Swedesboro is a historic South Jersey town experiencing new growth
Named for its Swedish colonial origins, Swedesboro is a small South Jersey borough packed with history and dining options. “They’ve definitely built a lot of new communities in that area, but you still do feel that old charm in some of the homes,” says Michelle Peterson, a real estate agent with Compass New Jersey’s Moriuchi Team who has sold several homes in Swedesboro. 17th-century log cabins share the community with Victorian houses and ranch-style properties, and newer homes have been built to accommodate a growing population of over 2,700. “It is rural, but it’s very much ‘neighborhoods’…It’s not very congested, which is nice,” Peterson says. “Being located just outside Philadelphia , you get people who commute to Philadelphia very easily.” A small manufacturing and warehousing scene offers local jobs, but commuters also have easy access to Wilmington and Philadelphia across the Delaware River. Woolwich Township surrounds Swedesboro and shares a school district.
Diverse retail sits along Kings Highway and in nearby Mullica Hill
Kings Highway serves as Swedesboro’s main street, and around a dozen eateries share the street with the local auto shop, florist and other small businesses. The Sweetsboro Pastry Shoppe prepares everything from birthday cakes to donuts, while Old Town Bagel supplies morning commuters with their coffees and breakfast sandwiches. Spicy Affair Indian Cuisine serves North Indian cuisine from the borough’s 1916-built bank building. Botto’s Italian Line Restaurant has been a family-owned mainstay for Italian food since the 1960s. Nearby towns offer additional dining options. “ Mullica Hill is not very far from them – they also have a cute little downtown with a dining scene,” Peterson says. “Everyone raves about Blue Plate. The Amish market is nice – people say they have the best doughnuts there.” Nearby grocery options include Woolwich Township’s ShopRite and Acme.
Swedesboro offers both vintage and newer homes in a semi-rural area
Though not every home in Swedesboro is as old as the 1640s-built C.A. Nothnagle Log House – still a private residence – residences vary greatly in style and date of construction. Condos go for $190,000 to $410,000, while homes built from 1850 to 2000 sell for $140,000 to $440,000. Properties built since 2000 go for $530,000 to $540,000. Swedesboro’s residential streets include a mixture of Victorian houses from the turn of the 20th century, Colonial Revivals and ranch-style homes from the mid-20th century and Contemporary properties built since the 2000s. “People tend to move to Swedesboro for the amount of land and property that they’re getting, maybe as opposed to somewhere in Camden County,” Peterson says. “Gloucester County is a little bit more spread out and rural, and I feel like that’s probably one of the biggest attractions. You’re still getting that close proximity to Philadelphia.”
Local parks and a lake offer spaces for outdoor activities
Locke Avenue Park puts most of Swedesboro’s outdoor activities in a single, large sports complex. A playground and several baseball, softball and soccer fields are open to the public, and South Jersey Shamrocks youth lacrosse team practice at the park. Narraticon Lake Park offers a short hiking trail and a fishing pier along Lake Narraticon, a manmade lake also popular among birdwatchers.
Kingsway Regional High offers a variety of sports programs
Students can start at Margaret C. Clifford School for kindergarten and Governor Charles C. Stratton School for grades 1-2; both receive B-plus ratings from Niche. Students go on to attend the A-minus-rated General Charles G. Harker School and Walter Hill School for middle school, and Kingsway Regional High School receives a B-plus. Kingsway offers 29 sports teams, including competitive cross country and wrestling programs.
Swedesboro is close to Philadelphia jobs, health care and highways
Swedesboro is a 20-mile drive from Wilmington via Interstate 295 and the Delaware Memorial Bridge, while Philadelphia is a 25-mile drive up the same highway and one of the Delaware River bridges. Philadelphia International Airport is 16 miles away. Some Swedesboro residents opt to drive 30 miles north to Hamilton and catch a train to New York City, just over an hour’s ride away. Beachgoers can access Jersey Shore points like Atlantic City and Ocean City in just over a 60-mile trip, while Stone Harbor and the Wildwoods are under 90 miles away. “If someone’s a beach person, living about an hour to an hour and fifteen minutes from the shore is fantastic,” Peterson says. In addition to neighboring Woolwich’s Inspira Health Center urgent care facility, Swedesboro is also close to Mullica Hill’s Inspira Medical Center, 10 miles away.
![Jacob Adelhoch]()
Written By
Jacob Adelhoch
