Glassboro's Landmark
Living in an off campus rental home, my roommates and I are exceedingly aware of how we appear to our neighbors; We try not to be too loud or disruptive, we politely wave when we see them outside and engage in small talk, and we respect their space, all in the hope of building trust and a positive relationship on behalf of our generation and Rowan students as a whole. Other students don’t always have the same level of courtesy. The relationship between college students and their neighbors could be strained, as one of my neighbors, Rich, has conveyed. The previous residents of my house were major disturbances to the block whom Rich or other residents reported to the police almost every weekend for noise complaints from having parties or parking too many cars illegally in front of his house. This group of college residents rented the house for 2 years and no one on the block knew their names. This lack of regular contact and communication can leave local residents and students with inaccurate, stereotypically negative opinions about one another.
It might seem like a partition separates Glassboro, drawn around the academic buildings and residential halls that create Rowan’s campus. Students are “in place” when they are within these confines and locals are “in place” when they stay out of them. When either enters the other’s domain, even if they are not met with disapproval, they feel out of place, as college renters in local residential neighborhoods often feel. This sense of belonging, a feeling that there is a right or wrong place to go as a student or local in Glassboro, can play a part in creating a gap between the two populations. This gap is bridged by third spaces, neutral places where the diverse makeup of college towns can convene, both populations feeling welcome and comfortable, both feeling “in place.”
Even when sharing spaces, the meanings, experiences, and memories, histories of those spaces are experienced differently by the two populations. The lot on which the Franklin House was built has been the epicenter of informal social life in Glassboro for over 200 years. It is constant and steady, it is an integral part of the community, almost a member of the community itself. Third Spaces, as sociologist Ray Oldenburg suggests, are “not a place outsiders find necessarily interesting or notable. [They are] a forum of association which is beneficial only to the degree that it is well-integrated into daily life. Not even to its inhabitants is the third place a particularly intriguing or exciting locale. It is simply there, providing opportunities for experiences and relationships that are otherwise unavailable." It is a fixture of the town itself, not particularly exciting or magical, just a place that people know will always be there. The location carries such meaning to locals that when the Franklin House was knocked down and planned to be built into a Super Wawa, locals petitioned to save the site to seek bids for construction of a “similar facility” to continue the tradition of dining hospitality. The location of the Franklin House/Landmark has embodied this tradition for centuries, serving as a Third Place not only to the two populations who currently live in modern Glassboro, but to the past populations of the town centuries ago.
Prior to the founding of Rowan University in 1923, the primary driver of economic activity and cultural pursuits in Glassboro was the Glassworks. It informed the populations who lived here; Immigrant workers and wealthy visitors alike were all tenants to the Franklin Inn. In many ways, their use of the tavern as a Third Space isn’t all that different than those who use it today. Past locals used the place in a variety of ways: “County Surveyors meet there to lay out new roads; it is a regular stage and post-stop; the meeting place for various groups of the town and the home for the journeying glass blowers. The widow Heston was active in all branches of community life, active in her church and her counsel was sought by many.” A diverse group of locals was all able to convene in the place because the owner emphasized a sense of warmth, welcoming, and a connection to the community. This remained true even as the Glassworks industry left Glassboro and the College became the primary influence on the population that utilized this space.
As Glassboro grew and changed, the impact of this transformation of the dominant industry lead to far-reaching changes to the small community. The shift from the dominance of the Glassworks to the University resulted in the presence of new population demographics, a more diverse population, and different employers. Although the growth of Rowan University altered many aspects of the town, including the size, structure, and characteristics of the town's local population and physical environment, the tavern stayed the same. It went through its own transformations, of course, changing names, owners, expanding, undergoing renovation, even being knocked down and replaced with a new type of Third Space, The Landmark Tap & Grill, yet ultimately remaining a Third Place where all members of the community can come together and know that they’re going to be treated warmly and with respect.
Upon entering The Landmark Americana Tap & Grill, one might take in the sights and sounds of a lively, bustling restaurant. You can hear laughter, muted conversations, forks scraping plates and clinking glasses. You smell burgers cooking and stale beer. When paired with the feel of sticky tiles under your sneakers, you might notice the traces of the party that happened here last night, wondering if whoever spilled the beer was here for last night’s Trivia Tuesday and got a little too into the game. There are lots of people here, but it is not crowded or hectic. The many wall mounted TVs play different sports, one a baseball game, another a boxing match. One plays the news, muted with only closed captions on the screens. A pair of men sit at the bar, both sipping tall glasses of Blue Moon (denoted by the orange wedges on the rim of the glass) attentively watching the game, while what seems to be a family, likely a mother, father, and college-aged daughter, sit at a table nearby sharing a plate of nachos. A table of 4 men dressed in button downs and polo shirts share a table on the patio, taking in the sunshine. They too are sipping beers. It’s a Wednesday at 1 PM, are they college professors or administrators here on their lunch break? Are they here for a business conference happening on campus? Or were they traveling together, totally unrelated to the college, just stopping for a bite to eat and a cold beer, then getting back on the road?
