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| Garden State Park in its heyday. |
The modern history of Cherry Hill has its share of characters: the family that built an elegant "country house" restaurant; the man who presided over an inn with a 14-karat-gold roof; the lady who presented Hawaiian-themed fashion shows at a "cottage" that featured a giant pineapple gift shop.*
Yes, Cherry Hill was always a bit different -- even somewhat racy. Just over the bridge from Philadelphia, it was often a place where Pennsylvanians came to misbehave.
But until 1962, even with some faux exotic attractions, it was still somewhat sleepy, semi-rural Delaware Township. You could say that changing the township's name to Cherry Hill in '62 proved to be almost magical. But the name itself was driven by other factors, all connected to six men who saw a chance to make a buck. Because, right from the start, the very idea of Cherry Hill was driven by seductive dreams of riches. Here then are the six businessmen who invented Cherry Hill:
1) Eugene Mori
Eugene Mori was an entrepreneur from Vineland who built Garden State Park (a renowned thoroughbred race track) along with the Cherry Hill Inn and Cherry Hill Lodge. Mori is largely credited with coming up with the name "Cherry Hill" though many trace the origins to Cherry Hill Farm -- the land on which Mori built the Inn. Garden State Park opened on July 7, 1942 after delays caused by raw material rationing at the United States' entry into World War II. Due to the seizure of 30,000 tons of structural steel by war authorities, developer Mori mostly constructed Garden State Park's ornate Georgian-style grandstand of wood. Limited amounts of steel came from the demolition of New York City's elevated railways. Despite this inauspicious start, "the Garden," as it was known was off to a lucrative start and remained a success until it burned down in 1977 (too much wood, not enough steel). The sprawling, elegant Inn and the Lodge were built to accommodate the many visitors to the track which hosted legendary, winning thoroughbreds such as Whirlaway, Citation and Secretariat. Today, Garden State Park is a sprawling mixed-use development including stores, restaurants, condos, apartments and town homes.
2) Dave Dushoff
Though he was co-owner (with Dallas Gerson) of the Latin Casino, a Vegas-style dinner-theater, Dushoff was really the visionary behind the whole, glittering 1,500-seat facility which sat across from the race track on Route 70. And no, there was no gambling at this three million dollar "casino." The "Showplace of the Stars") which opened in 1960 played host to top entertainers including Harry Belafonte, Jimmy Durante, Sammy Davis Jr., Dean Martin, Richard Pryor, Jerry Lewis, Milton Berle, Lena Horne, Pearl Bailey, Louis Armstrong, Lionel Hampton, and Joey Bishop. Frank Sinatra appeared at "The Latin" so often that during his stints the marquee simply announced "He's Here." Dushoff also owned the western-themed Chuckwagon restaurant just down the road from The Latin and hosted headliners in a cushy private ranch house on The Latin's property. But the Latin Casino was done in by the arrival of real casinos in Atlantic City, and it closed in 1978. The site later became the headquarters of Subaru of America, which recently moved to Camden. The land is now vacant.
3) Bob Scarborough
Having flown B-17 bomber aircraft in WWII, Bob Scarborough returned home to Collingswood with an entrepreneurial spirit and a desire to build houses to meet the huge post war demand. He built his own home in Collingswood which he lived in all his life. His first business took the form of home additions and small single family houses in the vicinity of Collingswood and Haddonfield. Soon, Scarborough garnered a following and a reputation for building houses of exceptional quality with traditional colonial features. He regularly travelled to New England for architectural inspiration. By the early 1950’s, business was brisk and Bob started Scarborough Corporation which was developing more than 28 homes per year. Larger planned developments and subdivisions came soon thereafter, most notably Barclay Farm in Cherry Hill, which became the town's premier community connected the east and west ends of Cherry Hill via a distinctive covered bridge. Wexford Leas and King's Croft followed later.. To control costs and to insure quality Scarborough began to integrate vertically the different trades involved in the construction process. Scarborough's homes came to define Cherry Hill as an exceptional residential community and they are still considered prized processions.
4) James W. Rouse
Rouse, of Maryland was one of the founders of the Rouse Company which built and for a time owned the Cherry Hill Mall. Rouse was a pioneering American real estate developer, urban planner, civic activist, and later, free enterprise-based philanthropist. More than anyone else, he was the man who conceived the idea of indoor suburban shopping malls as town centers where people could shop, stroll and dine in a sort of semi-tropical atmosphere. When it opened in 1961, the Cherry Hill Mall was the first indoor shopping mall east of the Mississippi and people came from everywhere to experience it. It wa, quite literally a sensation. In fact, it was not uncommon for people to spend two or three days in Cherry Hill staying at the Cherry Hill Inn or Lodge, dining and taking in a show at the Latin Casino, betting on horses at Garden State Park and shopping at the Mall. From the outset, Rouse was able to attract top-name retailers to the Mall including Strawbridge's and Bambergers's (later Macy's) along with more mainstream American brands such as Woolworth's and Florsheim. The opening of the Mall gave Cherry Hill an immediate luster and made it the envy of many other towns.
5, 6) Mike and Nick Fifis
In the early 1960's Mike and Nick Fifis came from Flemington New Jersey to settle in the South Jersey area where they took over ownership of Ponzios Brooklawn Diner. But the big move came in 1964 when they purchased the Ellisburg Diner on Route 70 and renamed it Ponizio's Cherry Hill. This aptly-located eatery (near the center of Cherry Hill at what was then the Ellisburg Circle) became an immediate hit and emerged as the quintessential New Jersey Diner. Over the years the restaurant has gone through a few different family members as well as its fair share of renovations. 1979 saw a major expansion and new elements were added again in 1984 with the addition of a bar room. Along the way, Ponzio's became the favorite meeting place (especially for breakfast) of business people, politicians and a wide variety of movers and shakers. Over the years, Ponzio's has employed more than 10,000 individuals and served countless meals. It's such an iconic part of town that when the Ellisburg Circle was eliminated and traffic was reconfigured in 1992, the town fathers insisted that Ponzio's remain intact with ingress and egress undisturbed. It's sort of the Times Square of Cherry Hill.
So, what was it that made Cherry Hill?
Vision, imagination, determination and a prime location all played a vital part.
But in the end, the bottom line was the bottom line. Indeed, it was money that made the Cherry Hill miracle -- lots of wisely invested money running after even more money.
*All stories that will have to wait for another chapter.
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