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With homes and businesses decorated in red, white, and blue bunting, the city of Vineland celebrated its 50th anniversary in August of 1911. Following a practice that originated in 19th century New England known as “Old Home Week,” former residents returned to visit their ancestral land and remember the heady years of nascent Vineland. The week-long festivities drew 30,000 visitors from across the United States, including some of Vineland’s original settlers. The celebration included a reception at the Baker House hotel where Charles K. Landis Jr. spoke to the crowd, thanking them for making Vineland a success. The jubilee also staged a dramatized re-enactment of the seminal stake being driven into the ground at Landis Avenue and the Boulevard as well as a grandiose parade led by Civil War veterans. On-lookers waved miniature flags and were clad in green and white, the colors of Vineland. Other events included the dedication of the Civil War Veterans monument, a hot air balloon launch, an automobile race, and an evening vaudeville revue.
The attached colorized photograph was donated in 1998 by Nick Mesiano, an auctioneer from Norma, NJ. He noticed six names carved in the back of the frame and knew that the men in this photo were prominent leaders in Vineland. The sign behind them reads “Vineland’s Hobble-Skirted Daisies” which is an allusion to the popular and controversial style of skirt worn by early 20th century women. Costumed as fin-de-siecle “tramps,” it is conjecturally possible that they were dressed for a special event or vaudeville show celebrating Vineland’s 50th anniversary.
The men in the photograph:
New Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church on N. Seventh Street was one of the original places of worship in Vineland and was certainly one of the first to serve the African American community in the area. After the Civil War in 1865, a small assemblage of laity banded together and cleared the pine-dominated terrain. The land was primitive and according to what may be apocrypha, was frequented by rattlesnakes, bears, wild cats, and panthers.
The early congregation met in a log cabin called the “Red House” located on the southwest corner of 7th Street and Park Avenue and had one room. Charles K. Landis and his wife Clara purchased this land on February 3rd, 1872 and bequeathed it to the modest group of parishioners for a place of worship. A small frame building was erected and was named the First African Methodist Episcopal Bethel Church on March 7th, 1873.
A humble red brick structure was built after the first church was consumed by fire. This church was renamed Allen Chapel but was condemned in 1921 and eventually torn down. A new church was built on the present site and renamed the New Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church. They recently celebrated their 152nd Anniversary as a congregation and the church still holds services to this day.
*Photo (Altar of the church from the late 1800s. The photo is credited to Charles J. Olson.)
In the summer of 1940, the dedicated staff of the original Vineland Public Library decided to help out local families by starting a nursery school. The photo shown here and a set of six more were donated in 2020 by Georgina Tomassetti Gaughran, whose mother-in-law Kate Gaughran, worked in the summer program that accommodated roughly two dozen local youngsters.
Visit our YouTube Channel for local history videos and videos of some of our events.