Consolidation, sometimes talked about for the Penns Grove, Carney’s Point, and even Oldmans area, would be nothing new. All of western Salem County from the Salem River to Oldmans Creek was once a single municipality known as Penn’s Neck. A “neck,” incidentally, is a body of land lying between the estuary of two streams.
Penns Grove was the last of the four municipalities carved from this early English real estate development when it became a Borough in 1894.
But this section of Salem County, along with all of West Jersey, traces its contemporary history back to 1664 when James, Duke of York and son of King Charles II, granted the land between the Hudson and Delaware Rivers to Lord John Berkley and Sir George Carteret.
Berkley sold his portion, known as West Jersey, which included Salem County, to Edward Billing, a member of the Society of Friends. Billing at the time was on the verge of bankruptcy and engaged fellow Quaker John Fenwick to develop his holding in the New World.
An English fleet, by a simple show of strength, established the Crown’s right to govern the lower Delaware Valley, so that when John Fenwick arrived to found his settlement at Salem in 1675, he felt justified in asserting Billing’s claim to the land in Salem County occupied by the Swedes who had settled here earlier. Fenwick did encounter opposition, however, and was arrested by Gov. Andros and taken to New York, where he was told he could not dispossess the Swedes.
The Quakers undertook to settle the dispute among themselves, and William Penn, Gawen Lawrie and Nicholas Lucas were named as trustees to untangle Billing’s finances. As a result, Fenwick was awarded one-tenth of the original grant, consisting of the land south of the Salem River extending into Cumberland County. Penn, son of Admiral Penn and a resident of Ireland at the time, acquired his first American possessions when he and his partners purchased the rights to the “whole undivided half of New Jersey,” with the southern boundary of the property at the Salem River. The section from that point north to Oldmans Creek had been called Fenwick, but they changed the name to Penns Neck Township.
Penn began a series of promotions, selling off portions of ground in the Township, as did his sons John, Thomas and Richard. Some of these deeds are still in existence today. One is held by former State Sen. John M. Summerill, Jr., and another by Borough Engineer William W. Summerill.
Unquestionably their efforts were successful, for by 1721 the area had become too wide to administer as a single municipality. With the confirmation of the court it was divided into Lower and Upper Penns Neck. The boundary line from Salem Creek to the Delaware River followed along the property line of Cornelius Corneliuson, and remains the boundary line today. It was another 160 years before any further boundary change was made, and when it came, it was in the nature of a gerrymander.
In 1881, Republicans in the Oldmans section decided to do something about the long Democratic control of the Township, which extended back before the Civil War. They further subdivided Upper Penns Neck by creating the Township of Oldmans, with the southern boundary line following Pitman Landing Rd. west to the intersection of the Pennsville-Pedricktown Road, where it cut across country to where a small stream intersected the railroad. It then followed the stream to the Delaware River.
The final division was brought about by the urbanization of the village of Penns Grove and by fear of the new DuPont plant built at Carneys Point in the early 1890s. The villagers wanted better roads and street lights, but opposition of the farm vote in the rest of the Township prevented the necessary appropriations. In addition, carloads of gunpowder fresh from the new DuPont plant were being parked at the railroad depot in Penns Grove, and the townspeople were fearful.
In 1894, it was agreed that the only way to solve both problems was to form their own municipality where the desired laws could be adopted. Following a public vote, Penns Grove was incorporated as a Borough in March 1894. The division of Penn’s Neck, started by Fenwick and continued by Penn, was completed.
In 1875, Penns Grove contained 122 houses and 17 other buildings, including a church, two boat yards, two blacksmith shops, a school, a hotel, a lumber yard and shops. In 1894 the number of homes had increased to 337 houses and 21 other buildings. By 1969, the borough contained more than 1,500 homes.
From the Borough of Penns Grove 75th Anniversary, 1894–1969, a supplement of the Penns Grove Record, August 14, 1969.