Barrington, as with all of New Jersey, can trace its history back more than 300 years. One of its first settlers, William Clark, acquired 250 acres of land in 1703, and part of it remained in the Clark name for about 2 1/2 centuries. The earliest use of the land was for farming.
Farmers needed better roads to transport their products to markets in Philadelphia and elsewhere. Roads and bridges were neglected during the Revolutionary War and the War of 1812, as money was diverted to the war effort. Barrington farmers undoubtedly utilized Clements Bridge Road, Gloucester Pike, White Horse Pike, Haddon Avenue (via Haddonfield) and Warwick Road. The State Legislature in the early days of the nineteenth century set about improving some of those roads by incorporating private enterprises that would undertake the job of road building and maintenance. Those private businesses were given important privileges including permission to charge travelers "toll" for using the "turnpikes". Haddon Avenue (laid out in 1792) and the White Horse Pike (laid out in 1807) became such turnpikes.
The Kings Highway (1796), Clements Bridge Road (1807) and Warwick Road remained toll free or public roads. The turnpike companies were responsible for rebuilding solid roads with crushed-stone surfaces, making them better highways than the public roads that, for the most part, remained dirt or gravel roads and were kept free of weeds.
The principal point of reference for anyone coming to the Barrington vicinity was the intersection of White Horse Pike and Clements Bridge Road, which, according to the 1847 Sidney Map of Ten Miles Round Philadelphia, was known as Union Grove. At that time most of Barrington was owned by the Willits family.
In 1844, the State Legislature approved the creation of Camden County out of Gloucester County, comprising five Gloucester County townships: Gloucester, Gloucester Township, Newton, Washington and Waterford.
After the beginning of the second half of the nineteenth century, many events affected the daily lives of Pre-Barrington and South Jersey residents. Some of these events were the creation of Centre Township, free public education, government aid to farmers and stimulation of agricultural education. The population exploded in the Philadelphia and Camden area, due to the industrialization of these communities. Railroads were built between Philadelphia and Atlantic City and this helped spur real estate development in South Jersey. Better transportation provided opportunities for closer participation in county government by local individuals.
Within the new Camden County the pattern of population suggested another local government change, and accordingly, Centre Township was created in 1855. It was composed of farmlands in and around villages known at that time as Snow Hill (Lawnside), Greenland (Magnolia) and Mt. Ephraim. Officers of the township government were, naturally enough, local farmers, merchants or professional men from the farms and villages.
Railroad investors and real estate promoters entered into an undertaking that seemed hazardous at the time. They built the Camden and Atlantic Railroad in 1854 which ran through Haddonfield and Long-a-Coming (Berlin) to the ocean. Their expectation was the development of a seashore resort, which would attract thousands of business executives and workers, mainly from the Philadelphia area and that both railroad and real estate promoters would profit. A competing line, the Philadelphia and Atlantic City Railway, passing through Pre-Barrington (the railroad station was called Dentdale), was completed in 1877. The name of the line was changed in 1883 to the Philadelphia and Atlantic City Railroad and was controlled by the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad Company. Barrington residents called it the Reading Railroad and Reading Avenue went directly to the station. As the railroad tracks were being laid, and even before, farm lands along the Philadelphia and Atlantic City railway were bought up by investors who saw bright prospects in laying out towns and selling lots mainly to people from Philadelphia who wanted to get away from the crowded city and move "to the country." Competition for the purchase of farmlands brought about increases in the value of those lands. Investors and land speculators evidently believed the building of towns was good business. As a result of those activities, small residential communities sprang up in the 1880s and 1890s along the railroad.
Shortly after 1880, residents could tell their friends they lived in Barrington. In 1880, Burr Haines acquired a large tract of land on Clements Bridge Road and sold part of it to a syndicate. The name "Burrwood" was proposed for the sold portion. William Simpson, however, a member of the syndicate impressed with the beauty of Great Barrington, his former home in Massachusetts, won over his colleagues, naming the tract "Barrington."
The area emerged from an essentially farming community to an area, which while still "countrified", was showing the characteristics of a suburb. Even before 1910, Tommy Williams filed a plan for one acre lots in a development he called "Farmhurst" and a few lots were sold. Later, as that area along Shreve and Williams Avenues became further settled, it was referred to as the "Acre Tract." By 1910, the Haines farm was virtually all residential and areas to the west and southwest were dotted with new homes. Clements Bridge Road, from the railroad to the Gloucester Pike and even beyond, was becoming lined with homes separated by vacant lots. By 1917, a number of new homes had appeared on lands that were formerly parts of the Williams, the Fitzgerald and the Weaver farms.
A major factor in this period of growth was the improvement of railroad service. A flag station was built by the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad Co. at the Clements Bridge Road crossing in 1894, and additional passenger trains were put into service as demand increased. In 1903, Public Service completed its trolley-car line adjacent to the railroad. The charge was five cents to ride between Camden and Haddon Heights. The ease and reasonable cost of commuting drew people living in the nearby crowded cities to live in the "country". These new residents were willing to sacrifice the conveniences of big city life for a new and less expensive style of living available in Barrington.
Barrington, along with the villages of Mt. Ephraim, Magnolia, Lawnside and the surrounding farmlands, was a part of Centre Township, which was governed by a Township Committee.
Encouraged by strong community spirit in, leaders contended that the village of Barrington was independent enough to be self-governing. This happened on March 27, 1917 when Barrington was established as a separate municipality.
For more information on the history of Barrington please click on the related web page link.