Up until 1952, the land behind what is currently Chick-Fil-A and the new Olga's Diner was King's Farm (or Marlton Farms), owned by E W King, an avid breeder and trainer of racing horses. Old photos show a horse track on the property near Maple Avenue.
The upper right hand quadrant of the map below shows the 3 large parcels of land that made up Marlton Farms, near the intersection of Route S-41 (which became Route 73) and Route 40 (which became Route 70). The lower right hand corner of the map shows be where the Marlton Circle would have been. There are three properties marked E. King. The one that shows "32.62a" was a 32.62 acre plot of land that would eventually become London Square. The second one of 14.69 acres is still open space today, and is owned by Evesham Township. The third became Marlton Hills, Evesboro West and Camelot Apartments.
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| Handdrawn map by the Evesham tax collector from the late 40s-early 50s - Courtesy of John Flack |
Interestingly, the plots marked 1B, 1C and 1D, which front to Route S-41 and were not owned by Mr King, were not purchased during development of the surrounding farms. The three plots were eventually combined and still retain that shape today. The combined plot of land contains Chick-Fil-A and the new Olga's Diner.
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| Plots 1A, 1B and 1C were combined, highlighted in red above, home of Chick-Fil-A and Olga's |
After the farm was sold, construction of Marlton Hills, Evesham's first post-war neighborhood, began in 1953, and was originally envisioned as a "beautiful country community" of 281 ranch style homes. Four distinct style of home, including 'The Marlton' and the 'Medford' were available starting at just under $10,000. I cannot find any mention of the names of the other two houses.
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| Handdrawn map of Marlton Hills by the Evesham Tax Collector - Courtesy of John Flack |
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| Grand Opening on Saturday January 2, 1954 |
Much of the marketing was geared towards former soldiers, with special deals for veterans and lower mortgage rates through the VA. The neighborhood was conveniently located near the intersection of Routes 70 and 73, near the Tacony Palmyra Bridge and the 'Delaware River Bridge' (possibly the Ben Franklin, which opened the previous year.)
The neighborhood was the first 'modern' neighborhood to be built in Marlton, which was mostly farms at the time. Within a year, the Georgetown development would be built further south on Route 73. (Georgetown eventually lost its distinct identity and is part of Heritage Village.)
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| Brochure for Marlton Hills |
Sales were brisk. The second section of Marlton Hills went on sale in March 1954.
With the 3rd section going on sale in June 1954.
The original homes were built with septic systems, but city plumbing came several years later. Not all went smoothly with the transition - septic systems overflowed, houses were connected to the city system, but homeowners were responsible to fill in their septic system. At one point, homeowners petitioned the city council. And in a sign of the times, the following line appeared in the Philadelphia Inquirer: "The petition, signed by 62 of 68 owner-occupants and their wives...."
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| 1955 Aerial view of Marlton Hills - Baker Blvd and King Ave were the first houses built |
For some reason, construction stopped in 1955, and less than 80 of the originally planned 281 homes were built by Marlton Hills, Inc. Most of the remaining land was sold off to other developers and some was set aside for Green Acres (which were eventually purchased by the town). Some of the land sold off became London Square and some was built by another developer and called Evesboro West, which was begun in 1960. While there is no sign marking the neighborhood today, I believe that Evesboro West is considered the few streets north of the homes shown above, though many people just view it as Marlton Hills. You can see the beginnings of Princess, Duke and Duchess Avenues on the handdrawn map above. There were also homes on Baker Boulevard, King and Counts Court that were built by the new builder, interspersed between the older houses built by Marlton Hills Inc.
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| As near as I can tell, Marlton Hills in blue, London Square in yellow, Evesboro West in Red |
Final approval for the last section of 29 homes of Marlton Hills was not given by the Evesham Planning Board until 1978, though these homes were never built.
Ever wonder how Baker Boulevard got its name? Thomas J Baker Jr was President of Marlton Hills Inc. He was also owner of New Sanitary Linen in West Collingswood and Baker Lanes of Cherry Hill, and was an avid horseman. He died in Westmont in 1988.
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| Thomas J Baker, President of Marlton Hills |
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| Marlton Hills sign in 2013 |
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| This is a home in London Square from a listing at Redfin.com. Interestingly, it shows the subdivision as E W King Farms, the original owner of the property. |
If I got anything wrong, please feel free to let me know! For those that live in Evesboro West, when someone asks where you live, do you say Evesboro West? Or Marlton Hills? And sad to say, but there will not be a future blog post about Evesboro West, there just isn't enough information out there.
A thank you goes out to Guy Thompson who provided some of the photos in this blog. He provides a more personal recollection of growing up in Marlton Hills in his own blog post. And another thank you to John Flack for providing the photos from the tax collector.
The Neighborhood Series
- #TBT - London Square Opens in Marlton on May 21, 1961
- Brush Hollow Turns 50!
- Heathrow at Marlton
- The Disappearance of South Crossing
- 50th Anniversary of the Approval of Kings Grant
- Jackie's Crossing Ribbon Cutting
- The Lost Evesham Neighborhood of New World at Willow Hill
- Evesham's Bradford Chase Turns 25!
- The Early Evesham Settlement of Jacques Bridge
List of All Blog Posts
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