Court.
• Brian Boucher (born 1977), NHL goalie.
• Sam Bradford (born 1987), former Heisman Trophy winner who is quarterback for the Arizona Cardinals.
• Andy Breckman (born 1955), film and television writer whose work includes Monk.
• Daniel Brière (born 1977), NHL player.
• Alexander Oswald Brodie (1849–1918), military officer and engineer who was appointed as Governor of Arizona Territory from 1902 to 1905.
• Robert Byrd (born 1942), author and illustrator.
• William T. Cahill (1912–1996), Governor of New Jersey (1970-1974).
• Joanna Cassidy (born 1945), actress, born and raised in Haddonfield.
• Bobby Clarke (born 1949), former hockey player and executive with the Philadelphia Flyers.
• Edward Drinker Cope (1840–1897), paleontologist and comparative anatomist, lived in Haddonfield to be closer to fossils in nearby marl pits.
• James A. Corea (1937-2001), radio personality and specialist in nutrition, rehabilitation and sports medicine.
• William K. Dickey (1920–2008), politician who served as Speaker of the New Jersey General Assembly and as chairman of the Delaware River Port Authority.
• Greg Dobbs (born 1978), MLB player who played for the Philadelphia Phillies.
• Erin Donohue (born 1983), athlete. Member of the U.S. track and field team at 2008 Summer Olympics (Beijing) in the 1500 meters.
• Alfred E. Driscoll (1902-1975), Governor of New Jersey (1947–1954), lived most of his life in historic Birdwood home built by John Estaugh Hopkins on Hopkins Lane.
• Kevin Eastman (born 1955), basketball coach.
• Rawly Eastwick (born 1950), former MLB relief pitcher.
• Ray Emery (born 1982), NHL goalie.
• Elmer Engstrom (1901–1984), President of Radio Corporation of America (RCA) who led development of television in Camden during the 1930s.
• Bartholomew J. Eustace (1887–1956), Bishop of Camden from 1938 to 1956.
• Nick Foles (born 1989), NFL quarterback for the Philadelphia Eagles. Actually, he lived in a part of Barrington that has a Haddonfield ZIP Code.
• Claude Giroux (born 1988), NHL player.
• Thomas McLernon Greene (1926-2003), scholar of English literature.
• Dan Gutman (born 1955), author.
• Marielle Hall (born 1992) long-distance runner.
• Derian Hatcher (born 1972), NHL player and coach for Philadelphia Flyers.
• Debra Hill (1950–2005), co-writer and producer of the film Halloween which is set in the fictional town of Haddonfield, Illinois.
• Jeff Hornacek (born 1963), NBA player, head coach of Phoenix Suns, lived in Haddonfield while playing for the Philadelphia 76ers.
• Geoff Jenkins (born 1974), former MLB outfielder.
• Pam Jenoff (born 1971, class of 1989), author of Quill award-nominated The Kommandant's Girl.
• Chip Kelly (born 1963), head coach of the UCLA Bruins.
• David Laganella (born 1974), avant-garde classical composer hailed as Philadelphia's best by the American Composers Orchestra.
• Ian Laperrière (born 1974), NHL player and coach for the Philadelphia Flyers.
• Brad Lidge (born 1976), relief pitcher for the Philadelphia Phillies.
• Victoria Lombardi (born 1952), better known as Miss Vicki, the former wife of Tiny Tim.
• Mike Magill (1920-2006), racecar driver who competed in the Indianapolis 500 three times.
• Matt Maloney (born 1971), NBA player for the Houston Rockets, attended Christ the King and Haddonfield Memorial High School.
• Charlie Manuel (born 1944), former manager of the Philadelphia Phillies Actually, he lived in a part of Barrington that has a Haddonfield ZIP Code.
• Timothy Matlack (1736–1829), American Revolutionary War soldier and engrosser of the United States Declaration of Independence.
• Bob McElwee (born 1935), former on-field football official for 41 years, including 27 years in the National Football League from 1976 to 2003.
• Joel McHale (born 1971), comedian and actor, star of NBC sitcom Community, lived in Haddonfield for two years during elementary school.
• Richard Mroz, President of the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities.
• Scott Patterson (born 1958), actor, played Luke on television series Gilmore Girls.
• Sergio Peresson (1913–1991), violin maker.
• Chris Pronger (born 1974), NHL player.
• Mike Richards (born 1985), NHL player.
• James Rolfe (born 1980), creator of The Angry Video Game Nerd.
• Rod Searle (1920–2014), farmer, insurance agent, and politician who served for 24 years in the Minnesota House of Representatives.
• Jennifer Sey (born 1969), author, business executive and retired artistic gymnast who was the 1986 U.S. Women's All-Around National Champion.
• Mel Sheppard (1883-1942), middle-distance runner who won a total of four gold medals at the 1908 Summer Olympics and 1912 Summer Olympics.
• Thomas J. Shusted (1926-2004), attorney and politician who served in the New Jersey General Assembly on two separate occasions, representing Legislative District 3D from 1970 to 1972 and the 6th Legislative District from 1978 to 1991.
• Tom Sims (1950–2012), pioneer and world champion of snowboarding, who created an early version after failing to complete a custom skateboard.
• Jason Smith (born 1973), NHL player.
• Steven Spielberg (born 1946), film director, as a child lived in Crystal Terrace, a part of Haddon Township served by the Haddonfield post office.
• Frank Stefanko (born 1946), photographer of rock music subjects including Bruce Springsteen and Patti Smith.
• I. F. Stone (1907–1989), author and anti-war activist.
• Margot Thien (born 1971), 1996 Olympic gold medalist in synchronized swimming.
• Kimmo Timonen (born 1975), NHL defenseman for Philadelphia Flyers.
• Joseph F. Wallworth, President of the New Jersey Senate
• Eric Weinrich (born 1966), NHL player, lived in Haddonfield while playing for Philadelphia Flyers.

See also

In Spanish: Haddonfield para niños