Editing Moorestown, New Jersey (section)

==History==
[[File:Roberts Monument b.jpg|thumb|Roberts Monument]]
[[File:All are welcome.jpg|thumb|Friends Meeting House]]
[[File:Breidenhart (5).JPG|thumb|[[Breidenhart]] was listed on the [[National Register of Historic Places in Burlington County, New Jersey|National Register of Historic Places]] in 1977.]]
Main Street is located along a ridge historically occupied by the [[Lenape|Lenni Lenape]] [[Native Americans in the United States|Native Americans]]. Two natural springs, one to the west (off Main Street before reaching the Perkins Center for the Arts, just by Roberts Elementary School) and one to the east (off North Stanwick Road) drew Native Americans and traders to the area.

In 1682, John and Sarah Roberts became the first English-speaking residents of Moorestown when they established their home. Their residence is now marked by the Roberts Monument at the intersection of [[County Route 537 (New Jersey)|County Route 537]] and [[New Jersey Route 73|Route 73]].<ref>DeCou, George (1929). ''Moorestown and Her Neighbors; historical sketches''. Philadelphia: Harris & Partridge, Inc., pp. 7-9.</ref><ref>Lamborn, Suzanne Parry (2006). ''John and Sarah Roberts, with many related families''. Morgantown, Pennsylvania: Masthof Press, pp. 1-3. {{ISBN|1-932864-58-X}}</ref> In May 1686, three years after the founding of Philadelphia, John Rodman bought {{convert|500|acre|km2}} on the west side of Chester Township, and Thomas Rodman bought {{convert|533|acre|km2|1}} in the same area; this soon became known as the Village of Rodmantown. The growing area around the eastern spring was known as the Village of Chestertown.<ref>Chaplin, Philippa J. [https://web.archive.org/web/20130729105946/http://articles.philly.com/2004-10-03/news/25389377_1_taverns-great-road-indian-trail "All about King George's 'Great Road'"], ''[[The Philadelphia Inquirer]]'', October 3, 2004. Accessed June 26, 2012. "To the northeast, the Lenni Lenape had settled near two springs in what is now Moorestown. It is not known exactly when the Indians left, but sometime after Kings Highway came through in 1682, two white settlements sprang up near the springs - Rodmantown on the west end, around today's Church and Main Streets, and Chestertown on the east, around Chester and Main, according to Stephanie Herz, librarian for the Moorestown Historical Society."</ref>

In 1700, the first [[Quakers|Society of Friends]]' Meeting House, built of logs, was erected on the King's Highway. Originally known as ''Meeting House Lane,'' Chester Avenue was laid out in 1720. The community at that time probably consisted of a few farmhouses along the King's Highway from Stanwick Road to Locust Street.<ref name=PI2004>Pray, Rusty. [https://web.archive.org/web/20130729122208/http://articles.philly.com/2004-10-20/news/25390435_1_tavern-owner-quaker-burlington-county "A little bit country and a little bit ritzy"], ''[[The Philadelphia Inquirer]]'', October 20, 2004. Accessed June 26, 2012.</ref>

Thomas Moore and his wife Elizabeth settled here in 1722. In 1732, Moore purchased {{convert|33|acre|m2}} of land on the north side of the King's Highway. The land ran from the west side of the Friends' graveyard on the northwest corner of the King's Highway and Meeting House Lane on the east, and west to Locust Street on the western boundary of his property and north to Second Street. Moore set up a hotel on the northwest corner of the King's Highway and Union streets (Cornerstone Bank and the Wawa now occupy opposite corners there). Given Moore's extensive property ownership, the name Moorestown gradually replaced Chester informally in the center of town. Finally, Moorestown formerly split off from Chester and became a Township.<ref name=Story/>

The Coles Hotel, east of the corner of Main and Chester, was a stop on the stagecoach route connecting [[Camden, New Jersey|Camden]] with [[Trenton, New Jersey|Trenton]] and Philadelphia. Construction of the railroad in 1867 superseded the stagecoaches and connected [[Mount Holly, New Jersey|Mount Holly Township]] and Camden.<ref>Staff. [https://archive.today/20130131181017/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/courierpostonline/access/1846570571.html?FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Jun+23,+1999&author=&pub=Courier+Post&desc=Moorestown's+buildings+tell+centuries+of+tales&pqatl=google "Moorestown's buildings tell centuries of tales"], ''[[Courier-Post]]'', June 23, 1999. Accessed June 26, 2012. "For most of the 1800s, the stagecoach traveled Kings Highway from Camden to Trenton. Moorestown was divided by the coming of the railroad -- residents welcomed the convenience, but shopkeepers feared local business would suffer with the access to Philadelphia.... John T. Evans had a real estate office, and the Coles Hotel, demolished in 1925 to make room for the Burlington County Trust Company, was located at 91 East Main Street."</ref>

A tavern built in 1745 by John Cox at what is now Main and Schooley streets was taken over in 1778 during the [[American Revolutionary War|Revolutionary War]] by [[Hessian (soldiers)|Hessian officers]] retreating from Philadelphia. In the years after the war, it was used for a town hall before 1812, when what is now called "Old Town Hall" was constructed.<ref name=History/>

A house constructed in 1742 by John Cowperthwaite at King's Highway and Lenola Road is listed in the [[Library of Congress]] with details of the house recorded in 1937 by the [[Historic American Buildings Survey]] of the [[United States Department of the Interior]].<ref name=History/>

Quakers built Moorestown's first two schools in 1785. A brick schoolhouse was located near what is now the intersection of Route 73 and the Kings Highway overpass. A stone schoolhouse was located adjacent to the present Friends Meeting House at the intersection of Chester Avenue and Main Street. The first district school was opened in 1810. The first free Moorestown public school was established in 1873.<ref name=MFS>[http://www.mfriends.org/07/about_history.php History], Moorestown Friends School. Accessed February 11, 2012. "In 1785, members of the Religious Society of Friends (also known as Quakers) erected a little brick schoolhouse at a point where Kings Highway passes over Route 73, in present day Maple Shade. The same year, they built a one-room stone schoolhouse on land west of the present Moorestown Friends Meeting House, on what is now part of the site of Moorestown Friends School."</ref>

[[Vernon Hill]]'s {{convert|46000|sqft}} mansion ''Villa Collina''—Italian for "Hill House"—the largest private residence in New Jersey, is located in Moorestown.<ref>Smith, Eileen and Walsh, Jim. [http://www.app.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070630/NEWS03/706300409/1007/OPINION "Hill's climb took bank to heights of industry"], ''[[Asbury Park Press]]'', June 30, 2007. Accessed July 25, 2007. "Hill and his wife Shirley built Villa Collina, literally Hill House, a {{convert|46000|sqft|m2|-2|adj=on}} Tuscan-style mansion in Moorestown that is the biggest private residence in the state."</ref>

Moorestown's Quaker heritage is discussed in Moorestown resident and native historian William H. Kingston's book, ''Moorestown's Third Century: The Quaker Legacy''.