A Brief History of St. Joseph High School, Camden, New Jersey

The original St. Joseph High School was located at the corner of Tenth and Liberty streets. The new school on Mt. Ephraim Avenue at Dayton was dedicated in January, 1952, with the cafeteria, gym, and auditorium still under construction.

From July 1 to September 30, 1953, the St. Joseph's Holy Name Society conducted a Debt Reduction Drive. The souvenir program, dated October 17th, 1953, lists donors from $1 to $1000. On that date the committee presented Msgr. Strenski with a check for $37,071.20, with later gifts raising the total to $47,277.44. This reduced the parish's outstanding debt for the construction of St. Joe's to $103,500.

BRIGHT MOMENTS

• The 1959-60 boy's varsity basketball team captured first place in the Diocesan A League and won the South Jersey Parochial B Championship, posting a 21-6 record and averaging 76.7 points per game. The lopsided victories included 101-66 over Woodrow Wilson, 113-48 over Sacred Heart, and 132-54 over Holy Spirit.
• The 1965 and 1966 St. Joe's football teams coached by "Wild" Bill Simmons racked up a combined record of 14-4, including seven shutouts. Both teams opened 7-0 before losing their last two games. Both teams were offensive powerhouses by Bison standards--the 1966 team averaged 22.2 points per game, the 1967 team 25.3 points.
• November, 1968 - St. Joe's football team closes out a 6-3 season with three consecutive victories, including a first-ever victory, 24-0, over Camden Catholic on a rainy Thanksgiving Day. The quarterback is Bill Jarrett, the coach Ken Pikus. Details
• March 9, 1971 - St. Joe's basketball team defeats defending state Parochial B champs Gloucester Catholic, 48-47, in the tournament semi-finals. The hero of the night is Ed Raiczyk, whose lay-up with 9 seconds left put the Bisons over the top.
• March 13, 1973 - St. Joe's basketball team wins the South Jersey Parochial Class C championship with a 47-37 win over Sacred Heart. The starters: Steve Walsh, Matt Maneely, John Klish, Gary Foster, and Steve Jones.
• March, 1977 - On the strength of a buzzer-beating jumper by Jim Finnegan, St. Joe's defeated Sacred Heart in an overtime thriller to recapture the South Jersey Parochial C championship. The final Courier-Post poll annoints St. Joe's the #2 team in South Jersey.

DARK MOMENTS

• The abandoned shell of St. Joe's, inhabited only by squatters and used as a public urinal by the homeless, is put forward as a symbol of the decline of Camden in a report on CBS's 60 Minutes.

St. Joe's Today

The former high school building at 1770 Mt. Ephraim Avenue is now Dayton Manor, a 256-bed private residential health care facility opened in 1986. According to the Inquirer, people are still necking in the dark corners.

Aerial photo from Globe Explorer by means of Mapquest:

Leonard Stevens, Class of '67, provides this update on the status of the original school building at 10th and Liberty: "The grammar school has been torn down along with the convent, providing a "safe" parking area. The original school building is still there and they are working on obtaining Historic status from the state. This would hopefully provide protection and funding for upkeep of the property. The church, old school and rectory are in relatively good shape."

Urgent - St. Joe's Church Appeal

St. Joe's alumnus Rev. Edward J. Lipinski is now the pastor of St. Joseph's Church, and is leading a fund-raising drive to repair and restore the church building at 10th and Liberty. The church has won designation as a state historic site, and a matching funds state grant from the New Jersey Preservation Trust. But the church must raise nearly half a million dollars for its share of the restoration cost. Please read Fr. Lipinski's appeal on the excellent St. Joseph's Polish Church history site, and help if you can.

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