Acorn Inn
Known Name(s)
Acorn Inn
Address
White Horse Pike Lawnside, NJ (Primary) (1938, 1939, 1940, 1941, 1946, 1947, 1948, 1949, 1950, 1951, 1952, 1953, 1954, 1955)119 West Davis Road Lawnside, NJ (Modern Address)
Establishment Type(s)
Tavern
Physical Status
Demolished
Detailed History
The site of the Acorn Inn, White Horse Pike and Davis Road, has a long history. In 1855, a one room schoolhouse was erected there on land owned by Charles L. Willits. Known as the Greenland School, this public school served students from nearby towns and apparently, was integrated. In 1882, the one-room school was replaced by “. . . the finest school-house for colored children in any country district in South Jersey.” That two story frame building, forty feet long and thirty-six feet wide, was built by Edward J. Miller, a local black man, who at one time served as the school’s teacher. The building’s use as a school ended with the 1904-1905 school year. After that the property was sold to private concerns. First, in 1910, to Thomas W. Hebron, whose family sold it to Clarence Waples in 1945. Waples sold it to Addison J. Loving (1904-1989) in 1947. Under Loving’s ownership the long history of the Acorn Inn progressed. "Bus" Loving, as he was familiarly known, operated the Acorn Inn from 1947 until his 1989 death. He briefly committed to selling in 1981, but apparently changed his mind. A two-day advertisement in the Courier Post described “The Greenland School, circa 1880, White Hrs Pk & Davis Rd, Liquor Lic. And Real Estate . . . .” for sale, confirming that the former school building had become the Acorn Inn. In 1993, the Mt. Zion United Methodist Church bought the Acorn Inn property. The church demolished what was left of the structure after a 2001 fire.
