Public Records

The area now known as Oaklyn, New Jersey was once dense forest land which was inhabited by the Lenni-Lenape Indians, until 1681 when a group of Quakers from Wickloe, Ireland sailed up the Delaware River and settled on Newton Creek. the leader of these Quakers, William Bates, purchased 250 acres on the south side of Newton Creek from the local Indians. This became known as the Newton Colony.

The Colony began to grow rapidly and the land was cleared for farming. Eventually two highways were laid out. One, from the Delaware River to Egg Harbor, followed an old Indian trail, which is today the Black Horse Pike. The other was known as the Long-a-coming trail, which extended from Atlantic City to Berlin and then from Berlin to Camden. This trail is now known as the White Horse Pike.

After the American Revolution, a group of Virginia sportsmen built a racetrack on the east side of the White Horse Pike. President Grant had visited this track as a young man before it closed in 1846.

A Samuel Bettle bought the land which was formerly the racetrack and eventually, the land was deeded to Haddon Township.

As the years passed, the farms along Newton Creek were divided into lots and the development called "Oakland the Beautiful." The name was changed to Oaklyn in 1894 to avoid confusion with another Oakland in Northern New Jersey. Finally, in 1905, Oaklyn broke away from Haddon Township and became a borough governed by a mayor and six councilmen.

For more information about our history or to become a member of the Oaklyn Historical Society, contact Chuck Lehman at (856) 858-9691 or via email at pnets44@verizon.net.