Originally, this part of land was called Newton, which was then incorporated as Haddon Township in 1865, just as the Civil War was ending. Soon after the peace returned, even more homes were built along the Haddonfield-Camden Turnpike (the major artery in town) and in 1871, the busy Pennsylvania Railroad made the village a stop on the popular Atlantic City run. in 1888, the town then separated from Haddon Twp. and became Collingswood. All up and down Route 30/White Horse Pike within Camden County, similar train stations may be found, restored and converted for other uses. Oddly enough, there is no mention of this particular depot to be found anywhere! I even tried the local library and struck out.
There is also some uniqueness to this cedar-shingled (not the roof - the sides) structure as well. On the western side, the side one sees when facing the 'front' is the most interesting chimney. It is in the shape of a soda bottle and although made of brick, has some field stone set into it, randomly spaced, leading up to the entire 2-1/2 story height. At the bottom of the chimney is a coal chute. A ramp was also added, probably within the last decade. The high peak of the roof is also another notable detail. One can only imagine what purpose this well-tended to structure serves today but I'd speculate the building is some kind of museum.
I became curious and began to follow the tracks southeast to see where they would end, wondering if they are being used. At N 39° 41.578 W 74° 53.073 in Hammonton along Chestnut Avenue, about 19 miles away, the tracks curve off to a new looking warehouse called the Warren Distributing Company. The tracks appear to go in the warehouse which leads me to believe the tracks are still being used for commercial purposes. I also noticed many other train stations waymarked fall along this line as I moved southeast to the shore. Not too far away the tracks split and then come back together, not sure why.
Still following along from the West Collingswood Train Station, at N 39° 37.700 W 74° 50.945, the tracks continue under the Atlantic City Expressway, the road that replaced all other modes of transportation to Atlantic City. A bridge was constructed to preserve the tracks. Continuing still, now more south than anything, the tracks cut linear swatches across huge expanses of forest as and farmland.
At N 39° 17.553 W 74° 45.668 the tracks now separate. Continuing southwest, the tracks terminate @ N 38° 56.090 W 74° 55.328 in Cape May, NJ, .43 mile from the Atlantic Ocean and 109.017 km or 67.74 miles from the train station, if my moniker serves correctly. Along this route, the tracks are very busy. I saw lots of cars stacked up along the tracks as well as a bridge opening where the tracks swiveled to the side. If one were to travel to the southeast at the split, the tracks stop @ N 39° 13.982 W 74° 38.969 (site of an awesome cache called Poor Poor Pitiful Me) where a bridge has been washed away, wrecked and twisted. Along this route, the tracks are overgrown with plants and trees. Eventually the tracks disappear at N 39° 14.977 W 74° 36.923 in Ocean City , New Jersey, 52.03 miles or 83.73 kilometers. Unfortunately, after all of this, I could not find how the tracks got to Atlantic City, the whole point of this exercise and the reason why this train station was constructed.
The immediate area is a hodgepodge of 19th century artifacts including a house built in 1821 located across the street from the station or to the north. To the right or south is the very old Old Newtown Friends Burial Ground whose first burial I noted was in the very early 1800s. This cemetery, like the station, coexist in anonymity with no mention of it on any historical site or other internet site. Yet, these two entities provide very real and tangible links to our beginnings and origins in Camden County.
We arrived here only to geocache but stayed for the WW II memorial (which is where the cache is located) and then eventually all the other aforementioned sites. After exploring for awhile we used the playground also located here. Parking is available along the street in front of the station and cemetery. There is also a parking lot at the station as well.