Introduction
Barrington Emerges
Barrington Becomes
a Borough
A Period of Optimism
A Period of Depression
Introduction
Barrington, as an incorporated municipality is celebrating its 75th birthday. As a community bearing that name, it is closer to 100 years old.
As with all of New Jersey, our area 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 made of the land was for farming, and after World War II there were several operating farms in out town.
Early in New Jersey history, counties were created within which were townships and a few cities. Some counties were split up; for example, Gloucester County, in the middle of the 19th century, became Atlantic, Camden and Gloucester Counties. Until 1844, "Barrington" was in Gloucester County, and most business at the county level required a trip to Woodbury. Since Clements Bridge Road was not laid out until the beginning of the 19th century, the journey to the county offices, involving crossing Timber Creek, was somewhat formidable
During the first two centuries the area remained agricultural, but outside factors modified farming operations in the 1800s and brought about changes in landholding period. The railroad, in the 1890s, together with real estate development, gave rise to the village of Barrington, changed the face of the area, and resulted, in the emergence of the borough (1917). Displacement of the railroad and the trolley car by the automobile and the bus in the 1920s, and the impact of science and technology in road building, home construction and manufacturing (1950s), transformed the area from the residential-rural community to a modern suburb.
Train Pulling into Barrington Station circa
1914
First Post Office at 111 Clements Bridge Road
Luke Page's General Store at the Corner of
Reading and Barrington Avenues
Early Railroad Station and Trolley Car