Vineland Historical and Antiquarian Society Museum

06/11/2026

Thank you Adam Kasper for donating your 1976 Vineland High School yearbook! We did not have this yearbook in our collection.

06/05/2026

For those of you that love Cape May History, there is a free graveyard tour starting this Saturday June 6 at 10AM at Cold Spring Church located at 780 Seashore Road

06/05/2026

Then & Now: 508 Landis Avenue!

We love finding historic buildings that are still standing in Vineland today. In these photos, you can see 508 Landis Avenue as it looks now alongside a photo from approximately 1908, when Quairoli's Restaurant and James Guida's Vineland Shoe Repair Store occupied the building.

Through the years, this address has been home to many different businesses, including tailors, clothing stores, jewelry stores and more!

Which businesses do you remember at this location? We'd love to hear your memories or share your own photos in the comments! 👇📸

06/03/2026

Charles K Landis entered law school at 15 and started his own practice at 19. However, Landis soon realized that he wanted to work in real estate. He began his real estate career with the development of Vineland in 1861 with the dream of creating a utopian society. Landis purchased 22,000 acres from Richard D. Wood, and eventually bought more until he owned 32,000 acres. He brought in German immigrants and black residents to help set up Vineland and paid them a dollar a day. Landis advertised for people to come to Vineland across the country and in Europe. People quickly settled Vineland and remained tavern free and driven by industry. Landis ended up marrying the daughter of Captain Richard Meade, Clara F. Meade in 1868. Their marriage lasted eight years, and their firstborn son, Henry Miegs Landis, died at a young age. They also had three other children Charles Kline Landis, born 1871, Richard Worsen Meade Landis, born 1873, and James Montivert Waterbury Meade Landis, born 1875. By 1875, Landis had his sons, his wife, and a blossoming town with 20 schools, multiple post offices, and connection to the railways. Beyond his real estate business, he faced backlash from the editor and publisher of The Vineland Independent, Uri Carruth. Carruth published that Landis wanted to commit his wife Clara to an insane asylum. Landis walked into Carruth’s office with the news article in his hand and shot Carruth in the head on March 18. Carruth did not die immediately from his injury, but rather experienced blindness and constant pain until he passed away seven months later due to abscess surrounding the wound. Landis’ murder trial was held in Bridgeton and was a major spectacle for the time. The jury found Landis not guilty by reason of insanity following the testimonies of his employees, doctor, and sheriff who detailed his erratic and uncommon behavior leading up to the shooting. Clara and Charles divorced and his sister Matilda Landis would go on to raise his sons, and Clara married a German nobleman. Following the trial, Landis set his sights on a new real estate opportunity on Ludlam Island in 1879, now called Sea Isle City. Charles K. Landis died in 1900 and in his will left his estate to his sister Matilda.

Source:
Falkner, Mirna. “Charles K. Landis.” Cumberland County NJ. Accessed May 12, 2026. https://www.cumberlandcountynj.gov/Charles-K-Landis.
“The Complex Life of Charles K. Landis.” Atlantic City Weekly, August 17, 2017. https://atlanticcityweekly.com/the-complex-life-of-charles-k-landis/article_ab932703-da12-5ee7-aa26-a1c425eb347d.html.

06/01/2026

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On Flag Day, June 14, the Betsy Ross House in Old City will receive a donation of Ross's original sewing table from one of Ross' descendants. 🔗: https://ebx.sh/x2QfXk

06/01/2026

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Join the Vineland Historical Society, the Greater Vineland Chamber of Commerce, and the Rotary Club of Vineland as they celebrate 250 years of America at the Flags & Flowers event on June 14 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Vineland Historical Society Museum, located at 108 S. 7th Street in Vineland.

This free community event will feature live music, historic reenactors, museum tours, and more. Vineland’s First House will be open and decorated, and guests are invited to enjoy free self-guided museum tours throughout the day. The museum will be adorned in red, white, and blue and will feature photo opportunities and props for visitors to capture the occasion.

Attendees will also receive a free American flag and flowers to plant at home. Dress in your red, white, and blue and join the Vineland community in celebrating our nation’s 250th anniversary. We hope to see you there!

05/28/2026

Portia Kellogg Gage was born in Manlius, New York on March 15, 1813. Portia started to work at the age of twelve years old, and in 1830 met John Gage whom she married in 1830. They would go on to have eleven children together. The couple at first lived in Watertown, NY, where John ran an iron foundry, but soon after they moved to Chicago in 1836 for his flour mill business. His business boomed and he made a fortune from his flour mill. In October 1864, the family moved to Vineland, NJ. John was a Spiritualist and the president of the local chapter of the National Liberal League. John was an advocate for women’s rights, and Portia joined this cause as well. Following the talk given at Vineland’s Plum Street Hall, Portia took on the teachings of Lucy Stone and her husband Henry Blackwell. Alongside other local women, Portia founded the New Jersey Woman Suffrage Association, where she served as the president from 1868 to 1871. In March 1868, Portia Gage attempted to cast her ballot in the local election and was denied. On October 15, 1868, women met at Union Hall and came up with the idea that they would go to the polls on November 3 and vote in the Presidential election. For the election, Portia rallied together 171 other Vineland white and African American women to cast their votes at Union Hall. Once again, the women were denied the ability to vote as they were not registered, so they could not cast their ballots in the official ballot box. From Portia’s earlier attempt, they knew this would be the case, so they came prepared. The women brought their own table, ballots, and a handmade ballot box that was originally a blueberry crate. Following their vote, the women’s support of suffrage was covered in The Revolution, a feminist publication, which inspired other women across the country to hold similar demonstrations. The women of Vineland kept coming back to cast their votes, in March 1869 with 182 votes, November 1869 with 214 votes, March 1870 with 161 votes, and November 1870 with 130 votes. Despite never casting an official ballot, the protest of the Vineland women helped inspire women across the nation for the right to equal suffrage. Portia Kellogg Gage died in Vineland on February 23, 1903.

Source:
“In 1868 Portia K. Gage Voted in Protest (Narrated).” YouTube, 2022. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Drpmnhrn-qo&t=6s.
“Portia Gage.” Museum of the American Revolution. Accessed May 26, 2026. https://www.amrevmuseum.org/virtualexhibits/when-women-lost-the-vote-a-revolutionary-story/pages/portia-gage.
Martinelli, Patricia A. “Portia Kellogg Gage 1813- 1903.” Discover NJ History, 2016. https://discovernjhistory.org/njsuffragists-portia-kellogg-gage/.

05/27/2026

Honor - Reflect - Remember