Bits of SJ: Mount Laurel Township

Long before it became Mount Laurel Township, the earliest known history of this area began with the Lenni-Lenape Indians who lived throughout the Delaware Valley from around 1400 until the 1700s. Evidence is found of their farming and hunting villages along the banks of the Rancocas River. In fact, the "Great Road" of pioneer days began as an Indian trail. When the great road was laid out in 1765, many Indian hand tools were found along the way. Today part of this great road is known as Hainesport-Mount Laurel Road. Mount Laurel residents still claim to dig up Indian artifacts on their own properties.

The Indians helped many of the early European settlers who came here to escape religious persecution. The Dutch settlers of the early 17th century befriended the Indians and exchanged cloth, knives, furs, and liquors with them.

One prominent family with recorded history in the Mount Laurel area is the Evans family. In 1682, William Evans, his wife Jean, and their three children made the voyage from Wales to settle along the Rancocas Creek.

Although William Evans died in 1688, his namesake son continued to play a significant role in the settlement of Mount Laurel. William bought 300 acres of land at the "site of the Mount", which is the hill later to be called Mount Laurel at the intersection of Hainesport-Mount Laurel and Moorestown-Mount Laurel Roads. His deed is the earliest recorded transaction of the Township. Five years later, William married Elizabeth Hanke, a Quaker minister, and they lived in a cave by the mount. They called it "Mount Pray" and lived in this cave until a log cabin was built which stood where the Friends Meeting House is today on the other side of the intersection. In 1698, William gave an acre of land to the Society of Friends and the Friends Meeting House was built with the help of Indians. Built of Jersey sandstone quarried from the mount, it is the oldest Meeting House in the Country and is still in use today.

In 1700 William bought 1000 acres of land which lay southwest of Marlton, from Margaret Cook of Philadelphia. He also gave the Lenape king five pounds for the tract believing that the Indians were the true owners of the land. Today descendants of the Evans family still reside in Mount Laurel and Evesham.

By 1728 the Darnell family owned most of the land around the Mount. The Darnell homestead is located approximately 2 miles east of the Mount on Hainesport-Mount Laurel Road where PAWS, a wildlife preservation society has been operating since 1980. The Darnell family cemetery can still be found along one of the PAWS nature trails.

19th Century Mount Laurel The 19th Century saw the establishment of Mount Laurel village, centrally located in the vicinity of William Evan's original homestead, Mount Pray. People settled near enough to be able to walk conveniently to the new meeting house. Other early buildings included a Wheelwright, a blacksmith shop and a shoe shop. The first area post office was established in 1849 inside the General Store. The General Store was a very important building for the townspeople. It not only held the original post office, it also housed 500 volumes of the "Enterprise Library," the first lending library of the area. At one point there was even a stagecoach stop in the settlement. The "Mount Laurel Stage" made a stop here on its way to Philadelphia.

The Old Town Hall is another building of significance. The Farmer's Progressive Club built it in 1866; hence it was called Farmers Hall. Following the incorporation of Mount Laurel in 1872, Farmer's Hall was used for annual election of Town officers. It was used as the official Town Hall from 1904 till 1969. Mount Laurel Township is currently in the process of restoring Farmer's Hall, which is located directly across the street from the Friends Meeting House at the base of the Mount.

In 1872, this busy intersection known as "Lower Evesham" became officially incorporated into its own village, Mount Laurel. The present Mount Laurel Township encompasses over 13,000 acres but the official village has nearly vanished. The Friends Meeting House and Farmer's Hall still stand on their original sites, faint reminders of the humble beginnings this town had over 300 years ago.

Also in the 19th Century, Mount Laurel saw several small villages arise including Masonville, Centerton and Fellowship. Agricultural products supported residents and were transported via the Rancocas Creek. Goods were transported on the Rancocas Creek on flat-bottomed boats called scows.

In 1863, the Burlington-Camden Railroad was built. Centerton, located near the Moorestown border, thrived because of its wharf, lumber and coal yard, phosphorus factory, tavern and the Centerton Hotel. Centerton was a popular vacation spot for families from Philadelphia seeking the tranquility of the countryside during the hot summer months in the city.

Masonville grew when a highway was built in 1794 and is still a community today, located just east of Moorestown. The village was named after the James Mason Plantation and included about 100 people, an iron factory, facing mill, a railroad freight and passenger depot and Darnell's Grist and Sawmill. Also in Masonville was the 1,800 acre tract granted to John Borton by King Charles II in 1716. The home of the late Senator C. William Haines, Jr. and his wife Sally rests upon the foundation of the original house built by his ancestor John Borton.

On the western side of town, Fellowship was settled on land owned by George Roberts, a well-known Quaker. Fellowship was the most established of all the villages that comprised Mount Laurel at that time. The village included two general stores, a wagon shop, a shoe shop, a blacksmith shop, mechanics shops and a boarding school. The first Catholic Church and a post office were built in Fellowship by 1849.

Information collected from Mount Laurel Township. (Mount Laurel History Book)

For more information on Mount Laurel Township, visit MountLaurel.com

For more South Jersey History, visit our SJ History page.

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Author: Melissa Samuelson