Salem County Rewind presents a look back at Salem County's rich history through photographs and news items from a century ago.
In this feature, which appears each week, we share a vintage photo from Salem County (along with a large number of other historic local photos in an earlier gallery) and Salem County history tidbits taken from newspapers of a century ago.
SALEM COUNTY PICTURE FROM THE PAST
This vintage photo from Salem County shows the Salem Oak in the Religious Society of Friends Burial Ground on West Broadway in Salem City. This picture postcard view is from sometime in the first half of the 20th century. The oak was recently declared by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection the largest white oak in the state of New Jersey. The Salem Oak has been a landmark for centuries. This photo of the oak shows it in healthier days. In 1999, the tree lost three of its large branches. The house seen behind the oak to the left on the other side of West Broadway was razed to make way for the Salem Oak Diner in the mid 1950s. (Times File Photo)
SALEM COUNTY HISTORY
Looking back 100 years ago in Salem County for this week in 1916, these news items were included in the Salem Sunbeam.
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A land terrapin which is supposed to be 100 years old was picked up in an orchard near Alloway and brought to Salem this week. On its shell are the initials L.D. and the date 1810. Are they the initials of Lewis Dorrell from 116 years ago?
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During the electric storm last Friday afternoon, lightning truck Mene Pierce's house near Berry's Chapel and burned the building to the ground while the family were picking lima beans in a field not too far from the house.
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The freeholder board plans to take a tour of the county to get familiar with the roads and bridges so that the members may vote more intelligently on the questions that come before them on the subject. The tour will begin in Salem and go for about 100 miles.
Miss Anna Spring is having a railing erected around the portico of her house on North Main Street, greatly improving its appearance.
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Florist H.E. West will open a store in the Patterson Building in Salem this week.
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Joseph Thompson Jr. and son are now putting the finishing touches on the interior of the new house built by Smick & Harris' on Johnson Street in Salem.
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The Pennsville Board of Education has decided to open a new school at Fenton's Beach and is now busy securing furnishings and equipment for the new building.
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Bill Gallo Jr. may be reached at bgallo@njadvancemedia.com. Follow Bill Gallo Jr. on Twitter @bgallojr. Find NJ.com on Facebook.