One can sit and wonder about everyone here for hours, considering everyone’s role and constructing a story about the people and relations between them at every single table. Are they a local? Are they somehow connected to the college? Or did they just enter Landmark as a visitor upon happenstance, strangers to Glassboro and Rowan University? Most importantly: Does it matter who they are and why they’re here? We are all connected here, strangers sharing this experience together, enjoying the same atmosphere. We all chose to be at this exact location at this exact time, and we’re all participating in this community, experiencing many of the same things that many who visited the Franklin House likely did before us.
These same sights, smells, sounds, and feelings have existed in on these coordinates, in this location, for over 200 years. Why did Glassboro locals value this exact geographic location enough to rally for it to remain a place of hospitality? What is it about this place that makes it so appealing for locals and visitors alike? And what is it about Glassboro that attracts more and more college students each year?
The answer to these questions may lie in Glassboro’s identity as a college town that has evolved for hundreds of years and continues to expand and evolve each day. In his article, "The American College Town," Blake Gumprecht defines college towns as a unique type of urban place. They “exert a dominant influence over the character of the community.” College towns differ from other cities in the regions in which they are located, often comparatively more youthful, diverse, highly educated, and there is an absence of “heavy industry.” This is ironic, as Glassboro began as an industrial, glassmaking city.
He lists several criteria for what makes a college town, stating that college towns are youthful places. they are transient places for students and professors alike (Study results showed that residents of college towns were twice more likely than the overall U.S. population to have lived in a different state 5 years before). Because of this impermanancy, college town residents are more likely to rent and live in group housing, which can be problematic in relation to long-term resident relations. Impermanence is also an important consideration when trying to define the town’s identity- Its identity is dynamic because the students who live there are dynamic. They typically stay for 4 years and each new class brings a different set of demographics that can shift attitudes and values of the school. Rowan, for example, began as an education school, but is now considered and engineering school. This attracts different groups of people and skill sets, bringing different ideas to campus and changes what developers consider when making renovations to the school or surrounding town. The towns themselves are therefore “unconventional” because of these “unusual demographics.”
The campus is the center of life in the Glassboro. Campuses often function as self-contained cities with their own shopping, food, events, concert halls, sports stadiums, etc., and Rowan is no exception. Gumprecht asserts that the degree to which the city’s college is inviting to outsiders factors into its relations with the community (are campuses walled or designed to be open; are they in the city and of the city). Glassboro is an open campus that has taken over the town: It has 2 gyms which non-Rowan students (local residents) can purchase memberships to, 3 theaters that local residents are encouraged to attend shows at, and open stadiums that locals like Mary St. John and my neighbor Chris often attend sporting events at. Rowan’s campus is open and anyone can walk through as they please, encouraging relations between college students and long-term locals. We root for the same sports teams, go to the same restaurants, attend the same churches, and hang out at the same bars. These relationships are so important and necessary because institutions cannot succeed if the community is failing and the community cannot succeed if the institution is failing. These relationships are forged in places like Landmark, where college students and long-term residents can form these bonds and interact to create connections. We all want the town and College to succeed, and sharing this common goal brings the two populations in Glassboro together.
To the long-term locals like Mary St. John and my neighbor Chris who either grew up here or have lived here for a long period of time, Glassboro is a place abundant in history, it is ever changing and growing with the university, and they have seen the many phases of the school and know how it has impacted the town. (To listen or read about their experiences, click here). Their memories are deeply rooted in relation to the college. Although the school and the town is constantly changing, these people remain the same. They are the backbone of the community.
College students past and present are the lifeblood of the town. They are the reason for the town's growth, they keep the community afloat. Each new class breathes new life into this town and makes their own mark that lasts for years after they leave. Graduates like Laura, Kat, and Morgan feel a sense of attachment to this place, knowing that it keeps growing and changing in their absence is something that it might be more difficult to come to terms with as someone who once felt they belonged in this place. (To read about their experiences, click here. To read a more In-depth analysis of the meaning of Landmark to college students, click here).
Landmark, as well as other third places in town, are the bridge between these two populations. They create an understanding that bonds locals and their college neighbors. They elminate negative stereotypes that divide the community and make students and neighbors want to get to know one another. They promote positive "Town and Gown" relations. The Landmark Tap & Grill has been a third space for centuries, beginning when it was built by the Stanger family in 1776. It's hard to pinpoint what exactly is so special about that location, but whatever it is, It simply can't be found anywhere else in Glassboro.
Keywords: College towns, Third space, Bar, Town vs Gown relations
