Wenonah New Jersey

In terms of age alone, Wenonah is a relatively young town. Before 1870, it wasn’t much more than a stop along the West Jersey Railroad; but it was around that time when businessmen from Philadelphia came by rail in search of a break from the city.

That draw of the fresh air they discovered along the Mantua Creek—and the potential that came with it to find an unspoiled slice of suburbia—is still very much alive today.

One would be surprised driving through the borough, where the original railroad depot still stands and the quaint municipal building is built to replicate a turn-of-the-century station, that it’s one of the “newer” towns around. But with a founding rooted in peaceful seclusion, not much has changed since its early days, as the borough has managed to escape the sprawl all around it. Not only does the population sit just under 2,300—and only 829 households—but it has decreased slightly in each census since 1990. There’s just one school—Wenonah Elementary—that serves some 250 students through sixth grade before sending them to Gateway Regional. And in the latest newsletter to residents from its six-member police force, traffic congestion near that school and the local dance studio were the No. 1 concerns. Certainly not crime.