Lawnside Information

Welcome to the Historic borough of Lawnside. In 1840 the land developed as Lawnside was purchased by Abolitionists for freed and escaped slaves. On April 20, 1926, all who could, passed through the doors of the public school on Warwick Road to cast their ballot in the Official Special election of the borough of Lawnside. Just one month earlier, on March 23, 1926, New Jersey Governor A. Harry Moore signed into law State Assembly Bill 561, dissolved Center Township - of which Lawnside was a part - and incorporated the Borough of Lawnside. This first election propelled Lawnside into the local and national spotlight and claimed its place in history, becoming the first independent self-governing African-American community north of the Mason-Dixon Line. Lawnside borders the Camden County municipalities of Barrington, Cherry Hill, Magnolia, Somerdale, and Tavistock.