FIRST -- Independent Self-Governing African American Community North of the Mason-Dixon Line
N 39° 52.014 W 075° 02.052
18S E 497075 N 4412985
Lawnside is a Borough in Camden County, NJ, United States. As of the US 2000 Census, the population was 2,692. The land that became Lawnside was purchased by Abolitionists for freed and escaped slaves, as well as other African Americans in 1840.
Waymark Code: WM4F54
Location: New Jersey, United States
Date Posted: 08/15/2008
Views: 32
The posted coordinates are for the center of town.
On April 20, 1926, an "Official Special Election" was held in the Borough of Lawnside. Just one month earlier, on March 24, 1926, Governor of New Jersey A. Harry Moore signed into law New Jersey General Assembly Bill 561, dissolving Centre Township, of which Lawnside was a part, and incorporating the Borough of Lawnside, which also included portions of the borough of Barrington. With its first election, Lawnside became the first independent self-governing African American community north of the Mason-Dixon line.
My first piece of documentation came from here --> (
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My second source comes from a recent article where Senator Obama visited Lawnside --> (
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And finally I found this excerpt: "Lawnside, NJ is a small borough in Camden County, New Jersey that is home to many ethnicities. The borough is proudly known for being the first independent self-governing African American community north of the Mason-Dixon line. According to the 2000 census, the 1.2 total square mile area of the Lawnside, New Jersey was home to 2,692 residents. Most citizens in Lawnside use the New Jersey Transit as their main system of transportation." at this site --> (
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