Albertson Memorial Fountain - Audubon, NJ
N 39° 53.187 W 075° 03.619
18S E 494842 N 4415156
Once upon a time, horses roamed these parts & carried people with them. A water fountain was a necessity for those beasties & this fountain was erected & dedicated to one of the areas most notable, early citizens. Today this is an historical site.
Waymark Code: WMDNBQ
Location: New Jersey, United States
Date Posted: 02/04/2012
Views: 2
The memorial is in the form of an old, concrete fountain at the intersection of a very old and very busy intersection.
The inscription on the concrete is so worn, it is practically impossible to read. After standing/loitering for 12 minutes trying to make it out, I noticed the inscription was on the newly installed interpretive...D'oh! The inscription reads: Chalkley Albertson Erected By His Son - 1903".
As far as the life and significance of the individual memorialized, the Haddon Heights Historical Society took care of all that information in a newly installed interpretive. The marker was installed in 2011 (possibly 2010) and sponsored by the Haddon heights Historical Society in memory of Lynn Laitman. The local historical society, their website and interpretive program are all very organized and worthy of a look, especially the website. The website can be found HERE. The historical marker reads:
The Albertson Memorial Drinking Fountain first stood at this intersection in 1903 when it was erected by John J. Albertson in memory of his father, Chalkley Albertson (pronounced "Awl-bert-son"). Practicing Quakers, the Albertsons were descended from William "Albertson" (d.1709), a Dutch immigrant who settled in Newton Township (now in Magnolia) in 1682. Chalkley Albertson served in the State Assembly in 1863, 1864, 1867, and 1873. He helped to establish and incorporate the White Horse Turnpike Company, and introduced a bill in the State Assembly to incorporate the Camden and Philadelphia Bridge Company. He helped initiate the Philadelphia and Atlantic Railroad, and was one of the commissioners who arranged for the Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia. His son John Jarrett Albertson (1858-1928) served as the Camden County Engineer from 1892-1928, and was the Borough Engineer fro Haddon Heights, Audubon, Barrington, Magnolia, Oaklyn, and Collingswood.
The six-ton Barre granite memorial was installed as a public drinking fountain/water trough for horses, the primary source of transportation at the time. It was located here (but closer to the road), at the intersection of Kings Highway and the White Horse Pike, between Camden and the stagecoach stop at the White Horse Tavern in present-day Stratford. The tavern served as the namesake for the White Horse Turnpike when the toll road was laid out in 1806. Kings Highway was laid out in 1760 as a straightened version of the 1686 "Great Road from Burlington to Salem." After automobiles came into use, the White Horse Pike became the first paved concrete road in New Jersey in 1922, and was the "longest stretch of hard-surface roadway in the world." In 1928 John Jarrett Albertson bequeathed the property to the Borough of Haddon Heights. After travel by horses declined, there was no need for the fountain and it was moved in 1938 to a local park at Eighth and High Streets. In 2003 CVS returned the fountain here, to its original location, as a permanent monument to Haddon Heights' rich social history.
There is also a 1945 aerial view from Audubon showing the drinking fountain's original site and its current site. Landmarks are also pointed out like old churches and diners so as to orient the viewer to their relative position.