GLOUCESTER CITY

gloucester city, a city of camden county, new jersey, u.s.a., on the delaware river, opposite philadelphia. pop. (1890) 6564; (1900) 6840, of whom 1094 were foreign-born; (1905) 8055; (1910) 9462. the city is served by the west jersey & seashore and the atlantic city railways, and by ferry to philadelphia, of which it is a residential suburb. among its manufactures are incandescent gas-burners, rugs, cotton yarns, boats and drills. the municipality owns and operates the water works. it was near the site of gloucester city that the dutch in 1623 planted the short-lived colony of fort nassau, the first european settlement on the delaware river, but it was not until after the arrival of english quakers on the delaware, in 1677, that a permanent settlement, at first called axwamus, was established on the site of the present city. this was surveyed and laid out as a town in 1689. during the war of independence the place was frequently occupied by troops, and a number of skirmishes were fought in its vicinity. the most noted of these was a successful attack upon a detachment of hessians on the 25th of november 1777 by american troops under the command of general lafayette. in 1868 gloucester city was chartered as a city. in camden county there is a township named gloucester (pop. in 1905, 2300), incorporated in 1798, and originally including the present township of clementon and parts of the present townships of waterford, union and winslow.