Lawnside Inn
Known Name(s)
Lawnside Inn
Address
White Horse Pike Lawnside, NJ
Establishment Type(s)
Road House
Physical Status
Demolished
Description
Detailed History
At the Lawnside Inn, you could “dine and dance in a charmingly home-like atmosphere… delicious dishes…enchanting music will give you complete relaxation and rest.”
Various clubs and organizations held special events at the Inn like the Girl Scouts, women’s organizations, political clubs, lodges, church groups. In 1926, the citizens of Lawnside celebrated their first elected officials for their newly incorporated borough. Postmaster Ethel Roberts planned the event which included greetings from the Lawnside lodges, clubs, and community groups of Lawnside, as well as the mayor and officials from Barrington. The first mayor, James Hemmings was given a briefcase and his wife Ida Myrtle Smith received flowers.
In 1938, the Lawnside Inn was included in the Negro Motorist Green Book. Victor Hugo Green created this guide of safe places for African American Travelers.(1) Because of racial segregation, they were not welcome in hotels, restaurants, gas stations, and other businesses. In some states laws were created to legalize segregation. These laws, which denied them the right to vote, employment, education and other opportunities were called “Jim Crow” laws. They existed from after the Civil War until 1968.(2)
In 1925, the Lawnside Inn moved to the former location of Dr. Read’s Eureka Sanatorium, also on the White Horse Pike, between Gloucester and Emlen Avenue. It is believed that the first Hi-Hat was also located there until a new location was built. The Inman Hotel existed in this location in the 1950s.
There was another location on Eveshame Avenue named, the Lawnside Inn. This location was on Evesham Avenue and was owned by William Harris. A relationship between the two has not been established.
There were many proprietors during the Inn’s decade or so in operation. In addition to William A. Willis and his wife Laura Moody Selsey, others included, Charles Smith, Sadie Scott, James Scott and C. Eve Jones, O. H. Jones.
The original proprietors, William and Laura Willis were married in Philadelphia in 1918.(3) He was born in Virginia and she was born in Philadelphia. Before moving to Magnolia, the Willis family were homeowners in Philadelphia. William was a butcher at a hotel and Laura was a sales lady at a department store. (4) They lived at the White Horse Pike and Davis Road.
The Lawnside Inn was just the beginning of the Willises’ entertainment legacy in Lawnside, which includes the Hi-Hat and the Lawnside (recreation ) Park. They were the original proprietors of the the Hi-Hat, before Lauretta Tucker Adams. In 1926 William was the President and treasurer of the original Lawnside Park Association on Evesham Avenue. (5) Laura was the secretary.
In October 1963, William died at his home in Pleasantville, NJ. Services were held at Mount Pleasant Baptist Church. The viewing was at Carl Miller Funeral Home in Lawnside, and the burial was at Mount Peace Cemetery, Lawnside. (6)
1 The Negro Motorist Handbook - History Channel
https://www.history.com/news/the-green-book-the-black-travelers-guide-to-jim-crow-america
2 Jim Crow - History Channel https://www.history.com/topics/early-20th-century-us/jim-crow-laws
3 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S., Marriage Index, 1885-1951, William A. Willis and Laura Selsey
4 1920 US Census
5 Lawnside To Have Pleasure Park, 26 Feb 1927, Philadelphia Tribune, ProQuest Historical Newspapers:
Black Newspaper Collection, p 13
6 Obituary of William A. Willis, 30 Oct 1963, Courier Post (Camden, NJ), Newspapers.com p 53
(c) By Shamele Jordon, Lawnside Historical Society
Written for the project, "Green Book Locations in Lawnside and Berlin," funded by the New Jersey Historical Commission
