Whitney Building (Junior Mechanics Building)

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Known as both the Whitney Building and the Junior Mechanics Building, this three-story structure was located on the corner of High and Main Street, at 1 High Street W, Glassboro, NJ. It was located at the approximate map coordinates 39.703007, -75.112172.

This building was built by the Whitneys to house their department store and provide leasable space to local businesses and organizations. Over its life, the building housed numerous businesses, including the Whitney Glassworks Store, a grocery store, a barbershop, a lady's dress shop, a tailor, a hardware store, a Uhl's Meat Market, a restaurant, and the Post Office. The building also had a variety of spaces that were used for events and social clubs. This building opened on October 10, 1896, and was an important Glassboro landmark for 48 years until a fire took the building on New Year's Eve, 1944. Local resident George Armstrong shares his memories of seeing the building on fire with three Glassboro firemen trapped inside. See George Armstrong's oral history.

In the early years of this building, the Whitney Glassworks Store occupied the first floor, on the far end of the building on High Street. A small part of the Whitney Store sign is visible in this image (far left edge). The sign is also visible in a few of the photographs below. The Glassboro Post Office was also located on the High Street side of the building in between the Whitney Store and the building's main entrance. We are not yet sure who occupied the first floor on the Main Street side of the building when this photo was taken; however, sources point toward a meat market. 

The second floor of the Whitney Building was primarily used for offices. The third floor had meeting spaces, often used by various social organizations such as the Freemasons, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Junior Mechanics, and the Woman's Christian Temperance Union. Starting around 1900, Glassboro's governing body, the newly formed Township Committee, began to use an office within this building as the first permanent location of Glassboro's governance. 

Previously, the location was used for two other structures. In 1849, the Whitneys built the Odd Fellows Hall, which was a large three-story building. In the late 1890s (one source says March 1896, but that date doesn't seem correct), the building was moved several hundred feet north on Main Street (approximate location).

Over the next few decades, the Odd Fellows Hall, at its new location, was used for various businesses, including a warehouse for an online bookseller in the early 2000s. Odd Fellows Hall was demolished in 2003 to make way for new development.

Shortly after the Odd Fellows Hall was moved, the Whitneys built a company story, The Whitney Department Store. An extensive fire destroyed this building on October 26, 1895, and was reported in the New York Times.

The location is now the Veterans' Memorial Plaza honoring those in our community who made the ultimate sacrifice.

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