Cardiff Station, located near Spruce Avenue. |
The town of Cardiff in Egg Harbor
Township is some 3.70 miles northwest of Pleasantville.
The village known at one time as Idlewood
is located on both sides of the tracks of
the old West Jersey and Seashore Railroad
leading from Camden to Atlantic City.
The first families to move to the area were
the Barrats, Hoods, Hores, Yonkers, and Sears.
The Sear family moved to the area in 1897.
The area was heavily wooded and charcoal
making was one of the first industries, as
late as 1895. Farming was a livelihood for
some of the families, while others worked
in Pleasantville or on the shore.
The Site of Fenton's Mills, located on Spruce Avenue. Photo by Edward F. Merrigan
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A general store was opened in 1899 on the
north side of West Jersey Avenue some 200
feet east of Spruce Avenue, by William Foster.
The post office was located in the store soon
after with Mr. Foster as the postmaster.
The store was a typical country store selling
almost everything from hay to safety pins,
and was a place where the men gathered in
the evening.
The post office was first named Cardiff,
but was changed to Idlewood when it was found
that there was another town in North Jersey
with the same name.
William Foster died in 1914, and the store
was sold and later the Post Office was moved
to a small building across the street. A short
time after, in 1924, the rural route was started
through Cardiff and the Post Office was closed.
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The Cardiff School
was built in 1899. The brick portion
was added in 1922.
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In 1900-1901 school was held in a small house
near the store of William Foster. In 1901
a one-room school was opened on Spruce Avenue.
The school room downstairs had a low ceiling,
and the upstairs was used as a social hall.
Each room was heated by a pot-bellied coal
stove in one corner. Just to the rear of the
school was a shed with a hand pump for drinking
water. A bucket of water with a dipper stood
on a table in the rear of the room. The toilets
were some few feet back of the school.
In 1922, a four-room brick addition was made
to the school. The number of pupils and teachers
at the school has varied in recent years.
The Baptist Church at Cardiff
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The Baptist Church at Cardiff was organized
in 1906 by John McDevitt, William and Bertha
McMahon, Allen Hemmingway and others. At this
time Sunday School services and occasional
preachings were held in the school at Cardiff
or Idlewood.
A tract of land was donated by John McDevitt.
Mr. McDevitt, Mr. Win. Roeske Sr. and Mr.
Hemmingway assisted in the erection of the
church building. The church is on the south
side of West Jersey Avenue, west of Spruce
Avenue.
The Cardiff Volunteer Fire Co. No. 1 was
organized on April 20, 1927, with the following
officers:
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Fred Wetzel
Max Landgraf
Max Schultz
John Couchoud
John Benak
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Fire Chief
Asst. Fire Chief
President
Secretary **
Treasurer |
William F. Roeske Sr. and Walter Mockel are
charter members and Mr. Roeske Sr. has served
the longest time in (continuous) service as
a volunteer fireman in Egg Harbor Township.
The Ladies Auxiliary to the Fire Company
No.1 in Cardiff was organized June 13, 1927
with the following officers:
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Mrs. William Rolston
Mrs. John Costello
Mrs. Fred Wetzel Sr.
Mrs. Elizabeth Garrity |
President
Vice President
Secretary
Treasurer |
** Joseph Garrity was financial secretary
From notes supplied by Mrs. Charles Stiles,
Cardiff.
Mrs. William Roeske Sr.:
Booklet of the 50th Anniversary of the Cardiff
Baptist Church, 1906-1956.
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